Abolishing Anxiety, Part 16

All right, let's begin with the word of prayer. Father, thank You for this great, glorious day - a time to spend in Your word, a chance to understand exactly how it is You want us to live for Your glory and honor. We are so grateful for the opportunity You give us just to open Your words, sing praises to Your name, and to be able to receive instruction from what it is You have for us each and every day. The living and abiding Word of God is true. It's rich, and everything we need pertaining to life and godliness is in the word of our Lord. And so we are grateful for that. So instruct us, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

So now you have a song sheet, and on the back of that is the outline for today. And some of you wonder, "Are we still abolishing anxiety?" The question is where the answer is. Yes, we are. In fact, one person said this week, "You can tell Lance he can start preaching on anxiety because I've already abolished anxiety in my life." And I said, "Well, that's great. But nobody else has, so we're gonna need to work through that."

But listen, we have ten principles we're going to give you. Today is number nine. We've given you eight principles over the last 16, 17 weeks - I can't remember how long it's been - but they're all recorded for you and they're all listed in your outline in terms of what it is you do to abolish anxiety. What does the Bible say concerning the anxious thoughts, and what do we do to rid worry in our lives? How do we handle that? I love our key verse. Our key verse is what? Now you're so much better! Proverbs 12:25. After 15 weeks you should know that, right? Proverbs 12:25. But I like what it says in the New King James version.

It says this: "Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." We have been telling you every week in the New American Standard it says, "Anxiety in the heart of man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad." But the New King James says that it causes depression. And do you know that all around our country people live lives of depression? And because of depression, it's the number one cause of suicide in our country. So people's lives are filled with anxiety. And although you might feel or live an anxiety-free life, you gotta understand that there are people you talk to every day - you go to work with those people, you go to the park with those people, you're on Zoom with those people - and you see them every single day, and they are worried about something in their lives. Something that's going to take place. They don't know how to handle it. They're out of control. And you can walk them through the Scripture, helping them to understand the principles of God's Word that they might be able to understand what it is.

You know, when we come back next week, we will give you the most important principle of the ten. We leave the best for last. Okay? The most important one for last, because if you don't understand the last one, the first nine don't make any difference. And so you need to understand that first of all, but we saved it for last. And so we want to give you that ninth principle today to help you understand what the Bible says concerning how to abolish anxiety. And it's simply this: you need to be able to redeem each moment for eternity. You need to be able to redeem each moment for eternity.

Yesterday I had the privilege of doing a wedding for Dylan and Callie Paulson. What a great day it was as we gathered together in their backyard and had a chance to exhort them in the word of the Lord, helping them to understand that they need to embrace every single moment that comes their way. Our lives are filled with moments - moments that we miss because we don't redeem it for the sake of eternity.

Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 15 and verse number 16: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, being wise men how? By redeeming the time, because the days are evil." When you redeem something, you buy it back. When you redeem something, you use that opportunity to magnify the name of Christ. The Lord wants us to look at every opportunity as one given from Him for Him. And so if you redeem every opportunity for the sake of eternity, you're going to be abolishing all your anxious thoughts because you're so focused on what God would have you do in that moment that you have no time to think about what's happening in your own personal life. This is so important.

This now is a moment. In this moment you are - I was gonna say in the Lord's house, but yeah, I guess you are in the Lord's house because you're outside and everything is His anyways, right? But you're here to worship the Lord.

You've redeemed this moment for the sake of eternity. You've done that. Now when you leave today, you have many more moments throughout the day that you need to redeem for eternity's sake, buy back for eternity's sake, use it for the glory and honor of God for eternity's sake. This is a great, great thing.

So, how is it we do that? Remember James over in James chapter 4 says this - such good words, such good counsel. He says, "Come now, you say today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a city and spend a year there and engage in business to make a profit. Yeah, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills we will live and also do this or that.' But as it is you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."

What's the right thing to do in the moment? The right thing to do is to redeem the time. "If the Lord wills tomorrow we will do this or that" - because the Lord is in charge of every moment. The Lord gives us moments, and those moments increase with each passing day, but James reminds us our life is but a vapor, right? It's not gonna last forever.

So the moment you have today might not be the same moment tomorrow because you might be in eternity. So redeem each moment today for the sake of eternity that you might give glory and honor to the Lord. Take full advantage of every opportunity.

