Welcome And Open To Hebrews 11

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Hello, and welcome to the West Side Church's special podcast.

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Invite you to open your Bibles to Hebrews, please. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Place your bookmark in that passage. Most of our time will be spent in this text. But we just might leave it. Hebrews chapter 11. Pleased to be with you and grateful for the opportunity to be with this congregation. I've been here a number of times. Always enjoy it. I love this church very much. Appreciate the elders and appreciate Mark and the good work being done in this congregation. And I appreciate so much you being here on a Friday night in the blistering summer heat of Texas to give some time to the Word of God. Give some time in worship. It's just pretty special time to be together. Thank you so much for carving out the time to be here. Hebrews chapter 11, please. Verse 8. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go into the place, which he would afterward receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. First of that verse, by faith Abraham obeyed. My plan tonight is to speak especially to you young people, and I'm going to speak to you just like you're adults. So I'm going to be pretty straightforward about some things. I'm going to be kind of blunt, but I'm going to just treat you like your adult people. And so I hope you'll follow

Two Wrong Extremes About Obedience

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along very carefully this evening and take to heart the things we discussed. I won't leave y'all out either, okay? I'll work, I'll just try to work this general area. How about that? But that's the plan and intention tonight. There are dangerous extremes, generally speaking, when it comes to the Christian faith. Some people seem to take the view that you can't obey God, just can't do it at all. There's no way you can, not possible, can't happen at all in one sense or another. Then there's the other extreme that says you can obey God, and it's super, super easy. It's pretty much not an inconvenience at all. Well, the truth, folks, is right there in the middle. It's right in the middle. And the danger on either extreme, beyond the fact that both of them are not biblical, the danger is if you go around believing you can't obey God, then guess what you're going to end up doing? Not obeying God. Well, I just can't do it. I just can't pull myself up. I can't be faithful. I can't be holy. I can't be serious about my convictions because, well, the preacher said I can't. When the other extreme is you believe it's just so easy and hunky-dory that you really don't put yourself into it. The truth is again right in the middle. You want to discuss some truths you can stand on, like Brother Stephen just talked about? You want to talk about some ideas you can build a life on? Hear me very carefully. You can obey God. You can. In fact, what God does in his word is he holds up these exemplars of faithfulness, exemplars of individuals who did obey. And so we should not only take note of them, we should obey God. We can obey God, and dare I say we must obey God. Now, if that's the case, and it is, well, then there's probably some things we should know about obeying God. So here's what I want to do this evening. I want to take some ideas from Hebrews chapter 11. I'm going to essentially share with you four things that I think you need to know. You're going to obey God, you're going to commit your life to Jesus Christ, you're going to try to be faithful, you're going to give him your best. Four

Four Anchors For Obeying God

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things you need to know from Hebrews chapter 11, and I think they'll ground us a little bit better as we go through with truths we can stand on. So let's start with this first one. Hebrews chapter 11. Look at verse 7, please. Verse 7. By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Noah, warned by God, moved in faith to build the ark. I want you to understand that one of the challenges you're going to have to approach is it is tough to obey God. It is tough to obey God. Toughness is kind of one of those things that's fallen out of fashion. I do not mean something that's just what booger-picking boys do. Okay? And I know I've got daughters. I get it.

