This sermon delves into the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 10, emphasizing the importance of surrendering to God and relying on Him for provision and guidance. It highlights the need to trust in God's care, seek godly fellowship, and let the peace of Christ govern decisions. The sermon also addresses the urgency of repentance, obedience, and casting all cares upon God for restoration and joy.

I left off at Matthew 10. Matthew 10, verse 9. If you have your Bibles, you can read along. If not, I'll read. Matthew 10, verse 9. Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts. No bag for the journey, or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it. If not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly, now this is Jesus saying this, truly, I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. That's pretty powerful because Sodom and Gomorrah, if you remember, were judged by God for their wickedness in the cities. That was happening, the Bible says their wickedness actually reached up to heaven and God said, no more. And Abraham tried to contend for the city and Lord, if there's 50 righteous, if there's 45, if there's 40, and that wasn't gonna be, and God had to judge those two nations. So Jesus is saying, or two nations, two cities. Jesus is saying it's more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those who reject Christ, if you wanna bring it to our modern vernacular and what that would mean for us. To reject Christ when you have the truth right there and yet reject him, it's gonna be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah in that day. And actually, while I'm on that point, this is actually one of the last points, but let me read it because it'll make sense. I pulled this from the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by John Noland. And here's what it says about more bearable, intolerable than Sodom and Gomorrah. The people heard, but they failed to repent in Jesus' day. The saying is not designed to hold out hope for Sodom and Gomorrah because there's no hope, but rather to suggest that the present situation created by the coming of Jesus means that what is involved in rejecting his messengers is much more serious than had been the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. And I think sometimes we forget about that. We think about the Gospel, the good news, and we're like, yeah, okay, people reject it. And like, oh yeah, no big deal, you're at your comfort, and you're just kind of this easygoing appeal. But the message of the Gospel, and it's what I gave at the memorial service this afternoon, a lot of people didn't wanna hear it. I'll tell you that right now by the looks on their face. But to understand that, listen, you're separated from God. You will end up in a place called hell if you don't turn. That's an urgent message. It's an urgent, very urgent message. That's why it's more tolerable for those in Sodom and Gomorrah because they were just wicked, and God rained down hell and brimstone and all kinds of things and destroyed those cities. But these people actually hear the truth. Listen, there's a loving God who wants you to return to him if you're straight away, or if you don't know him, he wants you to know him by embracing his Son, by embracing his sacrifice. And people just say, nope, I don't wanna have anything to do with that type of God. And I reminded them that if Brittany was here, you think she would be having a little bit of passion? She'd be saying, Shane, warn them. I don't care if it takes an hour or two, warn them. Warn them that they need to get their lives straight. Warn them that they're not right with God. Would you warn them? Would you plea? Would you tell them about Jesus Christ? This is an urgent message. You think that, I think that's what she would do. And that's why there's this urgency because they're rejecting the Christ. And where we left off, we've been talking about what does God want from me. Last few weeks, we talked about don't look at the odds, and that was encouraging. As we yield to God, as we yield to the work of the Holy Spirit, he begins to work in us, and then us with the Holy Spirit is a majority, right? Just you with God is a majority. Life's problems, life issues, God's miracles that we're wanting to take place in our life, God can do it, and you don't have to worry about, oh, man, there's not enough people, there's this, things don't look right. God plus you, or you plus God is a majority because Jesus turned the world upside down with 12 men, really 11. And then we talked about we have limited time to do God's will. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And I reminded you that wisdom is your friend, right? Wisdom's not our enemy, wisdom's our friend. Many times, I think we're waiting for God to write something up in the sky, or for just deep impression of the Holy Spirit, I'm just waiting, you know? And I love to be led by the Holy Spirit, don't get me wrong, but also, those same people discard wisdom. They'll charge too much, they'll do this, they'll just, there's no wisdom. I'm like, what, okay, you're waiting for the leading of the Holy Spirit, but you're making some very unwise decisions, and you wonder why you're caught in all this turmoil. Wisdom is on our, wisdom is our side. Believe it's Proverbs, it says, get wisdom. Above everything else, get wisdom, and all you're getting, get understanding, and she will exalt you, she will promote you. So I think if we look at the God-given brain that he's given us, the biblical truth that we know, and then we