If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25 through 29. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25 through 29. Reading out of the NASB, "See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For those who did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven.

And his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised saying, 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.' This expression, 'Yet once more,' denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for guidance. We pray that power of your word would convict and guide us, renew us, strengthen us, Lord God, that we may live worthy lives of the gospel that you've given.

So we pray for your direction, your Holy Spirit to lead. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, we're going to continue on from what we started last week where we talked about what a proper response to the gospel of Jesus Christ is. When we say, "Because of God's grace," if we have a wrong understanding of the gospel and the grace, we can easily think, "Because of grace, it doesn't matter what I do, that we have Christian liberty in Christ, so however I live, even though I ought to live this way, but there isn't any consequence anymore because God has covered us with his blood." If we have a superficial understanding and possibly an understanding of cheap grace, we may easily apply it that way.

But as grace is grace, the Bible tells us that there is consequence if we refuse this grace. And that's what he says in verse 25, chapter 12, we just read. It says, "See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if those who did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven." If God said everything that he said to the old covenant people and they didn't respond in a way that they ought to have and there were serious consequences, how much more when it's not just a glimpse of him, it was not just a theophany, but God himself speaking from heaven that we just say, "Oh, okay, that's what he says, that's what he believes." And we just continue to go on living our life any way that we want.

That's exactly what he was trying to address in the book of Hebrew. And that's why I think the book of Hebrew is so relevant to us today because he's not wrestling with any particular doctrine. There wasn't anything that he was saying that this is the problem, that you guys are guilty of idolatry.

You guys are guilty of this and that. He said, "Main problem with the audience of the Hebrews was they were just drifting. They weren't passionately pursuing Christ anymore. He wasn't supreme anymore. They've lost their first love." And he said, "How can we escape if we simply neglect such a great salvation?" That's why I think this is so relevant to us in our generation where you and I practice our Christianity because this is our primary challenge.

Reading the gospel, we become so inoculated by the truth where I just signed off on it and then rest of my life I just kind of live like everybody else. He says, "See to it that you do not refuse him." What does it mean to refuse him? You don't have to shake your hand and say, "You know what?

I don't believe in God. I'm an atheist and I'm going to worship idols." You don't need to do that. In fact, that's not what he's addressing in the book of Hebrews. To refuse him, first and foremost, is simply to remain willfully ignorant of the truth. Willfully ignorant. Not ignorant because you haven't been taught.

Not ignorant because you haven't had access. But simply ignorant because you just weren't interested. So many people in our generation has no idea what the Bible says. They can tell what the latest album is dropping and what the latest trend is and what athlete has what percentage and what batting average.

They know all of this stuff but they say, "Turn to the book of Hebrews. Turn to a certain passage in the Bible." And after 10, 15, 20, 30 years of being a Christian, they still don't know. And it's not because they haven't been taught. It just wasn't important enough for them to pursue.

So we can refuse him by willfully being ignorant of God's word. We can be willfully ignorant by studying the word of God and not applying it. Like it says in the book of James, you're constantly hearing but not doing. Faith without deeds is dead faith. This is straight from the Bible.

It means nothing if you just profess and all it is is a profession and there's no deeds that follow. So we can refuse him by studying and not applying what the Bible has to say. Thirdly, you can refuse him by studying what the Bible says and picking and choosing what you want to apply and then certain things that you don't want to apply.

So partial obedience. Obedience only to the things that I want to obey and the things that I don't want to obey. I just kind of keep at bay and say, "You know what? God understands. We're saved by grace anyway." And so we can refuse him in that way and in every way, every one of the things that I've mentioned, the Bible mentions that that is a form of refusing God.

In 2 Timothy 3, 5 and 7, it says that in the end times, and Paul is warning Timothy as a young pastor preparing him to go to the area of Ephesus to fight wrong doctrines because all these fellow co-workers are starting to drop out and backslide. And he's telling them, he's telling Timothy, "I want you to prepare for this.

This is what you're going to run into as a pastor." He says, "At the end times, you're going to run into people who are holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Form of godliness.

In other words, they do what you're supposed to do externally. They have a reputation of being godly because they know how to play this game. They've been in the church for a very long time. You know what to say. If they ask you how you're doing spiritually, "I'm doing okay," or "I'm struggling," and you know what you can say.

