A Better Reason: Give me one reason not to give up!

Amen. Amen. So I want to talk to you this morning on something that really God had been dealing with me a couple weeks about. And, you know, there's been a lot that happened this week. And then I'm like, okay, God, you see things before and you know what's going to happen, and you know our future.

And so this is a word that's been heavy on my heart for about two weeks. And I truly believe that many of you, God brought here this morning to hear this message. And what I want you to know is that God has heard your cries of discouragement, and he's even seen your inclinations to want to quit and give up. So I want to talk to you this morning on a sermon title. Give Me One Reason.

Give me one reason not to quit. Give me one reason not to give up. A better reason. A better reason. Okay, Now, I want you to know that this sermon is for those who are in the faith, and you may be discouraged, and maybe you feel like you're ready to quit.

Right. But this sermon is also for those who are just struggling in life, and maybe you feel like you're ready to give up on everything. Right. Maybe you feel like Life, with all of it struggles, with all of its pressures, with all of its adversities. Maybe you feel like it's become too much for you to bear.

Maybe the enemy has been whispering in your ear and implanting the lie that this life just isn't worth living.

And many times in these moments and in these seasons, we get to the point, point where we feel desperate. Anybody ever got to a point where you just feel desperate? Can you be honest with me in the house? You ever felt desperate? Right?

Where you feel lost and you feel hopeless in the midst of everything that's going on. I can't tell you how many times being in the position that I'm in as a pastor, that I've encountered people that are going through some very difficult seasons. And I've heard the people say in those moments, just give me one reason, Pastor Andrew. Give me one reason. Give me one reason not to give up.

Give me one reason not to quit. Give me one reason to keep going. And if that's you here this morning, I want you to please listen to what I gotta say. Really what the word of God has to say. Because we're just gonna go through a chapter in the Bible.

Maybe that's not you. Maybe you're not at that point right now. Maybe everything's going good. But then I still encourage you to listen, take hold of this word and use it as a means of motivation, encouragement for the future. Amen.

Amen. So here's my first point today. No one is exempt from discouragement. No one's exempt from discouragement. Right.

If you have your Bibles, you can go ahead and go to Psalm 73. Psalm 73. Psalm 73, along with 11 other Psalms are attributed to being written by a guy named Abraham. Asaph. Okay.

A, S, A, P, H. Asaph. Okay. And you may be asking yourself, well, who the heck is Asaph? I've never even heard of him. Right, well, he's in your Bible.

Okay, so just a quick Bible history lesson. Asaph was a worship leader of worship leaders. He was actually the worship leader of worship leaders. According to 1st Chronicles, chapter 16, verse 5, Asaph was designated as the chief over the worship leaders who were appointed by King David to play and to sing praises before the ark of God continually. Okay.

All right. And so Asaph would probably be considered sort of a modern day drummer because Asaph was the one who sounded the cymbals. He's a cymbal sounder. Okay. But Asaph and these other Levites, what they would do is they were placed before the ark of God in the tabernacle, right?

And they were put there to invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord continually, day and noon and night. They worshiped and they praised the Lord. Okay, so Asaph, he no doubt had a heart for the Lord. He was actually a leader among leaders, and he was a worshiper among worshipers. He loved God and he wanted to lead others to God and he wanted to lead them into worship to God.

He had a place of position. He was active in ministry. And listen, I want you to listen to his words in Psalm 73. Okay, this is what he starts out. And he says.

He says, Psalm 73, verse 1 and 2. I'm going to be using two versions of the Bible day, the Common English Bible and the English Standard Version. Typically, I'm always preaching out of the new King James Version. That's just what I use a lot. But as I was going through this, I have several Bibles in my office, and I tend to read Scripture in many different translations just to get a better feel, a better understanding.

But as I read in the Common English Bible and the English Standard Version, it just really seemed to resonate and it makes it easier to understand what we're going to talk about today. So this first part is going to be with the Common English Bible. Psalm 73, verses 1 and 2 says, Truly, God is good to Israel. To those who have a pure heart, listen. But me, my feet had almost stumbled.

My steps had nearly slipped. If you skip down to verses 13 and 14, we're going to go over the rest of this, but I'm just giving you a preemptive look. Verses 13 and 14, he says, meanwhile, I've kept my heart pure for no good reason. I've washed my hands to stay innocent for nothing. I'm weighed down all day long, and I'm punished every morning.

As I said, we're going to go through most of this psalm, but I wanted to start with these verses. So this psalmist, Asaph, he starts out with saying, God, I know that you're good to your people. People. I know that you're good to those who walk with cleanliness of hands and with a purity of heart. I know that I've seen it in the scriptures that have been written before me.

