So let's pray now. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for everything that you have done for us and all that you are. We thank you for your gift of salvation. We thank you for your attributes. We thank you for your word that we might know you. And I pray now as we look to the book of Matthew that you would teach us this morning and that you'd correct us and train us for righteousness. And so I pray you'd bless the reading and exposition of your word, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, today we're going to try something new. Once a year, I want to do a three-hour message, and I thought today would be good. And for sake of safety, we're going to lock the door, so no one's going to be able to leave. Apologize for inconvenience. I figured today there wasn't anything going on, so it was a safe day to do that. You laugh like I'm joking. Of course, I want to watch too, so I am joking. But, maybe someday we'll do a three-hour message. I don't know who would be here, but we'll see. Well, we're going through the Gospel of Matthew, and again, we're looking at the question that's being asked and answered, why did the king come, but not the kingdom? The last couple weeks, we've been dealing with the Sermon on the Mount, and specifically, the response to Jesus. And I've been making the case that we should respond positively to Jesus. Not just as Savior, but as teacher, as a follower of Jesus Christ. This sermon is going to challenge, hopefully all of us, with something that I think is very important. We've been talking about the manifestation of the King. Jesus has been demonstrating through His miracles, through His teachings, that He is the Messiah. And there has been people who have responded positively, and there have been people who have responded negatively. Today, I'm going to talk about in verses 18 through 22, following Christ at great personal loss. At great personal loss. Sometimes, oftentimes, many times, there is, or every time, I should say, there is sacrifice involved with following Christ. And we're gonna look at two incidences in Matthew 18, 18 through 22, where Jesus, it almost seems is trying to persuade people not to follow him. Of course, that's not what he's doing. But he's giving them the clear reality of what following him is like. And so I don't want you to be convinced not to follow Christ, in fact, the opposite. But I do want you to be prepared that following Christ is hard. Following Christ Often experiences great personal loss their sacrifice involved with following Christ, but it is the most most worth it venture that you could possibly do and to just share a little bit of a personal story and by no means is this a attempt to pat myself on the back but to visualize the type of sacrifices that sometimes is required. So in high school, I believed in Jesus Christ when I was 12 years old. And in high school and middle school, I was living, I call it my idiot years, where I was experiencing a lot of trauma in life and handling that in unbiblical ways. Rather than being a follower of Christ, I did just about everything but that. And so with all of that, towards the end of my high school years, after graduation actually, God turned my life around and I started following Him. And I went to Bible camp two weeks in a row and that was a great rededication experience in my life. And I was excited to go back to my hometown and be around my friends and to influence them for Christ. And that was about after the first week of Bible camp. After the second week, I realized they're going to influence me far more than I'll influence them. I need training. And I had to do one of the hardest things in my life and leave my best friends, which, you know, you think of it as, you know, well, it's just friends, you can make more friends, right? But these were literally and truly brothers to me. And with everything I was going on, mental health wise and depression, they saved my life. And so they mean a great deal to me. And I'm still close to them. But that was a hard thing in giving that up to follow him in really a way that I didn't know what was at the end of the road. In fact, I still don't. We follow God one step at a time. But I will say this. Already in this life, it's been tremendously worth the sacrifice. And sometimes that repayment doesn't happen in this life. And so we need to know that as followers of Jesus Christ, it is worth it, but it's hard. It's a sacrifice. So following Christ at great personal loss. I want to just read the two situations in this passage so you get the flow, and then we'll look more closely at it. So starting in verse 18, when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came 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. Then another of his disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Now, this may be a little bit confusing to you. It almost seems like Jesus is all of a sudden speaking in riddles. Why isn't he answering these men clearly, who obviously want to respond well, they want to follow him. Why isn't Jesus just straight up? Well, if we understand a little bit of the historical context of what Jesus is saying, I think he's answering them perfectly clear. But we'll look at, again, following Christ at great personal And there's two lessons in this passage that Jesus gives concerning discipleship. Now something you need to remember is there are four Gospels, right? We've looked at the question, why four? Why not five? Why not ten? Why not one? Isn't one