You know how to get along. So you have a form of godliness, but you have no knowledge of its power. That's the distinction between somebody who's excited about his faith and passionately pursuing Christ because you've recognized his power, you've experienced his power, versus somebody who's always hearing the sermon but never able to come to the true knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ.

You notice here in verse 7, he says, "Always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of truth." You notice here, he says, "He's always learning but never knowing." Always learning but never knowing. You see the distinction that he's making? That you can study, especially if you're at a Bible-teaching church, we're doing Bible study, and you're going through the verses, and you're always learning.

You're adding knowledge upon knowledge upon knowledge, but you're never coming and encountering Christ because we're refusing him in some way in our life. We've created this pseudo-Christian life that is completely contrary to what the Bible teaches, and so you've accumulated so much knowledge about the Bible, but you don't know Christ.

You know the distinction between somebody who's learning a lot versus somebody who encounters and knows God? Somebody who has a lot of knowledge, the benefit of having a lot of knowledge, that you know that I have that knowledge. So the more that I read, the more that I encounter, the more that I want you to know how much I know because that's the benefit of the study.

But the difference between somebody who's constantly studying and not encountering and knowing God is an individual who's always, his knowledge is learning to know Christ. And that's the distinction between somebody who's always learning but not knowing Christ versus somebody who's learning and encountering Christ. Because a person who is learning to encounter Christ, you'll see in their language, they're going to be talking about who Jesus is.

But an individual who accumulates a lot of knowledge are going to make sure that you know how much knowledge they have, what books that they've read, people that they know. That's who he says, that in the church, in our generation, our biggest challenge now is that, where we have a form of godliness.

You have no knowledge of his power. See, God's grace reminds us and challenges us and warns us to live according to what's going to last. And that's what he was saying in verse 26 and 27. His voice shook the earth then, but now he is promising yet once more, I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.

And he's reminding them about when he showed himself at Mount Sinai, where people are terrified and his very presence scared them. And as he came and he shook the earth, he says, but now God is speaking from heaven. It's not just a portion of his glory. It wasn't a theophany.

God himself from heaven is speaking to us directly. And he says, yet once more denotes the removing of those things which cannot be shaken as of creative things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. You know, this building, some of you guys may remember when we were trying to get into this building about four plus years ago.

You know, we had all these things that we had to do, but most of the things that we did to this building to move in here are things that you wouldn't notice, right? Because we deliberately bought this building because we didn't want to do a lot of construction. So we spent almost, I think about seven, $800,000 fixing this place up.

Majority of that went to things that you can't see. It was because this used to be a plumbing warehouse. And so there weren't a lot of people in this room. So in order for us to convert this to a church, because of the number of people coming in and out, the city had a different requirement for the seismic standard, meaning that it has to withhold, you know, the building has to be much stronger than a plumbing building, because if an earthquake hits, it needs to be make sure that it doesn't fall.

So majority of the money went to making holes. You know these beams, each one of these beams had to be fortified. So we had guys go up there with a drill, maybe about a foot long, and make drills. And then we had to have, yeah, we had to anchor it.

Yeah. I forgot. I wasn't looking for anchor. I was looking for the screws. Okay. Yeah. Bolts. Yeah. So we had bolts to anchor each one of the, every one of these beams have about eight anchors in each one of them. And it's not just here. This is all throughout the building upstairs, even in the cafe area.

So all of that had to be torn down, all the air conditioning, the insulation, all of that had to be torn down and then put, and then just put back up. That was majority of the construction in this, in this area. And so when the inspectors came, they actually had our construction guys go up there and take out some of this stuff to make sure that we did it correctly.

Because the, all the aesthetic stuff about the stage, about the painting, all this, they didn't care about that stuff. The main thing that they cared about was if an earthquake hit, that because then now this is going to be used as a church, we need to make sure that this building is going to be sound.

So if there's an earthquake, this is the best place to be. Right? They tell you normally run outside, I would run back in, right? All of that because they want to make sure, especially in California, that if the big one hits and it happens to be in the middle of our service, that this building isn't going to easily collapse.

See, when the Bible says, when the passage in Hebrew says that when he comes, he's going to be shaking things. And he repeats this over and over again in these two verses. It's to remind us that everything that we hold, that's not going to stand the test of the shaking, is not going to make it.

So this morning, what I want to go over is this shaking. What did it mean and what was it teaching and what is he referring to? Right? So first of all, when there's a violent shake, when God shows up and there's a violent shake, it was to remind them of the awesomeness of who God is.

