Making Sure You Are Fit for Heaven | Sandals Church

what we want you to be is a truly physically emotionally and spiritually fit person welcome welcome and I'm super excited as we wrap up our fit series how many of you have ever exercised even one time raise your hands if you have exercise right you ever noticed when you start out exercising you always say why like why like you go out for a run you know 5-step why like you look at everybody in their cars like there's a smart person you know and I'm out running the reality is exercise when you start hurts it hurts your body it's like oh this hurts stop don't do it and so we have to ask ourselves why am I doing this why am i exercising why am I going to the gym why am I saying no to foods I want to eat why am i doing that you know why you do it because you want to live that's why you do it you exercise so you can live like right if you just eat it whatever you want you'd never take care of your body you're gonna die soon that's why we exercise you have to remember the why for some of you it's the why is so you can play with your kids you can be there with your kids for some of you it's so that you can do some activities that you really really enjoy doing for some of you it's so you can be there for your grandkids for some of you it's just so you can get out of a chair right that that's the why because the reality is if we don't take care of our bodies if we don't exercise we're gonna die a lot sooner than maybe we should have well today we're gonna talk about a different kind of exercise we're gonna talk about spiritual exercise and let me tell you something if you think physical exercise is hard try to exercise your soul some of you have come to the to church for the first time and you're gonna hear some things and let me just warn you it's gonna hurt and it's just like going to the gym for the first time you're gonna make why am I doing this this hurts and your bodies we're gonna want to go back to the lay-z-boy a lot of you you're gonna hear some things I'm going to say and it's gonna be controversial it's gonna be painful and it's gonna be hurtful but let me tell you something I'm not trying to pick a fight with you I'm trying to save your soul and just know that I've had a great deal of anxiety this week preaching this message because most pastors won't even touch some of the issues I'm gonna touch today because they're controversial but let me tell you something everything in the Bible is controversial everything because it's fighting for your soul so if you're gonna read any of the Bible you just have to embrace it's controversial it's not always gonna tell me what I want to hear it's not always going to agree with me because I got news for you God is not concerned with how you feel or think he's concerned that you learn how he thinks and now he feels and this is worship and this is gonna be hard today so let's just begin with a word of Prayer and let's ask God we're not ready for this but we need to be ready for this so if you're a guest today just hold on it's not always this intense I'll explain to you why it's this intense but if if you're used to coming to sandals I'm gonna be a little more intensity and I'll explain at the end of the message why but let's pray Heavenly Father god I pray for every single one of us Lord you love every single person in this room and you sent your son to die for them Lord where they know you Lord or whether they've rejected you whether they believe in you or they they believe you don't exist Lord you love them and you've sent your son to them to experience that love and so god I pray Lord that my words would not be offensive today but that my words would cause people to be saved today so Lord helped me to get out of the way and I pray that we would just have a conversation between you and every person in this room we pray this in Christ's name Amen so we're talking about exercising your soul Luke chapter 9 51 through 62 we're going to begin and this is just one of the four stories about Jesus there's four stories about Jesus in the Bible the stories are written by Mark and Luke and John and Matthew and today we're gonna look at Luke's story about the life of Jesus this is his story about what he said in what he did and so Luke says that the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven I want you to circle those words this means Jesus is going to die he knows it and he's preparing for it here's the challenge most of you don't ever think about the fact that you're going to die I don't know if you know this but statistically one out of every one person dies like it's a shock to all of us for the first time in human history death is a shock listen to 100 years ago ladies when you when you gave birth to a child you had a 50% chance of death just a hundred years ago for most of human history women died during childbirth for most of human history you died from all kinds of things that we just take a pill for we don't expect to die matter of fact even 50 60 70 years ago in America many of the children that you have if they survived birth they died before the first grade my both my grandparents on both sides had siblings that died before the age of 12 death was a reality for us it's make-believe we don't think about death and here's the thing as a pastor it amazes me even as you age some of you are in denial some of you are a little further along in the line than me you're way up there you're like 90 you're like it's not gonna happen I'm like it's coming and I'm not bashing your age I'm just presenting reality nobody thinks about death do you know this this actually happened one time we had an elderly man in our church 87 years old he became very very sick very very ill and so I went to pray with him at