Tough Faith Like Noah

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Nobody, little girls don't grow up thinking, well, Daddy, I sure hope I'm going to be tough. Because tough's something little boys do. But I want you to understand, I'm not describing some little person who can run barefooted on gravel roads. I'm not talking about somebody who can share punches and licks with their buddies. I'm talking about somebody who can be determined, who can have a sense of stickiness to them. They stay the course. They're tough. There are people who can't be shaken, who can't be pushed around, who can't be bullied. They're going to stick to this. You want to talk about something that's lacking in our culture nowadays? Is a sense of stick to it. Yeah, we're going to stick to this project. In our culture, we want to quit at the first sign of trouble. And you young people especially need to recognize you need to be tough. You want to be faithful to King Jesus? You can be, you should be, but you're going to have to be tough to do it. You see toughness in Noah? You know, for one thing, Noah was physically tough. I generally, you know, you'll see these little caricatures sometimes of these Bible individuals. I'm going to suggest to you, Noah was pretty jacked. You don't build an ark with your hands for over several decades and not be pretty jacked. Noah was physically tough. I'll tell you further that Noah was tough in every sense of that idea. When I did do ranch work years ago, I had what men would like to have, calluses. I don't have calluses anymore because I preach, and preachers don't get calluses handling books and Bibles. You just don't do the shaking hands, no matter how aggressively you shake my hand after this, doesn't really build calluses on my hands. But when you get those good hard calluses, you know, you've got to be careful patting people on their back at church services because your calluses will catch the fabrics of their clothes. You recognize that Noah? Noah was tough in every sense of the word. He was tough enough to get up every single day and pick up a hammer. I have a hard time imagining that degree of toughness because we go to belly aching the minute we face a little adversity. Noah gets up every day and builds. He gets up the next day and builds. He gets up the next day and builds. Because Noah was tough. I would suggest further that every Bible hero you've ever read about, even if this is not the quality that would come to your mind, but they were tough. They were individuals who could stay the course. And I think sometimes because of some of those bad ideas that we bought into as a culture, sometimes we've even bought into as believers of Jesus Christ, we forget that even David, even David talked about walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Folks, that's not meandering through the beautiful lilies eating cupcakes. The valley of the shadow of death. You think David was tough? Go read some of those Psalms where he lays out his heart before God and he says, God, I'm struggling here. But I know you're good, or I know you're powerful, or I know you're strong, I know you're in control, I know you're still God. What's David do? David's tough. He gets up and goes again. I want you to consider not only was Noah tough in other ways like that, but Noah was tough enough to keep his convictions in a world that had thrown away all ideas of holiness, so much so that even Peter calls him a preacher of righteousness. You know how hard it would have been to get up every day, build the ark, and hold your convictions in a world that just kind of ugh. But Noah says, I'm gonna get up every day and do what's right. You young people? Young people? Is that what you're doing now? You get up every day, I'm just I'm gonna do what's right. Now think with me then. Not only did Noah do that, he did it in a world that was against God, against holy things, against anything that resembled what God would desire from creation. Every day. I know you recognize your situation in this world. You go to school, fires back up in a couple of weeks. You feel alone there? You probably do. I generally think most young people who are trying to be faithful feel that sense of aloneness, mom and dad. That's on us. We need to recognize they feel those pressures sometimes. Noah, Noah was tough enough to keep his convictions. No social pressures are going to influence him. No thing going on in the world is gonna change who he is. Noah's tough enough to stay the course, to continue to be faithful to God, to keep his convictions, to be obedient. And folks, I need you to think about that because the world around us is constantly asking us to throw away those convictions. That relative truth, Stephen just talked about. There's no such thing as truth. The world's begging us. Well, you don't worry about all that. Your friends, if you're not careful, will beg you to throw away those convictions. Will you be tough enough to keep them? Maybe an unpleasant truth, but it's one your shepherds in this congregation have seen. It's one your preachers that you listen to every week have seen, and it's one that you will see. Not every friend who goes to the right church, who's trying to practice New Testament Christianity, not every friend you make in your walk with Christ will stay faithful to Christ. Will you be tough enough to stay put? Will you be tough enough to stay the course? To continue to live with those convictions. And as we're trying to work with them, will we be tough enough to encourage them when they need it to go and talk to them when they need it? Some of the most difficult things we have to face is those intergenerational conversations where we're seeing things happen. I don't have TikTok, but I know it's a thing, okay? But are we tough enough to see things and go, hey, whoa, whoa, wait a minute now. I'm not sure what you did on that is so wise. You see, folks, this is not just, hey, hey, you guys be faithful. Y'all do good over there. Hey, it's all of us too. Will we be tough enough to have some of those difficult conversations because we love souls, we love you. And I hope you recognize that. That doesn't make me less tough to say, I love you. I want to help you in any way I can serve God and go to heaven, as does every other face in this auditorium tonight. Take one second. Look at this side of the room. Hello, all of you, all of you, all of you. I can see you. You know that, right? Look this way. Every face you see over here has said, those children and their souls matter so much to me, I want to be here to encourage them. Do you get that? Now, what we're trying to do then is help make you tough to endure a world. To make sure that you're tough enough to weather this world and stay grounded. Let me give you a second idea.

