at talking the Lord out of his father's business. Of course, we're talking about Peter because he messed up, but I'm glad that every one of us need to be devoted to the duty of the Great Commission to go and to make disciples. This is July the 10th. 20,022, the 11th of Tammuz, 5782, the Hebrew calendar tonight. And so what a tremendous blessing to be able to go forth and to use the gospel of Jesus Christ to make a difference in this world. Amen. Each and every one of us may not know much, but I'm glad God can use every one of us, amen, for his honor and glory. And I'm glad that tonight, as we begin to look and realize that God wants to do something in all of our lives, amen, Boy, I thank God He wants to take us and use us for His honor and glory. Each and every one of us as we go through tonight, amen, God can take us and use us for His glory tonight. And so as we get started, let's get into the Word of God, amen, and use the Word of God. Take your Bibles, as I said, over to Matthew chapter 16. And starting with verse 21, amen, that the Lord would begin to use us tonight. And I'm glad that as we step forward that God will begin to take us and use us for that glory and honor that we would be able to give to him tonight. Every one of us has something that we've been called to do, amen. And I hope and pray that you find out what that is, amen. God wants to use you for his honor and glory. And so if you don't know what it is, you don't know what your gifts are, take a little bit of time to ask the Lord to help you to be that one that we can go and make disciples, amen. And so each and every one of us can go forward and be used of the Lord for his honor and his glory tonight, amen. And so I thank God here tonight as we start out, that God wants to use us for his honor and glory. He wants us to take the word of God and share it with those that we come in contact with on a daily basis, amen. And so here as we start tonight, one of the things about our time is that we need to prioritize, amen, tonight. We need to prioritize everything that we do as we look at the powerful word of God tonight. and go and get into it. Here we see tonight that it tells us that. Peter is going to be doing a great work. Amen. Jesus foretells his death and his resurrection and as we look at the Word of God the Bible says and from that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. I'm glad that from that time that his suffering that he paid the price for us on that cross. He knew where he was destined to go, amen. And I'm glad that because the cross was always his destination, the very reason that he came and the resurrection was never in doubt, amen. I'm glad that each and every one of us, when we look and realize how powerful it is that Jesus came to give himself on that cross for all of our lives. Amen. And so here we begin to go forward. He kills us only in verse 23. He says, listen, or excuse me, verse 22. He says, then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, be it far from the Lord. This shall not be under thee. You see, here is where we see the problem that Peter wanted to get in the way of the Lord's work. And so, as we look at this and he goes on forward, basically here we see that his death required a total commitment on his part. You know, it ain't like The story of the pig and the chicken, you know, because the pig says, you know, I can give up one leg and I'll be all right, you know, and hop around on three. But the chicken says, it's a total commitment for me. You know, I've got to give it all up. And so I thank God. Here we begin to realize that with Peter trying to get in the way of the Lord's mission of going to Calvary, amen, the death required a total commitment on the part of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He goes on, and I read him, but he turned and he said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. I thank God. He goes on in verse 24, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Amen. I'm glad that his death demands a total commitment from each and every one of us. Amen. In verse 25, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Amen, I'm glad that his death offers four arguments for a total commitment that I'll be talking about in a few minutes. He goes on to verse 26, for what is a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Verse 27, for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. And lastly, as we see here in verse 27, amen, Each and every one of us, as we get ready to go forward, God begins to deal with us in such a way that Christ had already been telling the disciples about the death and resurrection for some time, but they had not understood it, amen. And there were two primary reasons for their blindness. First, the idea of a suffering Messiah. differed radically from their own idea of the Messiah, amen. I'm glad that John 2, verse 19 says, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, praise God. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, praise God. I'm glad that he tells us I'm the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Amen. Every one of us, we realize the significance of what he did. But the disciples understood more fully that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. But they had taken a great leap forward in their understanding of his nature, praise God, the path of suffering. had to be taken not only by God's Messiah, but also by the followers of God's Messiah. And I'm glad that imagine the difference between the concept that a suffering Messiah versus a conquering Messiah. A suffering believer versus a conquering believer. The radical difference helps a person understand Peter's behavior and the reason why the disciples were so slow to understand what Christ was saying when we read this tonight, amen. But I thank God they never completely understood until after the resurrection. That they finally, the lesson of Christ was clear and God's plan to save the world is through the death of his son, amen. His sacrifice, his self-denial, the way of salvation for man is the same. Man must undergo that personal sacrifice, amen, and that self-denial. and death that it takes. And so each and every one of us, as we look and realize tonight that God wants to do something great in all of our lives, amen. Here tonight, the Lord set the example of placing the will of God first and foremost in his life. And in this message tonight, we see that the forceful rebuke of Peter seemed well-meaning attempt to get him off track from his duty to God and fallen mankind. But tonight we've got to understand that God has a fundamental purpose for every person's life, amen. And so I thank God as we look at that and begin to realize that here in that fundamental purpose, amen, that each and every one of us, we realize that God has something that he wants to do, amen. Here, we got to realize that self-denial, is a requirement of following God's purpose, and we choose to place God's will as the first priority in our lives. Tonight, we'll be talking about the devotion to duty, the distraction from duty, and the denial for duty. I'm glad that it's important to get things done, but I'm glad that each and every one of us, when we go through life, that we begin to realize that the most important thing that we do, perhaps, to get things done, is that we need to organize. Amen. And so while there's little measurement to do, as we look at prioritizing our lives, it's important to get things done, amen. But of that priority, amen, the devotion to duty is one of those first things that we begin to see tonight, amen. But let me, I put verse 48 up there. He says, verily I say unto you, there'll be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom, amen. Well, thank God that death offers those arguments. But first of all, Taking the Lord out of his father's mission was what Peter was doing, but we see a devotion to duty tonight, amen? Because of that devotion in all aspects of life, the Lord Jesus is the example for every one of us tonight, People's Valley, Facebook, Sermon Audio, amen? The central theme of all that he did on earth was simply this, he came to fulfill the will of his father, amen. And I'm glad that Jesus' death required a total commitment on his part, amen. His death was necessary, that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer, praise God. I'm glad the resurrection of Jesus Christ was also necessary, amen. And so each and every one of us, as we look and realize that we go through and begin to realize how powerful the Lord is, amen. When he went to that cross, he defeated death, hell, and the grave for every one of us. His death arouses the natural man because the natural man rebels at the idea of the cross, amen. The natural man wants another way other than the cross out there today but this is what Peter was doing he was rebelling against the idea that God's son was to die and that his blood had to be shed for the sins of the world amen but Peter could accept Jesus as the son of the living God but not as the suffering savior and that is exactly what this message is about tonight amen because it was repulsive It was unacceptable to Peter that he had to die, amen. And so I tell you, he tried to stop that idea. But I'm glad that as Peter took him, I'm glad that he began to rebuke him in a very strong manner. And Peter was urging Christ to follow his own human schemes instead of God's way. And I tell you, that urging, that was tempting Christ to compromise what Satan was wanting to be done. Satan used Peter to get in the way of Calvary and so to speak, amen. And I tell you, the natural man's idea of God and God's plan for man is seen in a way because some think the path of life is love. And so they live showing an interest and a care for others, amen. And some think that comfort and pleasure is the path of life, amen. But God, again, is viewed only as the type that gives man the good things of life and helps man when he gets in trouble. But God's willful man is thought to be comfort and pleasure and plenty and health and leisure. But listen, he offered a whole lot more in all of those things. Those things are gonna pass away. Those things will never stick with you. What he did at Calvary will stay with every individual when he wrote your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life, praise God. And so I thank God, the shame and the suffering, the sacrifice, and now I tell you the self-denial. Boy, the pain and the agony on the cross, the purpose for going there for each and every one of us, amen. And so I thank God there's some out there that feel that triumph, victory, and position, and authority, and power, and reign, and all of that is supreme. I tell you, every one of us, when we begin to go to Calvary, when we come under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, God begin to save us to the uttermost, amen. Jesus' death shows every one of us to be an