To take his word seriously. Exodus chapter 19, verse 18, "Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently." And then again in Judges 5, 4 to 5, referring to the giving of the law, it says, "The Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens also dropped, dripped, even the clouds dripped water, the mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, this Sinai at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel." You know, I think most Californians have become desensitized to earthquakes, but if you've ever had a family member or friend who doesn't live in California and they come to visit or live here for a short period and then a minor earthquake hits, maybe like a 3.0, you know, a 3.0 earthquake for most Californians is nothing, right?

But the idea of the earth shifting, I mean, think about that. If you've never experienced that before, the earth, we're not talking about strong winds, we're not talking about fire, we're talking about the earth on which your house is built on moves. I mean, he's reminding them, remember when God showed up and there was a violent quaking and that God's presence, even the mountains were shaking in His presence, what do you think that did to the people?

Automatically, when there was a shaking, they realized something serious, something powerful was coming, that God's presence alone would shake the very foundations of the earth. That's what he is referring to. And yet he says in verse 26, "Yet," do you remember when God spoke from earth, but yet once more, "I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens." Everything created is going to be tested when it is in the presence of a holy God.

That's what it's referring to. You know, those of you who've lived in California for a long period of time, you guys remember the Northridge earthquake. Some of you guys may not have been born by then, some of you are a little bit older. 1994, at 4.30 a.m. in Northridge, there was a 6.7 magnitude, right?

They said there was over $77 billion of damage that was done. So some of you guys who are a little bit older may remember. And during that time, basically California was shut down for a long period, especially Northridge. You know, we had, I knew somebody who just closed on a house, literally two, three months before the earthquake hit, and there wasn't a single house that wasn't affected by this earthquake.

It was that big. Either cracked walls or fences were torn down. Freeways collapsed over there. Remember the 405? Freeways completely collapsed and you couldn't get around. That's how bad Big 6.9 was. But as bad as that was, the biggest earthquake that I personally experienced was the one in Whittier, 1987.

And the reason why that was more devastating to me was because I was in La Mirada that day. And La Mirada is the neighboring city to that. And I was getting ready to go to my Old Testament survey class at 7.45, and the class was at 8 o'clock, and I just started seeing this shift like that, just like an earthquake.

But this one kept on going. It got stronger and stronger. And I literally saw the parking lot move like that. You know how you have earthquakes that shake and then you have earthquakes that roll? That one was kind of that rolled like that. And it was rolling and I thought, "Okay, Jesus is here." Right?

Because like, I've experienced earthquake, but nothing like that. And then I saw, if you know Biola, most of the buildings in Biola, at least the older buildings are made out of brick. And I saw brick buildings curving like that on the parking lot. And I'm standing here and I saw cars at the end of the parking lot come up and down like this.

This is it. Earth is opening up, you know, and I'm ready to meet the Lord. I had friends who were already in the class jumping out of the window. It was on the first floor, so it wasn't that dangerous. But they were, everybody was going crazy. And I remember like, "Wow, I've never experienced anything like that.

How can cement and brick move that way?" As crazy as that was, on the news they said, "You know, this may be a precursor to something bigger coming." Because ever since I've been in California, the experts, seismologists have been saying the big one is coming and that wasn't the big one.

Right? Even the 6.7 in Whittier, I mean in Northridge, as big as that was, is that all of these things are going to trigger. So every time there's an earthquake in California, there's a fear that it's going to trigger the big one. And if you may have heard about the big one, and if you haven't heard of it, I'm going to tell you now so that you don't, you need to be informed.

They said that this is going to be so big, there's a possibility that California may crack away from the rest of the country. Yeah, that's what they said. That's how big the San Andreas Fault is going to be, that we can be a gigantic Hawaii. Right? They say that this may happen.

So what happened was after the '87 earthquake happened, after the '94 earthquake happened, there was a mass exodus from California. I know there's a mass exodus right now because of political reasons, but it was nothing like back then. Back then people were packing up their bags and moving to Colorado, wherever, outside of California.

Thankfully so, because they were saying that California was going to crack. So how can you possibly invest in anything here if the earth is going to crack? How can you possibly purchase a house if the house can be broken when the earthquake hits? What can you possibly, what are you going to build here if the earthquake is going to come?