make wise decisions. So don't discount wisdom. And then we talked about proclaiming the message, right? That the gospel is primary. And we left off last week with this statement, misaligned priorities always result in frustration. When you get your priorities misaligned, it leads to frustration and anxiety, and I feel like I'm out of God's will because priorities are misaligned. So anytime a priority is misaligned, it will lead to those things. But I wanted to pick up a little bit there and talk more about this message. When Jesus said, proclaim this message. And I think we forget, when I say this, I'm sure many of you are thinking, me up here preaching, right? Proclaim this message. Yeah, the pulpits have to do it, proclaim this message. But actually, what happens more than in the pulpits is in the pew. When you guys go out sitting on airplanes or out on working with your coworkers or counseling people, proclaiming the message often appears in counseling and talking to people, conversations. That's how you proclaim the message as well. These guys didn't go around to the different towns and build some little stage with a podium. They went in the city, in the square, among the people, proclaiming the message, talking to them in counseling. And a few points I want to just share with you that have been really helpful for me is the heart of the person presenting the Gospel must be emotionally engaged with the truth they believe. A lot of people have what I would call, it's like you're in seminary. Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah. Not seminary's not bad, I'm just saying it's more of a school setting. Bah, bah, bah, bah. And there's no emotion, there's no engagement. They don't really love the people they're witnessing to. There's just, here's the Gospel, take it or leave it. And that doesn't work. Our hearts have to be engaged in that. We have to feel the love for the people. But guess what? You won't feel the love for the people on your own. You need what I think is important to ask for is this baptism of love, this overfilling of love that God gives you. God, give me, let me see people as you see them. Because we won't come up with it on our own. We can't say, oh, let me love better, or come on. We have to say, Lord, through your Holy Spirit, break me. Break me. And that's why if you get involved in ministry, you can see brokenness and broken lives. And from that, God starts to break you and you have a true love for people. Paul would say that we cared for you as a nursing mother cares for her own child. I've never seen a greater love than that. A mother with her child, or a father with their child guarding. I brought my little kids to the fair last night. I was on guard mode. Man, I won't get there. I gotta be careful what I say. But I'm like, where do these people come from? And you gotta be, you're on guard and you're guarding and I'm loving them children so much to do that. But how many people really love the people when they're giving the gospel? Or we're just throwing theology at people. So I would encourage you to ask for that, seek that. Lord, I need that heart of love. I need that heart of compassion. Have you cried with people? Have you wept at their condition? Have you felt the pain and just, oh, it just hurts. That's where the power comes from because now you can relate. Now you've got a heart of compassion. Now, here's why that's important. Now your words are not only seasoned with grace, they're seasoned with love. See, that's what the truth in love means. You can have truth, pound in the truth, be like, I don't want it to have anything to do with that guy but you bring the truth with love and there's tears in your eyes and there's, man, you just love the people. And it's hard to come by. I would never love people on my own. It's through the breaking process of God, the refiner's fire and that time in the prayer closet and praying and worshiping God. Sometimes you'll bring things and I'll just cry, you know, and you think of what the Christians are going through in Iraq. You know, and the little kids and it just breaks your heart and then you see your neighbors, they're on their way to hell. Little kids playing in the street, you're going to hell. Man, if that doesn't break your heart, I don't know what to tell you. But you can't muster it up, you know what I'm saying? It's not like, okay, okay, you gotta take it to God and say, Lord, break me, give me that love. I need the love of Christ in my life. I still pray that, because we can become cold and callous, can't we, to the things of God? I mean, I just thought of preparing this sermon, I thought this week, oh man, I hope that it was a hard thing to think about, but how many people I know that if they died, they're not going to heaven? In my family, maternal separation from God, that's a lot of people, not just immediate, but family, cousins, friends, even relatives. I mean, it's a lot of people. So once God gives you that love, then you can reach out even more. I mean, if just all of us shared our faith just a little bit, we'd see lives changed. And I talk to a lot of people, and I say, when was the last time you shared your faith? It's not days, it's not weeks, it's not months. Sometimes it's years, almost waiting for the right opportunity. You can talk God into everything. You can work God into every conversation, right? I woke up Wednesday morning in Washington and said, how far is the White House? 