adversary of God. The literal meaning of Satan is, get thee behind me, Satan, is what he told Peter. Because he was like an adversary. I'm glad that we've got friends out there that try to get in the way of the mission of the Heavenly Father today, amen. But we've got to keep on taking and going and giving the gospel to those that are out there. Because Christ's death reveals man's true nature, amen. And so every one of us as we look tonight and begin to realize that the cross should be viewed by so many out there as repulsive. That's how Peter was looking at it. The cross was a symbol of sin and shame. Hanging upon that cross, God's very own Son bore our sins and the sins of the entire world. And sin and shame are always repulsive, amen. And the fact that God's Son hung there becoming sin for us is sickening, amen, but nothing could be any more distasteful than what actually happened because the cross should be viewed as glorious, amen. The cross is a symbol of life, of forgiveness of our sins, amen. And so through the cross, God gloriously reconciles man to himself and to one another, praise God. And so much comes through that glorious work of the cross when this transpired, praise God. I'm glad that he did everything for us And all the things that he gave, boy, he made it a priority that he went to that cross for every one of us, amen. I thank God during the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee said, duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. Unquote, boy, all of us have a devotion to duty as men and women of God tonight. And that is Jesus had to go to the cross. Jesus had to go to the cross. And I'm glad he said, and from that time forth began Jesus is showing his disciples how that he must go under Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Boy, I'm going to tell you, there ain't nothing more powerful than doing what God called you to do. And so Jesus had to go, amen. And so Jesus taught his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer, amen. He must be rejected, praise God. He must be killed, amen. And he knew every detail of the excruciating ordeal ahead of him, yet Luke, Chapter 9 verse 51 adds a little bit of detail to it. He says, "...and it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." Thank you, Jesus, tonight. Hallelujah! literally his sacred duty, that he walked toward it with a steadfast determination that you and I tonight would have a way of escape. I tell you, there was no other way that we would be able to escape the Christian life has times of hardship and suffering, and Jesus promised as much to his disciples, amen. And I'm gonna tell you tonight, of all the patriarchs, of all the prophets, of all the apostles, amen, all went through times of intense hardship, a severe, deadly persecution, carried on through the days of the early church, and the dark ages, and the counter-reformation, and the many countries today. But I thank God, as Paul said in 2 Timothy, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Amen. Boy, I tell you, the natural response to difficulty or danger is to flee from it. Amen. But I thank God, Jesus had to die. Jesus had to die. I'm glad that the general on the right, a man, is one of the generals that during the Crimean War, the British Calvarymen, they were ordered to charge the Russian forces despite almost a guaranteed death. Those dedicated, obedient soldiers followed the command, not because they wanted to, but because it was their duty to charge the enemy. And so Alfred Lord Tennyson talked about the attitude in the poem, the charge of the Light Brigade, because that's exactly who these were. These were the ones that had went to battle against the Russians and the charge of the Light Brigade. that the death of 600 that begin to go forward. Christ is looking for faithful soldiers of the cross out there tonight on Facebook. Hey, Sermon Audio, People's Valley, you know, today I wonder how many it's out there in their own little world and they don't give a hoot-de-dee-dah about anybody. They don't give a hoot about nobody but themselves. Boy, I'm going to tell you, we're called to the duty of the Great Commission. And our duty is to take the gospel to the world. Christ is looking for some faithful soldiers of the cross who will go where he wants them to go. And when we follow the Lord's commands, We please our Savior, amen. Paul describes in 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4, he said, Thou thou for endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, though man that warth entangled himself with affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. I thank God each and every one of us, no man who wars entangles himself with affairs of life. This type of soldier will receive the ultimate praise. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou have been faithful over a few things. Boy, I tell you, of all those ones of September 11, 2001, oh yeah, I was a pastor at People's Valley then. And boy, I remember going in from Sekisui Juicy at a Japanese company. Our boss was Brother Fred Settles. And boy, I'm going to tell you, we were watching them Twin Towers on the television in the day room at that time. We'll never forget it. Hundreds of firefighters. law enforcement officers gave their lives at the World Trade Center in New York City. The vast majority were not there in the normal course of their day, but they were responding in a crisis to the call of duty. And I'm going to tell you, those Twin Towers inhabitants were fleeing. Those heroes deliberately ran into the danger to do all they could to save their lives. Carried all of the rescue equipment possible that they rushed up them stairwells. that others were rushing down at the same time. They basically could not have explained why they didn't stop to think about it, amen. They were simply doing their job, their duty. They did it with the full acceptance of the risk, just like we do our law enforcement today, just like we do our firefighters today, amen. The Lord's plan for our life may lead us into danger. It may lead us to persecution. It may lead us to death. But Christ knew that obeying the Father would require his death on the cross, yet he still went. And so I thank God, every one of us, when we see that devotion to duty, we also see the distraction from duty. Amen. The distraction from duty. Because each and every one of us, as we go forward in life today, Satan will use anything he can to discourage you, to distract you from what you ought to be doing as a men and women of God, amen. If he can't get us to go against God totally, he'll settle for getting us off track even if it's only a little bit. If it's only a little bit. Sometimes the distractions are so obvious and easy to combat. Other times, you may not pick up on them. Oswald Chambers said, the great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good, which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. The devil may not try to ensnare us with gross sin. If he can just distract us from the Lord's will for our life, he succeeded. And that's all the devil's trying to do today. He's distracted many of a church member that they've been so distracted The scripture makes it very clear for the importance of staying on course in our lives. Amen. Boy, I wonder how long has it been since you've been back in the house of God? Oh man. Proverbs chapter four verses 20 down to verse 24 tells us, it says, my son, attend to my words and clean my ear under my sayings. Let them not depart from the eyes. Keep them in the midst of the heart for they are life unto those that find them. health to all their flesh, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips, put far from thee. Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look strict before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. You see, the devil tried to distract him with his closest friend, Peter. And I tell you, Peter gave a rebuke. And when the Lord told his disciples of the events in the near future, Peter couldn't stay silent. Peter was always running off at the mouth. Peter was always putting his foot in his mouth, amen. But I thank God. Be it far from thee, Lord, he insisted. You know what? It's astounding to think that Peter's attempting to rebuke the Lord of the universe. Peter, he meant well. He truly loved Jesus. He felt distressed to hear Jesus say that he would be crucified. Boy, Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Back in Matthew chapter 16, verse 16. Follow me over in verse 16 of Matthew 16. And Simon Peter answered him and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. But look back up before that. And it said, in verse 14, and some say that ye are John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. He said to them, but whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You see, Peter had just said that a couple of verses up. It's astounding. But when Peter told his disciples directly of the events looming ahead, Peter became one of those good friends. And I'm going to tell you, he was getting in the way of Calvary. He was getting in the way of Calvary, amen. And so throughout the Bible, many have argued to the Lord, this is not the way that it's going to be. They've always found out differently because Cain brought an offering representing his own works. But the Lord would not accept it. In Genesis chapter 4 verse 3, Saul attempted to kill David, his God-given successor. But in the end, Saul was killed in battle and David became king in 1 Samuel chapter 18 verses 8 through 12. Later on, David's son Absalom tried to take the kingdom from his father. but he failed. Jeremiah decided to quit preaching, but the Lord wasn't finished with him. In Jeremiah chapter 20, verses seven, eight, and nine, Jonah tried to flee from the presence of the Lord, but found himself in the belly of a fish in Jonah chapter one. Now the Lord would teach Peter the same thing, amen. And so I thank God we realized that Peter got a rebuke. Peter gave a rebuke, but Peter got a rebuke. Woo, hallelujah. What did he say? He said, listen, but he turned and he said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan! You are an offense unto me, for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. If it's not the cross, then it's of men, and that's of Satan. And so I thank God Peter got a rebuke. Boy, I thank God. Get behind me, Satan. Jesus told one of his closest friends, his disciples, man, I'm gonna tell you, if Jesus had listened to Peter, he wouldn't have gone to Jerusalem and died on the cross for mankind's sin. Had Peter succeeded in preventing this, Satan would have had a great triumph. Well, I'm gonna tell you, a lot of people don't ever think of it like this, but Jesus had directly encountered Satan previously of this, back in Matthew chapter four and Luke chapter four, and the story of Christ's temptation that was in the wilderness. And on that