Scary Steps Like Abraham

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In Hebrews chapter 11, not only should you be tough, not only do you recognize it is tough, but number two, you need to recognize that it is scary. Now that doesn't mean that it's always scary, that every situation is scary, because it's not. But it does, it does regard there are situations that are terrifying. Look again at verse 8. This is where we began. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into the place, which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tens with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now he takes a little excurses here. After he mentioned Sarah, he mentioned some other things. Jump down to verse 17, please. Verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Now, consider, not only should we be impressed by Abraham's faith, his obedience, when he goes to offer up Isaac. Now, you young people need to appreciate, you have little siblings. This is not like mom and dad maybe going and sacrificing one of your little siblings, okay? Where you'd almost welcome it in some sense. That's not what's going on here. This is a mom and dad. This is a father, Abraham, who has this child given by God as a promise that this child would be the one through whom all God's promises would come. And God says, go offering. You know how scary it would have been to get up that morning? Isaac, come on. Well, I, you know, as a father, I read those words and I think, how could I get that baby's name on my lips? Isaac. I don't know, that may be one of those ones you go over and you go, uh, you. Just come on. I can't say your name. I just can't even say your name right now. But be impressed further, the things that happened before Abraham gave Isaac. Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham lived with his family. Abraham served false gods. Joshua 24 mentions all of those things. Abraham is called by God to leave home, to leave family, and to leave those gods, and Abraham goes and obeys. He essentially leaves everything he's ever known to wander about as a nomad, a tent dweller, in his obedience to God. You think there were moments in that where Abraham was scared? You know, even as he goes and marches through some of those lands, that God even tells him, hey, your kids are going to get all this, and he thinks, man, that's great. But right now, right now, there's a whole bunch of mad people that don't want us around here. And for the record, you get hints of some of his sons being scared in the land as you go and read the rest of the book of Genesis. Abraham leaves everything to obey God. And Abraham then serves for us as a model of what an obedient life looks like. I told you to hold your spot here. Look at Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. And Paul borrows from the life of Abraham to communicate to us how impressive this is, how important this is. And so he says, down in verse 12, we're coming at the end of this section where he's been talking about some of these ideas, and he's been talking about there's no justification in the law of Moses, and yet he holds up Abraham in Romans 4, verse 12. He calls him the father of the circumcision to those who are not only of the circumcision, but who also, here it is, walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. What's he describing? An obedient lifestyle. That Abraham was the sort of man who would make every decision. He would just get up and keep going. That's what obedience is. That's what faithfulness is. It's continuing to get up and go, continuing to take that next step. And I think that sometimes, brethren, we're so impressed by those great big moments. But do you recognize those great big moments of faith were preceded by little decisions made intentionally? You just follow this for a second. You being here tonight wasn't one big decision, was it? Your mom and dad and your grandparents over here were thinking, no, it was about 47,000 big decisions, and I kind of regret most of them, but we're here. Well, you made many decisions to get here. That's exactly what obedience is. That's exactly what faithfulness is. It's making those intentional decisions every day to continue to do what's right. Even if it's a scary situation, even if it's costly, even if you're working through some of those difficulties, you're going to continue to do what's right. Do you appreciate how often we see this in Scripture? I've been preaching through Esther back home once a month. You younger people, you grew up hearing the story of Esther, didn't you? This is where you nod. If you heard this story, you've heard the story of Esther. Yes, no. Yeah, okay, yes. Esther, Esther tells us how scared she was. When Mordecai comes to her and he says, Okay, Esther, you need to go in and talk to your husband. You need to get all this stuff straightened out, she goes, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, whoa, hey. I go in there, he doesn't ask me to go. I'm dead. But what did she do? She just got up and did what was right. I think even as a gospel preacher, I think of Nathan the prophet. You know how hard it would have been for Nathan to go into the king's chambers in his throne room and say, uh, hey David, a man after God's own heart. Hey, David, who's written most of our songbook. Hey, David, who's serving as king of Israel? You are the man. I can't help but wonder what's going through Nathan's mind before he opens that door. This is gonna be pretty terrible. I preached a few of those sermons. You tell Mark? Yeah. But what do all of these great heroes do? They act in obedience. I want to impress you with this concept. Sometimes we get in our heads and we start thinking about all the what-ifs and all the maybes and all of those things, and that scares us instead of making a decision now to do what's right, we go, oh, I just don't know about this other stuff. What's this going to look like in ten years? That's not the question. What's the right thing to do right now? Even some of those bring uncertainty. You have a friend ask you to do something at school, and you say, Oh, I shouldn't be doing that. That can bring social anxiety, it can bring a little scary situation. Am I gonna lose a friend over this? Am I gonna have this kind of ostracism? Is this gonna be just difficult after all of this? You need to recognize that when you serve Jesus Christ, like all of these other people in this room, when we serve Jesus Christ, we we enter into a contract in a sense. Where we're we're gonna have some scary moments. We're gonna have to lean on our convictions and make some decisions that are costly, but at the same time, we're exchanging some things. Colossians 3, verses 1 through 4 describe in multiple ways how Christ is our life. So while you maybe have some cultural uncertainties now, you're exchanging those things for eternal certainties. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then we also will appear with him in glory. But do we recognize that even in a scary situation, we have that continual hope. Fear shouldn't drive us into our Freydy holes. You guys get enough tornadoes around here. You know what Fredy holes are? The storm shelters. Everybody know that? I used an illustration the other day and got a bunch of blank looks, and then I did it at home, and I said, Do you understand what this is? And everybody got it. I don't know. I don't know, maybe maybe somebody has given them a translation book or something, and they've been working through it. I had a there was a bingo card circulating recently, maybe that's what it was. I'm really not sure. But a Freddy Hole is a storm shelter. Now you know. We're gonna have some moments that that are scary. But that doesn't mean we cower down. That means we bolden ourselves, we grow in faith, we grow in conviction, and we stay put when others might leave. Let me offer number three.

