A Certain Man
by Kenneth Carpenter
July 17, 2022 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Luke 9:57-62, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Genesis 19:15-17, Genesis 19:24-26, Isaiah 1:18-20, Numbers 11:4-6, Numbers 14:4, 2 Peter 2:18-22, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:13-14, Luke 10:1

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--sunday-morning-worship-service-197
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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i want to get into the word of the lord this morning and i would ask you to turn with me in your bible or whatever device you are using to follow scripture to luke the ninth chapter and i'll give you just a moment to get there giving honor to our pastoral staff our ministerial staff our elders ministers leaders of this assembly and to the saints of first apostolic church always a privilege to be in the house of the lord with you on sunday morning calling your attention to luke the ninth chapter we'll begin reading at verse number 57 luke 9 57 and it came to pass that as they went in the way a certain man notice that a certain man said unto him lord i will follow thee whether so ever thou goest and jesus said unto him foxes have holes birds of the air have nests son of man hath not where to lay his head and he said unto another follow me but he said lord supper me first to go and bury my father jesus said unto him let the dead bury the dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of god and another also said lord i will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house and jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god from this familiar passage of scripture i would read again from verse 57 and draw our title it said a certain man and that's what i want to talk about a little bit today a certain man let's pray savior we love you we're grateful for your presence that we've already experienced lord i thank you for the tug that we all feel at our heart when we come into this place that we are home in the house of god if there's one today lord that's been away from you and you are issuing another invitation to come home and be a part of the family of god i pray that they will hear that call and heed lord if there's one who's joined online who's far away in miles lord let them feel you close today let them return to you let them find you and give their service unto you lord we're grateful for this opportunity in jesus name we pray amen the bible is full of heroes who sold out completely and followed jesus the history of the original 12 disciples include those whose vocation was fishermen there was a physician there was a tax collector that was a zealot and that's just among the 12. his followers through scripture include lawyers educated elite the common man and woman slaves and masters princes and paupers the wealthy and the destitute scripture gives evidence that truly any and all who will completely commit to christ will not be rejected in fact there was only one real stipulation it was that your sellout needed to be complete it could not be an incomplete half-hearted commitment one must sell out completely now understand to sell out does not mean to necessarily liquidate your resources your abilities and your talents instead when you sell out all that you have whatever it is your ability your wealth or lack thereof your resources whatever you have you also give that to christ when you make a complete commitment to follow him if you have a talent you must give it to christ if you decide to follow him if you have wealth or resources you give that to god as well but in our text i want to take the liberty to introduce you to three individuals that are listed in luke 9 57-62 and i will title them a certain man another man and mr another also for they are all mentioned in this passage please notice in verse 57 it said and it came to pass as they went in the way a certain man said he made a proclamation he said lord i will follow thee whether so ever thou goest and notice jesus when he heard this forceful proclamation knowing the heart of the one who made the statement casually mentions some things that go along with this commitment he knew a certain man's life lifestyle preferences and desires jesus goes ahead and addresses his abode and his sleeping habits maybe jesus knew that he had a nice house when he told him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has no place to lay his head maybe he knew when this certain man traveled he only stayed in five-star hotels and used his points that he had amassed to upgrade who knows but jesus knew his heart or maybe he knew the guy's sleep habits maybe this was one of those fellas who too many times allowed the pillow monster to swallow him up on sunday morning and cause him to be late for choir practice being a greeter or being an usher who knows but a certain man had made a proclamation and jesus was telling him when you make this commitment realize you probably don't have any hyatt regencies in your future the hilton may not be on your schedule the marriott may not be where you'll be staying he said foxes have holes and birds have nests but you're not going to have any place to lay your head if you're going to follow me now he was making sure that a certain man understood what his commitment was you see we must be cautious and be careful i encourage all to sell out to christ but know the commitment you're making before you make it when you gather around the altar don't make a commitment just to get out of trouble make a commitment because you've decided that the greatest life there is to serve god there's no trouble too great there's no trial or test too mighty that it's not better than serving christ but in this passage we find another individual we had a certain man and then there's another man mr another man mr another man jesus looks at him and says follow me and he's ready to commit until he realizes he had a prior commitment hashtag excuses and he said to another follow me but he said lord suffer me first let me tell you you cannot truly sell out and commit to god as long as you have a me first attitude as long as you proclaim it's me first god is not first if there's anything that keeps you from giving a total commitment god will not accept it he said but suffer me first you know a lot of us have to suffer because of other people's me first attitudes now think about it wouldn't it be great for