Now this makes you conscious of each conversation, this makes you conscious of each relationship, this makes you conscious in each journey you embark on. Why? Because they're filled with all kinds of moments. Maybe those moments are a minute. Maybe those moments are an hour. Maybe those moments are a day, but you got to redeem it back for the sake of eternity. So I'm gonna give you six principles. The outline is in your notes. You can follow along with me to help you understand how it is you can take full advantage of every moment that comes your way. All right.

The first one is this: make sure that you confess your sins. Confess your sins - all your sins. Why? Because "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" - Psalm 66, verse number 18, right? "The one who tries to cover his sins," Proverbs 28:13 tells us, "shall not prosper. But the one who confesses and forsakes a sin, that's the one who finds mercy." You have the opportunity to confess your sins. Why is that important? Because it sets the tone for every moment. Listen, if you're living in sin, those moments now will become sinful moments because you're bringing your sin into each encounter, into each relationship, into each moment. And so you need to make sure you're right with the Lord, that you have confessed your sins that you might commune with the Lord so that when you are involved in a relationship or an encounter or a moment, you might give glory in honor to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And the very first thing you confess - listen carefully - is your anxiety. You have to confess that because worry is a sin. That's why Jesus says, "Don't do that." He didn't say, "You know what? I understand your situation. If you want to be worried about this, go right ahead. It's okay." He didn't say that. He says, "Be anxious for nothing." Three times - Matthew chapter 6, in Philippians 4 - he says, "Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God." Why? Because when you are anxious, anxious for things, specifically happen:

Number one, you deny God's provision. When you're anxious in the moment, you are denying that God will provide for you in that moment. That's why you need to confess your anxious thoughts. Not only do you deny His provision, but you dispute His promises. God said, "I will supply all your needs," but you want to dispute His promises. That's why you're anxious at the moment.

Number two or number three, you doubt - you doubt His presence. In that moment you doubt that God is with you to take you through that, to be your shield, to be your bulwark, to be your protector.

And fourthly, when you're anxious at the moment, you distrust His plans. In other words, that moment, whatever it exists of, is a plan directly predetermined by God, and you now distrust the plan that He has given for you - that somehow it's not operable, somehow

it's not the best, somehow there needs to be a better plan. That's why you confess your sins. That's why you confess your anxious thoughts. That's why you confess your fears and your worries to the Lord, because you want to not doubt His presence. You want to acclaim His presence. You don't want to distrust His plan and provision for you. You want to trust His plan and provision for you. And so you confess it. That's where it begins. You redeem each and every moment for eternity's sake.

Number one: by confessing your sins. Number two: by consecrating your life to Christ. Once you've confessed your sin, now you consecrate your life to Christ. You set it apart unto Him for His purposes. Listen, while you're living in sin, there's a communion that's been broken between you and your God. Not that you don't have a relationship with Him - you do - but that communion, that sweet fellowship with the Lord, has been broken. That's why you confess your sins. Once you confess your sins and that fellowship is restored, that communion is rich now. Now you consecrate your life to the Lord. You set it apart under God for His purposes. That's such a great thing.

I love what Peter says over in 1 Peter chapter 1, when he says this: "As obedient children" - of verse number 14 - "do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior, because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" In other words, we are to be separated unto God. We are to be holy unto God because He is holy. And how is God holy? He is set apart. What is consecration mean? To be set apart. What is God set apart from? He's set apart from His creation and from all corruption. So therefore now we are set apart from the creation around us, and we need to be set apart from corruption. We consecrate all of our lives for God. That's what we do.

Peter would go on to say these words in 1 Peter chapter 4. He says in verse number 2: "Live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God. For the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. And all this they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you." In other words, Peter is saying there's something uniquely different about your life. You've set it apart unto God. When we're saved, God sanctifies us. God sets us apart unto Him. We are saved out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. So we are set apart from Satan's kingdom unto God's kingdom. That is our positional holiness.

But the practical holiness comes about every single day when I set my life apart from the world. And Peter is saying, "The people of the world, they malign you. They are against what you do because you don't run in the same dissipation with them as you used to run. You're not in the same drinking parties that you used to be, you're not reveling in the same revelries they revel in, you are not in the same abominable idolatries that they are in because you were once there, but now you're no longer there. You're set apart unto God." Your body is holy. Your mind is holy.