I've read it in your Word. I know that you're good. I've even heard it in the testimonies of our forefathers, how it's been passed down from generation to generation of all your great works and your miraculous things. You are good. To your people.

But then he says, but for me, me right now, in this moment, he says, I'm ready to give up. That's what the psalmist is saying here. He's saying, the road's been long, it's been hard, it's been difficult for me. I've tried to avoid evil. I've been disciplined daily.

I've done my best to abstain from sin. But to what end? What kind of influence has my life had on the ungodly Godly? Have I affected this world? Have I affected people in my own family, around me?

Have I affected them in any way? Listen, guys, I believe that's an honest cry. That's an honest cry. Maybe that's a cry that's in your heart this morning. It's okay to be honest with God.

Can I tell you? It's okay to be honest with God. That's why I love the Psalms, right? David's one of my favorite people in the Bible. Cause he just kept it real with me, God.

And it's crazy because we try to reserve things from God, but he already knows what we're thinking and feeling. He already knows we can be honest with God. But I do believe if you get to a point where you make this kind of honest cry, you got to be ready for an honest answer.

So when we ask, what's the point? What is the point? I deny myself the pleasure that all the others seem to enjoy. I walk a narrow path when others, even those that claim to be a part of the faith, they walk an even broader path than I do. And they seem to be enjoying all the things of this world that I'm not enjoying.

They can sit and they can watch things that I feel your Holy Spirit inside of me convict me. For they listen to things that grieve your spirit on the inside of me. They live lives that are contrary, directly contrary to your word, Word. And yet they sit and they talk about the blessings of God all over them. They sit and they say this, and they say that.

And yet you tell me to keep my vision clear, keep my focus straight. And with all this, I don't seem to be having an effect. That's what Asaph is saying right here, verse three. He says, because I envied the arrogant, I observed how the wicked are well off.

He says again, they seem to be enjoying a lot of things I don't enjoy. And not that I want to do them, I just can't enjoy them. Because your spirit inside of me says, no, no, no, no, stay away from that. I Got something better for you. So not only do I not enjoy it, but I don't want to enjoy it because there's something on the inside of me says, no, no, no, that's contrary to my word.

I'm going to stay set up apart. I'm going to say holy. I'm going to say sanctified.

But he's just being honest before God. Verses four through seven, he says, talking about the wicked. They suffer no pain. Their bodies seem fit and strong. They're never in trouble.

They aren't weighed down like other people. That's why they wear arrogance like a necklace, why violence covers them like clothes. Their eyes bulge out from eating so well. Their hearts overflow with delusions. Now, hey, that's a lot better than I could say for myself at the moment, right?

You ever get to a place as a believer where it seems that the unsaved and the worldly seem way better off than you are? Honest answer, right? I've been there. I've been there. I've thought that, right?

We probably all been there and thought that. They look like they're in want for nothing and like they don't have a care in the world. And then Asaph, he goes as far to say, they've been eating so good. They've been eating so good, it looks like their eyes are bulging out. Let me tell you something.

If you're eating so good that your eyes are bulging out, you are eating good, my friend. You've probably been to our legacy gatherings.

Verses 8 and 9, he says they scoff and they speak with malice loftily. They threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue strut through the earth. Anybody know what he's talking about right here? I think I know exactly what he's talking about.

How many? At work or even at home, you say, I want to be a testimony. I want to be a light to those that are around me. But then you go into work, and some people feel like they have the liberty to say any vile or hurtful thing they want to you. They criticize, they make fun of, or they mock your faith.

You know, I worked in the automobile industry for 15 years, and, man, it's still some of the greatest memories of my life. I made some lifelong friends. Some of the people I worked with in Honda, they attend here. They watch online. I've got lifelong friends from there.

But there were certain times, you know, to the best of my ability, I've tried to live this life for the Lord the best I can. And for many years I was working there and pastoring here at Remnant. And so there were times where people, they thought it was funny, but I'd be walking through the shop and they would come say, hey, Andrew, come over here. Can you fix this on my computer? And they would have vile, disgusting images on the computer, and they would just laugh and laugh because they knew that I tried to abstain from all those things, and they just thought it was hilarious.

And in those moments, my flesh would get so angry, Like, I'm about to push this guy off the stool that he's sitting on, laughing. I'm going to slap his jaw. Y' all bust that lip. He won't be laughing then, right? That's what my flesh.