jesus himself to personally give you an invitation to go preach the gospel that's what happened i mean that's that's a pretty good call when jesus in person says follow me and then says go preach the gospel yet mr another mr me first mr excuses said i've got to go bury my daddy i just remembered oh i for i got to go to a funeral now if you study culture many scholars will tell you that even today this is the lame excuse that is given when someone does not want to do something say well i've got to go bury my father some of us had an awful lot of daddies because we made an awful lot of excuses for you see as long as you're coming up with reasons not to serve god rather than looking for opportunities to serve god you can't be sold out and fulfill the call that god has placed but i'm not sure he's called me well let me tell you this first corinthians 1 2 said unto the church of god which is at corinth to them that are sanctified in christ if you're sanctified in christ if you've made that commitment to repent of your sins if you've been baptized in his name you've been filled with his spirit and you're looking for direction from christ let me tell you he said called to be saints if you have no other call god's called you to be a saint and not a bad saint not a griping saint not a cussing saint not a layout of church and he's called folks to be saints that are followers of christ not those looking to criticize and make excuses i'm going to be a saint i'm going to commit to the kingdom of god so all who are sanctified already have a call to be saints but notice he just suddenly remember oh i got a funeral suffer me first mr excuse maker might have been his real title he would have been so much better had he realized that excuses would not allow him to commit please let me say it this way gently speaking pastorally rather than evangelistically on a sunday morning i realize everyone has emergencies everyone has issues that we sometimes have to deal with that prevent us from doing what we have promised to do in the kingdom of god or from being where we're supposed to be however some make a lifetime of excuses when it comes to even attending church the same illness that kept them out of service for three weeks never stopped multiplied trips to walmart or to 18 holes of golf you may be seated everybody settle down they're too sick to go to church so we i might as well go fishing once again y'all know the old say give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day teach a man to fish and he'll buy a bass boat miss sunday all summer long god help me when i'm making excuses not to be in church god help me when i'm making excuses not to commit to giving my best to god would your boss would your employer take the commitment that you give god would you still have a job would your mate take the commitment that you give to god let me ask you i don't want to be mr another and mr excuses from the word of the lord i want to be sold out completely to him he's called me and i want to answer his call oh god don't let me make excuses and have a me first attitude but let me introduce you to that third character in that passage i call him mr another also because that's the way the bible called it another also he asked he said i want to follow you but he said me first they must have been killed each other they both had me first in their bloodline he said i want to go revisit where i used to be here's the way it's worded verse chapter verse 61 of chapter nine and another also said lord i will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house i've seen the power of the holy ghost move mightily in a church service conviction so strong on someone and in the atmosphere of deliverance them come forward and repent of their sins and god mightily and miraculously forgive them of their sins they may go get baptized may even get the holy ghost but the first thing the enemy tries to do is said you need to go back where you used to live just go tell it by one time that crowd you used to run with those things you used to do oh you're strong enough now you can resist all the evil go back and revisit where you used to be living let me tell you it's no time to go back to where you used to be living you need to stay with your commitment to god don't look back look straight ahead i can't return to the wallow i can't return to the squala i can't return to the muck in the mud i can't go back to sin to even tell sin goodbye hear me in this house it's no time to look back and go back to the house for one more greeting of where you used to live he said i want to go back me first too many can never sell out to christ because they've looked back and revisited where they used to live they the things they used to do the people they used to live with the activities of the flesh that were that they were more attached to than serving jesus jesus would tell all three the certain man mr another and mr another also he would tell all three no man having put his hand to the plowing and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god let me tell you when you commit to christ it's time to look forward and stop looking back you better hear me today it's no time to revisit the past sins it's you see listen life's moving too quick to be looking back this world is happening too fast to be looking behind us it's it's dangerous to try to go forward while you're looking back man everything's at a fast pace now we've got fast food we've got a high-speed internet we've got fast cars bullet trains supersonic jets one hour cleaners minute rice instant pudding i even try to swipe my credit card and it tells me to hurry remove quickly i'm getting rushed by everything i'm telling you this whole life is moving so fast i don't have time to try to go forward while i'm looking over my shoulder i'm headed for trouble when i do that don't look back at sin don't even think about turning around don't even think about revisiting where you used to be look straight ahead god's got a call for you god's got something special for you today in a spiritual sense we must continue to pay attention to where we're going rather than where we've been this is no way to be interpreted that we should not commemorate and celebrate what god has accomplished in us in our history it has been said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it i am never talking about that we shouldn't commemorate the miracles that god has wrought the things the foundational things that god