Your eyes are holy. Your life is holy. Everything about you is holy because you're in the kingdom of God. Now the practical practicality of that is that you set it apart. You set it aside for God. "God, this is Yours. My eyes are Yours.

My hands are Yours, my arms, my legs, my mind, my heart, my soul, Lord, is Yours. I want to set it apart unto You. I can't do that if I'm living in sin. So that's why I confess all my sin to the Lord. I cry out to Him. I say, 'Lord, keep me from presumptuous sin. Lord, cleanse my heart.' If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins." And having confessed those sins,

I say, "Lord, I'm going to consecrate my life to You. I want to set it apart unto You for Your purposes. Everything in my life I want it to be holy in all my conduct. I don't want to be holy in some of my conduct. I want to be holy in all my conduct.

So I'm going to set my life apart unto You for Your glory." That's what it means to redeem each moment for the sake of eternity. Could you imagine going through life and consecrating every moment, your eyes to the Lord, consecrating your mind to the Lord, setting apart all that you do throughout the day unto God for His purposes, for His glory, because you want Him to be magnified? We are set apart for Him because He wants us to be holy as He Himself is holy, and that causes us to be separate from creation, those around us. We are different. We are aliens.

We are strangers in this world. We're not to look like the world or act like the world. We're different, and on top of that we need to set apart from corruption because that's how our Lord is. Holy. Holy. Holy, okay.

So those are the first two principles: confess all your sins to the Lord, consecrate your life to Christ, and then number three: conduct your life in the fear of God. Conduct your life in the fear of God. Peter would also mention this in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 17, when he says this: "If you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth." Not in the fear of man, but in the fear of God. Solomon would tell his son in Proverbs chapter 20 - 24, I'm sorry, 23, verse number 17, we are to be in the fear of the Lord all day long. In Proverbs chapter 28, verse number 14, we are to live in the fear of the Lord always. Peter picks up on that and says, "Listen, during your time here on earth, during your stay, live in the fear of God every single day." You see, the unbeliever doesn't do that. The unbeliever has no fear of God.

That's why Romans 3:10 exists, because it says that they have no fear of God before their eyes. But Psalm 130, verse number 4, says, "There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared." That's just such a great verse because it puts our salvation into perspective. We think we're saved by God from our sins, and that is true. But we are saved primarily that we might live in the fear of God all day long. That is so important because the unbeliever doesn't care about God, doesn't worry about being judged by God, has no fear of God before his eyes. But the believer understands who God is - that He is the Almighty God, that He is King of all kings and Lord of all lords, He is a judge of all the earth. He is the only one who can bring justice upon this earth.

This is our King. This is our Lord. And we know - we know that our God is not mocked. "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." We know that. So we're not deceived. We know that God is the supreme judge of the universe, and we know that our sins have been judged at Calvary. So we'll never face the judgment of God in that sense because there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But we also know that Hebrews 12 teaches - the book of Hebrews, ah, we'll get back there one day, I promise - but the book of Hebrews tells us that our Lord disciplines us as the father disciplines his children. And so we live in the fear of the Lord all day long. So important to understand that.

I love Psalm 103. Psalm 103, verse number 17, says this: "The loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him." The loving kindness of the Lord is not on those who don't fear Him. Only on those who do fear Him "and His righteousness to children's children" - or His faithfulness to children's children - "to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them." In other words, God's faithfulness is bestowed down upon your children because of your fear of God, because you live that way every single - every single day.

What does it mean to fear the Lord? It simply means number one: to submit to His commandments, right? Ecclesiastes 12:13 - "Fear God, keep His commandments." That's simple. You know, I'm afraid that those of us in the evangelical church today have forgotten that we need to keep the commandments of God, that we need to live in the fear of God all day long. And Solomon just says to his son, "Listen, this is the way it is.

I'm gonna sum up everything for you in one verse as you go through life. Just fear God, and you fear God by keeping His commandments. You know that what He says is absolute truth, and you do not want to stray from what He has said. Not because His commands are burdensome - because 1 John 5 tells us His commands are not burdensome - but that we truly want to honor the Lord, serve the Lord, because we live in the fear of the Lord all day long. So in submitting to the commands of God, in understanding what His word says as absolute truth, we say, 'Yes, Lord. We follow You.' You know, we want to question God's commands.