30 minutes, okay, I just walked. And I get there, and this guy's protesting, his shirt's off, he's got stuff written on his back, and he's giving the president the finger. Up on the gate, just standing there with the guard. I'm like, what's wrong with this guy? Oh, he's protesting something. Wow. I have a picture on my phone I can show you. But I told Elizabeth if she asked her, she could edit out the guy in case I ever use it, it won't be a good thing. But I tell her, hey, what's going on? Conspiracy and theories, and the government's after me, and all this, just, wow. So I just started bringing back to, okay, well, where's God in this? And he just got irate. I mean, he got upset, and he's like, I actually can't tell you what he told me to go do with my Bible. But, hey, listen, this is what you need. You don't need, this isn't a, he's brought this little chip, you gotta watch this chip, man. The government, and they're like, no, no, this is a God problem. You need to get your heart right with God. And he started to get loud and vulgar. I said, okay, well, man, I better kind of get out of here. Because the Capitol Police, I mean, that place is no joke. You can't even stop the place of Friends House, who set up the speaking gate. He actually lives right behind the Supreme Court, the big Supreme Court, probably from here to 60th Street. And you can't even stop your car on there very long. Because of the Oklahoma thing with the bombs, they gotta keep all the traffic moving 24-7. It's a whole different atmosphere than what we're used to. But I was able to bring it into this gentleman, bring it into somebody else on the street. You can bring in God, every opportunity, out of money. I need some money. Where's your relationship with God? Is God providing for you? And you just bring it into everything. But God has to give you, that's actually a byproduct of the filling of the Holy Spirit, is love and joy and peace and contentment, long-suffering and gentleness and kindness. So as you submit to the work of the Holy Spirit, God will have these things flow into you. And many people are scared, too. They're like, I don't want that. Trust me, you want the Spirit-filled life. Because with the tears of sorrow, there's tears of joy. There's joy unspeakable, unspeakable joy that comes from serving God in this area. I like what Jonathan Edwards said. He was a great theologian hundreds of years ago. He said, God is glorified not only by His glories being seen, in other words, we see God's glory, we reflect upon it, we know His glory, but by His glories being rejoiced in. You might say, what's he talking about there? Well, many times in this, when you get into deep theology and you become a student of theology, you kind of, I don't know what the right word is, you kind of promote the attributes of God, and you're talking about God as if He doesn't exist, though. He's a theological concept. So Jonathan Edwards is saying here, and this is really important, that we actually, we rejoice in the truths that we're proclaiming. So we're not just proclaiming truths, but we're actually rejoicing in them. We have a heart of joy, a heart of peace, and a heart of gentleness, and we rejoice not only in the truths of God, but in experiencing God. And that's powerful there. Balancing truth and love, we have to be joyful but serious, and we have to be patient but objective. John Piper said, no wonder people often don't want to be around doctrinally driven individuals. They aren't doing doctrine right. They aren't emotionally in touch with the truth they teach. No wonder people don't often want to be around doctrinally driven people. If I'm doctrinally driven, I will hit you with this like a sledgehammer. There's a couple seminaries not too far from here. I will ask the guys sometimes, have you ever even experienced the love of Christ? Sure, you've got your theology down, sure. But is your heart disengaged? I mean, you're almost excited that people are going to hell. You've got your doctrine down, election, and total depravity, and irresistible gray. You've got it down, and you're so excited about it, and people are going to hell, you don't care less. That's why doctrine drives people away. But if you could present God's election, and how His grace can be irresistible, if you can present that with love, that's where the heart changes. Because nobody wants a loud mouth preacher in their face who could care less. Let me say that again. People who are doctrinally driven are not doing doctrine right. They aren't emotionally in touch with the truth they teach. Because it's one thing to teach truth, but it's another thing to experience it, isn't it? And when you experience the truth, then you can teach it much better. But, I want to just leave it at the truth side. Let me talk to you on the emotional side. I was reading a quote by James Boyce, and he said this to a man named R.C. Sproul some time ago. He said, we are surrounded by pastoral wimps. That's true. They say people don't need teaching. They need to be hugged, and they need silence, they need stories, and they need to have shared experiences. You see the other side? What I talked about before, truth and emotion, and you're kind of these separate camps where they really need to be together. So the just truth camp, you just hit people. Are you going through something? Here, pick that. Boom. Can you imagine that? Oh, you're depressed? Here you go, boom. That's what we do sometimes. Two scriptures and call me in the morning. But the emotional side, people don't need teaching. They don't need this. We just need to hug them and listen, have quiet time with them. Well, that's not gonna help either, is it? Because they need the truth. They