And so they criticize, they mock, they make fun of your faith, but in those moments, your flesh says that, but you feel the restrained hand of God telling you not to fight back, not to respond in the same manner, but to still treat them with love and kindness. And so they say, and they do everything my flesh wants to do. But the spirit of God on the inside of me retains my flesh. Y' all been there. Can you relate with me, right?

Instead of praying for them, you do want to slap them. Been there. I still get there as a pastor sometimes. And I have to say, lord, my flesh, you gonna have to help me crucify my flesh, right?

Verses 10, 11, 12. Therefore, his people turn back to them and find no fault in them. And they say, they say, how can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease.

They increase in riches. So what he's saying is, not only do they mock God's people, but they mock God himself. In all their indulgence, is there any knowledge in the Most High? They always seem to be at ease. And this is where he begins to say he feels as if he has kept his heart pure in vain.

Verses 13 and 14, he says, all in vain. I've kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence for all the day long. I've been stricken and rebuked every morning, morning again. Everything that they do, my flesh would like to do, right? I'd like to treat them the way they treat me.

I'd like to say some of the things to them that they say to me. I'd like to do that, too. So what's the point of living this life separated unto God? It doesn't appear as if my life is having any effect on any of those around me. I go to church, I live my life as best I can.

For God. But all I'm getting right now is scornful people telling me I'm missing out on all the great things that this world has to offer. And now I'm beginning in my own heart and in my own mind, in my own emotions. As I'm caught up in those things, I'm beginning to ask myself, is it worth it? Verses 15 to 16 if I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed.

Betrayed the generation of your children. That's a powerful verse. I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought of how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task.

What he's trying to say here is he does not want to discourage those that are around him trying to live a godly life. That's what he's saying. Those to his right or those to his left. Left. Those that are younger than him, that are younger in the faith, or even the generations of children that are coming by him.

He says, I don't want to be a discouragement to anyone. I don't want to discourage anybody for thinking these things. I don't want to be a discouragement for feeling this way. And maybe that's some of you this morning. You don't want to discourage the people to your right or your left or in front of you or behind you.

But you knew if they knew what you were thinking or maybe even what you were feeling, it might come, caused them to falter. And you don't want that to happen. And so the psalmist says, I'm in so much turmoil on the inside that it's painful. It makes him feel sick and weary. He didn't want to feel that way, but it was how he felt and it bothered him.

He hated that he felt that way. He hated that he was having these thoughts. And so now he's at the point he's like, God, God, if you could just give me one reason. Give me a reason to continue. Give me a reason to keep on keeping on.

Give me a reason not to call it quits. So here's my second point. Encouragement and clarity comes when you get into his presence.

We all gonna face these battles. But let me tell you something. When you get into the presence of God, God, there can be discouragement turns to encouragement and blurry vision turns to clarity. Okay? Encouragement and clarity comes when you get into his presence.

Verse 17. He says, Until. Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned therein. He said, until I came to the house of God.

It was then when I got into the presence of God, that I saw something. And there was a veil that was lifted from in front of my eyes. And now I can see a little more clearly. I can see things for what they truly are right now. I came into your presence, God, and now I'm getting a clear picture.

The fog has lifted, and now I can see beyond the things that are. I'm just seeing with these natural eyes, but I'm starting to see things in the spiritual. And what it was was terrible, terrifying. There was something he saw that was terrifying because he began to understand something.

He began to see what lies before the ungodly. In the end, he began to understand there is an end to all things.

There is an end, and it may be coming soon. We don't know. We don't know the day, we don't know the hour. And he's thinking, oh, God, the people, the people that are all around that don't have any idea what they're headed for, they don't understand. They don't realize there is a hell.

There's a hell just as there is a heaven. I'll tell you, I'm not ashamed to tell you the truth from this pulpit. There's a lot of people ain't preaching like this anymore. But just as there is a heaven, there is a hell. There is a hell.

And people don't understand that they could spend an eternity apart from God there. They don't understand that now because God actually is everywhere, says he's omnipresent, right? His Holy Spirit is always moving to and fro on this earth, whispering to the worst of sin, sinners. How do we know that? We know that because he whispered to us when we were in the worst of our sin.

And thank God we heard him and we responded to his call. So even the ungodly now on this earth, whether they choose to accept it or not, whether they choose to believe it or not, they are surrounded by the presence of God. Paul says that all creation shouts to his existence distance here on the earth. And on Judgment Day we will stand without excuse before God.

But hell is a place where you can spend eternity without him. Verses 18, 19 and 20. He says, truly, you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors like a dream when one awakes.