We want to debate God's commands. We just need to follow what God says in His word, and that's how you know you fear Him. Not only does fearing God manifest itself in submitting to God's commands, but number two: by staying away from evil. Proverbs chapter 16, verse number 6, says this: "By the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil." Do that. When you stay away from evil, you are manifesting the fact that you live in the fear of the Lord. Those who want to engage in that sin are not living in the fear of the Lord. They have put God out of their mind. That's why in each moment - in each moment you redeem it. You take full advantage of each moment for the sake of eternity. To do that, I must fear God in each and every moment. And if fearing God in each and every moment, then I can follow His commands and I can stay away from evil. I can depart from evil and live for the glory and honor of my God.

Remember in Acts chapter 5 when Ananias and Sapphira were killed in the church because they lied to the Spirit of God? And because they lied to the Spirit of God, God killed them both in church. Church is a very dangerous place to go sometimes, you see. But they didn't live in the fear of the Lord. And Acts chapter 5 tells us that because God killed them in church, great fear came upon the church. Why? Because they knew that God was serious about sin. And then I says the fire - all they did was lie about what they sold their property for. They still gave to the church. It's like they didn't get to the church.

They were probably the biggest givers in the church. But they lied about how much they sold their property for. Why lie about that? Didn't have to. But they did, and therefore God killed them. It's not like they committed some gross sin, some huge amount of sin. They weren't murdering and slaughtering people all over the world. They weren't living in adultery and immorality. They just told a little - as we would call it - a white lie. But it's still a lie in the eyes of God, and God killed him. And great fear came upon the church because God, when He started His church, said, "Listen, you need to understand that one thing I'm serious about, and I'm serious about sin. Don't live in sin because it affects everybody, everybody in the church." And after that, the church began to explode because everybody knew that God was serious about sin. They didn't want to keep His commandments. They wanted to stay away from evil. They want to live for the glory and honor of God.

And as you go on through the text, you realize that serving the Lord is a way you want to stay. And you fear the Lord not just by staying away from sin and submitting to His commandments, but in serving the Lord. The book of Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter, says these words in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse number 10: "Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give to you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and huge cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and you even sat and are satisfied. Then watch yourselves that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery. For you shall fear only the Lord your God and you shall worship Him and swear by His name." So easy to forget about the Lord. Why is it people don't serve the Lord in church? Because they don't fear the Lord. We need to stop asking people to serve the Lord and ask people, "Do you fear the Lord?" If they say yes, say, "Okay, we have a service opportunity for you." Why? Because if you fear the Lord, you serve the Lord. That's what you do.

But so many times we forget all that God has done. We are a blessed people. God has provided for us, taking care of us. We are allowed to worship Him in this country. I know that time will be shorter and shorter as time goes on. But you know, we can worship the Lord. All of you - you walked in here today. You drove here today. You got here today.

All right, and God has done so many wonderful things for everyone here in this room or on this pavement or under the sun or wherever you are. Okay, under the canopy, under the tree. James way back in the back under the tree. You know, James Zacchaeus! Come on now, James, like six foot nine back there! Well, let's say is that, you know, we need to serve the Lord, need to honor the Lord, and when you fear Him, you want to serve Him because He is the great God of the universe. And if you go through Scripture - and I won't take all my time this morning, but by sacrificing to the Lord (Deuteronomy 14), you fear Him; by standing in awe of the Lord (Psalm 22:23), you fear Him; and surrendering to the Lord (Psalm 115:11), you fear the Lord. We need to live our lives in the fear of God every single day. That's how you redeem each moment for the sake of eternity. If you're not fearing God, if you're not conducting your life in a way that honors Him, you're not consecrating your life to Him, you're not confessing your sins to Him, you won't redeem the moment. That moment will come and go. It'll pass you by. And so you need to realize that the moments that come each and every day need to be taken full advantage of. Every one of us today sitting here can admit that there are moments yesterday

we let pass by that we do not take full advantage of to give glory to the Lord. There are moments this past week we let slip by that we weren't consecrated to the Lord. We hadn't confessed our sins. We didn't conduct ourselves in the fear of God during that moment, and we let it pass by. For the sake of eternity, don't let that happen. They say, "Well, isn't that literally impossible?" Yeah, pretty much. But what it does is it keeps your mind focused above and not below. And if you can focus on the principles, all of a sudden my anxious thoughts are gone because I'm not living in the fear of anything else other than my God. I want to separate myself unto God, and my sins are cleansed because I've gone to Him and confessed to Him my sins. And I'm well on my way to redeeming each and every moment for the sake of eternity.

