The Price of Pleasure — Shane Idleman

I do want to welcome the new people. It's good to see you here. Come up and say hello to me afterwards if I don't know you. And you're going to find that your notes and your bulletin is blank. Or are blank, I should say.

Why are the notes blank? Because I don't want the look you lose going through them and going ahead and seeing where I'm going with this. During this sermon, I would love to have your undivided attention.

Just forgive me 45 minutes. Because what I'm going to talk about tonight is absolutely crucial. Not that what we don't always talk about is absolutely crucial, but this topic I've actually alluded to in a lot of different sermons.

I've touched on bits and pieces of this, but I've never got around to actually doing in a long time a sermon based on this topic and this topic alone. And it's important because what this topic does, it'll actually draw believers away from the Lord.

The Spiritual Danger of Loving Pleasure

Now I've got your interest, I know, but trust me, I'm going somewhere. If we're not careful, this topic will draw believers away from the Lord. And guess what it does to unbelievers? It keeps them from never coming to know Christ.

And I'm going to pull from Proverbs. If you have your Bibles, it's Proverbs 21. We were in the first half of this last week. So if you weren't here, go online. We've got all of our videos online. Video of the sermon, part one.

But on part two, I'm stopping right here on Proverbs 21, verse 17. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. And he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Let me say that again. He who loves pleasure.

The key word there is loves, okay? He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. And he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. And some of you are going, well, I know people that this doesn't apply to. Well, hold on, I'm going to try to fully exhaust this topic in 55 minutes.

In doing that, I'm going to try to stay right up here because I've got a lot to cover and I want to put this in order. So as we unpack it, once we're done, it'll begin to make a little bit more sense why is this issue so important?

Because I have seen this topic right here pull more people away from God than any other topic bar none in and of itself. This will cause your faith to weaken. This will cause the passion for God that you once had to dwindle right here.

This is our greatest enemy. Make no mistake about it. But before I get to the message, I want to say three things in the introduction. No decision will impact your life more than who or what you choose to follow.

Okay? Young adults especially. This is going to be a great message for young adults. If you're in your 30s and younger, listen up. Sit up straight, listen up, take notes because this could change your life or it's going to make you upset.

It's going to be one or the other, okay? You're going to either embrace this message or you're going to leave here going, man, that guy, I don't know what's up with him. He's extreme, extreme Christianity.

No, I'm just going biblical here. So just remember that. The next thing I need to confess to you on this topic is I have not mastered this topic. I do not want to come up here with a holier than thou attitude.

It's how could you? Oh my Lord, I don't struggle with this whatsoever. Any believer is going to struggle with this issue. So I'm coming up there as a fellow sojourner, a fellow soldier, a fellow believer saying, listen, this is an area that will take us down.

It will take down a marriage. It will take down your walk with the Lord. So Shane, can we be a little more positive? Just turn on Christian TV tomorrow and you hear a lot of positive stuff. I'm trying to balance some of that with some of this.

We need encouragement, but we also need conviction because encouragement without conviction will not change you. Conviction without encouragement will make you depressed. So we have to be encouraged, but we have to be convicted.

And one of the callings of West Side, this is not in my notes, so I'm hoping it's going to benefit somebody, is I feel it's for God to have us bring that conviction back to help settle the balances a little bit because the church is all about encouragement and we're encouraging people in their sin.

Somebody come in and say, blessed be the name of the Lord while they're looking at porn when they get home. Why? Because nobody's convicting them. Nobody's challenging them. They can cuss at their spouse and get here and say, brother Shane, how you doing?

Blessed be the name of the Lord. How'd you just treat your spouse on your way here? Nothing's changing in that relationship. You wonder why the marriage is on the brink of destruction? Because without conviction, the human heart will not change.

So that's the point of this. This is a message from love, not anger, not hatred. It's a message from, we need to hear this. And the final thing is, I'm going to try to avoid two extremes. And I'm sure you've all seen the title there, the price of pleasure.

The Two Extremes: Worldly Indulgence and Legalism

The price of pleasure. The price of pleasure. Pleasure has a price. Now, you know what the two extremes I want to avoid are? You know how we like to do this. Sometimes if you come here, I like to show the two extremes.

Well, on the one extreme is what I call the party lifestyle. Las Vegas Christianity. Let's just be real and honest. We eat too much, we drink too much, we spend too much. It's Las Vegas Christianity. We go everywhere the world goes.