created for us to be where we are don't misunderstand what i'm saying don't misinterpret the statement but what i'm trying to tell you is we don't need to look back with a longing look at sin in my walk with god sadly i've seen too many look back people second guessers indecisive always tell you how it used to be and how you should have done it after the fact those who always sit on the sidelines as self-appointed judges evaluating everyone else's christian performance they're usually the most easily offended lot who dwell on only what they can see that happened in the past jesus is looking for forward-looking people not backward-looking observers jesus needs no arm-chair quarterbacks scripture gives us an example of a classic i'm gonna look back person in genesis 19 15 most of you know the story but i will take it excerpts to expedite time genesis 19 15 said and when the morning arose then the angels hastened lot saint arise take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city and while he lingered the men the angels laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and about the hand of his two daughters the lord being merciful unto him notice that with all the things that lot had done with all of the horrible sin that lot found his life wrapped up in from casting his tents in the well-watered plains of sodom when he parted ways with abraham to now having a lifetime of existence in sodom and gomorrah god's mercy is still there chugging at him saying i've got just one more chance where he sent messengers he sent angel look if angels show up and tell me to leave i'm saying feet don't fail me now i'm out of here but lot was so immersed in the culture of sodom and gomorrah his family so wrapped up in all of the sinful nature of that city even when angels showed up the angels had to take him by the ham and forcefully move them from the city if you notice it was a miraculous thing that took place they didn't just walk them out of the city it said the lord being merciful unto him they brought him forth and set him without the city it's apparent that some miraculous deliverance from even walking out into the city took place they were set outside of the city just like that why because god was still merciful to them and it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said escape for thy life hear me time and time again the word of god will be preached and taught it'll be reinforced by sunday school teachers and teachers evangelists and pastors your bishop will tell you things your pastors will tell you things your teachers will tell you but if we aren't careful we will ignore all of the warnings that are saying escape for your life oh this is just a temporary getting cold i'm not really going to leave the church i'm just going to back up on my commitment somebody better hear me today in this house when the word of god is reinforced even the way it was reinforced today with the songs and the messages welcome home it's not by accident that you're here it's not by accident that you're hearing what this preacher is preaching the lord is trying to tell somebody you're home you're where you need to be you need to be back with your commitment completely your home i'm a merciful god he said escape with your life yes and then he said look not behind me neither stay thou in the plane three things escape for thy life now you can interpret it however you want to i've got a feeling that lot and his wife had put down a lot of roots in sodom he probably had all of his wealth whatever his ability to have resources his job or his business it was all still in sodom but the angels speaking as the mouthpiece of god said escape with your life there's some things that people will hang on to when they're about to be burned up that you need to let go of and get out of the city and escape for your life and not look back one time realize the gravity of the situation you've ever noticed one of the things they do when you get on an airline they go through all those safety checks now if it's your first time flying it will just about scare you to death man they tell you all kind of stuff keep your uh your seat belt fastened if we should in the unlikely event that we should lose oxygen there'll be a mask fall down put your mask on first before you help anybody else if the little bag don't inflate it's all right there'll still be oxygen there in the unlikely event of a water landing the cushion that you're seated on you can turn that into a flotation device man they they scare you to death and everybody's looking and and if you need more information there's a little pamphlet in the pocket look at that pamphlet that that'll give you and everybody that hasn't been on a flight before they're going through that and going through locate the exits and then i mean they're demonstrating man it'll scare you to death but once folks get to be veteran flyers i've seen them you know when they start going through that they'll put their headphones on go ahead and close their eyes i got this never going to be any problem and one of the things they say if you should have to evacuate the plane take none of your personal items with you in other words if we're having to evacuate this plane there's nothing more valuable than your life there's some folks can't get off the plane of the world because they can't leave their baggage behind that's right let me tell you if you've got baggage leave it on the plane run for your life god has deliverance for you he's still merciful forget all of that other stuff leave your baggage behind god wants to deliver you he wants to save you he wants to take care of you escape for your life and don't look back and he said do not stay in the plains he said go to the mountains genesis 19 24 gives the happening when it finally was fulfilled then the lord rained upon sodom put on gomorrah brimstone and fire from the lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and all the plane and all the inhabitants of the city that and that which grew up on the ground in verse 26 but his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt let me say when god starts bringing judgment it's certainly no time to start looking back lot's wife simply could not resist just one backward glance i see too many who have been miraculously delivered from certain destruction only to become disobedient to god and look longingly back to where they were sadly they usually become a statue or a monument to backsliding god said don't