Number four is this: Listen to how I say this, okay? Consider your life. Having confessed your sins, having consecrated your life to Christ, conducting your life in the fear of God all day long,

okay, number four: now you consider your life - listen carefully - as nothing. Consider your life as nothing. The reason we don't redeem each moment that comes our way is because in that moment my life to me is valuable. In that moment, my life is about me. In that moment,

I want you to see me in the moment. In that moment, I want you to honor me. In that moment, I want you to value me. In that moment, I want you to speak well of me in that moment.

It's all about me. But if you consider your life as nothing, in that moment - in that moment - your life is about someone other than yourself. That's why you consider your life as nothing. That's why Paul said in Galatians chapter 6, verse number 3, that those who think they are something when they really are nothing are deceived - are deceived. If you think you're something when in reality you're nothing, you're deceived. We're only something of value because of what God has done for us. We are a holy nation. We are a people of God. We are a chosen generation. That's what makes us valuable. That's what makes us eternally valuable, right? And so because we are created in the image of God, we are recreated in that image at salvation because of our fallen nature. And yet, yet it was Paul who said that we need not to think too highly of ourselves or more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

In Philippians chapter 2, Paul would say these words in Acts 20. Understand them well because they are so valuable. Acts chapter 20, Paul says this. He says in verse 18, as the Ephesian elders had come to him: "You yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, bound by the Spirit,

I am on my way to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." Paul says, "I need to go, but I know that the Spirit says to me that in every city there's nothing that awaits me but bonds and chains. Imprisonment, I know that. But my life is not that valuable. I don't take my life into account. I just do one thing.

I want to solemnly testify to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to everybody I come in contact with. If I'm in prison, I preach it there. If I'm out of prison, I preach it there. Because really where I am is irrelevant because my life can preach no matter where I am." And that's what it means to consider your life as nothing. We look at ourselves in our society - it's so hard not to do that because everything in our society is about us. Everything is focused on us. It's all about you and what's in it for you. We go to church because what's in it for me? What can I get out of church? What kind of church has this program for my children? What kind of church has this program for my youth? What kind of church has this for my single daughter or single son or what? Church has this kind of college group or adult classes or small groups. What can I get from the church? Instead of what can I give to the church? What can I serve? How can I serve in the church? How can I use my gifts for the glory and honor of the Lord in the church? I go to church to serve. But if I consider my life as something, I go to church to consume. But if I consider my life as nothing, I go to church to worship my God, to serve my God, to honor my God, to serve my fellow man.

That's why I go, because I would have put God on display. So important.

Remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter 9 about people who wanted to follow Him? It says in verse number 57, "As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, 'I will follow You wherever You go.'" Isn't that great? You know, Harold's been with me since 1988. Okay? It's almost as if he said, "Lance, I will follow you wherever you go."

All right now - he doesn't really mean that in his heart, but he's been with me at all three churches that I've been to. He's been in every - he served in every church that I've been to. It wouldn't be great if you had all these people come you say, "I will follow you wherever you go." Well, this is Jesus the Son of God. And someone says, "Lord, I've heard Your message. I've seen Your miracles. Wherever You go, I will go. I will follow You." So Jesus says this: "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." If you follow Me, it's going to be inconvenient. If you follow Me, it's going to be uncomfortable. If you follow Me, you're gonna have to live a life of camping. Who wants to do that, right? Except those who love to camp. Jesus says, "The Son of Man has no place to lay His head. No place. The birds of the air, they have nests. The Son of Man does not have that." And you know what? There is no response of the man. There was at first his eagerness: "I'll follow You wherever You go. Yeah, I'm there. Wherever You want to go, Lord, I'm there."