We look just like the world. There's no difference, there's no distinction. You can sit at a blackjack table and bet everything on red and have a cold one in your hand, and the only thing different is you hear a blessed, thank God I won.

That's the only difference. It's this Las Vegas mentality of Christianity where there's no distinction, there's no difference. If there's no distinction, there's no difference. You're not being the light and the salt.

Your light and your salt has lost its savor and your light has gone out. There's no such thing as Las Vegas Christianity. Now, what's the other side? I've been studying my Bible 20 hours this week. There's nothing to laugh about.

You should not be laughing in church. You shouldn't, that's what this side, there's no pleasure in anything. You took your kids to Magic Mountain, it's got magic in the name. What is wrong with you folks?

You can't go to Disneyland, they support gay, whatever, gay pride. Gay pride days, how can you go to Disneyland? And I'm gonna make your life just as miserable as mine. We're gonna sit in our house, we're not gonna do anything.

I haven't owned a TV since the 1990s. And I just drank a lot of prune juice and I'm upset and my face is not happy. Pleasure, I don't want any pleasure, nothing. I don't even like that word. Shane, do you know what comes to mind when you say that word?

The dead side, the legalistic cemetery dead Pharisee. And guess what they do? They just go around judging everybody else. But what's the balance? I believe the balance is that God has given us simple pleasures to enjoy, to love the things that he's given us, to relax, vacation, you know, they're simple pleasures, those are good.

So I wanna try to find the middle ground, to get this side out of here. But I don't wanna get close to this side either. And you know what's very funny? Las Vegas Christians think I'm a radical, extreme fundamentalist.

This group thinks I'm a compromising emergent type. Whoa, look at this guy so loose and fast with the rules. So I'm like, you can't please either group. One thinks I'm to this, the other I'm to that. Why?

Because they're at polar opposites. They're at extremes. So when we talk about this issue, we need to understand that, let's say, vacation is wonderful, I'm planning on going fly fishing in a few months, and all these things, and some entertainment, healthy entertainment's good, God-given entertainment, you know, these things are good and healthy.

But you've gotta be very careful because you could easily fall into this camp and be drawn away. Or you can fall into this camp and become very rigid and very hard and very legalistic, and you're not pleasing God by following a bunch of rules, you're pleasing yourself because you think you're so spiritual.

So we have to find the balance right in the middle. Enjoy life, enjoy what God has given us, but be very careful because the love of these things is what draws us away. So with that said, let's begin.

Message, the message, the price of pleasure. Proverbs 21, 17. Who loves pleasure will be a poor man, and who loves wine and oil will not be rich. And the question I think that's healthy you should ask yourself tonight, let me have, in your mind, don't raise your hands, don't answer, think about this question and think about it long and hard and even when you leave here, because I try to think about this on a monthly basis.

Are you, let's be honest, because God knows, are you affecting the world? Or is the world infecting you? Am I actually affecting the world or am I being infected by the world? Because that's the difference, that's what tilts the scale.

The World’s Mindset and Christian Distinctiveness

I'm supposed to go and make a difference in the world to affect the world. The world's not supposed to come in and infect me. And what I mean by the world is in the Greek language there, a lot of times you hear the word world.

Well, I'm not talking about the world, I'm not talking about houses and cars and boats and jet skis and all, I'm talking about the cosmos. And that's the world's mindset that is in direct opposition to the will of God.

So love not the world nor the things that are in the world, all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, is not of the Father, it's of the world. So you have this world's mindset which is at war with God.

Might say, Shane, I don't believe that. Well, it doesn't matter what you or I believe. I've learned that a long time ago. We can be as sincere and we can be sincerely wrong. What I believe does not change God's absolute truth.

You believe in absolute truth? Absolutely, with every fiber in my being as sure as that sun is coming up. And the world's mindset, the cosmos, is at war with God. So when he says love not the world, if you start to love the world and it pulls you away, you're no longer affecting the world, you're infected by the world.

That's why many people can't give a testimony, couldn't witness for Christ if they receive $1 ,000. There's no difference, there's no distinction because they are infected by the world. So that is an important question because as you sit and you ponder, you go, you know what, I'm not really making a difference.

The world has saturated everything. What I listen to, what I watch, who I associate with, how I spend my time, how I spend my money. There's no distinction, there's no difference. It doesn't say that I'm honoring God in those things, I'm being pulled away by the world.