enough? Yeah, one would be enough, but the four Gospels we do have that are inspired by God serve different purposes. Luke, for example, wrote to a man named Theophilus an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Matthew, we've been discussing, is almost a Jewish apologetic where he's arguing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Kingdom is coming, but the reason it didn't come with the Messiah's first appearing is because of national rejection. John seems to clearly write, as he says at the end of his book, that you may know that you have everlasting life if you have believed on Christ. I think he also really does a good job at emphasizing the deity of Christ because I know we get into date setting of the books that were written. I view even the Gospel of John as written later, and I think later part of the first century, a lot of attacks on the deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ were being propagated. And so with that, taking into account Matthew is writing now, The other Gospels talk about Jesus, Jesus's discipleship lessons, you know, the famous count the cost. In fact, this is one of those parallel passages. But Matthew issues these passages here, and it makes it difficult as far as a harmony goes. And I've mentioned, I don't want to do a harmony of the Gospels as much as possible. But there are times where I'll try to harmonize with the chronology of the life of Christ. But this apparently, quite clearly according to Matthew, takes place before they go to, quote, the other side. Whatever the other side is, we'll look at that in a moment. So there's two discipleship lessons here. There's three discipleship lessons that Jesus gave during his ministry, at least as archived in the gospel narratives. And there's two dealt with here. So some observations. The first one is in 18 through 20. We get some setting info. Verse 18 again says, And when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave a command to depart to the other side. So a few things here. He saw great multitudes about him. Now, where do these people come from? I think they've been following him, right? He was up on the sermon teaching and more and more people came to gather near to hear. And then as they left, they followed him. And as they go into Capernaum, Jesus starts healing people and casting out demons. And they begin to flock to Jesus. Perhaps to see miracles, perhaps to be healed themselves, perhaps to get rid of their in-laws demonic possession, whatever that is. And that's not a joke for my in-laws, I love my in-laws. So, Jesus saw great multitudes about him, they start gathering in great numbers. And so he gives a command to depart to the other side. Now at this point, who did he give the command to? just random followers? Probably his disciples. So it makes it difficult, but perhaps at this point he's already got his inner twelve, or we know he's got Peter and Andrew and James and John, so he's got the four. But perhaps as we get into the call of the disciples later, perhaps it's anachronistic. In other words, it's out of time. It's out of step with the sequence of events. But he gives a command to depart to the other side. Well, what is the other side? We'll look at that in a moment. Why does Jesus leave right when things are picking up, right? It seems like he's going about building momentum that, hey, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, nation of Israel. Come back under your covenant obligations, and you'll receive the full provisions of the Abrahamic blessing, the kingdom. And so why is he wanting to leave? And I think one very subtle application to this passage is the importance of rest. Think about it. From a ministerial standpoint, Jesus has been going and going and going, teaching and healing and ministering and people have been flocking. He's been on the clock, around the clock, working. And I think he's seeking a place to get a little bit of a reprieve and rest. And it seems everywhere he goes, he cannot find that because people are following. So here's a map just to get our geographical bearings. Capernaum is the place they are at currently. And we see this in 8-5. It says, now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him. So those three miracles that took place were in Capernaum. Peter likely lived in Capernaum, so when his mother-in-law was healed, that was in Capernaum. So he's north of the Sea of Galilee. So when he says, go to the other side, what does that mean exactly? The other side of what? Well, I think it's going to Gergesa, which is the other side of the Sea of Galilee, as you can see up on the screen. It's kind of a tiny font, but look at verse 28. When he had come to the other side in the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. So the other side is provided to us in the text, and it's this place across the Sea of Galilee. So some more information, verse 19 gives us a scribal error, a scribal error. Then a certain scribe came and said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Now, I just read from the New King James Version, which says a certain scribe. The New American Standard says a scribe. Literally, the idea is one scribe. I don't think it's intending to highlight this individual in particular, that it's a certain scribe in the sense of it's someone you should know, you probably know. And I'm mentioning, I'm talking about that guy, you know that guy. That's not what I see the text saying. I think it's saying a scribe. And the one there is