the hospital when I got to the hospital they said they're not admitting any guests because he is contagious he was in a special wing of the hospital he was isolated nobody could go in there I said I'm his pastor and I have to make sure Eddie he that he's ready to meet God so the doctors and the nurses relented and they let me go in I had to scrub down like I was meeting an alien from a foreign planet I literally had to walk through like a steam machine to go in there and meet with him his entire body was infected he was dying 87 years old on an air ventilator and I said Jack are you ready to meet God you know what he said I'm not gonna die he said I'm gonna make it I said Jack you're not gonna make it this is the end are you ready to meet your maker nobody talks about that in our world everybody's always hoping for a miracle and nobody's praying for heaven nobody when's the last time you went to a funeral and somebody said yeah he's in now okay that doesn't happen it doesn't happen I mean it's crazy I mean some of the most lies in our society are at funerals he was a good guy because many people don't want to speak truth about the dead and it's sad the only time in my life I ever remember truth coming out publicly when somebody died is when Pope John Paul died think about that very very famous Pope very very good man not a perfect man but a very very good man Pope John Paul died and the press was interviewing the Bishop of Italy and this is what they asked the bishop where is Pope John Paul today this is what the Bishop of Italy said Pope John he's standing before the Lord our God and he is giving an account for his life if that's where the Pope goes where do you go if the Pope has to give an account of his life to God what's gonna happen to you it's the only time ride in our culture dogs go to heaven everybody goes to heaven we're all going to heaven we're all gonna play golf we're all gonna knit we're all gonna play backgammon whatever it is that you love the learner you're gonna do that forever this is what the Bible says Jesus says narrow is the road that leads to life and there a few that find it broad is the road that leads to destruction the Bible says most people are not going to heaven do you know why they don't want to go so the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven he's going to die so Jesus circled this word resolutely he made a resolution some of you just made a new year's resolution that you've already broken this chair is gonna be different ah 2019 we'll get it right in 2019 Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem he sent messengers ahead to a samaritan village to prepare for his arrival but the people in the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem why because they hate Jews you think we have racial tensions in America there have been racial tensions in Israel for all mankind's history the Samaritans and the Jews worship on different hills different areas in the same town or the same area different towns they hated each other were disgusted with each other there was in fighting with one another and the Jews were like okay look you might raise the dead you might heal the blind you might fix people in handicapped but you're not coming in our town because you like the Jews isn't it amazing the stupid things we'll do in the name of hatred you're not coming into my house Jesus you like those weird people look at this next verse and and and some of you you struggle why people tell me tell some I don't believe the Bible because it's written by men yes it's written by men but listen to me what do the men say about themselves like if I write an autobiography about myself before I die it's gonna start like this that was a pretty good dude that's not what the Bible say about the men who wrote it you know what it says we were idiots they make fun of themselves they say stupid things for example here we go but the Village People did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem when James and John and oh by the way this isn't Judas and for those of you don't know your Bibles Judas is always like James and John are the heroes these are the good guys they're called the sons of thunder which is a cool name if you're gonna be a wrestler that's pretty cool in the Bible when you get a nickname sons of thunder that's awesome my nickname would be Matt the adequate would be mine maybe my nickname almost awesome they're the sons of thunder so they got ticked because Jesus wasn't received so they asked Jesus Jesus should we call down a fire from heaven to kill everyone in the village like if the Bible's made-up you don't put this in there like can you imagine you put your kids in Bible School and you're a Bible teacher does anyone know the Golden Rule anybody anybody Johnny yes thou shalt kill everyone who offends you no Johnny that's not the Golden Rule anybody else anybody else James how about you James burn them all so listen to me if you don't believe that the Bible is authentic why on earth would they put this in here and people say this all the time well there's been more people have been killed by religion and any other cause that's not true because people don't need a cause to kill and if you don't believe me study Lenin studies Stalin study mouse State Tung study all these people more people have been killed in the name of atheism in the last 50 years than all of human history by every religion people don't need a reason to kill we're killers right we didn't invent guns to protect us from God we invented guns to protect us from each other because we're the problem here's the problem every single religion that kills has one of two problems a they don't know Jesus or B they didn't listen to Jesus should we kill them Jesus rebukes them and if you