Oh, Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. So the psalmist says, when I came into your house, I saw that the lost are sliding into a place of destruction from which there is no way of escape. There's no way of escape. It's like a slippery, muddy hill that no matter what you do, you keep sliding down. Basically, what he's saying is there's no way out of the judgment for every single one of us that's coming.

Listen. We cannot lose sight of the fact that there is a heaven, but there's also a hell. There's also a hell. And hell is an eternal place. It's a place of hopelessness, a place of darkness where never a kind or soothing word is spoken.

But as the Bible describes it, a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's a place that no one wants to go or no one wants to be. It's a place that you don't leave. And the people that don't know Jesus Christ are headed there. I know it's a heavy word.

I know it's quite near, but hear me out. The people we work with that don't know Jesus, they're headed there. People we interact with day to day that don't know Jesus, they're headed there. People that don't have a relationship with him. And it could happen for any of us at any moment that this life ends, young or old.

Young or old. This week tells the story of that. I have a grandmother, and there's several people that I know from young to old, life ended. I want you to listen to the words of Jesus. This is Luke, chapter 16, verses 19 through 31.

Bailey, you can come play behind me. I still got a little bit, but I want you to play behind me.

Luke 16, 1931. This is the words of Jesus himself. He says, there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus. He was full of sores who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, the dolls came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died. Lazarus d died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

And then he cried and said, father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things. And likewise Lazarus, evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented.

And beside all of this, this between us and you, there's a great gulf fixed. So that those who want to pass from here to you cannot and nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, I beg you therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house. Send Lazarus to my Father's house. For I have five brothers that he may testify to them, lest they come to this place of torture, torment.

And Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one right from the dead. Listen, that's a tough story, but it's reality.

How many voices do you think are crying out from there right now? That's a sobering thought. It's a sobering thought. God, send somebody to my family. Send somebody to my friends.

Tell them they don't want to come here.

God. God, please save them. Save them. Listen, there's only one who can save. He's the one who did die.

And he rose from the dead. He shed his blood on a cross. He died, he was buried, and he rose again from the dead. And listen, just as Jesus said, there are still those who are not persuaded. He said, though one rise from the dead dead, that still will not be persuaded.

Listen what the psalmist goes on to say. Verse 21. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in my heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast towards you. He's talking about his heart.

Toward God. I was prudish and I was ignorant. I was a beast towards you, God. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand, you guide me with your counsel, and afterward you receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on this earth that I desire besides you. He was honest still. He said, look, my flesh and my heart, it may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Behold those who far who are far from you shall perish.

You put an end to everyone who's unfaithful to you. But for me, it's good to be near to God. I've made the Lord my refuge that I may tell of all your works. This is what he says. He says, I realized the error in my thoughts.

I realized the error in my feelings. Towards you, God, I realized that I too, was on that same path of destruction. And I could still be. If not you being with me, if not you holding my hand, if not for you leading me and for guiding me and protecting me and for me and loving me and saving me, I would be on that same path. But because you saved me and because you hold my right hand, you will receive me into glory.

My heart and my flesh, they fail. My feelings, they fail me. But God, you never do. Come on, somebody. He'll never fail you.

God never fails. He says it's good. It's good for me to be near to you, to trust in you, to live for you. Why? Because you're my refuge.

You're my strong tower. You're the one that I run to. You're the one that I can trust.

I said that I would call this message. Give me one reason, one reason not to give up, one reason not to quit. How about this? Eternity.

Eternity.

How about this? That lost son or that lost daughter that doesn't know God, but they're looking to you. They're looking to you. How about this? That brother or sister, they don't know God, but they're looking to you.

That co worker, that friend, that neighbor. Even if you don't realize it or see it, they're looking to you.

I have the past several weeks, I've been on just this binge of listening to a guy named Corey Russell. He has these prayer albums. And I just been on a binge listening to just prayer, right? He just prays. He's got these whole albums and it's just him praying.

And. And one of them is called Revival. And on that album there's a track called Gift of Tears. Gift of Tears. And in that prayer, he mentions a story about William Booth and the Salvation army.

Okay? And he says that the Salvation Army. Salvation army used to be a lot different than what it is today. It wasn't just a place, you know, they still do a of lot, lot of things. But they used to go into cities and just evangelize, right?

They were. They were a big evangelistic evangelism ministry. But as they went into a city and they. And they were working, they labored and they labored and they labored over that city. But really, after all that labor, they really had not seen any impact of what they had been doing and what they'd been working so hard for, for the kingdom.

And it's. They said that it seemed that no one was really coming to Christ. No one was being brought to Salvation like they had hoped for. And so they sent a letter to William Booth. He was the founder of the Salvation Army.