Ah, but you got to realize this: "The Son of Man has no place to lay His head." No response, but there's somebody else in the crowd. And He said to them, "How about you? Will you follow Me?" Because the other guy assumingly just walked away. And so Jesus says to somebody else, "Will you follow Me?" And that person says to Jesus these words: "Lord, permit me first to go bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." It sounds kind of insensitive by our Lord, doesn't it? "Lord, can I first go bury my father?" That seems like a reasonable thing to do, right? And Jesus says, "Let the dead bury the dead. Forget about that. Follow Me." But you see, in Jewish custom, when someone died, they buried them immediately that day. This guy's father wasn't dead yet. But see, he'd heard what Jesus said to the other guy. The guy who was eager to follow the Lord: "I'll follow You wherever You go." And the guy in the Lord said, "Okay, follow Me, but remember this: the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. The animal kingdom sleeps well at night, but you won't. It'll be uncomfortable." And this guy in the crowd thinking, "Wow, that's too bad." And then all of a sudden he gets asked a question.

"Hey, but you follow me." He's thinking, "Wow, let me bury my dad first." In other words, when he dies, I'll bury him. I'll receive his inheritance.

And guess what? Jesus will have a hotel to sleep in. We won't have to camp every night. We'll go to the Jewish inn, we'll go to the - we'll go to a place where we can bed down at night. I'll have an inheritance. I'll follow You then. And Jesus knows his heart and says, "Let the dead bury the dead."

Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. Let them - know you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And then He says this: "Another also said, 'I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.'" That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? "Let me go say goodbye to my mom and my dad. Let me go say goodbye to my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles, my dogs and cats, everybody. Don't let me go say goodbye to all those people at home." And Jesus said to him, "No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." You see, Jesus - listen carefully - never made it convenient or easy to follow Him. Whenever Christianity is convenient and easy, it's not Christianity.

It's false Christianity. Jesus made it as hard as possible to follow Him because you see, if you understand the pearl of great price, if you understand the hidden treasure in Matthew 13, there is no price you will not pay to follow Jesus - none. You'll give it all up. That's why you consider your life as nothing. When you come into the kingdom, you come naked, you come bare. You come with nothing. You come broken in spirit. You come humbly on your knees before God. Say, "Lord, I have nothing to give You.

I am nothing. I deserve nothing, Lord, but Your mercy. Lord, have mercy upon me." And God reaches down and saves us and takes us out of the pit of despair, and all we have to offer Him is us. We say, "Lord, I'm Yours. You can do whatever You want with me, Lord, because I'm crucified unto Christ. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Everything about life is about Christ."

On the Day of Judgment, there's going to be a lot of people who believe they redeemed each moment for eternity's sake, but they were mistaken. The recorded in Matthew chapter 7, when they say to Him on that day - He says, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not cast out demons in Your name? Did we not redeem each and every moment for the sake of eternity because we cast out demons, we perform miracles, and we did it all in Your name, Lord?'" And He will say to them, "Depart from Me.

I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness." And every one of them thought they were redeeming the time. Every one of them thought that they were buying back moments for eternity's sake. Every one of them thought, "Wow, we're serving Jesus." But because they consider their life as something and not nothing, everything they did was for themselves and not for Christ, and that's why Christ says, "Depart from Me. You're practicing lawlessness. Everything was about your own selfish desires, your own sinful desires. It wasn't for the true glory of the kingdom of God. You were self-deceived." And that's the worst kind of deception in man's history is self-deception.

So consider your life as nothing. When you do that, principle number five comes into play: communicate - communicate with grace and make sure that grace is seasoned with salt. That's what Paul says in the book of Colossians, the fourth chapter. Colossians chapter 4, Paul says these words. Sorry, my pages are stuck together. Colossians chapter 4, verse 5: "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of your opportunity." Paul says that again, just a different time.

So I say to redeem the time, he says, "Make the most of your opportunity. Take full advantage of what you have going on right now. How do you do that?" He says, verse 6: "Let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned with salt, so you will know how you should respond to each and every person." Isn't that great? How do you redeem back each moment for the sake of eternity? Well, if you consider your life is nothing, then you could communicate with grace. You've been saved by grace, right? You've been redeemed by grace, and now my speech will be seasoned with grace. That is, I will speak with humility.

I will speak with sensitivity. I'm not gonna speak with arrogance and boastfulness. I'm not gonna speak gossiping about someone else. I'm gonna make sure that my communication is truly with grace. You see, this is where the gospel of grace comes in because we're to preach that gospel, and we know that some things that we do are anathema to the world.