So out of fear, in order to live, people packed up everything and left. Obviously, it's been many years since that has happened, but every time there's an earthquake, that announcement gets recirculated. It didn't happen. It's going to happen. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

So those of us who lived through that, we've become desensitized. It's like, "Ah, it's going to happen. I heard this before." Right? It's been many years, 20, 30 years have already passed. "Yeah, it'll happen. I'm sure it'll happen, but maybe not during my lifetime." Right? Those of you who've never heard this before, you know, it's like, "Oh my gosh, is this real?" Well, look it up.

I'm not making this up. This is real. Right? Why am I saying all of this stuff? Because the author of Hebrews is reminding us that no matter how great of an earthquake you may have experienced in the past, when Jesus comes in his full glory, whatever human history has experienced is going to pale in comparison.

For some reason, we have presented the gospel in such a way that Jesus is still this meek, humble servant who's on his knees looking for people's feet to wash. And all of these things are true. It's in the Bible. But have you read Revelation? Because Revelation is just as important as the Gospel of John.

Have you read Revelation? When he comes in his glory, he's not coming as a humble servant. He's coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Go back and read chapter one. Go back and read the rest of Revelation. Jesus is coming in his full glory. And when he comes, the Bible says, "The earth will shake." And this shaking is going to be much greater than what happened in Mount Sinai.

In Revelation 6, 12, it says, "I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black and sackcloth made of air, and the whole moon became like blood." Revelation 11, 13, "And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.

Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. Seven thousand people were killed, and rest were terrified, and gave glory to God of heaven." Isn't that strange? People are dying. They're terrified. And yet it says God was receiving the glory, right? Because they knew. They knew in the presence of God's glory, all this was happening because of his presence, not because of lack of his presence.

In Revelation 16, 17-20, "And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air." This is the last judgment that is explained. "And a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, 'It is done.'" The judgment is done. "And there were flashes and lightning sounds and peals of thunder, and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth.

So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty." So there is trembling throughout the judgment, and then it ends with the greatest trembling that mankind has ever seen. He says all of this to reveal that God in his full glory will come. Are we ready for this? We know that the earth, when it shakes, it deserves all of us.

And some people are willing to pack up and go somewhere else. Rightfully so. But yet, do we believe that when he comes, that anything that you and I have experienced is going to pale in comparison? So when there is a quaking in the Bible, it is to remind us of the awesomeness of God's presence that's coming.

But secondly, when a quaking happens, the Bible says that it is to test and to purify and make sure that all the non-essentials are shaken off. In Hebrews 12, verse 27, this expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as the creative thing, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

God allows some shaking in our lives at times to cause us to take a second look and see how valuable these things are. Are these things going to make it? That's why we have all these things that are placed in so that when the earthquake comes, that we can make it through the earthquake.

But this building hasn't been tested. Even though it's all there, all the preparation has been made, the city would not allow us to come into this building unless the preparation has been made, but it hasn't been tested. The Bible says that God allows smaller tremors in our life to test the quality of our faith.

In 1 Peter 1, 6-7, in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. So that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory, honor and revelation of Jesus Christ.

When the great judgment day comes, the only thing that's going to matter, the only thing that's going to save us, the only thing that's going to have value is the quality of our faith, which is going to cover us from the wrath that is to come. So he allows us to experience the tremors to test the quality of our faith.

That's what he says. Like I said, this building has been prepared for a greater seismic, you know, if it does come, but it hasn't been tested. But you know what has been tested? My house. My house has been tested and it's tested all the time. The reason why it's tested is because we live next to a train track, right?

We've been living next to a train track for over 10 to 12 years. And so when you first live next to a train track, like it's kind of disturbing. And I don't think that's a place that a lot of people would like to live because your house is always shaking, right?

I've gotten so used to it, like I don't even notice. In fact, unless the earthquake is anything below 4.5, I don't even wake up because I go, "Oh, this is a train." But that house that we live in is constantly shaking. So you know when the Metro goes by?

I know it's a Metro with people on it because it moves fast and it's pretty light. And it comes and it shakes for a little while like this and then it's gone. But I know when those freight trains come, you know, it's long, slow moving, heavy, and really it rumbles.

It literally just rumbles like this. And whatever conversation we have, we have to stop for a second. Unless we have the window closed. So there is no settling in our house. You know, most houses, especially the newer ones, you buy it and then, you know, in the middle of the night, you'll hear creaking.

You know what I mean? It's not the ghost. It's your house, just kind of the weight of the house just kind of settling and the slight movements of the wood. You know, so if you're a new house owner, you know, that's what happens to a house. It takes years and the house just kind of settles, right?