don't know what the word rebuke means it's the meanest way God can say no shut up like if someone says I rebuke you it means shut off you idiot that's what it means fail wrong answer should we kill him Jesus rebukes him I love what it says oh so we went to another village maybe we get to kill them so they went to another village and as they were walking along someone said to Jesus I will follow you wherever I go Circle those words and listen to me it's really really easy to say you are a Christian it's really difficult to actually live it some of you got really really cute Bible verses tattooed on you or my favorite ones the cross you got beautiful tattoos all over your body but Jesus is in your heart he doesn't want to be tattooed on your skin he wants to be tattooed on your soul that's where he wants to be look it's great you wear Christian t-shirts or you have a Christian bumper sticker or you have a cute little sandals shirt that doesn't mean anything it's one thing to say you're a follower it's another thing to do it just like some of us said I'm gonna work out this year I'm gonna eat better this year I'm gonna be nicer this year I'm not gonna post negative political ads on Facebook this year all right it's one thing to say something it's another to actually do it he says I'll follow you wherever you go but jesus replied he says foxes have dens to live in and birds have nests but the Son of man has no place to lay his head listen to what Jesus is saying if you want to follow me are you willing to be homeless cuz I am I am Jesus says I can't even get a place to stay in Samaria they won't even let me in I can't even rent a place for the night not only does Jesus not have a house but the Marriot won't even take him thus know what he's saying you want to follow me a fox is going to sleep in a den tonight and a bird has its nest I have neither of those are you ready to follow me then he said to another person come and follow me Circle these words and the man agreed see a lot of us are critical of people who say no to Jesus Jesus is the most critical of people who say yes but then don't write I mean some of us are just hypocrites I'll follow you anywhere but first let me go do my life let me live my life my way let me do what I want to do then when I have time I'll get to you Lord the man agreed but he said Lord first let me return home and bury my dad now this part's just weird if you don't know this and you're a Christian your job is to take care of your aging parents God will hold you accountable if you do not take care of them one of the sins that America will be held accountable for and they are many is that we do not take care of our elderly we do not most of the elder leaders in this country live alone and die abandoned in their old age and you know why that is because Americans love self and we're too busy focusing on ourselves and we forgot about the ones who took care of us when we were little America is not a Christian nation so this is what makes this passage difficult because we have a biblical responsibility God calls us to take care of our aging parents and the guy says look I'll come follow you but first let me go bury my dad and Jesus says your duty is to go and preach about the kingdom of God another said yes Lord I will follow you but first let me say goodbye to my family but Jesus told him anyone who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom this is what Jesus is saying you don't have much time left to follow me because I'm about ready to die you need to make a decision and here's what some of you are saying well I'm young I'm in my 20s I'll get serious about God when I'm 30 or when I'm 40 and I'm almost dead they may remember that when you thought 40 was old now in 42 the new 20 no it's not still 40 we just got Botox and hair color that's all it is it's still 40 right some of you say that you say well when I get older but in my 20s I'm gonna be young I'm gonna do what I want to do I'm gonna go my own way Jesus says look if you're gonna go your own way now then you're gonna go your own way forever don't lie to yourself if you struggle following Jesus at 20 you're gonna struggle following him at 50 and at 80 and when that means you probably won't find him at 90 I wish I could tell you that when I preach the gospel to 90 year olds they're receptive most nine year olds are exactly what they've been their whole life they reject Jesus it's sad it's sad are you ready to meet your maker and for most people the answer is no so jesus said anyone puts his hand to the plow and looks back it's not fit for the kingdom of God and most of us have no idea what this means you know why you're enough farmer so you never put your hands to the plow and if you are a farmer now you have machines that do it but for most of human history this is how you plot a field you got a big scary animal sometimes a donkey sometimes a horse sometimes an ox and then you strap a piece of equipment behind this animal and then you with the animal or you call out to the animal and the animal begins to pull and you put pressure down on this plough that is some kind of device that allows you to push a big giant knife into the ground so that it carves up the earth it's a very very risky thing and it's personal to me I had a family member died while plowing a field my great-grandfather in the 1930s was plowing the fields in Arkansas something he'd done for most of his life and we don't know exactly what happened maybe he wasn't paying attention maybe he wasn't focused but the mule kicked the plow and drove the plows straight into his abdomen and he died my grandmother who was 16 years old and all of her siblings were scattered throughout the United States because in those days there wasn't social security there