highlighting that it was a scribe. Now, what's the significance of that? Well, the scribe says, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Now, interestingly, the scribe's address was teacher and not Messiah or Lord. Now, we got to be somewhat careful here not to read too much into it. But the second guy does call him Lord. And that's interesting. Now, what's interesting about it? Well, what is a scribe? What is a scribe? Open question. What is a scribe? Yeah, someone who copies manuscripts, specifically the Word of God, perhaps commentaries as well. And so a scribe, do you think they knew the Word of God? Do you think they had great teachers? Certainly. And so the fact that He calls Jesus teacher is remarkable. I don't want to gloss over that but it is interesting that it's not Messiah or Lord or anything like that I don't I think he is a believer, but I think he's perhaps Guarding his language because of his position and the influence. And all of this to say that Jesus was a very polarizing figure in Israel. The religious leaders were against him. We've seen that foreshadowed by Matthew. We're going to see that grow to a height in chapter 12. But even a scribe, someone involved with the religious leaders, knowing the Old Testament, well they wouldn't, the Hebrew Scriptures will say, knowing the Hebrew Scriptures, is a follower of Jesus Christ. And not just a follower apparently, he says, I will follow you wherever you go. Now, again, we have to talk about the two types of followers. There were followers of Christ that were interested. They were curious. They saw or heard his ministry and they wanted to see more or hear more about what he was doing and what he was saying. They were curious. Many of those became serious followers. They were convinced, yep, this is the guy. He's the son of David. He's the Messiah. He's the promised one. I'm following him wherever he goes, no matter what. Until it gets hard and gets scary and the guards come for us, right? And they imprison him. And we'll get there. So there's two types of followers. There's the curious follower and the committed follower. Well, I think it's the same today, right? And one of the big points I want you to see in this text today is there is a difference between a believer in Jesus Christ and a follower of Jesus Christ. There is a difference. And I think it's a very important difference. And I think it's a difference that if we do not recognize, then we will fall into error. And we'll believe lies that say you have to do this and you have to do that in order to show or demonstrate or solidify, prove, make genuine that you are saved. How is someone saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. What is a saved person to do? Follow your Savior. Do all believers follow Jesus Christ faithfully every day, every second of every day? If you know of someone, let me know. I'd love to ask how they're able to keep up with that, right? Of course we know how to keep up with it. Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. So the scribe says, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Now we've been talking about the response to Jesus. What's wrong? How is this an error? Why is this an issue? Isn't it a good thing? He's convinced, not just convinced. It's a scribe who's convinced. So Jesus is now making significant inroads with the religious leaders. So the fact that a scribe has been following Jesus and wants to fully commit is something that we should still find remarkable. Although I find it curious that he calls him teacher and not Messiah or Lord. Lord in particular. But then we see a correction in verse 20. 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. Now, what does that mean? What is he talking about? Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Well, I think it can make some pretty good sense, just straightforwardly speaking. Foxes have homes. Birds have homes. But the son of man, who apparently would be himself, he's speaking of himself, doesn't have a place to lay his head. In other words, he's on the move. He doesn't have a home. It's not going to be comfortable. But it goes a little bit deeper. And I want to highlight the discipleship relationship as it was formally entered into in the ancient world. So there were, in the ancient world, disciples and rabbis or teachers. In fact, the famous Alexander the Great was a disciple of Aristotle. How would you like that? Right? Pretty amazing. And so in the Jewish communities, there was the same system, especially magnified because of the synagogue system. The synagogue system was developed more or less from one of my heroes, Ezra, in the Old Testament, who after the exiles returned from Babylonian captivity, Ezra realized a really important thing. And he asked essentially the question, why did we go into captivity? Because we sin. Why did we sin? Because we didn't heed the Word of God. Why didn't we heed the Word of God? Do we even know the Word of God? And so he saw the need for education, biblical literacy, among the populace. Not just the religious elite. Among everybody. The populace. And so he set out to teach people. And a result of that is what developed into the synagogue system. Now the synagogue system is a good system. The reason we're doing what we're doing right now is because of the synagogue system. It's the same thing. It's a building, a local hub, where we can fellowship, pray, and study God's Word. That's what it was originally, right? But you give man enough time, we'll find