Costly Choices Like Moses

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Not only Is it tough? Not only is it scary, I want you to understand you can obey God, you must obey God, but it is costly. Jump down to verse 24 now. Hebrews 11, verse 24. I admit, to shrinking a little bit in my pew when Stephen started reading this passage. I thought, what's going to happen here? I'm going to have to switch out a whole third point. But here we go, verse 24. He left me some room. Verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he had come of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he be lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. Maybe this is one of the most challenging things we face with some of these misconceptions in our world. Not just this easy believism gospel nonsense, not just this, it's so hard you can't do it. Sometimes we buy into another slogan, equally dangerous, that it doesn't cost you anything. And any gospel that's promising you nothing or asking nothing of you is a gospel that's not promising anything to you either. We have a gospel, the gospel, that cost God his son. Then God has the right to demand everything from you. Furthermore, not only does he have the right to demand everything from you, he has the right because he deserves everything from you. Now think with me a little bit about Moses here in Hebrews chapter 11, because Moses serves as a typeset for us in some sense of a man who paid dearly for his faith, for his convictions. Look again at verse 24. When he had come of age, he refused to be. Look at this. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Moses is raised as royalty in Egypt. Moses has everything at his fingertips. Moses has wealth and power and influence and pleasure and ease and convenience and every other thing that appeals to us in American culture. Moses had it in spades. And he says, Well, I'll set this aside. So verse 25, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy here the passing pleasures of sin. Moses was a man who paid dearly for his faith, who gave up everything the world had to offer because he wanted to follow God, because he wanted to obey God. And here he is held up in Hebrews 11 as an example for us all. Let me ask you, young people, these people over here have already made some of these decisions. They've already decided. I just want to follow Jesus Christ. All the glitz and glamour the world is going to throw at you. You need to be grounded on this before. The world throws it at you. Are you going to be like Moses? And instead of choosing the passing pleasures of sin, you're going to esteem this Christ. Are you going to be the kind of person who says, I'm not going to give in on my convictions, I'm going to continue to be faithful. I'm going to give everything to God because God has given everything to me. In fact, all of the words that we use that we float around the church building all the time: service, discipleship, sacrifice, devotion, you recognize all of those words are about cost, about giving, about sacrificing. And I think sometimes, if we're not careful, we start thinking, well, God, God really wants something from me. God doesn't want something from you. God wants everything you have to offer. He doesn't want scraps and leftovers. He wants everything you have to offer. We have two dogs in our house. One of them, I call her the old fat Sal. And Sal's a pig. So there's a joke in there somewhere. But she's an old cow dog. I had used her years ago, and I've had her, she's 15, and she's a mess. The other dog is a newer dog we've got. I'm not telling you about that dog. That dog's, I'm not, it's not worth telling you. But I can tell you what, both dogs, both dogs, they get scraps all the time. They get sc all the time. And that's good enough for them, they don't care. They'll just take whatever we throw in the floor, or better yet, whatever the baby drops in the floor. You need to understand. There's a great big difference between what's acceptable to my dog and what's acceptable to my God. He doesn't want your scraps. He doesn't want leftovers. He wants all. And furthermore, as we go and read the gospel accounts, the statements Jesus makes about taking up your cross and following him are statements about his demand for all. You're either all in or you're not in at all. That's the whole premise of the gospel. You either get engaged and get involved and pay the cost or you're not in it. You're out. Look at this man. Look at Moses. All that he had. And instead of that, he leaves the splendors of Egypt to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and then he says, okay, I'm going to go back to Egypt, because God told him so. And he goes back to Egypt. And you think, now he's going to set up camp and really have some ease. Nope. He goes into Egypt and he says, God of the people says, let these fellows go. And now he's going to go wander in the 40 years in the wilderness even more. He gave up everything. What are we really giving up? To follow God demands we give up self. I'm going to sidestep here for just a second. Because I think this is important. Are you people willing to pay the cost to follow Jesus? It's costly. It's going to cost you everything. Not something, everything. Are you willing to pay the cost to not only become a Christian, but to give your life entirely to Jesus? You young men. I know of several congregations that need gospel preaching. Where's the next preacher coming from? It's not this over here. Now some of us might step in and do what we need to do, but the future generation of gospel preachers looking at you, dudes. Who's the next gospel preacher coming up? Going to give their life to serving Jesus Christ and sharing the gospel. I would also say, I know a number of good men who actually want to preach, and the reason they don't is because their wife won't support them to do it. You young ladies. Are you willing to pay the cost? I promise you something else. Your shepherds, and I know that a number of you are from other congregations with good shepherds in those congregations. Your shepherds, their wives, they're paying a great cost to serve in the capacity of a shepherd. You know the future of shepherds is right here. You get that, right? Like, that's not like, oh, that's those old people over there doing old people things. No, no, no, no. No, that old person used to be a young person. That's you now. You've got to step up. Your deacons and their wives and Bible class teachers and individuals who are willing to share the gospel with the lost, are you willing to pay the cost? I can't tell you how many times I've heard stories of individuals who quite literally were in the world in religious error or whatever it was, and a friend, a friend of theirs in high school said, Hey, come to church with me. And they did. Are you willing to pay the cost of a potential friend? When their soul hangs in the balance, some of the best people to share the gospel are right here. Are you willing to pay that cost? Now I told you when I got started, I was going to treat you like adults. I was going to speak to you plainly. I was going to tell you how it is. So that's what I'm doing. You're the future here. You're the future in congregations across this country. You're the future raising children. You're the future looking that's going to be looking, uh, the future children of yours are looking to lead. Are you going to step into that role and pay the cost? Moses took great risk and yet was willing to pay the great cost. Now, here's what I want to twist just a little bit. Because I know at this point in the lesson there's this kind of ugh. I'm sure, you know, maybe it's hopefully it's not because of who you're listening to, but maybe at this point you're thinking, that's great. You started this lesson by saying you can obey God, and now you've told us how difficult it's going to be and how challenging it's going to be and how much it's going to cost. Well, here's where I want to twist this now. You can obey God, you should obey God, you