occasion, Satan had tried to distract Jesus from what he came to do. The three temptations of Satan had for Jesus may not have seemed so diabolical on the surface, but Satan will never direct one into the way that pleases God. Had Jesus listened to Satan, even when Satan quoted scripture, he would have been going against God, amen. Matthew 16, 22, then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But Jesus understood that it was the voice of Satan when he heard Peter say, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And immediately he rebuked His greatest enemy using perhaps his greatest friend. Can you imagine? Because the greatest enemy that you're going up against out there today could be your best friend or your friend that's around you. The devil will use the people around you to distract you. That's the highlight of the message of duty tonight. You see, taking the Lord out of his father's mission, The devil is working and using the people around you sometimes. But I thank God Jesus wouldn't have it. In our life, the devil will attempt to dissuade us from following Christ, even in the very small areas. But we are to resist the devil. James 4.7, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil. And the Bible says he will flee from you. Ephesians 4.27, neither give place to the devil. And no one enjoys being rebuked because we're naturally full of pride. We hate to admit that when we're wrong, but yet the word of God teaches us how to respond and how not to respond when we're rebuked, amen. Read it over later. I'll read it right now in Proverbs chapter nine. Proverbs chapter nine. Turn over there very quickly with me, amen. In Proverbs chapter nine, amen. And give me just a minute to get over there. In Proverbs chapter nine, verse eight and nine, listen to the reading of the word of God, amen. Proverbs chapter nine, verses eight and nine, that the Bible says, reprove not a scorner lest he hate you, rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Those who live by ways and means other than the Bible, they don't know how to take that kind of rebuke. It goes on in verse 9, give instruction to a wise man and be and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. You see we're told in this passage that uh irrespective that as how wise one may be the Bible will make him yet wiser. And so I thank God each and every one of us All of us as we go through lives, there was a teenager in the minor leagues that became discouraged. And with his progress, he wanted to quit baseball completely. He expected some sympathy from his father, but instead he got a rebuke from his father. Okay, if that's all the guts that you've got, you might as well come home with me right now and work in the mines. And you know what? We look at that person. Here was Mickey Mantle when he was in the minors. But as he went on later, Mickey Mantle decided to stick it out. He went on to play 18 seasons with the New York Yankees, during which they won seven world championships. And at the time of his retirement, he stood third on the all-time home run list. You know, because Peter accepted the Lord's rebuke, he maintained his love and loyalty for the Savior, he went on to be powerfully and powerfully used of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And he brought the gospel to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10. And as well, he wrote the epistles of 1 and 2, 1 and 2 Peter. Naturally, I thank God of all the things that Peter did, amen. It brings us to our last part of taking the Lord out of his father's mission. The third thing, not only when we look and realize that we see that the denial for duty in verses 24 down to verse 27, it's easy to take the path of least resistance, give it in to the pressure and the request of this world, but often the believer must firmly say no. The Bible is filled with examples of those standing firm against the pull of temptation. And when Satan was tempted in the wilderness, Christ was tempted in the wilderness. Excuse me, I'm sorry. He repeatedly said no to the temptations and offers of Satan. In Matthew chapter 4, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not worship the king's golden image in spite of the threat of a fiery furnace. Amen. Daniel refused to cease praying to the Lord God even when they faced the lion's den. Amen. All four denied following the king. prescribed diet, they had incredible pressure. Standing against the world's pressures is not easy out there tonight, church. Only through the close relationship with the Lord do we have the stability and do we have the power to remain steadfast. Psalm 16, eight, I've set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Boy, I thank God, every one of us, the greatest principle any Christian could learn, devotion to duty. It requires denial of self as well, each and every one of us as we go forward, amen. And so I thank God, it's our Christian duty to deny self the flesh with the affections and the lust and the follow and obey the Lord wholeheartedly because Paul said in Galatians 5, 24, and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. It brings us up that the denial for duty we see don't live for just today. Don't live for just today. Because every one of us, he says, then said Jesus unto disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Nothing is more important than the soul because it is eternal. And it will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell. That's