Our house has been settled. I don't hear any creak. I've lived in other houses, but I usually don't hear any creaks in our house because whatever creaking settling is going to happen, it's happened. Right? Because every day it's being tested. Right? Now, we haven't been tested by a magnitude of that size, but the small tremors does nothing to our house.

Right? And it's deliberately built that way. And homes in California are better built for that reason because we're used to tremors. Right? And, again, I don't want to go sidetracked, but there's a reason why Californians don't have basements. It's because of the earthquakes. Right? All of this to say, the Bible is telling us that in the end when Christ comes, all things are going to be tested.

And the only thing that survives from this test is going to be in eternity with him. And so what is the purpose of all of that? To invest in things that's going to stand the test of time when Christ comes. God allows certain things to happen in our life to test.

But you know what I found out through the years, that the greatest test all throughout history hasn't been the hardships, the persecutions, and the difficulties. You know, when this pandemic hit, even non-Christians were praying. I heard rap stars, you know, like most vulgar lyrics saying, "We need to pray.

We need to pray." Even non-Christians who have no faith in God, when hardship comes, know that they need something outside of them. The greatest testing of our faith, I found, that most people, a lot of people, don't make is when we are not pressed. When our bills are paid, and things are good, and family is good.

And we see that same pattern in the Old Testament. When the Israelites had the greatest problem was when bills were paid, when they didn't have enemies, when life was secure. And what happened? They got proud. They forgot God. And as soon as they forgot God, they started slipping into idolatry.

Every day we are being tested. You know, one of the benefits of this pandemic is it's forced us to look at things that are essential, right? And who knew toilet paper was so essential, right? But it's like toilet paper somehow is essential. You know, we think water is essential.

Food is essential. And then as a church, we have to take a step back and ask ourselves, how essential is our church? How essential is our gathering? So we were wrestling through all of this when the non-Christian world says the church is not essential. It's understandable. But they didn't get mad at them saying that because they don't believe God.

So to them, liquor stores are essential because liquor can calm you down. So when they have hardship and they're freaking out, you know, go to the liquor store and get some liquor and then put it in their body to calm them down. But church, this is just a placebo.

It's not essential. So it's understandable. People who don't know Christ will label the church non-essential because it's not doing anything other than giving you a security blanket to make you feel better. At least liquor, there's something tangible that you're doing. The shocking thing was so many churches just embrace that.

What is essential in our life that we need to hold on to and fight for and to pursue that when Christ comes that we will not think that we wasted our lives? We are being tested constantly to see what is essential? What is really essential? What is going to test the shaking when Christ comes?

I remember years ago, you know, he was pretty young then. He was a 20-year-old. And it was during a period when there was the ear piercing. I'm not just talking about any ear piercing, but you pierce and then you make it into a size of a pencil and then the next stage is to make it a nickel size and then the next stage was a quarter size.

So you might not remember. I think it's been maybe about 17, 16, 17 years ago. And so, you know, this guy, he was in a band and he already had a hole in there that was the size of a pencil. And he asked me, what do you think about making it larger to a quarter?

And I said, you know, I don't have any particular problem. There's no Bible verse I'm going to quote you and say you can't do that. But let me just give you some worldly wisdom as an older brother. It's cool right now, right? And you're part of a band, so maybe that kind of fits your MO, but you're not going to be in that for long.

And one day it may not be cool, right? Because there's nothing new under the sun. Everything that was cool when we were younger is very dorky today. It's not even not cool, it's just dorky. But there's going to come a time when you're going to walk up one day and then you're going to see a big hole that you can't close up and you're not going to think it's cool, but it's going to be there permanently.

So I know you don't understand, you may not agree with what I say now, but I told him, you're 20 years old, 10 years ago when you were 10, what do you think? Are there things that you said and did and valued when you were 10 year old that as a 20 year old, it's like, that is so dumb.

That is so dorky, right? So yeah, there's a bunch of stuff I did when I was 10 years old. Okay, so now you're 10 years more mature. Do you think that you have reached the peak of your maturity at the age of 20, that another 10 years from now when you're 30, that you're not going to look back at the things that you did when you were 20 and then say, well, that was dorky, that was dumb, it was so cool then, but at a 30 year old, and you think that stops at 30?

You think you can wake up when you're 40 and look back at things that you did at your 30 and then realize like, oh, I wish I had this knowledge then. All our life, we're not at our final destiny. So things that were so important at that period of our life, it doesn't stand the test of time.