wasn't a way to care for and feed your children when your husband died my grandmother was sent to California she never even heard of California to live with her sister who was out here picking in the fields that's what my family did my grandmother came out here because her dad dying while plowing a field here's what Jesus is saying nobody plows the field and looks at anything else because plowing a field can kill you here's what Jesus is saying listen it's not just your life that's at stake it's your eternal life that's at stake and here's why many of you are miserable part of you wants to be Christian and and part of you doesn't and you're being torn apart by both this is why you're miserable you're either all-in or you're not in write this down not everyone is going to heaven man I wish all of our grandparents were going to heaven I wish all of our husbands and our wives our friends this is really hurts I wish all of our kids we're going to heaven but not everybody is that hurts that's real but listen to me Jesus was told your mom and your brothers and your sisters are here to see you and Jesus says who is my mother who's my brother and who are my sisters you know what he said it's the people that do the will of God he said that's my family you know why he said that because his mom Mary thought he'd gone crazy his brothers came to grab him and to make him quit talking about this nonsense of being the Messiah you know why they were afraid that people were gonna kill him they were right listen so many times people ask me this question well what about people who've never heard the name of Jesus let me just help you out let Jesus worry about that you worry about you don't deflect your decision about eternity on everybody else because let me tell you something on Judgment Day you're not going to be held accountable for everybody else you're gonna have plenty to answer for plenty Jesus is this but I warn you unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers and the religious law and the Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of God this is what Jesus is saying nowadays if he was preaching the gospel he would say this unless you're a more righteous than the Pope you're not getting in you know what he's saying nobody's getting in so what does it take what does it take to be a follower of Jesus all Jesus asks for is everything he gave you and guess what he gave you everything everything jesus said to the crowd this is earlier in Luke 9 this is before he said right before he said if anyone puts at their hand to the plow and looks back they're not fit for the kingdom of God jesus said to the crowd if any of you wants to be my follower and by the way he doesn't say if anyone he wants to call yourself a Christian that's a term that was later made up to describe people who follow Jesus now it's a term that means almost nothing he said if any of you wants to be my follower underline this even if it's your first time in church don't look at Christians to understand Christianity they are a bad example look to the Word of God if you want to know what it means to be a Christian here it is you must give up your what your way your way and from the time were born what do two-year-olds want their way what do you want your way you just don't throw a tantrum I mean some of you do which is embarrassing and you end up on YouTube look at this idiot right if any of you wants to be my follower you must give up your own way and you must take up your cross daily like every single day we have to die to ourselves I don't wake up in the morning oh Jesus I wake up in the morning ah where's my coffee hate everyone it's true I don't read my Bible until after I've had a sip of coffee I just don't the book the Bible just doesn't have the same effect it's just that sorry I'm a sinner I need a little pep before I let him preach you judge me it's the truth take up your cross daily and what follow me every single day we need to make a choice to follow Jesus and here's the thing part of the problem is is describing when we're saved and when we're not saved and churches fight over this and Christians argue about this once saved always saved can you lose your salvation are you Calvinists are you Arminius and here's the problem we're trying to describe or at least the Bible is trying to describe an eternal state within the context of time and so let me just explain this to you we don't know exactly how it all works because the scriptures are a little bit confusing that's why everybody fights that's why there's all these denominations here's all we know for sure the only way you can be saved is through Jesus Christ that's all we know how exactly that happens is debatable and there are good Christians on many many different sides Jesus says this if you try to hang on to your life you will lose it you lose it every single one of you right now is holding on to something that God's calling you to let go and you're clenching it and you won't let it go and you're telling God no listen to me I don't care how many times you've walked forward at church to give your life to Jesus I don't care how many times you've been baptized if you have a clenched fist towards Jesus and he's calling for something in your life and you are saying no then he's not your God I want all of us to do something right now I want you to hold out your hand like this and I want you to make a clenched fist and I want you to think about what's the one thing in your life that if God called for you wouldn't release and every single one of us has something and here's the thing about Jesus do you know what's the one thing he's going to ask for it's gonna be different things from every single one of you but sooner or later the one thing Jesus is going to ask for is whatever's in your clenched fist because that's what it means to be a disciple Lord you can't have this you can't have this but listen to what Jesus says if you try to hang on to your life whatever it is whatever he said God you can't have this you cannot have this you can't have my marriage you can't have my sexuality you can't have my money you can't have my heart you can't have my career listen to what Jesus says if you try to hang on to your life what happens you lose it but if you give up your life if you let it go for Jesus you save it and he says what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul one of the most powerful men who ever lived in the history of the world like there aren't words to describe his wealth there aren't words to describe his power you can't say billionaire you can't say zillionaire he owned it all all money was his his name was Alexander the Great he conquered everybody he killed everybody he owned everything he's one of the great conquerors in the history of the world and when he died he had three wishes three wishes and by the way he died at 32 years old Alexander the Great's teacher was a guy by the name of Aristotle I mean you've all probably had some great teachers in your life I'm sure none of them were Aristotle he had three wishes upon his death you know what his number-one wish was I want my doctor my physician to have to walk behind my casket which the doctor had to do because he'd get killed if he didn't but you know why he wanted that because even the best doctor in the world can't save you from death he said next I want all my money all my gold and all my possessions to be thrown out the back of my casket he said I want the world to know I wasted my life you know what his third wish was and this was weird in his casket he wanted holes carved out on both sides and he wanted his arms outstretched with his palms open he wanted the world to know that he was leaving with nothing man I don't care what you have you never see you never see a limousine a hearse pulling a u-haul anybody done there will done you will you're not a weird thing right deciding who gets what when you die that's always great because you know what if you don't decide the government decides for you cuz you don't get to keep it do you know why you're dead you're dead you don't get to keep it everything you've worked for everything you've strived for everything you've built everything that you've made it's all gone so here's my question what are you holding on to Alexander the Great said I held on to the wrong things and he wasn't even a Christian we're gonna go over a really really difficult passage of Scripture and I just want you to know there's some doozies in here and I got to be honest with you I've had a great deal of anxiety about preaching this passage this week and let me just say this most pastors won't touch this verse anymore because it's so controversial it's so counterculture but listen to me I'm not here to be popular I'm here to help save you so let's walk through this together because every single one of us is gonna feel picked on do you know why that is because God picks on every one of us and it's not to pick us apart it's to set us apart don't you realize that those of you who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God this is what this is what Paul's saying you can't believe one thing and live another way the way you live shows what you believe he says don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God please circle these words and don't pray that someone else hears this you need to hear this don't fool whom yourself don't those who indulge in sexual sin they're not going to heaven if you make a perfect permanent lifestyle of continuing to sin sexually listen to me you're not going to heaven it's not happening I don't care what the world says I don't care what the world does Jesus says the world is headed to hell he's called you to heaven and let me tell you why this is so important sex doesn't last forever but you do you do and I know many of you were young and many of you were single and you're like oh my gosh this isn't fair I'm not married I've got to have sex if I don't have sex no one will date me listen to me if that is the conditions under which they must date you then don't date them don't you say oh I want to be married I get that oh I want to be intimate oh I want to be left I understand those things but your dominant desire as a Christian must be to be with God and let me tell you something if you're single remind yourselves of this Jesus was single for 33 years on the earth he never dated he never had sex he never participated in physical intimacy why because he didn't come to the earth to enjoy and pleasure to join him pleasure he came to the earth to save you look I'm just gonna be honest when I gave my life to Christ I was 21 years old I was engaged in sexual sin I was in a sexually sinful relationship I was and I'm just gonna be honest with you it was the most difficult area of my life for me to surrender to Jesus it was people ask me how do you know that God is real how do you know that the book isn't just made up I'm gonna be very very honest with you one of the first times I ever heard God speak in an audible real voice was immediately after I had been saved and I engaged once again in sexual sin and the moment after I had engaged in sexual sin I heard God speak to me and these were the words he spoke if you continue down this path you are going to hell I heard those words and it scared me to death but listen to me if God has to scare you to death to save your soul he's gonna do it I get it a guy I did it the world's changed that's old-fashioned no it's called being a Christian and I know I know the world isn't fair I know every time you get on the internet every time you watch television every time you read an article everywhere you go I know sex is so constantly being put upon you in our culture I get it but God hasn't called you to be a part of our culture he's called you to follow Christ in Paul's writing this letter to a sexual culture in Corinth we think America's bad Corinth literally the word Corinthian was a sexual term like when you're so perverted you so weird you're Corinthian he says don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God don't fool yourselves those who indulge in sexual sin listen to me you have to ask yourself God can you have my sexual desires yes or no and we all come to that point where you say hear or we go no no and if you say no to Jesus listen to me you've said no to Jesus next the worship of idols man this is putting anything in God's place this is saying anything's more important for some of us what's in our fists is our family our friends our salary shoot it can be our TV or our sports team some of you are more passionate about a sports team that could give a rip whether you live or die let me just ask yourself a question if you love a sports team when you die or they come into your funeral but most of you act like dying when they lose and they don't even know who you are I mean some of you can't even come to church for weeks because the Steelers lost or you know why that is because football is not a sport it's an idol some of you are cruel to your families don't talk to your wife you don't even show up for work the next day when it your team loses and then it comes to church all I can't go to church I got to go to work but when your team loses like I can't go to work you know why it's because you worship a sports team and you make time for Jesus if you have time next those who commit adultery and if those of you don't know what the word adultery means it doesn't mean you're an awesome adult it doesn't mean like even mastered adulthood I'm an adulterer here's what it means you are faithful to your spouse look we got a whole world Ashley madison.com says life is too short have an affair Jesus says life is forever don't don't don't do it you like God but my spouse doesn't meet my sexual needs they don't understand my feelings god I just I'm not being satisfied within the context of marriage God surely you're gonna allow me a little freedom it's not like I ever killed anybody and God says you gotta give it to me next male prostitutes and some of you're like well that's strange well in our world most most prostitutes not all but most are women in the Roman world most were men and here's what's sad they were actually boys Romans and Greeks Greeks loved to have sex with boys they don't teach you that in school about not the Greeks but man when you read the writings of Socrates it's nasty and so some of these boys had been groomed their entire life to be the sexual objects of older men and you know what you can make a pretty good living in prostitution and Paul saying I don't care how much money you've made you gotta let that go you can't do that anymore you can't live that lifestyle anymore I understand lose me I understand and we have prostitutes in our church I understand you can't pay your bills you're gonna lose rent you're not going to be able to keep your house and all of these things are gonna fall apart and you have kids I understand all of those things but let me ask yourself what's more important losing your home or your soul what's more important and you got a church family that loves you and will come along alongside you and will try to help and will try to help you figure it out and I get it but we got to let it go next and this is highly controversial and just know if you're gay I love you and so does God so does God and there's been a great deal of damage that's been done to the gay community by homophobic angry preachers That's not me but here's what the Bible says those who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God listen to me I got into a pretty heated discussion with a fellow pastor in our city and their church has changed their view and they're doing gay marriages and here's what the pastor challenged me and again if you're gay I love you and I don't want you to leave we love you and we're glad you're here but let me tell you what the Bible says that the pastor screaming at me said what if you're wrong what if you're wrong and you've denied gay couples love intimacy marriage family you've done all of that to them what is wrong pastor and I quoted Jesus I said to anyone who's given up family children job security homes for my sake I will bless them a hundredfold in the next life and then I asked that pasture what if you're wrong and that pasture has not spoken to me again listen to me if you're gay what side of the fence do you want me to err on do you want me to tell you what you want to hear or do you want me to tell you what God's Word says love speaks truth listen we have gay people in our church and we love them and they're welcome here but we're all called to follow Christ all of us and what that means as sexual people is we must live differently than the rest of the world that's what it means next thieves some of you believe you have a right to other people's things and you can steal it well they're rich or they won't miss it or they don't need it right you know what you're doing you're saying god I deserve these things and I can take it even if I didn't earn it you're saying god I have a right to whatever I want the Greek word is klepto which we get the word kleptomaniac somebody who just steals God's called you to be honest and to say okay God whatever my paycheck is my paycheck is I'm gonna trust you next greedy people some of you love your money and I know it because I see our offerings yeah you should feel picked on man what are you doing Jesus gave everything to you and when we have the offering at the end of the service you ride some of you bolt did you know that the buckets come out the people go out for some of you your money in your pockets more Christian and you are because the money says In God We Trust next this one's going to be difficult drunkards this word means intoxicated and or buzzed look you can smoke marijuana now freely in our state not if you're Christian the only reason you should ever smoke marijuana is because you have a real doctor not your uncle Vinny a real doctor has prescribed it for a real condition and my hope is that it would be a period of time and you could experience healing so you can get off it some of you are like I deserved this glass of wine every night but it's not a glass of wine is it it was a whole bottle what are you doing the Bible says don't be drunk with wine but be filled with the spirit and you're like no God life is hard Jesus says I know I know you got to give up drunkenness to him some of us are abusive mean cruel angry some of the angriest people I've ever met are in church you know why you're abusive you know why you're nasty because you've put yourself in the seat of God and you have made yourself judge jury and executioner and you gotta let it go you gotta let it go I don't know what's happened into your life I don't know if you've been abused mistreated didn't have good parents been wronged been cheated been stolen I don't know what happened to you that made you so angry but could you give that to Jesus give it to Jesus because Jesus said if you do not forgive others you will not be forgiven if you can't give grace listen to me you have an experienced grace then people who cheat people man can you imagine if we lived out what we're supposed to live out can you imagine people like I think that whole Jesus thing is weird but when I hire somebody they better be a Christian because they won't cheat me they'll be honest they'll be fair that work hard and they'll show up on time because they don't work for themselves they do everything for the Lord stop cheating people stop cutting corners stop lying stop trying to make extra money when you're not honest about it there's nothing wrong with making money as long as you're honest with people and real with people and do a good job but some of you are cheaters and the Bible says some of you were once like that but you were cleansed you were made holy you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God listen to me you are no different than me you're no different and let me just be honest what changed in me was not my desires what changed in me was the Spirit of God I'm not kidding you when I first got saved when I first gave my life to Christ I used to look at porn it never bothered me it never crossed my mind that this was wrong I never ever felt bad and then all of a sudden I was like this is disgusting what changed Jesus changed me and I wasn't perfect and I didn't always get it right but over time I've done this and I've done this and I've done this and I've done this and unless you understand the cross which is where Jesus Christ saw his father not my will but yours and then he went like this why why am i preaching this message next point last point because we're not ready we're not ready not everyone's ready for heaven jesus said this we're gonna close with this verse he said you must also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect some of you've never ever thought about the fact that Jesus is returning and some of you don't know that something is happening this week that hasn't happened in 150 years on Wednesday there's a super Blood Moon and if you don't know what that is it's when the mud the moon looks like it turns to blood and if you're a Christian that knows your Bible Acts chapter 2 says that one of the signs of the return of Christ is a great Blood Moon do you know one of the other signs is earthquakes anybody feeling me I woke up this week my wife said I jumped out and shouted Jesus I don't know what I said but I know my hands are in the air listen if some of you are terrified about the end of all things it means you're not ready it means you're not ready if you are right with Christ you have nothing to fear on the day of judgment if you are not right you have every thing to fear let's all bow our heads and close our eyes and I want you to think about what is in your hand that you're telling Jesus no - what is it that you're withholding from him what is it that you're saying you can't have I won't release this this is too important to me I have a ride over this whatever that is I want to encourage you to just release it and then take your hand and place it up in the air and I want to pray over you raise your hand high if you mean it if you're ready to let it go I don't know what it is but God does Heavenly Father I pray over every hand raised I pray right now that these people would release everything to you confess their sin to you place their faith and trust in you whatever they have to do to get right I pray that they would do it right now in Jesus name I pray they would put their hands to the plow and never look back I pray that they would become a follower of you Jesus for the rest of their lives amen [Music] you

Channel: Sandals Church

Views: 6,717

Rating: 4.8055553 out of 5

Keywords: sandals church, heaven, who goes to heaven, how do I get into heaven, love, god, Jesus, pastor matt brown, matt brown, christian church, church, sermon, how to live my best life, living my best life

Id: 5CUeToNtDyc

Length: 50min 19sec (3019 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 29 2018