And so they sent a letter to William Booth. And they were asking him in this letter, they're like, what do we do? What do we do? We've been here, we've been laboring, we've been working nonstop. We've been doing all this, but nothing's happening.

We're ready to pack up, we're ready to leave. We're ready, ready to give up on this place.

And it says that William Booth sent back a letter with just two words. It was a two word letter. And he sent it back to his team members of the Salvation army. And it said this. Try tears, try tears.

Let me tell you something. Tears born of God, for the things of God moves God. It moves God. My prayer is that God would give us hearts that don't give up, hearts that would cry out for the lost. The lost in our family, the lost at our workplaces, the lost in our neighborhoods, the lost in the city, the lost in this county, its surrounding area.

That we would cry out for the lost that does not know Jesus. God, give us hearts that will cry out for the lost. Tears. Give us a gift of tears. Psalm 126, verses 5 and 6 says this says, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Let me tell you what that means. Those who sow in tears for the lost actually come home with a harvest. That's what it's saying. That's what it's saying.

The shouts of joy come from knowing that what was sowed in tears and in prayer on our knees, crying out, God, save thou, Save my brother, Save. Save my sister, save my friend, save my co worker, save my neighbor. Those tears that are born of God crying out for the lost, that is the seed that brings in the harvest and that causes shouts of joy in the kingdom of God.

I pray that God would give the church tears again. We got away from prayer. We got away from crying out for the loss. Listen, I'm thankful for this building. I'm thankful for everything God's done.

It is incredible to me. I come here most days and there's not a day that I don't get tears in my eyes. And I think, God, this is so beyond me. It's incredible and I don't understand, but I thank you for it. And so I love the screens I love these fancy graphics.

I love the great, you know, sound system that we got and everything that we can do, all the things we can do on social media. But I promise you, if we're not winning souls, what the heck are we doing if we're not crying out for the lost word truly is our hearts?

I pray that God would give the church the gift of tears again. To cry out and say, God, I want to see them saved. I want to see. See the city won for you, Jesus.

Break our hearts with what breaks yours. We're in the heavens and come down.

Listen, this message is not a scare tactic.

It's a plea. It's a plea. And here's the plea. Don't give up. Don't quit.

Why? Because people are looking for to you. People are dependent on you. Don't give up because God has better for you and he has better for them. And all that you care about, he's watching over.

I want you to stand to your feet.

Give me one reason. I would say eternity. That should be reason enough. Eternity. It should be reason enough.

I want you to bow your heads, close your eyes.

Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. If you're here this morning, you say, pastor Andrew, I don't know that I'm ready.

I don't know that I'm a ready. I want to be ready. If that's you. I want to be ready for eternity. Throw your hand in the air.

I want to be ready for eternity. That's you. Throw it up. Put it right back down. I don't know that I'm ready, but I want to be ready.

I want to be ready. Maybe you're here this morning, say, pastor Andrew, that was me. I've been at a point. There's been so much going on in my walk with the Lord. I've been saved, but I've been trying to walk faithfully.

But there's been so many pressures. There's been so many things going on in the life that I've been tempted to really just to give up and quit. It feels like it's all been in vain. And I realized this morning that I was the enemy. Lying, trying to get me to give up on something God you have better plans for.

But if that's you this morning you say, I've been tempted to give up in my walk. Just throw up your hand. Put it right back down. Be honest. Yeah, maybe you're here this morning you say, pastor Andrew, I just been tempted to give up on life.

That's a heavy. That's a heavy call. I know where you just feel like there's no other way out.

I want you to know God. God has better for you that you throw your hand up this morning. Put it right back down. Yeah.

Jesus.

Jesus, I want you to look at me.

We gave that call for everybody, but this is. This is a call for the church.

The Lord burdened my heart. Heart with this over two weeks ago, And I feel like he really told me to give this call for the church. Right. There were different people raised their hands for those questions. Right.

But for the church as a whole to come together and to come and pray. Pray and cry out for the lost.

To pray for the lost. There's not a single person in this room that don't know a lost person, that don't know Jesus.

God wants to use us to reach them. He doesn't just want to use Pastor Andrew. He wants to use you. And he's placed you in that place or that position so you can have influence.

But your prayers and your tears for the lost are the seeds that will reap the harvest. So they're going to begin to sing. You raised your hand for any reason. Maybe you should have, but didn't. I want you to come.

Or if you say, pastor Andrew, I'm going to come cry out for the lost as they sing. I want you to come. We got a big old altar up here. There's plenty of space for us to pray together for the lost. Would you come?

Would you come?