how important that our job of going forth and making disciples is tonight. Don't live for today, amen. Don't do, as Solomon talked about, eating and drinking and going on. A person must will to follow Christ, and they've got to deny self, and they've got to take up their cross, and then they've got to follow Jesus. I'm glad every one of us, as we do that, amen, when Jesus began to talk to the foolish rich man in one of the parables, He planned to build a bigger barn for his abundance and then enjoy a leisure future. And I believe it was Luke chapter 12, verses 16 to 21. But in neither case was eat, drink, and be merry the way of God. We are not to live for today only, but in the grand scheme of things tonight. Listen. In short, every one of us, when we live for the moment, what do we really have once it's over? James 414 says, whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. The psalmist also speaks of the brevity of life, and he concludes that it should motivate us to invest our lives in wisdom. In Psalms 90, verses 10 and verse 12, Verse 10, the days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away, whether you live to be 70, whether you get the privilege of living to be 80. He goes on in verse 12, so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. The disciples were now aware of the details of the coming days. The Lord was going to the cross. He was headed toward Jerusalem. Immediately following the thoughts of the crucifixion, Peter's rebuke and their own commitment to Christ were the present in their minds as they listened to the Lord. In Mark chapter 8, verses 34 through 37, I'm just about out of time. When He had called the people unto Him, with the disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, and the gospel of the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Boy, I thank God. This is just another version of what I'm reading out of Matthew chapter 16 over in Mark chapter 8. With the right priorities in our lives, instead of living for today, let's live with eternity's values in view, amen? But lastly, of denial for duty, don't live for just today. but do live for tomorrow. I'm glad that every one of us, that he said in verses 25 and verse 26, he said, listen, he said, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? I'm glad that we live for tomorrow, amen. In light of eternity, Our lifespan is extremely brief, but I thank God. As the great missionary explorer David Livingston once observed, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Our emphasis should be to invest our lives in that which will last forever and ever and ever and ever in all eternity tonight, church. That commitment The abandonment of this life saves a person. What does it mean when scripture says that a person saves his life by losing it and losing his life by finding it? I'm going to tell you the key is the words, for my sake, for my sake, hallelujah. He said, for my sake, I thank God. Christ says that whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. The person that abandons this life, who sacrifices and gives all that he is and has for Christ, shall save his or her life. But the person who keeps his life and what he has and seeks more and more of this life, shall lose that life completely and eternally. Amen? Well, I tell you, every one of us, as we look and realize today, a man's soul is worth more than the whole world. Because the word soul is the same word that's translated life. Matthew chapter 16, verse 25, that I mentioned about how the soul, amen, that he talks about. But whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. But he says, for what is a man profited if he hath gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? I'm glad there are two stages, two beings, two existence in this same life. The life that exists on this earth and a life that shall exist beyond this life. Once a person, other words, life is born into this world, he or she shall exist forever. It's just a matter of where he or she goes after this world, to be with God or to be apart from God. No man or woman can gain the whole world, but what if he or she could? All the pleasure, all the wealth, all of the power, all of the fame are nothing compared We're the soul tonight. Amen? There are four primary reasons, and I told you I'd say this, there are four primary reasons why the soul is far more superior to the things of this earth. Number one, everything fades and passes away. A person passes something only for a short, possesses something only for a very short time. Number two, everything cannot be used all at once. Everything sits and it remains unused most of the time. Clothes sit. A car sits. Power goes unused. Popularity and fame quickly passes and are forgotten. But the human soul, number three, is eternal. And that soul never dies, and it never ceases to exist. Tonight, church, listen to me, and it shall live forever, either with God or apart from God. Fourthly, tonight, the primary reason why the soul is far superior to the things of this earth The human soul is of more value than the whole world. You heard me say that earlier. Once a man has lost his or her soul, it is lost. It cannot be brought back. That man forfeits and suffers the loss of it forever. That woman does. Imagine, even if a man possesses all of the wealth in the world, he or she would not be able to buy back their soul. Why? Because it's gone. It's gone. That soul is gone. It's passed on