And so God is speaking to us from eternity. The things that seem so important at that moment is going to seem like nothing in the context of eternity. And so as a 20 year old is wise to listen to a 30 year old and 30 year old is wise to listen to a 40 year old, 40 year old, why is this still 50 year old and on and on and on.

God is speaking from heaven. That's why he said, do not refuse him because God knows what's going to stand the test of time. And all that we have been entangled with and concerned about in the end may not even matter. That's what he's saying. So pursue the things that matter, pursue the things that you're not going to regret in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 100 years, 1,000 years later, that you're not going to look back at this, that short period of time that you and I are living and miss that comes and goes and to forfeit the blessing that God has for us in eternity.

When he comes in full glory, a radical change of values are going to happen when we are in Christ. All that after the violent shaking of his coming, only true faith, only the things that last for eternity. And that's why he says in John chapter 6, 27, do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give to you for on him, the father, God has set his seal.

In other words, he's ordained it, right? To pursue the things that God has ordained for eternity, not for the moment. You know, I mentioned tattoos in the first service and I had to push back. People are very uncomfortable. I'm going to say it again. I don't have anything against tattoos, okay?

So you say, "Oh, he's a legalist." I don't have anything against tattoos, but it applies to tattoos, right? I don't have anything against tattoos, okay? Don't come up to me after service. I already told you, okay? Some tattoos have meaning, right? And I've seen people with tattoos that have meanings.

I'm military guys who's lost their, you know, their fellow soldiers or people who've lost their children. I've seen things with meaning, but there's a lot of things that you're going to put on your body that's not going to look too good, right? When you're 40, 60, 80. So I have nothing against it.

I'm just telling you from an older brother in Christ, give it a little bit more thought, right? What's cool today, and I'm only picking on tattoo, but that applies to everything in life, right? What seems cool today for the moment is going to pass. And like I said, it is not just tattoos.

It's the homes that we purchase, the clothes that we buy, the experiences that we want, the accolades of people, the next stage of our job, in our career, the opinions of men and women. All of these things in time will pass. So therefore, he says to invest in things that are eternal.

And there's four things that the Bible says that will stand the test of time. One is God himself. God himself will not change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. So if we're going to be concerned about building anything, if we're going to be pursuing anything, to pursue the kingdom of God.

And that's why it says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." First, is he our priority? Number two, the word of God. The word of God. First Peter 1, 24, 25, "For all flesh, like grass, and all its glory, like the flowers of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls off. But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you." This is why we emphasize the word so much in our church, because everything else that is trendy for the moment will pass. But God's word that he has ordained a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, six thousand years ago, still remains to be proven to be true today.

And it will last forever. The church of God, when Jesus says, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." That's why we commit to the building of the church, more than anything else. Because he said he's going to commit to it. He's going to make sure that it's going to stand the shaking of time.

So therefore, to commit to what he has committed to, the building up of the body of Christ. And third and finally, your salvation and my salvation is secure in Christ. In Romans 8, 37-39, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Our identity in Christ is secure, if our faith is proven to be genuine.

And that's why when the disciples came back, and they were rejoicing over the fact that the demons were submitting to them. They were excited, just common fishermen went back, and they were able to cast out demons, like, "Wow, this is exciting." And Jesus says, "Great, and you're going to see greater things.

But if you're going to rejoice over everything, rejoice that your name is written in the book of life. Everything else will come and go. Sometimes you will see fruit, sometimes you will not. Sometimes you will experience peace, sometimes you will not. But the love of God remains forever." So that's what he means.

He said, "When you hear the voice of God, do not refuse him who speaks from heaven. There is eternal consequences." So my prayer is that no matter what we are going through, no matter what we are distracted by, that there's a need for us to constantly test, are the things that I am pursuing temporary things?

Are the things that I am so concerned about temporary things? Are the things that I spend all my money on, are they temporary? Am I genuinely pursuing the things that will last the test of his coming? I pray that that may be the case. Let's pray. So again, as our worship team comes, if we can take a few minutes to come before the Lord and genuinely examine our life.

What am I pursuing? What do I value? What do I rejoice over? What do I weep over? Are they things that are eternal or are they things that are temporal? Lord search me and know me, see if there's any hurtful ways in me. And ask the Lord to reveal these things so that we may continue to follow Christ, not live in a pattern where we refuse him.