Why Obedience Is Worth It

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must obey God. It is tough, it is scary, it is costly, but most important point I think I can make. It is worth it. Jump down to verse 32 now, please. Verse 32. By faith. Oh, excuse me, verse 32. What more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women receive their dead, raised to life again. Stop there. Don't get ahead of me now. Now everything we just read so far is awesome. And every person you're reading about in those few verses right there, I think they all would agree. Just no question about it. Is it worth serving God? Is it worth being obedient? All of them are saying, hell yeah, it's worth it. And obviously it's worth it when you're whipping the enemy armies. Obviously it's worth it when you're shutting lion's mouth. I'd like to have seen that. Obviously it's worth it when you're getting the dead raised back to life to you. One of the most vivid scenes to me is the widow of Nain in Luke 7, her son in a casket, Jesus walks by and they just pop up out of there, and that dude pops up out of there. Yeah, it's worth serving God. Yeah, it's worth believing. Yeah, it's worth obeying when everything's going great. Can I tell you, young people, it's worth obeying God when you show up to an assembly like this on a Friday night and you're out of the heat, you're in here in a good air-conditioned room, you're singing beautiful praises to God, things that just stir the thoughts and stir the emotions. Yeah, it's worth it. But that's not what most of us contend with, is it? Most of us contend with the ugly side of trying to be faithful in this world. The things we just discussed, the things like Noah and Abraham and Moses. That's the stuff we contend with. I think you need to recognize how much it's worth it to serve God no matter the cost, no matter how scary, no matter how tough, it is still worth it. And in fact, that is the question I know that many of you are asking. You know, all the things we have to give and all the things we have to do, is it really worth it? Y'all don't listen for just a second. Just stay over there for a second. You know that that's what they're wondering, right? Mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, they're looking at you and they're thinking, is it really worth this? I mean, I can't go here, and I can't go there, and I can't say this, and I can't do that, and I sure can't wear this. Is it really worth it? What are we telling them? Now back to you. All right. Re-engage, re-engage. You better believe it, it's worth it. It's absolutely worth it when everything's going well. I think that's an obvious. It's going perfectly smooth and everything's great and hunky-dory, but what about if things just go pretty awful? Pick back up verse 35. So women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sown in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth, and all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Now get that list in your head. Ask that individual, the list of people who suffered for their faith. Is it still worth it? Do you appreciate that every single one of them would echo the same song? Yes, it's worth it. It's worth it so much. I think if they were given the opportunity, they'd go through all the suffering again just to get to where they are. Let me drive that point home for a second. Stoning does not sound fun to me. Ask the man who caught a stone in his face, closed his eyes in pain and misery, opened them in glory. Ask him right then, is it worth it? You appreciate he'd say yes. Ask the man who was sawn in two. Again, that's unpleasant. Ask him, well, is it worth it? Yes, it's worth it. No question about it. Each one of these people, no matter which one you asked, no matter how you asked them, no matter how you tried to manipulate the conversation, they would tell you, no matter what you give, how much it's how much it costs, how scared you were, how tough you had to be, it is worth it. And is that what we're communicating as mom and dad and grandma and grandpa, that this is all worth it? Not just because it's a Friday night sacrifice, but because it's an everyday sacrifice. We give all because our God has given all. It's worth it. You're gonna give so much more than you could possibly realize. You go ask some of these older people who have already given and who are continuing to give. Ask them. Are you glad you gave up that and gave up this? You stopped doing that? Yes, I am. It's worth it. But maybe, maybe we should be just as impressed by how unanimous that song really is. There's not one man, not one woman in glory that's going, well, this sure stinks. Not a one of them. You can't get that kind of review on any product on the market. Have you read Amazon reviews lately? 47,000 reviews say it's the greatest product in the history of products, and then you'll get one knucklehead that goes, This is the worst thing ever built. You recognize that there are no four-star reviews of glory? Even for some of those individuals who suffered in the greatest possible way. I want you young people to recognize I see this. I know that every other adult in this room sees this. The world seems so much worse for your generation than it did for mine and the generations before mine. It does. Listen to me now. Quit feeling sorry for yourselves. Yeah. The world is pretty dark. And there's a lot of wicked things out there. Your job doesn't change. You're supposed to get up every day and be faithful. You're supposed to get up every day and be obedient to God. You're supposed to get up every day and be tough. Even if it is a little scary, and even if you have to pay everything imaginable, your job is still the same. And I want to show you why. I don't want you to leave like this, just thinking,

Run With Endurance By Looking To Jesus

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okay, that's great. That's fantastic. Pick up chapter 12 now. Because this is the crux of the whole discussion. Chapter 12, verse 1. Therefore, seeing as we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, that's those individuals in chapter 11. They're saying, Come on, come on, come on, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, let us run with endurance the race that's set before us, they're saying, drop it, come on, drop it. Verse 2 looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Listen to me closely. It's not just that it's worth it to serve God, it's that God looked at you and all of us and said the cross is worth it. We owe God quite literally everything. We lay aside everything because He's worth it. In one sense, then, Christianity is continuing to pick up the hammer every day, to be tough. In one sense, Christianity then is continuing to take that next step of obedience, even if it's scary and you're not sure where it will lead, wandering about where he did not know. Christianity is paying whatever cost is asked. But young people especially, it is worth it. What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, when he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day that will be. You're gonna pay. It's gonna cost, it's gonna be scary at times. You can be tough. You can obey. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're

Invitation And Final Encouragement

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thinking, I've not given my life to Jesus Christ. I've not obeyed the gospel. I've been sitting on my hands, not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Well, then you need to get moving. You you need to take a step of obedience. You need to walk like Abraham walked and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe, maybe you have done those things, and in the past, at some point, you've walked away. Come back. And if we can help you in some way tonight, please make it known now as we stand and as we sing.

How To Connect And Share

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Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ podcast. For more information about Westside, you can connect with us through our website, just Christians.com, and our Facebook page. Our music is from Upbeat.io. That's Upbeat with E-P-P-P-E-A-T, where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others, and we look forward to seeing you again.