forever. The man or woman will never return to earth, not even for one day. It is gone forever. I tell you, Luke 9, 25, what is a man advantaged if he gained the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? Every one of us, the day of judgment is coming. And when Christ returns, the true value of sacrifice versus self-satisfaction will be clearly seen. Sacrifice for Christ will be abundantly rewarded. Self-satisfaction will be condemned. Man is to be judged according to his works. The word works, it means doing, working, acting. It's not isolated acts, but continuous behavior. A person is to be rewarded on the basis of his or her continuous behavior, not isolated acts. Let me give you some scripture references to make myself very crystal clear about that. In Matthew 7, 23, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 25 12, but he answered and said verily I say unto you I know you not in Luke chapter 12 verse 9 But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God in Luke chapter 13 verse 27 But he shall say I tell you I know you not which ye are depart from me all you workers of iniquity A promise that is given, a promise of never having to taste death. I thank God, one of the great things that we look at that's clear is he says, verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till you have seen the kingdom of God come with power in Mark chapter nine, verse one. It's the power of the kingdom to which Jesus refers. That is, his death, his resurrection, to his kingdom that resulted because after Pentecost the power of his kingdom became power beyond anything the disciples could have ever dreamed of. Amen. I'm glad that we know God inhabits eternity and is himself eternal according to Isaiah 57 15 and Deuteronomy 33 27. I'm going to tell you what is important in eternity is important to God. And consequently, it should be important to every one of us tonight. Listen, I'm getting out of time, way out of time. Listen, tonight, I hope you're wisely investing the talents and the resources that the Lord has given to you tonight, sister and brother. Tonight, I hope that you're serving the Church of the Living God because in heaven, it won't matter how much fun you had or how much money you made or how fancy your house was. All that will matter is what you did for the Lord. And Jesus teaches Peter here that to lose his life for Christ's sake and the gospel is really saving it. Peter was learning the value of a soul in this message. Christ was willing to suffer a horrible death by crucifixion so that our souls could be saved. His desire was to submit to the will of him that sent him. Our priority tonight, church, too, should be to obey and follow God's will. John 6, 38, For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me, should not His greatest desire always be ours? I'm going to tell you, we have the vital part of being a disciple here tonight because the Lord described the details of his impending death. Peter's mind must have been really going crazy. Peter had just confessed Jesus was the Christ and now he thought that he was to accept that his Lord would experience such a gruesome death. But I'm going to tell you, when Jesus firmly rebuked him, Peter learned a message in priorities. And while the Lord knew he was going to the cross, listen, I'm going to tell you, his priority was to follow his father, not take the comfortable road Peter thought that he should take. As we see Peter learning what his priorities should be, we realize God has a plan for every one of us born-again believers. It's only when we follow that plan that we find the fulfillment that God has planned for our lives. For a Christian to seek contentment outside the will of God is foolishness. It'll never be found elsewhere. For us to do His will, we must die to self and deliberately choose to make God's will the number one priority of our lives. To deny self, amen? And to deny things. Every one of us. Take up a cross. Amen. It does not mean to carry burdens or to have problems. But I thank God, every one of us, as we go forward, we need to take up the cross and go and take the gospel out to those that are around us here tonight. Boy, I hope and pray that every one of you, as you look and realize that the Lord is so good to us, and I hope and pray that you realize as well that all of us, as we go forward, the Lord wants to do something really mighty. But listen, don't take the Lord out of the Father's mission, because you have a mission to complete. And that is the great commission to go out and to share the gospel with the world, each and every one of us tonight. We have a duty to go and to make disciples of all nations, because well done, thou good and faithful servant. Hopefully that you'll get to hear that one of these days. But don't be a Peter taking the Lord out of his father's mission tonight. Thank you for tuning us in. God bless you tonight as we go our separate ways. And I hope you pray that God uses his father. Thank you tonight for this great opportunity to speak about the duty. and the Great Commission, and how that every one of us have an opposition with our own friends that's around us, that the devil can use our own friends to get in the way of our mission to be able to accomplish the Great Commission. Lord, I pray God that we'll let nothing stand in our way of going forth and, Lord, sharing the love of Jesus Christ with the many that's around us tonight. In Jesus' marvelous mighty name, amen.