need the truth in love. They need the emotion, yet the foundation. They need both. So when it talks about proclaim the gospel, make sure you have both of these in order. You have to listen and talk, but you also have to bring the truth. Because really, biblical counseling, all biblical counseling is, is I have the compassion of Christ, letter of the Holy Spirit, to bring God's truth into a situation. Both. But if all I bring is truth, Pharisee. If all I bring is emotion, people are like, well, he didn't tell me much, and my therapist didn't tell me. You have to have both. The goal of the person who is engaging, or the goal of the person who is counseling, must be love. The reason most people don't minister and reach out to others is because they don't have a compassionate, loving heart. Shane, could you say that more clearly? Yeah. The reason most people don't minister and reach out, let's just be honest, I struggle with love, I don't know if you're aware of that, but I struggle with love and compassion all the time. Who doesn't? Because pride comes in, sinful nature comes in, but then God break me. Lord, put me, that's why I thank God for being able to minister inside of the hospital homes. If you haven't got signed up, get signed up, because it will force you to minister. I left there just in tears, and just, Lord, how can we help? Lord, help me. Lord, thank you for it. And you just, you gotta kind of, you have to do things that will prompt that love and that compassion. Go visit a ministry sometime that's intending for, or caring for people dying. Oh, yeah, it's heavy. Absolutely. You know, I walk in and talk to them, maybe they've got two weeks, three weeks. A man grown, man crying, saying I blew a room my whole life. I gave it all up for alcohol or money, fame, success, and my family's distant, and I'm dying here. You don't think you need a little compassion to deliver God's grace to that man? But the truth, people say, well, brother, as God's word says, it's your choice. You gotta live with your choices. That's your consequences. Next room. That doesn't help. That does not work. Paul said that the reason most people don't minister and reach out to others is because they don't have a compassionate, loving heart. Paul said that you are my example as a mother feeding her own children. First Thessalonians 2.7. I'm gonna read a translation I haven't read before. It's the Holman Christian Standard Bible. It says, although we could have been a burden as Christ's apostles, instead, we were gentle among you. That's what Paul's saying. We could have been a burden, and this is Paul, but he's saying, instead, we were gentle among you. When was the last time you were gentle among somebody? Ministering, or some people are prone to gentleness, some are not. Instead, we are gentle among you as a nursing mother nurtures her own children. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but when I thought of that verse, and Paul's using that verse, and he's paralleling it, comparing it with ministry. When Paul ministered as a mother, when was the last time you approached ministry like that? Like, okay, I'm gonna take care of these people as I take care of my own kids. Wake up, call. Wow. So think about that. Paul's saying that when we minister to these people, we ministered as they were our own children. And also, I like to tie in proclaim the message. When Jesus says proclaim the message, it ties in well with Isaiah 61, because this is why Jesus came. This is one of the reasons why Jesus came, and he calls us to do the same thing. When Jesus got up in front of everybody, he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Those are four areas of ministry you should focus on and make it a point. Number one, the poor. You might say, Shane, we've heard this in church for the last 50 years. Probably more the last 2,000 years, right? Because why is that? Because the poor people feel beat up and rejected. They do. When you don't have anything and you've lost everything, and most of you, I don't know if you've been in that condition where I've been close to that edge and losing everything, you have to start all over. Money's nice, but guess what is more important? Emotional wholeness and feeling beat up and rejected. Do you not? You feel beat up and rejected. So Jesus says, go to those people. Don't just pull out your wallet and give them $20. Go to those people and build them up. Beat them up and they're rejected. I see one guy off and over on J and 10th Street. He walks a lot, he's got a backpack, probably about 60, he's staying at the Vietnam Hospital. I think that's what it's called, the Vietnam Hospital. Sorry, the Veterinarian's Hospital. Too many messages on my brain. So anyway, but instead of just giving him money, which I do, I build him up, invite him to church, what God's doing in his life, what he's went through and how he can minister to others, and he leaves there built up, a smile on his face. Shane, I'm so glad I ran into you today. Not for the $20, but to build up. Now I wish I could say I could do that all the time, but I don't, I'm hit and miss too. I don't want you to think I'm up here on a pedestal because this is a hard area. Sometimes we just want to give him a few bucks and go on, right? But the poor needs to be built up, not rejected. What about the brokenhearted? Oh my goodness. The brokenhearted, we saw a lot of that today before this service. Lives have been shattered. Lives are shattered, completely shattered, and God calls us, go and bring healing to that heart. Even a phone call or saying a prayer, you