a way to mess it up. Right? And that's what happened over the course of time, you get tradition involved, you get different things involved, even in the church, we're doing the same thing. But that's why we have to go back to what's the purpose? Why are we here to study God's Word? So that being said, there would be a rabbi that would travel around and he would teach the people and he was usually based in a local synagogue or they would travel to different synagogues and they would teach. That's why Paul had such a significant ministry because as a traveling teacher, he was invited to speak and he had a message to share, right? And so what would happen is a student would come to a disciple and they would ask a question Rabbi, where do you live? And that was basically an application to follow that teacher in a serious, committed relationship. And so then the rabbi would have a choice to either accept or reject. And if he rejected, he would answer the question, none of your business. If he accepted the request, He would say, come and see. Now, what did Jesus say to his disciples? Come and see, right? In fact, Arnold Truchtenbaum is working on a systematic theology and it's called the come and see series. And I love that. And so that at that point, that disciple, that student would live essentially with the teacher, wherever that teacher went, the student went, the disciple went. He would walk with him, would talk with him, would learn with him, eat with him, and would sleep wherever they would sleep. Now, the thing that's significant to our passage is the rabbis, those were the money makers, right? They had a lot of money because they had people paying them, funding their ministry, those sort of things. So it was very prestigious. That's why students wanted to follow these disciples. And so, Perhaps this is something on this man's mind. He's already a scribe. So he's kind of in those circles Maybe he's wanting to upgrade a little bit. Hey, I have a premier teacher here in Israel that I can follow and then you know See what happens what what comes of it? And Jesus says, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. In other words, it might not be what you think it is to follow me. It's not going to be an easy ride. It's not going to be fun. It's not going to be enjoyable. There's going to be sleepless nights. There's going to be cold nights, wet nights. It's going to be a sacrifice. So in other words, foxes have homely comforts, as do birds, but Jesus does not, so neither will his disciples. It's going to be a hard road ahead. In fact, it's going to get so severe that Jesus issues the warning to his disciples, take up your cross and follow me. In other words, you might die for following me. Are you willing to do that? Now, praise the Lord, we live in a country as of right now, we are free to worship openly and freely Jesus Christ. But in the first century, that wasn't the case. If you were a follower of Jesus Christ, you would be imprisoned or even put to death. So are we willing to follow Christ, even under those types of circumstances? There is a tremendous sacrifice to following Jesus, is the basic underlying point. So summary application, as the pressures of ministry are beginning to overwhelm Jesus, he seeks rest. So application, do we take time to rest? Warren Wiersbe in his commentary says, one of the most spiritual things you could do is take a nap. And that's great advice, right? And I love it. I mentioned it before, but it's almost comical. When Elijah is starting to get overwhelmed, what is the recipe? What is the medicine God gives him? Here's some food, go to sleep. We'll talk later. And that helps him, right? God knows what we need. What we need. He knows our needs and He knows when we need them. So do we take time to rest? And this is hard for us, right? We live in America. We live in a busy, busy, busy world. That doesn't stop or slow down. We have to. We have to. I know it's hard, but we have to. And that's the principle of Sabbath, right? God demonstrated that with working six days and resting on the seventh. Now, quick word on that. We're not under law. We're not obligated to keep the Sabbath, right? Now, there are those who say we are because they'll argue that didn't the Sabbath come or was instituted before the law? Well, that's a good argument. And my point is, I still don't think we're obligated to keep it, but I will say, is it a principle we should really consider following? And I think so. Now, it doesn't have to be hard and fast and rigid and say, you know, you can't walk more than 50 miles or you can't drive, you can't, you know, get your ox if it falls in a hole. Anyone own an ox in here, by the way? You know, fix your fence, mow your lawn, stuff like that, but are you taking time out of your week to rest? If not, I think you're setting yourself up for burning out. And again, I know that's application hard to apply, especially in the world we live in, right? One income's not enough anymore. Now, two incomes sometimes aren't enough. I get it, I know. But just keep fighting with your schedule, and schedule in rest. Because even Jesus needed rest. The first man appearing in this scenario, appearing to have already believed, observes Jesus' soon departure, and he wants to follow. So application number two, are we believers and not followers? So he's been following Jesus. He knows there's going to be a sudden change. Jesus is about to leave. And he's thinking, okay, now's the time I want to follow you wherever you go. I'll go. Have we gotten there in our lives? This is a hard question. First of all, if you haven't trusted in Jesus Christ, that's step one. That's an important step. Trust in Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That means you accept as true the fact that Jesus died on the cross for you. If you accept that as true, you believe that He died for you personally, you are saved. You have everlasting life. You've been born again. But as born again children of God, we're called to follow Him. Are we following Him? Or do we follow Him when it's convenient? Do we follow Him when... The Broncos aren't playing. Do we follow him when... I don't know. Our life is going well. Money is coming in, we're paying our bills on time, we follow him then. Are we following him? Now, what does that look like? Because I've explained true biblical literal discipleship is, dare I say, impossible in our day and age. As far as, and I'm open to it if anyone, you know, come live with us. Maybe I should talk to my wife first. And we practice biblical discipleship. And we teach, we learn, we grow, we do everything together and then you go off on your own and do your own thing. Well, that's not doable. It's not feasible. We have jobs, right? We have to earn income so that we can pay our bills and those sort of things. But are you following Him in the sense of you are living and growing and developing as a Christian where God has you now? Do your co-workers know that you're a Christian? Follow-up question to that. Do your co-workers know that you're a Christian and is that a bad thing? Because sometimes our evangelism is hostile and we create enemies. What's our witness like? The people around us in our lives that we see every day, do our neighbors know? Do we care for them? Do we go out of our way to minister to the people God has put in our life? Number three, Jesus' response emphasizes the sacrifice involved in following him. Have we counted the cost And is it too much for us to pay? There's sacrifices involved. Might there be sacrifices we're unwilling to make to follow Christ? That's hard, right? Now I will say, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the greatest sacrifice of all, it won't be greater than God the Father sending His Son for us. I will also say it will not be greater than the reward that will be yours if you make that sacrifice. So now we come to discipleship lesson number two, 21 through 22. We see in verse 21, then another of his disciples, which tells us the first one was a disciple, said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Now that sounds harsh, right? What is Jesus saying? That's cruel. This man wants to care for his father and put him to rest, and Jesus says, let the dead bury the dead? Well again, I think historical context is important. So first of all, then another disciple, again telling us the first one was also a disciple, said to him, which indicates three things. Number one, he has been following Jesus. So this man probably heard the Sermon on the Mount, probably saw the miracles and the exorcising of demons. He just heard the discussion also, so he just heard what Jesus issued to this man, and he's saying, yep, I'm still willing to commit, but one thing first, just let me go bury my dad, and then I'm all yours. The rest of my life is yours. And then he makes his request. Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And then Jesus' response, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Now again, it seems harsh, but is he being harsh? First of all, I want to explain briefly my past misunderstanding and abuse of this text. When I was in my first year at Frontier School of the Bible, my dad passed away. We had started to grow in our relationship that we never had before then. He left when I was nine months old, and I saw him occasionally on Christmas, and that was about it. And he suddenly passed while I was in my first year. And they were planning a memorial service and a funeral for him. And this passage, this exact passage, came to my mind. And I thought, God just got a hold of me. I need to stay focused. Let the dead bury the dead. And I didn't go. And I regret that. Now, in the grand scheme of things, was he there? Was there a great difference if I was there or not? No, but it would have meant more. had I gone and ministered to the people that cared for my dad and perhaps have opened doors of witness with those men, one of which is the Attorney General of the state of Utah. That would be a neat ministry to be able to have, right? But because I was biblically ignorant, and this is not what that passage is saying, I didn't go. But what is he saying? What the disciple is actually asking, a helpful note from Arnold Fruchtenbaum, in common rabbinic teaching, the firstborn son, which presumably this man was, must stay with his father until he dies. After his father's death, the son is to stay close to where his father was buried and say the special Kaddish for him. Then he is free to go wherever he wants. So he's not saying, my dad just died, you know, we got to make arrangements, have the funeral, then I'm all yours. That would be understandable. Perhaps Jesus would say, okay, go ahead. Perhaps not. But what the guy was actually asking is saying, my dad's not dead yet. It might be a couple years, but I have a responsibility as a firstborn son to care for him until he dies. And then after that, I can move on and I'm all yours. And Jesus says, let the dead bury his own, bury the dead, their own dead. So summary application, apparently the second disciple was not deterred by Jesus' response to the first man. So that's good, right? He was willing to make that sacrifice, but there was a hiccup. He wasn't willing to make it in light of his presumed responsibility to his father. Jesus' response is emphasizing the urgency to following him. So the first emphasizes the sacrifices involved in following Christ. Jesus here is emphasizing the urgency. And think about it, right? If the kingdom is at hand, is there time to wait a couple years for your father to die and bury him and then go get busy ministering? And so that's what's behind Jesus's response. He's saying, we need to go now. We're on the clock. Literally right Daniel gave the prophecy there on the clock. There's no time for meddling So the significance of the kingdom immanency But what about our context of Christ's imminent return? So maybe you successfully answer that first question. You're willing to make that sacrifice Let me get married first Let me have a few kids first. Let me get a job promotion. Let me reach a retirement age first, and then I'll do a second career and maybe get into pastoral ministry. Time is of the essence, folks. Have you ever thought about when the rapture happens, and it will happen, that the people after that, it'll be too late? The people that are raptured who have been waiting, they've been a believer, but they're on the fence about getting serious about following the Lord. At that point, it's done, right? The work week is over, so to speak. Your paycheck will be whatever the rewards you receive. And this life is that work week. Are we working hard while there's time? Because Christ's return can happen at any moment, and time is of the essence. Now I'm not saying be irresponsible, especially if you're the father and the head of the house, sell the house, quit your job, and go do street evangelism. That would be foolish. Yes, I'm all for trusting the Lord. and his provision, but you do have certain responsibilities. And the context here is a little bit different. I want to be clear on that. Yes, Christ's return is imminent, but the kingdom imminency was very much a reality that if the nation of Israel accepted the Messiah, the kingdom was going to be established. And so there was urgency there to a greater degree now, whereas We have a responsibility, I'm saying, that's different than maybe responsibilities they have. There's nothing wrong with building a career, building up your life, and taking care of your family. But what I am saying is, are you following the Lord while you're doing it? Are you ministering while you're doing it? And I fully recognize, not everybody is called into vocational ministry. And it is a call. It is a call, especially pastoral ministry. And I'm not saying that to say how hard it is, because truly, I am blessed beyond blessed by the people God has sent me over to minister to. But it is a call. And I believe pastors looking to get into pastoral ministry need to count the cost. You're sacrificing a great deal of things, comfort, you know, thinking about your kids. And again, you guys have, you're not the issue. I'm saying, On average, they call it the fishbowl. When you're in ministry, you live in a fishbowl. Your marriage is on view. Your kids are on view. How many pastoral kids end up falling away from the Lord because of the pressures put on them by mom and dad because, I'm the pastor's dad, you gotta straighten up, right? And it's all, the other side of that is it's all fake, right? Sunday morning, Everything looks nice, but during the week, they know what dad's really like. That's a challenge for me, right? And so counting the cost, but are you willing to understand the sacrifices involved and also understand the urgency involved in reaching lost souls? So what stands in our way to following Christ now? Following Christ sometimes requires great personal loss, but it's worth it. In the end, it's totally worth it, because this life is so short. And I like to say, even if we suffered every day for the rest of our life, it's terminal, right? There's an end. But you know what's also eternal? Eternity. And when that ends, how we live now determines what eternity is like. If we're faithful now, we're training for reigning now, are we going to have those same responsibilities and privileges based on our faithful service here and now? Or with what God has given us, are we just not utilizing it? And we're saved, but as through fire, Corinthians says. We're there, but maybe we're the janitor or the door holder in heaven. And I'm not belittling those jobs, by the way. But I'm just saying, as far as rewards in heaven, are we going to have greater opportunity to glorify God forever because of our faithfulness here and now? That's right. Father, we thank you so much for your love. We thank you for the freeness of salvation. And we thank you for the clarity of what's involved in giving our life to you, not just the sacrifice or the urgency, but also the rewards. You're so good to us, Lord. And I know it's a challenge. There's so much going on. And sometimes we could go back and forth on being committed to you. But I pray, Lord, that each and every day we would yield ourselves to you and to your will and to your plan for us, and that we would fulfill the things that you have for us in growing and developing individually and seeing that the church is edified corporately. We love you and thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.