We know that the way we live our lives is different than the world. But our speech - the way we communicate to them - needs to be communicated with grace, seasoned with salt. And salt is a purifying agent. Is it not? Salt purifies. So your conversation is one that purifies the people you're speaking to. That's why Paul says Ephesians 4:29, "Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, only that which is good for the use of edification, that those who hear you might be the recipients of grace." In other words, our words that come from our mouth ought to be words seasoned with grace because you're a purifying agent. Life and death are in the power of the tongue - Proverbs 18:21, right? Everything that we say for good has equal but opposite potential for evil. So make sure you use your word to speak grace to people that they might understand who you are.

Now, although salt is a purifying agent, understand this: salt can be a very, very painful agent when poured into an open wound. It stings enormously. And sometimes our words, when spoken to those who live in sin and their lives are an open wound, when we speak to them, it will have a stinging effect, a stinging result. But because of the stinging that's there, it begins to work in a purifying kind of way because you're speaking with grace that's been seasoned with salt. You want to redeem each moment for the sake of eternity, that's what you do.

And lastly, principle number six is this: comfort others with the Scripture. Now you're ready to comfort others with the Scripture. Having confessed your sin, having conducted your life in the fear of the Lord, having lived your life in a way where you consecrate your life to the Lord and you consider your life as nothing and communicate with grace, now you comfort others with the Scripture. There is no better way to redeem the moments of your day than to use the Word of God with the people of God or use the Word of God with those who might not even know God because it brings great comfort to their souls. And that's why - listen,

this is why it abolishes anxiety. Because listen, if you consider your life as nothing, then you're not worried about what happens to your life because you know what? God's got it all under control. If you want to communicate with grace to other people, you're thinking of how you can best say what you're gonna say to them. If you separated your life under God for His purposes, then what you have done is given your eyes and your mind, your arms, your legs, everything about your soul is consecrated unto God because you live in the fear of the Lord all day long. That's just great stuff. And now you want to be able to communicate and preach the gospel, comfort others with the Scriptures. Listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verse number 49, when - "Remember the word to your servant in which you have made me hope. For this is my comfort in my affliction that your word has revived me." The psalmist knew that the only comfort amidst his affliction was the Word of the Lord. And then he says this in verse 52: "I have remembered your ordinances from of old, O Lord, and I comfort myself." The psalmist knows that everything about comfort comes from God. So what he remembers the ordinances of God,

he's comforted. That's why he would say in Psalm 94:19 that "when my anxious thoughts overwhelm me, that consolations delight my soul." Well now you have the opportunity to comfort others with Scripture. To come alongside of them and share the Word of the Lord amidst their tragedy, amidst their trial, amidst their tears, amidst their temptations. You had the opportunity to bring the truth that will cause them to triumph in Christ Jesus our Lord. The psalmist would go on to say in Psalm 119:92, "If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them

you have revived me. I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts." The psalmist knew that all of his comfort came from the Word of God. That is the truth. And so if we're gonna redeem back the time, if we are going to take full advantage of every moment, if we're gonna make the most of every opportunity that comes our way, then we need to comfort others with the Scripture, having comforted ourselves with that truth.

We can say to you, "Listen, this is what the Lord taught me. This is what's in His Word. Let me share it with you because it speaks volumes to your situation. Everything that pertains to life and godliness is in this book, the Word of God." And we can share with people and comfort them amidst their affliction. May God give us the grace to do this.

Redeeming every moment for the sake of eternity - you have redeemed, you have taken full advantage of this moment. When I'm done praying, you're going to have more moments throughout this day. And my prayer throughout this week into next Sunday - next Lord's Day - and beyond, that you are really well-aware of every moment that comes your way and says, "I'm going to take full advantage of this because I know that when I do this, all my anxiety begins to fade away because I am focused on doing what God has called me to do as His child."

Let me pray with you. Father God, we thank You for today. We thank You for Your word, the truth that it gives, and the opportunity we have to hear it read, preached, and touch our hearts. And our prayer is that we would be the people of God You want us to be. That Lord, You would cause us not to live in fear or anxiety or worry, but to trust You completely, to realize, Lord, You have everything under control, that You're in charge of everything, and that Lord, we can rest in Your providence and we can rest in Your provision and we can rest in Your peace and we can rest in Your presence. We can rest in You. We don't have to worry about us because every moment is a moment for You, and may we use those moments every single day to speak forth the truth of Your word, to live in the light of Your coming again, for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ our Lord. And all God's people said, "Amen."