know those little things. I'll share something with you. The person doesn't even go to this church, and it was a while ago, and I didn't even know her very well. My wife did and another friend, but her husband passed away. So I met with, we helped them out. I was talking with my wife, saying how are they doing good, and really didn't think anything of it. But as the months went by, she finally contacted me, and said, I really need to talk to you. I was so upset that you never even called me. I told my wife this, she goes, you don't even know her. Like, I know, but golly, I feel so bad. But it's those times when people are feeling that their lives have been shattered. Just the phone call or the letter. So now guess what I try to do, even if I don't know them that well. Send them a letter, email, or call, or text, and just, you're building, because I don't really know how it works. All I know is when God's people come alongside somebody else, it builds up, it doesn't pull down. They're already feeling pulled down. So we're called to say, listen, I'm praying for you if you need anything, and sharing in your grief, and we're there to help the brokenhearted. So I wouldn't just look at ministry or the gospel. Sometimes we have this narrow view. Here's the gospel, I gotta run to somebody and tell them just about Jesus, and it has to fit in this box, and they have to really ask me, and I wanna, you know, but Jesus said, listen, go and help the brokenhearted. Go and help the poor, and bring them up. What else? Liberty to the captives. Bring liberty to the captives. Why does the enemy want to oppress people? Addiction, he wants them bound up and loaded down, and we're called to help them in this area, to bring liberty to the captives, and then opening the prison doors. Opening the prison doors, this is a wonderful thing. Colossians 1.13.14, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness. Christ has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and that's why I wanted to let a lot of these people know before the service, I didn't plan on this paralleling in, but it works good, is I wanted them to know, listen, Christ can set you free from the darkness you're bound to, from that addiction, from, I mean, you can tell they're dressed, and how they're bound by darkness. Listen, Christ can set you free. He can conquer that, and really what I did is I talked about hope, and I said, the interesting thing about hope is it's given to everybody, but it's accepted by few. God gives his hope to everybody. If you call upon my name, you will be saved. The hope, the peace that surpasses all understanding, but how many people say, nope, I don't want it. No, thank you. No, thank you. So opening the prison doors, remember that. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. And many people say, well, Shane, that sounds great, but I'm still dealing with some junk in me. What's going on? Well, Paul, if I had time, I'd turn to Romans 5, Romans 6. If you get home, read Romans 5, Romans 6. Don't turn on the TV. You can get through the whole book of Romans in 25 minutes. He talks about whatever we choose to obey becomes our master. So even though the power of sin was eradicated on the cross, the influence isn't. So if you keep allowing that influence in, it's almost like we shut off all the lights in here. The light is stronger than the darkness, is it not? As soon as he hit those switches, the darkness flees. But the darkness begins to come back. As the lights are dimmed, the lights go out. Same thing in our own lives. Because I talk to Christians that are bound by addictions. They're bound by darkness. They're like, I haven't experienced this verse quite yet, Shane. Right. He's delivered you from the domain of darkness. The domain means you're under Satan's control. You're on your way to hell. You're locked. And then Christ frees you. You repent, you give your heart to him. You're a new creation in Christ. You're free. But guess what? That sin is still there to come back in and take dominion again. Whatever you choose to obey becomes your master. Romans 5 and 6 talks about the spirit gives us choices, different choices from the flesh. And we're never free from these choices. So if I give into the choices of the flesh, I'm pulled back into that cage, back into that prison. And that's why sometimes I still feel bound even though I'm free. Does that make sense? Because a lot of people, I think they're confused. Like, man, I haven't experienced this freedom. But there's still, there's still, that would be a whole, actually a whole other sermon on its own, how to break loose from these things. And even pastoring, it's hard because I can tell if I, you know, if I get, you know, if you start going back into this direction, into the direction of the flesh, and the flesh is pulling you back, if you just say, well, I'm just gonna kind of go that direction, now I'm bound, now I'm addicted. Remember I told you coffee was one of the hardest things I've ever had to give up. That just keeps pulling you back in, addictions and addictions, and you just keep pulling, now I'm still bound, now I'm bound even more. And guys who give themselves up to pornography on an ongoing basis, now they're bound by it, now they can't get out. Well, how did it happen? Whatever you choose to obey becomes your master. You can get, you put, we put ourselves back into bondage. That's why spiritual disciplines are so important. Listen, guys, I don't just talk about prayer and fasting and worship for no reason. That's your arsenal, that's your sword of the Spirit, that's your breastplate of righteousness, that's your helmet of salvation, that's the belt of truth, that's what keeps you away from those things. So next time, view spiritual disciplines as warfare, not inconvenience. Number four, ministry follows healing. We had talked about this last week. Jesus said, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons freely. You have received freely, you shall be healed. You shall give. Isn't that interesting? Freely you have received. I just thought about this today and was overwhelmed at how much God has given us. I mean, I see people sometimes who do it here too. So I'm not making fun if you do this, but it's like, you know. Like, man, we got that thing set at 75 and comfortable chairs and the carpet and everything's polished, our car. We spend more money at the car wash than people in Africa do on food in the course of, and we are so, running water? You can go turn on your water heater and put on vacation mode. I want a little bit hotter. Is that too hot for you, spouse? Let me turn. And everything just, we're unbelievably blessed. Freely, Lord, you have given me so much. Why not just give some of that back and help people? Lord, thank you. And if you look at life, but we're so focused on what I don't have, I'm being taxed to death. I mean, I just talked to a guy. I mean, 150,000 a year and he's complaining about his taxes. Wow. Well, don't get me wrong. I don't want to be taxed any more than we need to pay for road department police. So I'm not on the other side, trust me. But at the same time, if you can't live off $100,000 a year and you're single, wow. But he's so upset and mad. And what is that? It fuels everything, everything. Has no more prayer life. He's upset at the whole thing. The whole thing's structure falling down. Well, I say, okay, I understand, but let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray for our government and the leaders. But don't misunderstand how blessed you are compared to the rest of the world. That would be you being the top one point something percent in the entire world. You're a millionaire. So let's focus, because when you focus on that, then I turn into a cheerful heart. And God says, I love a cheerful heart. He says, I don't want grumbling and complaining. I think sometimes we miss it. We go, I don't commit adultery. I'm not hooked to pornography. I'm not addicted to anything. But we hold onto all these other things. We grumble and we complain. Sometimes I just want to tell people on Facebook, man, stop posting so much negative stuff. Yes, the government's falling apart. We're going to hell in a handbasket, but you better have a good attitude while the ship's going down. And because God can bless a good attitude. When I was in Washington, they asked me, is there any hope? I said, in Him, absolutely. We're so desperate. We're so in need. Absolutely. And apart from a great awakening, there's no hope. But if God revives His people, and all He says is four things. If my people who are called by my name, that was a message I gave, would just humble themselves, that's all, just humble yourselves and pray and seek my face and turn from your wicked ways. That's it. That's all. Yeah, but you'd be amazed at how hard that is for so many people. Not Hollywood, not the government, not Washington. If my people who are just called by my name, if they will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and in context, Solomon just gave this wonderful prayer in 2 Chronicles 6. Said, Lord, we dedicate this temple to you. Lord, everything is yours. But God says, but when I bring pestilence, and when I bring drought, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, then I will forgive their sins, and then I will heal their land. So is God out to lunch? Is God on break? I think he's still going up there going, if, if, if, if, if. Oh, you humbled yourself and you pray? You haven't turned from your wicked ways? You haven't sought me with all your heart? Kaddash, to seek Kaddash. In that language there, it was like seeking a child that is lost. When have you ever sought God like that? Remember I lost shame at the fair a couple years ago? Nothing mattered, nothing mattered. I don't care what time it is, I don't care about church tomorrow, I don't care where my car is parked, I don't care if my wife and kids are used to it, I've got to find him. That's the language. They said if you Kaddash with all your heart, if you seek me with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your might, then you'll find me. So we have half-hearted Christianity upset that God is not moving because they don't spend more than five minutes in their prayer closet and they won't turn from their wicked ways. So what's going on in our country? Us. Us. Now how many people have to humble themselves, pray, seek their faith? I don't know, but I'm gonna try to raise up an army that will do that. Because that's the key to turning this nation around. Go vote, go register, great, wonderful things. Protests if you want, just don't give them the finger. I'm sorry, you know how to arrest that guy? Man, break his finger or something. And then the fifth point, do not take any money with you. Now what's interesting about this whole passage in Matthew 10 is if you read it in Luke, read it in other parts of the gospel, they say different things. I think it's Luke, don't take me on this, but I don't think Luke gives a whole definition there of the gold and silver and copper. I think he just says money. But it's interesting, the gold was, if you have gold, you have much provision. If you have silver, mediocre provision, and then you have the bronze or the copper, that was light provision. But Jesus is saying, listen, don't take anything with you. No gold, no silver, no copper, no much provision, no little provision, don't do anything. Just go and don't rely on those things. So what's he talking about? Well, God often builds by removing. He tests us by dependence. God will often build your, you wanna see a mature, if I could have this perfect, mature Christian believer right here, say about 55, male or female, doesn't matter. You don't think that person's had to gone through hell and back? You don't think they've had to go without? You don't think they've had to trust in God? You don't think they might've lost their home, may have been sick with cancer? You don't think that person went through anything? They went through everything. That's why they came out of it. So when Jesus would tell, go walk to these cities, I have no provision. Good, I'll be your provision. I'll be your sustenance. I'll be your strength. Now you're not gonna pull out this. That's what problem with our culture. I get in a bind, let me put on a MasterCard. God says, listen, I'll be your provision. God often builds you up by removing. Actually, you can really test a person's faith when their life starts crumbling apart. They start getting angry and upset. The money's draining. Can't drive a $50,000 vehicle anymore. The Hummer, the big house up on the hill, and then they get real angry. What were you trusting in? I don't know if anybody here drives a Hummer, but I'm just, this is an example. Because I actually knew a guy who had all that, and now he's more in tune with God than he'd ever been before, because God was allowing to pulling these things and utter dependence. And you guys have heard me say this before. I mean, how do you know God, truly know God as a healer? Unless he heals you. I mean, it's one thing to say, I know him as a healer, but he healed me of cancer. The tumor was this big. I was given six months, and it's gone. Oh my God. You think they know a little bit more about God as healer than the person who never went through anything? What about provider? I mean, he takes away, Lord, I can't make it. There's nothing here you're gonna have to provide, and he does. So that builds the relationship with God closer and closer and closer and closer. That's what Jesus is doing here. Take nothing with you. I will put your utter dependence on me. He often leads more by withholding information than supplying it. This is interesting. On knowing God's will, I found that he often leads us more by withholding information than he does by supplying it. Because we want all this information, but God often says, just follow me, and I'll lead by removing things sometimes. Because we wouldn't make certain decisions unless he removed it. You lose that job and watch that bank account go real quick, you'll be moving in a much different direction quickly. He moves us through in different areas by taking things sometimes. Then the sixth point, fellowship with the worthy. When Jesus is saying fellowship with the worthy, I think he's pointing to the point here of entrust your care. Entrust your care. Godly fellowship is important. Very important. Don't go stay at somebody's house who's gonna pull you down or is an unbeliever. Entrust your care with somebody who cares about God. And as iron sharpens iron, fellowship, godly fellowship, they will care for you. That's important. But I believe there's also a second thing here where the Bible talks about bad companions corrupt godly character. We see this throughout the Old Testament and even Paul's writing in the New. That godly character can be drawn away by bad influences. As a matter of fact, now I'm thinking of it, the last half the memorial services I've done the last few years are because bad influences drove them away. See, it's one thing, I'm not talking about you don't minister to people, but if the ministry is going to pull you in the opposite direction, if it's gonna pull you down, if this person who you're hanging out with is pulling you away from God, that's not a good thing. Jesus is saying here too, stay with those who are worthy, stay with those who will build you up, stay with those who are on mission with you, stay with those who will care for you because that's a godly principle. And then one of the interesting things he says next is dust off the feet, dust off your feet. Isn't that amazing? If you go into a city, it's like, they don't wanna hear this message, you just dust off your feet, remove those pollutants. And what struck me here is I realized that we're just the messengers, we're not the correctional officers. I'm just a messenger, you don't want the message. It kind of parallels with Pontius Pilate. Remember, he was condemning Christ, he said, there's nothing wrong with this guy, there's nothing wrong with him, there's nothing wrong with Jesus, and that he was so worried about losing his position and Rome, rising up an insurrection, and he just said, I wash my hands of this innocent man's blood. I'm no part of this. That's what he's saying here. Remember, you're not a correctional officer, and this is hard for me because I wanna keep pressing that issue, right? Oh, you didn't get the first time? Let me give it to you a second time. Let me give it to you a third time. I don't wanna brush off my feet and say, okay. Obviously, we wouldn't physically take up, it's a picture there of walking into the town, you've got all the dirt on the town, they wear sandals a lot of times, and you're just, okay. Gave you the message, that's it, and you're walking away from that. Don't sit there and argue, don't sit there and debate, but let the peace of Christ rule, govern, and direct. Let the peace of Christ rule, govern, and direct your heart. You know what, let me say something on that. Before making decisions, one of the best things I found is let the peace of Christ rule, govern, and direct you. If there's no peace there, that's the inner alarm clock of the Holy Spirit. It's like the umpire of the soul saying, listen, there's no peace there, don't move forward with that decision. Might be a right decision, but not now. If you're just like, man, something just doesn't feel right about it. But what do we do? But it's better money. Or when dating, but they're cute. I don't have peace, but that'll come later, won't it? Look at this, trophy wife, trophy husband. And we make these decisions based on no peace. No peace. And many of you know we've been praying about a building, and we will not move forward until there's peace, until there's great peace. Because you can force doors open. I think God lets us force doors open sometimes. Have you ever forced a door open? It's ugly. I'm gonna make this happen. I'm gonna make this happen. And we end up causing more harm than good. So let the peace of Christ rule and govern and direct your hearts. And then of course, the final verse we talked about already. More bearable and tolerable than Sodom and Gomorrah. The people heard, but they failed to repent. The people heard the message of the gospel, and they failed to repent. It's the same thing I tried to get the audience, probably a little bit bigger than this earlier, was this message that you can hear the gospel message. And I see so many people, yeah, I know Jesus, he died for sins and stuff. Yeah, that's cool, man. Like no, that's not cool if he didn't die for you. You have to acknowledge that by what? Repenting and getting your heart right with God. So at the closing points, have you been rejecting the message of the cross? Have you been rejecting the message of the cross? Jesus said, truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for you. And honestly, this is a hard part when I pastor, when I speak evangelically and at memorials and trying to balance grace and love and truth. Because you want to love people, you want to relate, but at the same time, the scriptures stare you right in the face, saying it's more bearable than Sodom and Gomorrah, that God judged for their wicked perversions than for a person who rejects Christ. Jesus says, narrow is the way that leads to salvation, broad is the road to destruction. There are many who go by that broad road. So when we try to warn people, listen, get off that broad road to destruction, it's hard because you don't want to come across too strong, but you don't want to come across too easy. Finding that balance, that's why you have to be led of the Holy Spirit, and led of God. Have you been living in disobedience? I found this is true in the life of many of us, is it not? We know, even right now, oh man, I know I got to work on these areas. If you've been living in disobedience, Jesus would say, I believe, truly I tell you, he who knows what to do, but does not do it, it is sin to you, you are living in deception. So if you take anything from this message, turn back to God and get that heart and right relationship with him. And then a final note, have you been living in failure? Truly I tell you, cast all your cares upon him, and he will restore you. See, it's one thing just to deliver the hard message, it's also, oh, you better disobey, get back on track, but we also have to build up. Listen, if you've been living in failure and defeat, which is many Christians, they barely got here. Life is being very difficult on them right now, they're not seeing things like they would like, and it's challenging, but Jesus said, cast all your cares upon me, and I will restore you, I will build you up. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. So I would encourage you tonight, if that's you, if you're in a hard spot, just give it all to Christ. I don't know how this works a lot of times, but as soon as I give everything to him, whether it's the emotions, the unforgiveness, the monetary compensation, all these things, Lord, I just give it all to you, there's a tremendous amount of freedom and a joy, and there it is, there it is, it came back. And then what happens is the days go by, oh, woe is me, life stinks, and then you gotta go back, you gotta cast your cares, it's not a one-time thing. You don't cast all your cares upon him, and you're good for the next 10 years. It's a constant attitude, it's really a positioning of the heart. Lord, I'm positioning my heart to receive from you and to give you everything. That's a prayer that he will answer. So if you've been rejecting him, I encourage you to turn to him. If you've been living in disobedience, I encourage you to get in right relationship with him, like the prodigal son coming home. And if you've been feeling beat up and just depressed, I would encourage you to give your cares to him tonight. He will restore you. I'm not just up here, I'm like, oh, that was a good point to end with, oh, I'm outta here. I truly believe that God can rebuild that, and joy, where there's depression, now there'll be joy. Where there's anxiety, now there'll be joy. Where there was fear, now there'll be joy, because you're counting on the one who created you and who sustained you. That's who you're giving everything to.