And that's a good question to have. And I wanna read a few questions or statements actually that I put together actually a few years ago. I preached on this topic at a men's conference and I upset this young adult.

I know that's hard to believe but I do upset people now and then. And this guy didn't like what I had to say and he sent me an email. And I wanted to read some of the questions just so you have an idea.

And this is a Christian young adult. He says, Christians, especially preachers, spend way too much time trying to label what is good or bad, black or white when it comes to this issue of pleasure, entertainment, whatever.

It just makes for easy preaching. The problem is we don't spend enough time discerning between right and wrong, good and error, truth and evil, so nobody knows. We're too busy trying to please everybody and tickle the ear.

I don't wanna challenge you too much. You're new people, I want you to come back next week. So I'm just gonna tell you that God loves you, God bless you, have a wonderful day and you'll probably be rich next week.

I mean, hope they come back, hope they come back. I'll tell you right now, if I do not proclaim the truth of God's word, I don't care if anybody comes back because then I'm just, I'm being a sellout. I'm being a puppet for the things of the world.

If I'm convicting you, that's a good thing. Conviction is a good thing. If you're saying, I don't like what that guy's saying, then you need to hear exactly what I'm saying. So if you're getting ready to get up and leave, you better sit down, buckle up and hold on because God is wanting you to hear this.

Because it's not my opinions. This has nothing to do with my opinions. The next thing this guy asked me, a Christian has to wear certain things, listen to certain things. Now his email didn't have this tone.

I'm kind of giving you how I read it. He has to, you know, we have to wear certain things, we have to listen to certain things, we have to watch certain things. We need to break this cookie cutter version of Christianity.

We should show the attractive side of Christianity and not be so extreme. So what do you do with that? And here's, well, there's a few more questions, but I didn't want to waste your time with it. Here's my favorite one.

Shane, I don't worry about what I watch or what I listen to or any of this stuff as long as my heart is right. Well, good for you. I don't, it doesn't matter what I watch or view as long as my heart is right.

He forgets that the heart is a direct reflection of what and how and what we're worshiping and how we spend our time. Now you might say, well, those are normal questions from a young adult. Folks, those were questions from a youth pastor at one of the churches in this valley.

Yeah, wow. So you tell me, is the church affecting the world or is it infecting them? I'll tell you what, this guy, it's infected him big time. What happened is my message upset him, P .O .ed him, if I may.

He didn't like what I had to say. Who, I'm not doing, I'm not changing anything. I'm gonna let him have it. So now we can thank him because I have all these questions in one of my books I wrote a few years ago.

I haven't sent him the book yet, but I don't want to upset the, you know, ruin it there. But those are the, and I think a lot of you are probably thinking the same thing. I know I did. God, we have to, we can't wear certain things.

We can't loot new things. I mean, you know, we have to wear loose clothes. The girls don't want to show too much here and show much there and pulled up here and down here. And what's the big deal? What the big deal is is you're a follower of Jesus Christ.

There should be a difference and a distinction, not similarities. Now, of course, we're gonna wear some of the same clothes, do some of the same, please don't understand. Don't take this somewhere where I'm not trying to bring it.

I'm trying to get to the condition of the heart and where the heart is at. So are we affecting the world or is it infecting us? And let me just say this up front. Pleasure-filled Christians, the ones that just love the things of the world, pleasure-filled world, you know, the Vegas Christians.

They eat too much, they drink too much, but, you know, 1 Timothy says have a little wine, but yeah, that's a little wine, not two bottles every night. I mean, you know, come on. It's this Las Vegas mentality.

Those who are pleasure-filled Christians, I've noticed are the most angry, the most upset, the most gossipy, the most unhappy, why? Because they're not supposed to live like that. They're quenching and grieving the Spirit of God.

And they're gonna give everybody peace of their mind. So with that said, you have to remember this. The church should not reflect or imitate the world, but lovingly confront it. We do the most for the world when we are least like the world.

I need to say that again, let it sink in. The church should not reflect or imitate the world, but lovingly confront the world. We do the most for the world when we are least like the world. Because you have to come out from among them, be separate.

Paul said come out from among them, be separate. He's just quoting Old Testament, the writers of the Old Testament. Come out from among them, be separate. Don't go live out in a little hut out in the desert and never see anybody.

I'm talking about we live in the world. We live in the world, we have to. We have to be the salt and the light. But are you affecting the world or is the world infecting you? And it's okay to not reflect or imitate the world, but lovingly confront it.

Loving Confrontation and a Distinct Christian Witness

What does that look like? I'll give you a few good examples. And I'm not really proud of these examples because sometimes I didn't handle them well. But Morgan, remember we had a neighbor that just loved to just turn on his Harley at 6 .30, seven in the morning?

You know, I just revved that sucker up. My house felt like a jet plane was taking off, crossed the street, come in at midnight after schooners, just wanted to let us know he's home. It was really nice of this guy.

So anyway, he's working out front a lot on there and having some beers and I'm taking out the trash. Hey, Shane, how's it going? Good, good, and walk over and oh, this is cool bike. Even though I don't think it is, I kind of played that.

I told a little fib, I guess, huh? He got me. That was five years ago, so I'm confessing. But anyway, I remember he goes, hey, you want a beer? You know, I'm like, oh, no, I can't. I don't do that anymore and just can't touch that stuff.

He goes, why, what happened? I said, well, I told him my lifestyle. God's changed me and really transformed my life by the power, he's like, wow, he's sitting there thinking. I'm not saying, you shouldn't have a beer, how could you?

You know, you're just relating to him. And then when his trash can falls over, go pick it up, mow the lawn sometimes. You know, you're different, there's a distinction. See, I still stood for my principles and said, hey, listen, here's why I don't engage in that.

You know, here's why I don't do that. But here, you know, and then they see the attractive side of Christianity. The attractive side is Christianity is the distinction. You realize that? The attract, when we look just like the world, you know what words they use?

Hypocrite. There's too much hypocrites in the church. You say one thing and do another. Where's this coming from, hypocrisy, a mask. In the Greek language, it was putting on a mask. Here, I'm this one day and this the next.

The world sees that distinction and that difference. It makes them think. That's why there's a difference there. Now, Vegas is usually out of the picture for me. I mean, can you imagine walking in, seeing me putting 50 down on black, drinking a cold one?

No, I don't wanna see that. You know, why, why? Well, you're a pastor. Yeah, but you're a Christian. I mean, let's think here. Let's think here. I mean, I wanna talk about the G-string around the pools and the beer bongs.

I mean, come on, let's get real. I used to, I know a little bit about what's out there. I wasn't just born yesterday. And if these things are entertaining us, there's something wrong with the heart. That stuff should not entertain.

It entertains the flesh. But the Spirit says, don't you dare. You see this difference there? And to be distinct. So the first thing on this price of pleasure, the first thing that it will cost you, it damages your testimony and it renders you and me ineffective.

Pleasure’s Cost to Testimony and Spiritual Effectiveness

So the price of pursuing pleasure, Shane, can you be a little more specific? Yeah, I'm getting there. But the price of pursuing pleasure at the cost of pursuing God will cost you your testimony. Perfect example.

Could I sit up here and preach like this if I was just filling my mind with all the garbage all week? Could I? Just fill in my mind with all the media, all the stuff, all this. And I come up here and speak with the boldness from God's Word, why?

Because as a man thinketh, so is he. When I step to this pulpit, it's not who I am right now, it's who I've been all week. That's the difference. That's the difference, that's the distinction. You have to live in the light to be the light.

You wanna be the light of the world, the light of your family, you have to live in the light. You can't cover your light. You cover the light, you're not the light of the world. It's what Jesus said, you're lukewarm.

Be hot or cold, but if you're lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth. The literal word is vomit. Jesus Christ said, I will vomit you out of my mouth. If you're lukewarm, why? Because a lukewarm Christian is not only ineffective, they tarnish the name of Christ.

You see the direction, the direction of our nation? If I hear one more Hollywood actor say gun control, I'm gonna say, no, you sir, you sir are at fault. You're producing this garbage. You're leading people astray.

You're the problem. You're feeding it and feeding it and feeding it. Look at these movies, Quentin Tarantino, I'm not gonna go and see that, so violent. Oh, it's no big deal, that doesn't add to shooting.

Really, really? I've got some Kool-Aid to sell you and some oceanfront property in Arizona. Of course that stuff affects you. This guy, the guy that was shooting kids in elementary school and stuff, you ever read any of those news reports on the destructive video games he was watching and all this stuff?

Oh Shane, you're getting out there. No, I'm not. As a man, thinketh in his heart, so is he. Don't take this for it. Ask any psychologist worth their salt. They'll tell you as you think so are you. What you put in, you become.

That's not only biblical doctrine, that's secular doctrine. Get that guy in front of a little house on the prairie for a week. I bet you would have had second thoughts. Huh? You know what, I was gonna do this at the end.

I don't know if Adam will have it cued up or Matt will, but I'll show you now what I was gonna hold to the end if you can put the clip up. This is one of the newest video games. We went from Pac-Man at 10 years old to now your 10-year-old can pick up a shotgun and begin killing people like that.

Wake up, folks. It's not gun control, that's the problem. You're fostering it at a young age. My 10-year-old can sit there and do that. Should we talk about Grand Theft Auto? My 10-year-old can go hire a prostitute, take back the money, and set her on fire.

Whoa, yeah, yeah. That's why if one more Hollywood actor says something about gun control, I'm gonna call up somebody and say no, you control. Pac-Man to this, come on. Think about it, I don't need claps, I need broken hearts weeping.

That's what we need. Shane, you're fired up, yeah, look at that. You look at that, you play that all day, six, seven, eight hours a day, and then you act that out somewhere, and we go, oh, what's happening?

I wonder, I wonder what's happening. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You become an abomination like you love. Hosea, the prophet said, whatever you love, you become, and it's just a matter of time.

You can take it off now, Adam. That doesn't get the point across. Ah, Shane, what's the big deal? Pac-Man to that, you tell me what's the big deal. You tell me what's the big deal. I grew up with Leave It to Beaver, and now there's dating shows and reality shows that are a stench in the nostrils of a righteous, holy, pure God, and we should be ashamed of ourselves because we're the ones viewing it.

Christian nation, the majority of the nation is Christian. That should bring us to tears. It's pathetic. Or how many of those people are really Christians? The road is very narrow. Jesus said, seek to enter by the narrow gate, for broad is the road of destruction, and many will lead thereof.

I remember when the hero, the hero to the kid was actually the father. No, the hero was the father, not Edward from Twilight. No, let's get serious. The mother was the most influential person in that kid's life, not Bella.

Kids were quoting scripture, not casting spells. If this doesn't alarm you and convict you, then folks, I'll retire, because this is the direction of a nation being pulled away from the love of the world, the love of pleasure.

It's no big deal. Who's putting all these movies on the top 10 list? Extreme violence, illicit sex, perversion. Why does our culture resemble that? Why? Why? Because we love it and it pulls us away. You have to, if you want to be the light of the world, you have to live in the light.

Israel’s Idolatry as a Warning Against Worldly Influence

I'm gonna read something here I just actually found yesterday in my own reading, and it's from Psalms 107. This is a psalm written because, well, showing how the children of Israel were led astray. You know, the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, how they were led astray.

How did this happen? Now, try to put America in the blank here, or the church here. What the writer says is, they mingled with the Gentiles. They mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works. They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. What? Yeah. What does your flesh say, remember? Feed me so I can destroy you. The more you feed the flesh, the more you're giving it strength and power.

But let's break that down. Mingled with, what does that mean? You know, to cause, to mix together, to move around, to engage like at a social event. The problem with mingling is then that person or that group is leading you.

So once I begin to mingle, let my guard down, great, yeah, I'll go with you, I'm being led by this force. And then it says they learned their works. What is learning their works? Well, learning what they do, learning their lifestyle.

So first they mingled with the Gentiles. Then they learned their works. Oh, I can do that, my lifestyle, everything, same as yours. And then what's it say? Then they serve their gods. That's a progression.

First they mingle, it's no big deal. They're influenced by it. Then once they're influenced by it, they begin to serve those gods. And then now on this final point, you might say, well, sacrifice our sons and daughters.

Come on, Shane, that's ridiculous. Well, aren't we sacrificing our children on the altar of pleasure many times? All sacrifice is is you're giving up something for something you think is better. In the Old Testament, how they'd sacrifice their children, they would put it on the hot arms of Molech and sacrifice their children to demons.

Why, because they wanted to please that god more than they wanted to protect their children's life. And what happens is the same thing with pleasure. It can pull us away and pull us away, and we're sacrificing things that we shouldn't be sacrificing.

We're putting them on the altar so we can have the fulfillment of something else. And that's what's happening. That's why this is so destructive. Back to this verse. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man.

He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Now, you need to know something here. This is the rule, not the exception. I'm saying that backwards because this proverb is the rule, but there are exceptions because we know very rich people that enjoy pleasure, right?

Of course. Well, let's be careful because you can be impoverished spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. Because they might be rich financially, but they're impoverished. The majority, a lot of times we hear about fatherless homes, but you don't hear a lot of times about the kids under rich CEOs who their dads have no time for them.

You don't. And we're putting them on that sacrifice. And I saw an email this week. I hope I remember it right, and I know you guys have probably seen it. And I'm all around. My sermon isn't even going in the right order, but I'm trying to remember these things.

And it's about that little boy who went and asked his dad how much money he made. His dad said, you don't need to ask me that. That's none of your business. He said, dad, how much do you make an hour?

He said, I make $100 an hour. Don't ask, why do you ask me that? His son said, can I borrow $50? His dad said, I cannot believe you'd ask me that. Get to your room. That's ridiculous. You're just working me to get some money.

Go in your room. So his son went into his room. His dad's thinking, I hope he didn't break something. I don't know why he needs to borrow that money. So he went to his son's room and he said, why do you need that money?

What did you do? And he sees him sitting on the bed underneath his pillow. He's got all this scrambled up money. He's counting and counting. He goes, I have $50. I need that other 50 because I want to buy an hour of your time tomorrow.

Yeah. Let's bring that home though. That's what's happening. That's what's happening because the pleasures will draw us away. Does it feel good to be a godly husband? It does to our spirit, but not our flesh.

Our flesh is lazy. Our flesh is mean. Our flesh is nasty. Our flesh wants to chase all these dreams so I look good. Don't I look good up here? I don't care what the price is. We're sacrificing our families on the altar of pleasure.

Period. So just because it reads here, if you love pleasure, you will be poor. You will be poor if you lose those closest to you. And that's what pleasure does. It draws us away from the things that are so important.

I need to get through this. Let's talk real quickly about, well, that's the other price of pleasure is it damages relationships without a shadow of a doubt. Now, you guys have heard in psychology and different things the pleasure principle.

I don't know if you've heard that term before. But what that is is in psychology, it's the principle that guides instinctive behavior directing a person toward gratifying an immediate need. Well, why are you quoting psychology?

Because I'm showing you the secular side and now the biblical side. So the secular side is this instinct within us that's good, it guides us towards fulfilling all of our needs. What does the Bible say?

He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. You destroy your own soul. So you see the difference there. And I went online, did some statistics. Americans will give about $4 billion this year, giving to churches, organizations.

Any guess at how much we'll spend on pleasure? $150 billion on pleasure. The pleasure principle, it guides us. That's where all of our resources go to. Shane, you're just trying to get money. No, I'm not, I don't care if you give here or not.

The Lord's got our bill. If it's God's will, it's his bill. Where he guides, he provides. We're not even gonna ask for anything. I'm just telling you, that's how it works. Your heart is where your pocketbook is.

And America's pocketbook is going towards pleasure. 25 times greater. Now you should have a healthy balance there. I believe that you should be able to save 10%, give 10%, and have 10 for things. Is golf bad?

Of course not. You're golfing 18 holes, 18 rounds, three times a week, and your family never sees you, yeah. You see the difference there? Is fishing bad? No, not at all. You buy a $50 ,000 bass boat, by the time you make all the payments, now it's 100 grand.

You're gone every other weekend because you want to use it, be out with the boys. And you see how this works? You see the difference? Are you controlling it, or is it controlling you? That's the bottom line.

The Love of the World Versus Love for God

Putting these things in perspective. Now, what I want to clarify is, he who loves pleasure. Let's think about that word for a minute. First John says, do not love the world nor the things that are in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. See that love there? Whoever loves this life, John 12, whoever loves this life, loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world, will keep it for eternal life.

Well, how am I supposed to hate my life? He's contrasting it there. If you love your life more than God, you will lose it because that's your God. But if you hate your life compared to God and the things of God, you'll gain it.

Because that's a heart going in the right direction. And then Paul said in his ministry, he said, deem us because he loved the world, has deserted me. So that love of the world pulled him away. And what it is here, when pleasures, when pleasures overrule our affections for God, when they crowd him out, when they take a great deal of our time and money and resources, we are loving God, but we are loving this world.

In a nutshell, God is in the background, back here, and pleasure's in the foreground. It's all our life is about pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. God, oh yeah, I'll get to you later. I'll get to you later.

Most people don't go grab the God card until they get in trouble. Let me just put you right back up there. Let's put you back up on that messy, dirty cross thing. I don't know what you guys are thinking.