look back and seek the high ground seek the mountains some people can never seek the high ground in controversy they've got to dwell in the valley of vindictiveness or the plane of spitefulness they always seem to want to operate out of revenge spite and petty malice rather than reason tolerance and rational thinking they usually have an agenda so they assume that everyone else has an agenda as well they become miserable looking back tight souls let me tell you it wasn't just good enough for god to set him out he said don't stay in the plane go the high ground there's some stuff in your past as long as you hold it as a grudge and you want to stay in the the plane the low land around where you've existed you're still headed for destruction get to the mountains get to the high ground put that stuff behind you say i'm not going to dwell there anymore i've already forgiven that i'm not going to revisit it don't let don't be unreasonable isaiah 1 18 said come now let us reason together sayeth the lord though your sins be a scarlet they shall be white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool but here's the requirement if you be willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the lamb but if you refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth of the lord hath spoken it what path will you take will you take the high ground be willing and obedient or will you want to get out of the city but still dwell in the plane that says i refuse and i rebel oh pastor i'm really not looking back i'm just looking in the mirror well it's amazing we've invented new devices that make it makes it easier to look back rear view mirrors but you notice something that's on a lot of the rear view mirrors i have anyway there's some little text on the bottom of it that says things may be closer than they appear you ever read that before oh to get real carnal some of you folks remember the first jurassic park movie the rest of you holy ones that don't know what i'm talking about just thank the lord but they're running from a prehistoric beast in a jeep and the guy looks in the mirror and that's what it said things in your mirror may be larger than they appear some folks think that a little backward glance won't hurt you better be careful calamity may be a whole lot closer to you than you think it is and every moment you waste looking back rick with regrets or a longing eye it's gaining on you every step you take and you see when you look in the mirror most of the time you get a distorted view it may be a bit skewed numbers 11 4 said in the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting and the children of israel also wept again and said who shall give us flesh to eat we remember now get the picture children of israel they've been mildly delivered i don't have to review it all but y'all know all the stuff that god did to deliver them the plagues in egypt against pharaoh to get him to release them the hard-hearted pharaoh the dividing of the sea the closing the waters on the enemy and he's directed their paths and he started feeding them with manna but you see there's a mixed multitude now understand that means the whole bunch weren't on the same page they were together in the multitude but they were mixed there were remnants of sin still dwelling there were remnants of egypt still among them and the mixed multitude that fell among was among them fell a lusting and the children of israel also wept again and said who shall give us flesh to eat we remember the fish which we did eat in egypt freely man egypt being a type of sin remember how good sin was man we used to party and have such fun [Music] the cucumbers the melons the leeks the onions the garlic but our soul is dried away there is nothing at all besides miraculous provisions from god this manna isn't it amazing when they looked at a skewed view in the mirror look behind them how big the fish and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic was but how small whips and taskmasters and murderer and their children had become if we aren't careful we'll look back at sin with a skewed view it will be distorted we'll look in life's mirror and think everything was cool you you you and that party life that you used to live you forgot about thinking it was popular to drink so much that you got so sick that you put your face in a place that wasn't intended for people to put their face in to throw up woo aren't you popular aren't you cool now i heard a young lady testify this morning she told the truth she didn't gather it up she started telling everybody i i was so alone i was so lost she wasn't looking back with a longing eye she was saying i want to tell you where god has brought me where god has delivered me from the family that i have the prayers hear me in this house today stop looking back don't look for sin don't let another man convince you to look back oh hallelujah hallelujah oh let me let me hasten to close for you see they even suggested they begin to murmur and complain against moses and aaron i'll not read it but you can read it for yourself and study numbers 14 1-5 they murmured against moses they griped against aaron said you've brought us out here in this wilderness to die let me tell you because you're serving god everything will not always be perfect there's going to be trials and tests there's going to be troubles you're going to face situations you're going to face health problems oh i've got the holy ghost do you know holy ghost folks still get sick oh you're killing my faith no i'm being real with you god can and does heal who he wants to but from the adamic sin till now our fleshly bodies have an expiration date and we're all going to die if jesus don't come back and we need to be realistic enough to realize that it reigns on the just and the unjust time and chance happened to them all but that shouldn't make me turn around and long for sin sin won't make it better i promise you [Applause] numbers 14 1-5 it said and they said one to another let us make a captain and let us return to egypt going back to sin is going to fix your problem i say a thousand times no it's going to make it a thousand times worse and i've got news for you there's few and far between that'll speak up and lead you in the right path but you can find all kind of folks that will be captains to take you back to sin they are plentiful there's all kinds of folks that's ready to take you back to a sinful life if you follow them i've even seen folks