Seems like weeks and weeks ago, I preached a sermon covering Matthew 18 through 20. And I'm not sure we're ever going to get past the end of Matthew 20. But that's all right, I think, I hope. Each week we return to the Word and mine it. And proclaim it and the lord is faithful to grant us grace as we do. So This morning will be matthew chapter 19 verses 27 through 30 We considered this actually last week. We need to return to it this morning and consider it in greater detail matthew chapter 19 verses 27 through 30 If you would, and if you are able, please stand for the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Then Peter said in reply, see, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? Jesus said to them Truly I say to you in the new world When the son of man will sit on his glorious throne you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of israel And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life But many who are first will be last in the last First, this is the reading of god's holy inspired word. You may be seated Let's Seek the help of our father in prayer Gracious father. We do ask for your help now Ask that you would open the eyes of our hearts. Would you open our ears? Would you help us? to hear and respond in a way that honors you. Father, I ask specifically that if there are any among us who are not yet disciples of your son, Jesus Christ, or specifically have been deceived into thinking that they are disciples of your son, Jesus Christ, and are not, Would you please bring light? Would you please convict of sin? Would you please assure them of mercy? And would you cause them to cry out that they might be saved? We ask this in Jesus' precious name, amen. All right, let me begin with just a little confession here. I actually was supposed to preach a sermon this morning on giving. Had committed to it roughly four to six weeks ago, something like that, right? And I knew I was supposed to do it on October 28th. And I had every intention of doing it on October 28th. I just hadn't looked at the calendar and realized this morning it was actually October the 28th. So this is not a sermon on giving, though the application will lead us in that direction. This morning we are presented with a question and an answer. The question comes from Peter. The answer from the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I just want to dive in and I want to consider that question carefully and that answer even more carefully. Let us begin in verse 27. Then Peter said in reply, see, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? There's the question. What then will we have? The then is important. It's there in the Greek. Ara, therefore, then. It points back to what Peter has just said. We have left everything and followed you, Jesus. What then or therefore? will we have I would note up front encourage us to note that this leaving and following are not two different things, but one in the same inseparable acts leaving and following In fact, we've seen this clearly and consistently communicated throughout the gospel of Matthew if you remember the record of jesus's ministry after the prologue when it begins in chapter four begins with the calling of the first disciples And we read specifically that they immediately left their nets and followed jesus they left and followed Peter and Andrew that is and again James and John verse 22 of chapter 4 immediately they left the boat and their father and followed and From that point forward over and over again. We are taught by Jesus himself through his words and the narrative itself that these two acts are are Inseparable is one is going to follow Jesus he or she must leave everything The idea is communicated by Jesus in Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 through 33 and I I won't read that whole thing but there it is framed as as Serving and seeking you have to leave off if you will serving one master in order to serve another or you have to leave off Seeking what the Gentiles do if you are going to seek the kingdom of God and righteousness. I Shortly after the sermon on the mount as jesus is separating himself and his disciples from the crowds matthew records two brief and encounters with would-be or or or wannabe disciples in chapter 8 verses 12, uh 18 through 22 this is actually Worth reading now when jesus saw a crowd around him He gave orders to go over to the other side and a scribe came up and said to him teacher I will follow you wherever you go And jesus said to him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head You must leave everything if you're going to follow jesus houses and lands and then in verse 21 Another disciple said to him lord Let me first go and bury my father and jesus said to him follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead Shortly after these encounters jesus calls matthew as he is working at a tax booth And once again, we see that the disciple rose and followed him clearly implying that he left his tax booth never to return In fact, every disciple who is called in the gospel of matthew leaves everything and follows jesus The second discourse ends that second discourse recorded in chapter 10 ends with this similar theme recorded in verses 34 through 39 I won't read it in its entirety, but it is worth noting. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. There's this inseparable connection in between leaving everything and following Jesus, no exceptions, none. The third discourse, this is told through a parable in verses 44 through 46, that is the third discourse in chapter 13, where one has to sell all in order to buy the field. One has sold all in order to purchase that pearl immeasurable value We read a similar thing in chapter 16 verses 24 and following or even more recently We have just seen a rich man who would not leave everything to follow Jesus time and time and time and time again in the book of Matthew the gospel of Matthew this point is made crystal clear leave everything and follow Jesus or you don't follow Jesus at all and Of course, it's not new to Matthew or the New Testament, is it? Our call to worship this morning recorded the example, another example, Old Testament example, where Abram was called to leave, what, his kindred and his land in order to go where the Lord had called him. I think one of the best illustrations in the Old Testament is actually in the book of Ruth. where Ruth herself leaves everything, every family member, every land, king, and gods to follow Naomi, cleaving herself to her in a way, in a sense, so that Naomi's people became her people, Naomi's God became her God. When Jesus calls, the call to leave everything and follow him is the fulfillment of every other call that we read about. In the old testament in the scriptures Every other call to leave everything and follow the lord the call of jesus is the fulfillment of abram's call Out of the land of earth to a land He did not know the call of jesus is the fulfillment of israel's call if you want to look at it like that out of the land of egypt That they might serve the lord in the wilderness Of Jesus is the fulfillment of Ruth who left mother and father brother and sister house and land King and gods to devote herself to Naomi's family and house and land and King and God let me put it as plainly and boldly as I Possibly can to be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. You must leave your family your tribe your nation your possessions your king and your gods Jesus makes this point abundantly clear with hyperbolic language in Luke chapter 14 verse 26 when he says if anyone comes to me that is to follow me and Does not hate His own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters. Yes, even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. This indeed may be hyperbole it is but it is hyperbole that is meant to emphasize the necessity of leaving Everything in order to follow Jesus or let me put it this way You must leave every other person or thing that has usurped the rightful position of God alone your entire life since your conception until now in order to follow Jesus and If someone entered this building this very moment and required that you forfeit your home or denounce Christ, there should be no hesitation. The choice must be clear. If you had to choose between your job and Christ, there could be no alternative to following Christ. If you have to choose between your family, your spouse, even your children, and following Christ. The choice must be Christ. This isn't hypothetical, guys. You will choose today, in a myriad of ways, who you serve. It's not hypothetical, it's real. We do in subtle but significant ways Demonstrate and declare who it is that we follow Back to the question. What will the disciple of christ receive because Maybe part of the reason we struggle to follow jesus is because we really don't understand what it is that we will receive in the end Let me put it like this even though it won't make any sense to you at first maybe possibly we will receive eschatological fullness All right, let me put it in terms that maybe be a little better a little easier to understand But probably i'm still gonna have to unpack and I will we will receive the promise of the covenants Okay, and and i'm not just like importing that that's what jesus says here Look at verses 28 and 29 Jesus said to them truly I say to you in the new world when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne you who have followed me also sit on twelve thrones judging the trial the twelve tribes of Israel and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or Children or lands for my namesake for the sake of Jesus will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life This is neither simply a promise that you will receive back whatever you give up So like if I give away a car that when jesus returns i'm gonna get a nicer car It's not simply that nor is it just some general list of things that that all people hold dear This language is specific This language is purposeful and it's taken straight from the law and the prophets genesis chapter 1 verse 28 The goal of creation is what? fruitfulness Family filling the earth and dominion exercising rule over the earth as God's vice regents So we were created for this task to fill the earth land with family In order to exercise dominion all for the glory of God And the entire Line of the bible storyline of the bible that is unpacks this promise After the fall This remains the the goal of creation the the tell us the end So it's picked back up in Genesis chapter 9 for instance verses 1 and 2 and and verse 7 this tell us is recapitulated more importantly I think through the promise of the covenants with we heard it this morning in Genesis chapter 12 as Abram is called out of the land of earth for what what does God promise him in chapter 12 and descendants, children, land, and even dominion. Those who bless you will be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. See it again in chapter 17 of Genesis verse 6 the promises Fruitfulness and nations and kings as it's explicitly laid down in chapter 17 Dominion takes the four in the blessing of Jacob from Isaac as well And when Jacob flees the persecution of his elder brother Esau the Lord appears to him on his way back to the land of earth and promises him what? fruitfulness and land What do we find here in the words of Jesus? Well, he says house and land bracket family Look closely at verses 28 and 29 Look at 29 specifically and everyone who has left houses and it will end with lands and what is between those two? brothers or sisters or father or mother or children family The fruit of the womb as it is often referred to in the Old Testament We could recount the blessing of Judah by Jacob, focusing in on the dominion which would be exercised or which would be executed. Now, we could go on and on and on, and I have many more examples here, but for the sake of time, I won't rehearse them all. I would at least want us to see or realize that there is of course an immediate fulfillment to these promises in the Old Testament themselves family for instance or for instance in Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 10 the the Israelites are reminded that they are as numerous as the stars in the sky there as they wait in the plan planes of Moab before entering into the promised land which brings us to the second initial or immediate fulfillment of those very promises Joshua chapter 21 verses 43 and following Say the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn Paraphrasing and it goes on not one of their enemies withstood them for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands that they had the land that the Lord had promised and they had rest or dominion and not one word of all the good promises in fact verse 45 of Joshua 21 says that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed all had come to pass and Of course under David the promise of the covenants reached their greatest fulfillment under the Old Covenant That's that's the high-water mark if you will and yet this fulfillment Under David did not bring the promises to their designed end Did it? Said another way it did not exhaust the meaning or application of the fulfillment So even under David the promise is further revealed and expanded through another covenant a Davidic Covenant in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 the fulfillment of the promise of the covenant in its eschatological fullness remains unrealized in the Old Testament and then boom Matthew Okay Matthew The gospel of matthew the gospel that is of jesus christ about jesus christ What is it that those who leave everything are to have or receive? everything Eschatological fullness eschatological referring to the last things the end the very end of the redemptive story if you will before it begins for eternity the fullness of that which we were created for, that which we were made for, to family, filling the earth with the glory of God as we live under the reign of God, exercised through his son, Jesus Christ, our Messiah. Jesus is saying that his disciples are going to inherit the kingdom of God. That's what they will have. The promise of the covenant is a dominion, land, and people, That is the tell us of creation said another way. Jesus is bringing and will bring creation to its eschatological fullness By the way, and you probably already looked at the footnote but your Bible probably contains a footnote that that points out in verse 28 the new world is regeneration right all things made new Think of it as all things fixed. Everything bent made straight again. Everything broken made whole. Everything cursed made holy. Every cause of sin and all lawbreakers removed, and the sons and daughters of glory will reign on the earth as creation burst forth in the glorious praise of God it was designed for. And the problem is, our imaginations are just so dim. If we caught even just for a moment a glimpse of what it was that God was calling us to receive in his son, Jesus Christ, we would have no problem whatsoever leaving land or family or life itself to have Christ. In fact, exercise your redeemed imaginations. Ponder these things, meditate upon them. What will it be like when Christ returns and exercises dominion? When God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. When every one of our desires are actually in line with god, I I really don't have time for this, but i've got to read this I literally bring it to me. I told her after she brought it to me. I said sweetie I'm, sorry i'm not gonna have time to use this illustration and and now i'm going to I have to so Great book series, by the way, uh, andrew peterson is the author the warden and the wolf king is the book. This is the last I believe last in the series and and so I can't set up the entire context just know this they the story is set in a broken world where we're evil and it has has Dominion and and hope is is scarce and yet there is this this man named Armulan who's a Bard he's kind of like a a prophet and he has been to the promised land and he speaks of it in such a way that Sorry, i'm gonna have a hard time reading this without crying, but that's okay I'll do it. Um It stirs up people's affections and and and brings back hope. Well, this is what he writes about that glorious land Just one one small piece of it He said let me put it like this Imagine you're walking one of the footpaths that cut through the countryside in this promised land. You have a staff and a rucksack, and after a brisk few hours, you think to yourself, I could use a hearty bowl of limpety stew right about now. The villages in Anaria, that's the promised land, if you will, are so perfectly spaced that as soon as you As soon as you have that thought, you crest a hill and see a village in the valley below with smoke in the chimneys and the smell of hay on the wind. You stroll into town and after some vibes, some drinks from the village fount, every village has a fount for travelers, you turn around and see a little inn or tavern likely next to an apparelly or a bookstore. You stride into that inn and lean your walking stick by the door. No sooner than you've sat down and sipped a pint of something warm than the proprietor brings you a bowl of limpety stew. But how does he know? Someone listening to the story asks. They always have what you want in an aria. Armulan. It's not that the cooks are magic, it's the land you see. When you're walking through that part of the island, the shape of the hills, the color of the leaves, the way the light hits the tree trunks, the cool of the morning, and the smell of the crops, probably limpety sprouts, all contrive to make you want exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. Yes, of course, they make a variety of things. Not every traveler wants the same thing at the same time, but when they walk through the door, the proprietor can usually tell by the look of them what they'll need. The people of the Shining Isle are attentive to the way the Maker shaped the world. But it's not just that. They're also attentive to the way the Maker made the heart. And they're just trying to be good subjects, trying to give each other what they were made to give. So in an aria, what you want is what you need. And, sorry, what you want and what you want, I'm sorry, what you want and what you need, Armand said, are one and the same. It's hard. It's hard for us to understand that, isn't it? because rarely does what we want align with what we need. And so, instead, there's this continual war, this conflict within us, so that our spirit desires often what is most harmful to us and harmful to others, and yet the Spirit of God is at work in those who are following Christ, waging war against the flesh, Jesus says, there is a day when we will receive a hundredfold. We will receive eschatological fullness. I encourage you to continue to, whether it's reading stories like that, C.S. Lewis, Andrew Peterson, or others, work your redeemed imaginations. We will one day if you can imagine work in the earth and and the earth will gladly yield its fruit to us We won't sweat All right, maybe we'll sweat but it'll be enjoyable or consider it negatively, we will do nothing, nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit. Our rule and work will be executed with no hint of covetousness. We will actually delight in the joy of others without an ounce of envy. Every word we speak will be truth and love. This is what God has in store for those who leave everything and follow Christ. Jesus is saying for those who give up everything, they will receive the life we were actually made to live. A life of glorifying our God through the godly exercise of dominion in the earth. A life filled with the most satisfying relationships we have ever known. A life lived in the earth and maybe beyond, Randy would want me to say. Exploring, discovering, creating, and inventing. Leading all of creation in the glorious dance of God's love and the eternal song of his praise. Soli Deo Gloria. verse 30 But Many who are first will be last and the last will be first Listen if everything that I just said is true then we must we must identify the last and be able to distinguish between the last and the first in this context I would suggest two distinct but similar groups when it comes to the last in this Context both groups are in view in the immediate context They are the the first you might you might call them the outsiders the untouchables the ritually unclean the the politically and morally despised Jesus will refer to them as prostitutes and tax collectors in chapter 21. He will say that they are entering the kingdom before the firsts that is the chief priests and the elders and So the last are the poor and destitute. The last are the children who are despised and told not to bother Jesus, or blind men who are sharply rebuked and told to be silent. These are the last. They are the helpless and humbled, the hopeless and harassed. But I believe that there's another group in view. They have much in common with the first group, but it is worth making the distinction. This group is also helpless, even if not yet humbled. This group is also hopeless, even if not always harassed. I'm referring to Gentiles. We who were last have gone in ahead of those who were first. And the immediate context actually contains hints that this group is also in view. For example, the parable in chapter 20 depicts the last as those called by the master of the house later. By the time the Gospel of Matthew is written, it would be hard not to see a reference to the inclusion of the Gentiles in that parable in chapter 20. Furthermore this parable explaining the reversal the first and last is followed at the beginning of chapter 21 with the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree These two events work together and we'll get there eventually someday work together to illustrate the judgment and curse of God upon the natural seed of Abraham who remain under the old covenant those who have rejected their Messiah and but it's not really necessary to think of these two distinct groups I just mentioned as completely different, are they? At the end of the day, the last. Jew or Gentile the last all shared this one characteristic they are helpless and hopeless Without God or at least prohibited from drawing near to God under the Mosaic Covenant Children women the lame and blind the sick and diseased the morally corrupt prostitutes for instance the expatriates or or or even traitors tax collectors for example and Gentiles they are all second-class citizens at best or even sometimes at worst Considered to be the very enemies of God So you might picture it like this If there was a if you pictured the temple Picture a long line leading away from the temple first Recognize that under the mosaic covenant under that system That is where god has placed his name and that is where he dwelled to draw near to god was to physically move towards the temple Those closest to the temple were in the closest proximity if you will to God himself So if you picture the temple and you picture that long line leading away from the temple Who would you see as the first who who are at the very front of the line? the chief priests the Levites Pharisees scribes Sadducees even rich males healthy the powerful influential and their households draw near But As you trace that line backwards away from the dwelling place of God the mercy seat of Yahweh the Lord at the back of the line. Who do you find? the very back the sick the The ritually impure because of disease. You find the poor unable to unable to bring a sacrifice. You find women. You find, of course, Gentiles. But Jesus says the last will be first. It's worth asking, considering, and we must, right, why? Why will the last be first? Or maybe better, how? How will the last be first? Jesus is gonna go on and say, because I have come not to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom. That is why the last will be first. Don't miss this, Jesus came to be last. So that the last might be first in him Jesus came if you will if you're still picturing that picture Jesus came and he came to the very end of the line that long line Leading away from the temple in Jesus's death. He was actually removed from the line and Jesus experienced our separation. Jesus personally carried our sin as far as the east is from the west He wasn't just at the end of the line. Jesus was cut off from the line That we who were hopeless and helpless and harassed who were without God and without any way of drawing near, Jesus was separated, alienated, and estranged so that we could go boldly right into the very holy of holies. And I don't just mean the temple, which is merely a model of that pattern in heaven. I mean into the holy of holies right into the presence of God in the heaven of heavens Right before the very mercy seat of God, right? This is crazy If you get it those who were first those who refused to give up their cherished position and Privilege being able to draw near to God under the old system. They never even saw Jesus Come and open the door Become the door really Coming a gate in the back of the line joyfully and gratefully passed into the very throne room of God The heavenly reality of the earthly model the first were enjoying the blessing of what they received according to their birth While those who have been born again Filed right past them and the church says hallelujah. That's when you say amen or hallelujah. That would be that'd be appropriate But there is only one way to enter the kingdom of heaven and that is to gladly leave the kingdoms of this world And all that belongs to them. There's only one way We have entered a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We await its appearance. It is not a kingdom of earthly rulers. It's a does not have a capital that you can go to here on earth. There is no castle, no temple, no building of stone or mortar. It is a city not made by human hands. It is a city whose architect and builder is God. And the citizens of this kingdom gladly stay at the back of the line. Or if you were at the front, you moved to the back. Not, of course, in regards to morality as though prostitutes remain prostitutes, but in regards to possessions and relationships and rights and prerogatives, we gladly lay them all down. All of it we gladly surrender even our very lives that we might have them back in Christ We might receive what can never be taken away that we might enter a kingdom that can never be shaken houses and lands brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and children We forfeit them all that we might have the eschatological fullness. They'll be brought to reality when Christ returns But church, do you have that mindset? Is that how you picture your existence here as a sojourner? That you are a pilgrim? Travel light? Where are you storing up your treasure, for instance? Or do we just justify ourselves in our attempt to serve two masters Saying surely jesus doesn't mean leave everything Surely jesus doesn't really want me to leave my family for instance and he can't can't mean that Surely, jesus doesn't want me to sell everything and follow him That was just one example and he was just he was just trying to get that guy, you know to to get To recognize his need for jesus. He doesn't really care if he sold everything Jesus demands that we leave everything and follow him or we don't follow him at all. There's no softening it. There's no minimizing it. There's no third way. I think, Pastor Jeff, what you actually, that's really for you, guys like you. You're like a pastor, and so you guys, you gotta sell everything, and you gotta leave everything, and you follow Jesus, but you don't get it. I'm a lay person, and so I just have to pray a prayer, and then we'll all be, we'll be there together at the end. Don't worry about it. You go ahead. You go ahead. It's not the case. I mean, the words are clear. I opened up Matthew. I took you place and place and place and place and place where this exact point is being made. Leave everything or you don't follow Jesus, period. Please, don't be deceived. You will not step on the narrow way leading through the narrow gate with your hands still wrapped tightly around anything. I don't want anyone to be deceived. I know I can't just make a statement or statements like I've just made without making sure that we understand exactly what leaving everything means. I said last week doesn't necessarily mean that you go home and sell everything today or ever. I would point you to first Corinthians chapter 7 verses 17 20 and 24 where Paul Encourages the Corinthians to remain in the station that they were saved in that Where you were remain that way and honor and glorify God there, okay But You might go home and sell everything you might go home and really decide that you need to leave everything in a more literal way, possibly. So I'm not offering this as an example, but shortly after I and Rachel were converted, We sold our house and we moved roughly three, four hours away, specifically because I knew I needed to leave my friends and my family. I knew that my family needed to leave our friends and our family, that Rachel and I were going to follow Christ, that we needed to leave. We sold our house before we had another house. And and we we actually purchased a house before I had a job and the lord just opened door after door And he he took us up there was a sweet season of of really wholeheartedly Depending upon him and and I know as as we mature I think sometimes our hearts get hard to to to living like that and and and and we start to well, you know like Uh, that's for charismatics. Jeff. Well Really, since when is living life open-handed, willing to do whatever it is that the Lord calls us to, like, too spiritual? Saints, listen, I'm not saying that my life has unfolded the way it has because of this moment, but I look back to this moment often, and I know that it was, Critical if you will I remember I recall And and I did so fervently and really hitting my knees next to the bed that my wife That my wife was laying in when our our kids were young I Said Lord, there's yours all of it all of it Take them tonight They're yours Take me tonight, I'm yours. None of it, none of it is mine. That's what it means to be a true disciple. Listen, most of us will not be called to sell everything and do something radical and crazy. I get it. But every true disciple is called to a radical rearrangement and reconfiguration of every single priority, every single allegiance, every single commitment. That's not optional. What that looks like as that unfolds in your life, That's gonna look, it's gonna look various. But every true disciple must come to that place where they hold nothing back and they leave everything and follow Jesus. Everything, everything. Then and only then do we receive it back the way, you realize that, right? As that happens, the Lord that very night, he didn't take my family and house or me or, he could have, but what he did was actually hand me those things back in such a way that they were reconfigured, all my priorities realigned, and it wasn't a once and for all thing. I need to regularly return to that. Recommit to that ask myself. Am I really in that place where I am leaving everything or or am I? instead beginning to accumulate other masters What does it mean to follow jesus then following is synonymous with trusting and obeying We follow Jesus by listening and doing what he says and we do what he says because we believe him he tells us that the Saving our lives will actually cause us to lose them So believing him we leave everything take up our cross and follow him He calls us to come to him assuring us that he is gentle and lowly in heart and that he will give us rest We we hear him and we believe him. So we we come to him. We follow him. We take his yoke upon us That is his reign his rule Following Jesus is the obedience of faith or faith working itself out in love He is Lord of our lives Right. It's it's no longer. It's no longer us. We can't just we just can't do whatever we want spend our resources However, we want utilize our time. However, we want have relationships with whoever and however we want it's not ours and if it is then you're not Christ's and If I am a true disciple of Jesus, I am not the master of my own ship. I'm under the rule of Jesus. I walk in his ways and obey his word. And not knowing what Jesus says is not an excuse to do what is right in your own eyes. So please don't refuse him who even this very morning is speaking from heaven. All right, a somewhat quick application and then we'll close. I recommend that each of us evaluate whether we have ever or whether we still are following Jesus. And I think that most likely i'm i'm preaching to three groups the three groups in this room Some of you who know that you've never followed jesus You know that you haven't left everything and followed him and and and so to you know to you I implore you Leave everything and follow jesus You hold on to everything and when and when you die and you will you take nothing and all that you held on to will not help you one ounce on the day of Judgment when you stand to give an account for every word you spoke in every deed you did So, please You are among the crowd repent leave everything and follow Jesus trust him as your only hope and for righteousness, your only hope of salvation, of escaping the wrath of God to come. I think there's probably another group. Maybe not, I pray there isn't. I do, but I think there are probably some who are deceived. I think there's probably some Maybe whether you've been in the church your whole life or whatever your your exact story or situation is You've never really left everything to follow Jesus I mean you follow him and and you follow your own Desires Let me say that slightly differently right because We all know that we all struggle Right. This isn't this isn't a call to perfectionism And I don't mean that that in following Jesus you you you you leave everything and and you no longer desire that which is not honor and glorifying to God quite the opposite daily you struggle with sin, but you leave everything in the in the sense that that really those things you are no longer clinging to, that your life is in Christ, that you're clinging to Him. If you haven't left everything and followed Christ, I implore you to confess that you've been trying to serve two masters, Leave everything and follow jesus ask jesus what what he would have you do with your possessions your time your relationships Give it all to him and follow jesus wherever he would leave you Maybe papa new guinea I have a winky face here by the way, but you know if one of you hear that call and and decide to go Praise be to god The third group obviously those of us who are true disciples of the lord jesus christ and this needs to be a reminder It needs to be a reminder that following jesus the call to follow jesus is absolute It's absolute He he is not going to share his kingship With with anyone or anything. So if something else is ruling your life Cry out to the lord That he might save you He is stronger He can throw down whatever has a hold of you. But you've got to cry out. You've got to recognize that you're actually allowing something else to reign in your life. So remember we are sojourners pilgrims citizens of heaven awaiting our savior from there We need to live with open hands receiving what our savior gives us with gratitude and stewarding it all for his glory Our hope is firmly set on the new world when christ will return The new heavens new earth that will be filled with the glory of god as we live and labor under the eternal blessing of our savior Every dollar and every minute belongs to christ church So one, I know I said I was going to apply it, and I just did. I have one final admonishment, if you will, and warning. Here's the admonishment. As we think about how to apply this concretely, it'd be real easy for us to go all over the place, really just kinda, and maybe in some directions that aren't even all that biblical. Let me give you one foolproof way to evaluate how you're following Jesus and to either commit or recommit to following Jesus in a way that honors him. And that is your relationship to the church. In scripture, that's that that that's That's it right But what I mean is that if you want to know if you have left everything and are following Jesus check your commitments to his people to his bride the church he came to build Because you could walk out of here sell everything have give it to the poor and still not follow Jesus It's it's completely possible. It's plausible. I If you wanna follow Jesus, where is he to be found in this world? He's the head of the body, his body, the church. You wanna serve Jesus in this world? There's only one place to do it. You can go serve all sorts of people and you're not serving Jesus unless you're serving his people. Just like if you persecute someone, you're not persecuting Jesus unless you persecute his people. We see that connection clearly in the scriptures, right? Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who was Saul persecuting? Random people? No, the church. You wanna love Jesus? Love the church. You wanna follow Jesus? You need to be a part of the church. And that's exactly at that point that I feel like that many, if you're preaching that, that there will be people who walk away sorrowful. Leaving everything land and family and following christ cannot be separated from joining and serving his body the church in its concrete constituted form here on the earth Okay now for the warning everything i've just said was meant for you Do we need to say it together? All right, let's do it. Everything that was just preached was meant for me, right? All right, because here's the temptation with something like this, you start thinking, man, yeah, now that I think about it, Bob. Yeah, he's clearly not following Christ. Yeah, and then, you know, Debbie, I got real questions about her now, too. This isn't that. It's you. Are you following Christ? Each and every one of us need to evaluate our lives in light of truth. This Word is preached to you. Have you left everything? If no, leave everything that you might have everything in Christ. If yes, praise be to Jesus. You didn't do this on your own. You're born again. The regeneration, the new world is broken into your life and has given birth. And the fruit of righteousness is already being born in your life. Keep following Jesus. There is a day quickly coming when we will rejoice and walk through the hillside and have lemony stew together. I can't wait. All right One final thought and this is really the last one It really is and it's like really short You preach a message like this and I know there are brothers and sisters among us have gentle consciences and so like you you'll be most tempted to really search your heart and apply this word and and and Really struggle with whether you've really left everything and followed christ If you're struggling like that, you have. There's gonna be some among us, and it's just gonna be like water on a duck's back. And you pray for them. Okay. That's really it. Please pray with me. Gracious Father, Lord, you know our hearts better than we do. You know that we are prone to cling to broken things that we cannot keep, that we are prone to trust in things that cannot save, that we are prone to submit to things that are harsh and cruel taskmasters that demand our very lives and we, are tempted to willingly give them up. Father, would you forgive us where this has been the case, and would you help us to lay down everything that we might actually receive everything in Christ? Please, Father, help us cling to nothing but Him, to wait for the day that He returns, fully confident that what You have in store for us on that day, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and our hearts, Lord, they just really can't even imagine. Father, would You keep Your people? Would You cause us to follow hard after Your Son?