leave the church for the wrong reason i realize we all have different preferences and styles of worship and but don't leave the church for the wrong reason oh i'm going to find me a church that doesn't have so many rules and regulations i want more freedom second peter 2 addresses that verse 18 said for when they speak swelling words of vanity they allure through the lusts of the flesh through much wantonness those that were clean escaped from them who live in error while they promised them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for whom a man has overcome of the same as he brought in bondage for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the lord and savior jesus christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning you have a new responsibility once you've sold out and you've committed now when you start looking back you're not going back to more liberty you're going back to a worse more vile more destructive lifestyle verse 21 said for it is better that for them to not have known the way of righteousness than after they had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them but this is this but it is happened unto them according to true proverb the dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallow in the mire guttural language that expresses the situation per perfectly when you return to sin you're going back to the mire you're going back to the wallow preacher sounds awful negative for sunday morning well i got good news for you you can look ahead and go on in christ musicians come quickly because i want to talk just a moment about that first corinthians 11 1 says this be ye followers of me even as i also am of christ did you know you can't follow somebody if you're looking back i know all of you think you can get anywhere now because you got gps man i was over in north carolina here a while back i was using gps and i looked at my gps screen according to my gps screen i was out in the middle of a field somewhere come to find out gps hadn't caught up with their latest road improvements i said do i trust the screen or do i touch the road that i see in front of me let me tell you if you're going to follow those who are following christ you need to look ahead stop looking back at the regrets stop looking back at the things god wants you to look forward be your followers of me even as i also am of christ philippians said it this way philippians 3 stand with me philippians 3 13 said brethren i count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing i do i hadn't apprehended i hadn't grabbed all i'm going to but there's one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind there's some stuff you need to put behind you leave it under the blood god is merciful he's a forgiving god quit dwelling on it forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before listen those who are going to follow christ they're not just running their reaching you watch these track athletes when they're running in a race when they get near the finish line they have that finishing cord across there those who are the best when it's close they reach they'll stretch with everything that's in them listen we're in a race against the enemy i'm reaching forward i want everything god has for me forget what's behind me it doesn't matter forgetting those things which are behind i reach forth unto those things which are before i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god i'm pressing forward listen to me today if the enemy has been trying to tell you to look at your past remind him of his future let him know that you're heaven bound i've made a commitment i'm not turning back i'm going forward today hallelujah i'm going to open this altar in just a moment [Music] and i want it to be a time for anybody in this house to come and make your calling sure if you've never repented of your sins don't worry about your past come and take care of the present the future today if there's any issue that's been drawing you back say god i'm putting that behind me today i want to remind us of one final thing from our text for after we read those last few verses in luke 9 luke 10 and 1 said this after these things after jesus gave that statement that if you look back you're not fit after those things the lord appointed other seventy also he called seven there was three he he was reminding now scripture doesn't tell you what happened with their commitment their me first commitments if they rejected or accepted but it does tell me that after that jesus called 70 more and i want you to notice the way this is worded it said the other 70 also and he sent them two and two before his face unto every city and every place he called them to disperse in two and the last statement says whether he himself would come i came to tell somebody today jesus will not call you to a place that he will not go himself let me say that again jesus will not call you to a place that he will not go himself if you've got a call of god on your life to minister here at first apostolic church whatever it is don't reject that know that god is in it if you've got a call to testify to your family to those that are at work if god's been leading you to minister to someone to get involved in some ministry say god i know you won't call me anywhere that you won't be you're going to show up and you're going to help me you're going to be with me he's sending us he's calling us but we must commit to not go back i want to open the altar right now if you want to talk to the lord about commitment if you want to talk to him about repentance come right now god has a way he has a call come and recommit yourself to him come make your commitment sure do what you want to in christ and let you know he's going to be with you hallelujah sing it unto the lord [Music] come right now [Music] [Applause] was over here [Applause] [Music] moving forward [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] i'm not going [Music] my back is over [Music] would you lift your hands and love jesus right now would you love him again hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah could we go from this place today with fresh determination i'm not going to go back to my past i'm not looking back with a longing eye to sin but i'm going forward to fulfill whatever call christ has for me he will be with me and i will be victorious would you give jesus a clap offering to praise today hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah