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Good morning, good morning, good morning.

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Good morning.

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As you can read as well as I can, that other board up there says the anniversary celebration,

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May 21st, just around the corner.

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We're going to do a rock party and we're doing the rooftop candy drop.

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There you go, rooftop candy drop.

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I'm going to do all the words.

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You can give them lined up in my head for some reason.

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That doesn't go wrong with a person later, does it?

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Anyway, a rooftop candy drop will be that night as well.

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We'll obviously be promoting that and get an opportunity for the community to come out

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and enjoy with us and we'll celebrate our anniversary.

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Our anniversary is actually on the 22nd, but it's the 21st.

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What day of the week is that?

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That's Monday.

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That's Tuesday.

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So the 21st is Tuesday.

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So we'll be doing that instead of our regular Bible study time that evening,

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which is to serve the community, work together and celebrate our anniversary, May 21st.

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And then also just kind of things on the horizon.

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So coming in June is the National Convention.

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Our messengers, I think, most of all of our messengers will be going to the National Convention.

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And the two days right before that is the pastors conference.

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And so some of our men will be going to the pastors conference.

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That runs 9, 10, 11, 12 June.

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Further out still, a little further out still, we have Camp You Can.

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We have a number of our men who've committed to go and shepherd on board for Camp You Can this year.

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And that's boys ages 9 through 15.

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They can go to that and they can go for free.

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There's no charge for them to go to camp.

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And so last year we took, I forget, 17, 15, something like that.

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We did a bunch.

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17.

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Yeah, 17.

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And they came from like 12 different neighborhoods all over the city.

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And so what a great blessing that was.

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And it's cool because they have professional sports stars and coaches that come and talk to the boys about.

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And it really is all focused around boys growing into being men of integrity, which of course includes Christ.

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So it's very, very good time.

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And there's more.

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There's lots of good stuff going on.

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But here's what I want you to hear.

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The most important thing is that these activities are not for action.

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They're not for fun.

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They're not for excitement.

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Even though they generate all those things, they are all for the glory of God.

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We'll talk more about that in more announcements and more time to pray together during the membership meeting, which is after service today.

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So this is our agenda.

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We will serve the Lord in praise and worship and give our times and offerings and go to the word and learn from him today.

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We'll do all that immediately following service.

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We'll have our membership meeting, which should be fairly brief because as a right now, is there any motions?

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There's going to be we think there's going to be at least one motion.

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If you have a motion, you can get to Amalia or myself prior to the beginning of the meeting.

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We don't do open floor during the meeting.

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That way we kind of know what you're getting into.

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We approve the agenda in advance.

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The motion on the agenda before it starts.

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And then after that, we'll be celebrating in the cafeteria.

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Today is Hannah's birthday.

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She's older today.

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Well, not really.

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She's just older today.

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Praise the Lord.

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And so we have cake in the cafeteria and the kids will be getting a healthy lunch style snack in the classroom.

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So that's kind of cool.

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In anticipation of so we don't just keep them cake and send them home to their parents all wiring and stuff.

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All right. So that's the plan.

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It's going to be fun, but it's really going to be for God.

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And hopefully we'll reach the United States.

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Want to throw something out there?

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Yeah, just real quick.

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So real quick.

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On June 7th at seven o'clock, I'm doing a youth gym.

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It's going to be music, dancing, whatever.

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There is going to be a gospel message in the middle of it.

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But I'm inviting any teenager basically from 13 to 17 to come.

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And it's going to be all it's all Christian music.

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It's going to be rap, hip hop.

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There's some rock in there.

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It's just a variety of music to just have fun.

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My vision of this is just basically a giant worship party where we all sing songs and worship God.

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But most importantly, I want people the whole goal of this is I want people to see, especially teenagers,

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I want them to see that you can be a Christian and still have a lot of fun doing things.

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That's Friday night, right?

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That's Friday night.

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Friday night in the center.

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OK.

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We'll talk a little bit more about that at the meeting when we go to announcements there.

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Let's pray together now and give God the glory for the day.

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Father in heaven, you are God.

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We know that.

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We are not.

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Despite the fact that we were created in your image and then from the image from the beginning, sin really was introduced,

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really was chosen even over a relationship with you, over representing you the way that man kind of should have.

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And that that could not stand.

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It would not stand.

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It did not allow it to stand in that you came in the form of Jesus Christ, God the Son, and you died for the sins of mankind.

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Rose again on the third day, who there is life after death.

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Lord, you have delivered blessings to your people.

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You created for yourself a new people from the people that were not your people.

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That is the church.

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We are the eternal Israel along with with Israel.

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Lord, we will get into all kinds of doctoral medicine, theology there.

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It just means that we have been wrapped in and we are grateful that that ultimate price, what it takes would be possible for us to be part of the kingdom of God.

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Thank you, Lord, for the lessons we've had this last three weeks.

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Got one more on Tuesday about the kingdom of God.

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And so just kind of tie it all up.

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We hope and will understand the best possible can and live it out the best we can.

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Father, as we sing these praises to you now there for your glory, for your honor and for your praise, you deserve it all because you alone are God.

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As we sing praises of Jesus and what Jesus has done and Jesus our Lord and Jesus our Savior, Jesus master of our daily living.

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We pray that will mean what we say, what we say.

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And for those who do not sing, Lord, we pray that will find the meaning nonetheless.

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We want to honor you in every possible way today as we've gathered together in this room, which you have provided in these bodies, which you provided in light of the finances that you provided, the strength you provided, the miracles that you've done.

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In our lifetime that we have seen and the miracles you've done in our lifetime that would not seem.

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We honor you and glorify you for it all, beginning with and ending with the fact that you alone are God.

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We praise you today in Jesus name.

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All righty. All right.

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So two things we got to take care of real quick.

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The first thing is today's sermon is largely for believers.

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That happens sometimes in the scripture.

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Sometimes when you go to the Bible, it's really simply put appealing to you to come to Christ, right?

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Calling you out of wherever you are and to Jesus.

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But sometimes when you go to the Bible, certain verses, certain scripture will be speaking to you as a believer.

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Now, there's still conviction and it's all useful for that, right?

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Review, conviction, that kind of thing, correction for people who realize, okay, I'm not a believer, but I see how this could speak to a believer.

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But so then when a pastor preaches a message that is largely for believers, I think about that.

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I think, well, if you know, there could be a believer in the room and this message could be hard, a non-believer.

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I mean, in the room, this message could be hard, but then this while they don't have a hard time understanding or whatever.

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And so a lot of times I try to build into the sermon, kind of like these little subtexts, I'll explain, I'll say, well, kind of means that, kind of means this, kind of means this, kind of means that kind of thing.

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Well, today, as I was preparing the sermon and getting ready to preach today, the Lord led me not to do that.

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Instead, he led me to do this, okay, which is to give you a very simple, straightforward explanation of Christianity.

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Okay, and so this is for you kids. This is for you as well. This is for all of us to understand.

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The bottom line is this, all people who have ever lived have sinned against God.

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You can't blame and hang it all on Adam because he did it first, right? You can't do that.

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All people have sinned against God. All of you mistakes are done things.

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The truth is we made some pretty intentional decisions that did not honor God. If you think about it, if you lied because it was in your best interest, you thought you'd get something out of it.

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That's a sin, right? If you stole, took something that you wanted, even though it belonged to somebody else, that's a sin.

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So all people have sinned in some way. If you want or desire after something and you're not a Christian, you don't put it into proper perspective with God,

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that God is first, foremost, you want and desire after that thing, that's a sin, right?

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So it's very easy because of our flesh nature for us. God says through Paul, through the book of Romans, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

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Now the outcome of that, there is an outcome of that. Because you've sinned and fall short of the glory of God, the outcome of that is, the Bible says, is death.

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Wages like you would earn from a job. If you go to work, they give you a paycheck, hopefully, at least they're supposed to.

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So because we have sinned, the outcome of that is death. And death means separation from God, right? We were created to be in a right relationship with God.

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All human beings, out of need, were created to be in a right relationship with God. That's the way it's supposed to be.

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It's everything that God wants to make happen, that's why He sent His Son to die for us, right?

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So that being said, we're supposed to be in a right relationship with Him, but we have sinned and we're not. That's, the Bible calls it, death.

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So the wages of sin is death. But, in the same verse in Romans 6, what I read, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son.

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So Jesus came to defeat death, to make it possible for us to go on beyond what looks like death, or human death.

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If your body stops working, humans continue to exist, they just don't exist as a body anymore, and their soul goes either to heaven or to hell.

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Immediately, seconds later, right? The Bible doesn't teach something like soul sleep, so you go to sleep, wake up later.

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And by the way, if that were even true, I don't know how you'd even know the difference. You go to sleep and you're completely non-existent,

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and then you wake up in heaven and it'd still be instantaneously you're there, from your perspective, right?

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So you die, and you either go to heaven, or you go to hell. Either way, there is no purgatory. The Bible does not teach purgatory.

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You can't even stretch the New Testament and teach purgatory. That's a place where if you sinned and didn't accept Jesus,

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you can go there and get burnt for a while and then get to go to heaven after that, that doesn't exist.

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Nothing like that. It's heaven or hell, immediately after death. That's it. Right? And it's settled.

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Okay. But the gift of God, the eternal life through Jesus Christ, His Son, means that even though we sin against God,

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and God, by all rights would have every reason to keep us away from Himself, right?

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He sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay for sins, so that now He can pull us to Himself. Okay?

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God will not get dirty. God is not a sinner. No sin can ever affect Him or touch Him. He is perfectly holy. Right?

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But He loves you so much that even as messy as you are, and mistakes that you've made, He wants to draw you to Him. Okay?

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From the moment that we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus, that opens a channel between us and God.

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Believing does not save people. There are lots of people who believe. Even demons believe and tremble. Right?

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Believing does not save people. It opens a channel between us and God. We say, God is real. Jesus really died for me. I can get that.

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So, God, now, because that's true, I want you to do whatever you want to do.

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I will tell you what God wants to do. He wants to save us. Right? That's His whole point. That's His whole plan.

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Us in perfect relationship with Him. So, we believe and we open the channel, then He sends grace.

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That's why it says we are saved by grace, through faith. Without faith, if you don't believe it exists,

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there's nothing He can really do for you because you're not willing. Right?

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But if you believe that He exists, you know that there is something there for you, you say, okay, God, whatever you want,

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do right because He is God. Okay? You say, God, whatever you want, and what does God want to do?

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He wants to save you. And by His grace, He saved us. He forgives the sin that we did. He lives in us.

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The Bible says His Holy Spirit comes and takes residence in us and lives in us from that day forward.

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And we are immediately transformed and continually transformed by the renewing of our mind.

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So, you're not perfect just because you accepted Jesus. You may be done, complete. There's no salvation needed.

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Right? Nothing more is needed to save you. You may go to heaven. That's done. That's settled.

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But you're still growing, positive. And that's why we repent. That's why we turn back to God when we make mistakes.

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And God is able to handle us. So, if you're in this room today,

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whether you're going to the children's class or whether you're going to the sermon, you can be here with me or whatever,

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you need to be sure. You need to settle the matter. A very wise young lady who was in my youth group on the back of East Plea

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latched on to a saying. She didn't create it. She latched on to it. She brought it to our youth group,

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and then she brought it to a concert at Clay High School that she put on as her senior project brought in, St. Fitzgerald, the Christian band.

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And she got up and explained to her, if you're 99% sure that you're saved, you're 99% saved, you're 100% lost.

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But look at what we just looked at. What do you need to do to be 100% sure you're saved based on the promises of God?

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You need to believe in God, believe in what He said He would do, believe in who He says He is, and receive from God the grace.

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You cannot buy the grace. You don't even have to ask for it. You literally could say nothing and just sit there and go,

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I'm not going to let anybody know right now that I'm becoming a Christian, but I'm really becoming a Christian for the first time ever right now.

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And you could just say nothing right now and just receive the grace. There is no verbal component requiring you to do that.

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However, once you've done that, remember, we are growing, renewing, pressing in, desiring to be with God, desiring to represent God,

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and the Bible says that if you deny Him before men, He will deny you before His Father in heaven.

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Jesus said, if you deny me before men, and we'll read that verse as part of our text today, if you deny me before men,

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then I will deny you before my Father in heaven. In Revelation it says, I will not erase their name out of the book of life,

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those who will not deny me before men. Which implies that if you don't deny Him before men,

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your name may not wind up in that book, and only those who are in that book go to heaven. And only those who are in that book are Christians.

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That's what the Bible says. So that's the Gospel in a simple form. It is this, do you believe in God?

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Are you willing to receive from God the salvation that He has promised? You are.

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Here comes the grace. Just receive it. Then from that point on, we're living for God.

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From that point on, there is growth to be done. That's why we come to church on Sunday, either A, because we don't know God and we desire to,

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or B, because we do know God and we desire to know Him more, walk with Him more, be His people.

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And that's what reaching new heights in Jesus is all about. So if you're here today and you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

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we're going to say a brief prayer. And I would ask you then, pray in your heart or out loud along with me, and just say to Jesus what needs to be said.

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Alright, so we're all praying together. If you're not accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you're just praying to those who might be right now.

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Here we go. Father God, I recognize you created everything. And you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay for sins.

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I realize I have not honored you with my life. I have not done the things I should have done.

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Or I did things I shouldn't have done. And I'm coming to you today to surrender whatever is left of me and say, God, you be my God.

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Jesus, you be my Lord. Forgive me for what I've done that I shouldn't have. Forgive me for what I failed to do.

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Come live in me. And they be able to live for you from this day forward. Whatever that means. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Now if you're here today and you prayed that prayer for the very first time, I'm not going to ask you to walk in the crowd.

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We're not going to have an invitation. But if you're here today and for the first time you meant it, you intend for this moment forward to live for Jesus.

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Even if you've said it before, even if you've been doing it but didn't really say it to anybody, even if you didn't really understand it, you thought you did but you didn't really understand it.

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But now you do. Right? Before you said, why I said the words, the prayer, but nothing happened. I wasn't changing. I feel like I've been changed. I feel like I'm being affected.

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I'm going to ask you with every head up and everybody looking around for your first time ever to raise your hand and say that's me I'm moving for Jesus starting today.

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That's you. Anybody else? Amen. Amen. Anybody else? Don't be afraid. We can't do anything. God's already done something. Amen.

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Thank you Jesus. Anybody else? Alright. Now, amen. Amen. Anyone else? Amen. Now, pray. Amen. Amen. Now, those who just raised your hand, we are, I am, we are praying for you to live out what you now know to be true.

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You'll never be the same as you were five minutes ago. That's what it means. Life is changed. Your decision processes will be forever affected. I understand it's a journey.

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I'm plagued by what I did when I was younger. I made mistakes or things I've done. Whatever. I understand there's a journey, a process. But you've begun the process.

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That's what it means to be a Christian. To be little Christ. We walk as you walk. Listen, you're not an itinerary preacher around Judea. That's not going to be you.

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You're not going to be some barefooted guy with long hair, olive skin, whatever, walking around telling people, turning water into wine. That's not going to be you.

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But your life, your situation, what you're going through, that's for you to affect the Lord. And now you can. In ways that you never could before.

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The Bible teaches that you will be gifted spiritually. There will be things that you can do that you couldn't do previously. And you can figure out what that is. That's part of the journey.

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It teaches that you'll be part of a local church body working together with the church to serve the instrument to be Jesus to everyone else on the earth that hasn't met yet.

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And then what we'll really be doing is introducing them to the real Jesus. Right? Yes, ma'am.

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I'm going to say it's not my first time because I have been saved and sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. It's not my first time.

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Okay, praise the Lord. Do you recommit your life to the Lord? Amen. Very good. Very good. That's alright.

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And so we will live for him. Alright, so that's that needed to be done because the message today is aimed at y'all believers. Right?

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So now if you're here today and say, well, I'm still covered up. I'm still a defendant. Then do your business with God as we sing worship, as we praise, as we listen and speak. Do your business with God and say, Lord, I surrender my life to you.

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Okay? And let him lead and let him lead you well. Let him lead you. Alright?

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And for those little ones, leaders, if you didn't see who the hands are raising, make sure to confirm some things today and get that settled. Okay?

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Because you're excited. They're excited. And they need to be given the opportunity to live for the Lord.

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Okay, second thing real quick. This is inspirational moment time. This is the moment in time at which if the Lord's been whispering in your ear, this is your opportunity to shout loud.

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Realize that if you shout out here, something that wasn't whispering in your ear, what was that text today as well?

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If you shout out the things the Lord's been whispering in your ear today, it goes pretty far. Why?

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We podcast our services. Assuming the quality is there, that goes out and over.

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And I looked yesterday and there are more people in the United States of America than ever before listening to our podcast. And then last month, the podcast was heard in 12 countries.

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But it was heard in like 70 locations all across the U.S., 70 different cities. That's impressive. That's God doing that, right?

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And we get things, we make it seem wrong. We don't tell people we're perfect or everything is exactly right.

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We stick with the scriptures. We stick with what the Bible says and how to preach and teach that.

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So that being said, if you've heard from the Lord this week, I'm going to give you a just like, it's got to be short because we've got to move in like 30, 60 seconds.

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You just tell us and it's not just. And then someone will come and find you and ask more if they need you.

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What has God been saying to you this week?

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So I'm a big woman and I'm going to give you. Anyway, so just to be quick, let's just think about my kids.

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And my kids, you know, they love me. And I'll tell you what I mean. If I give them a bunch of stuff, yeah, they love that stuff.

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But that's not what they really want. They want me. They want my words. They want my encouragement. They want they want my wisdom.

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They want my teachers. They want my direction. They don't want to be disciplined, but at the same time, they want to know that I'll protect them.

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I'm stern with them. I love them. I care about them. I'm actually engaging with them.

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But take my phone and put it away and I actually spend time with them. I'm showing them I actually am divided.

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I want full attention with you. That's what they want.

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And then finally, at the end, when you know, when we go to bed at night or with my kids, they like to cuddle with their dad because they want me.

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They want himself. And when I think of God's presence, it's not just presence like his presence is here, but he's present.

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He wants us. He wants to give of himself. He wants us to learn. He wants us to grow.

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But at the same time, he also wants to be with us in everything that we do. He wants to be the just like his alma mater.

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He's the true dad. So just something to think about is he wants us to be what's up to himself to us.

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That's very good. Amen.

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Be there. God wants to be there for us. Be there for each other. Be there for your family. Be there for your friends.

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Realize it comes with complications, but be there.

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Anybody else?

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Call it.

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Yes, I got to call this meeting from Dillon and Donnelly in Ohio.

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I'm going to try to get to Alan Correctional down there in this room.

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And they invited me down for a breakfast later this month.

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See if we can get back in there and do some work.

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We'll pray that turns out. And even so, you've already had a call of the witness on the church and Christ wanting to do that.

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That's good stuff. Wonderful.

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All right. Anyone else?

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Okay, we're going to pray together briefly. We're going to worship a little bit more.

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A couple of us will worship the Lord in a new way and possibly in a brand new way.

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And watch this. Watch what God is going to do.

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It's going to be good. God is good.

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All right. Brother Ron Mack, if you'll be his son this firm, we'll pray along with you.

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Lord Father in heaven, we thank you for allowing us to be here today.

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For giving us the opportunity to listen to your word and to be surrounded by other believers.

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And Lord, to find faith just to speak words in our heart and our mind that will receive your grace.

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Lord, thank you for the powerful message that your son gave us and then ultimately paying for our sins on the cross with his own life.

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Suffering your wrath that was aimed towards us, but Jesus said, no, take it upon myself.

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God, I pray that we can live every moment from this moment on for you, that we give our life to you continuously in a new way every day.

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Father, I pray for the people in this community that they would be transformed by your power and your strength, your spirit.

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I pray for the tithes and offerings, Lord, that whatever is given today, that it's honoring to you and that we can use it how you see fit.

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Bless the rest of this day and the rest of the worship music. I pray that it's music to your ears, Lord.

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I pray for the message that you have spoken with boldness and conviction that it touches all the hearts of this world.

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Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

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Here we go.

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Right.

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Okay, before we sing this next song, I want to share something with you.

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So, why do we worship? Just yell it out. Give me a reason.

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Yep. So what are some ways that we worship?

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Singing, clapping, playing instruments, art, drawing.

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Then it always has to be music.

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So, the offering that we pass is also worship. Meaning God's word we can use as worship.

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The songs that we sing, we sing to worship Him, to show Him praise, to show our love for Him.

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Music and worship songs can also teach us God's word.

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So I want to share with you a couple of verses that I found, and I want you to see if they sound familiar.

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A time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in heaven and truth.

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For such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers, God His Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

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Coming from John chapter 4. We sang that song this morning.

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I have a list of a lot of you verses that the worship songs that we sing,

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not only are we singing praises to God and worship to God, but we're also singing His word,

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which helps us to remember that His word is what we need to get through life.

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So this one, Matthew chapter 5 says,

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You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill, cannot be hidden.

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Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand it gives light to all who are in the house.

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Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

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So you may or may not be aware, but there is a very real struggle to be a pastor and a preacher in 2024.

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It has been for me anyway for the last several decades.

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And I'm going to let you in on one of those struggles right now.

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There is one thing that the enemy has used more frequently to come after me, I think, than any other tactic in the last three decades.

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And it has been this, that believers that I have known in our church and otherwise, less so in our church,

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but in our church and otherwise everywhere that I have known believers, that they stay the course until they don't.

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The reality is that people profess the name of Christ and then they begin to live on fire.

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So it would appear for the Lord they're doing everything that they think they know that God wants them to do, whatever.

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And they do that for years, sometimes decades. And then at some point in time, something gets a hold of them,

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something distracts them, something tempts them, something leads them away.

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And they start what appears at first maybe to be a slow decline. And then at some point in time, they just bail out.

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They jump out the plane, pull the rip cord and walk away from everything that they profess.

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Sometimes their profession was ours, seeing young men who have given their life to the Lord and that very same day,

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abandoned what they said and went back to being what they were before, really no change.

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Sometimes it is days or weeks or months or years or decades.

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And for me, as I look at Scripture, so I am troubled by the notion that a man might earnestly give his life to God

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and then might walk away from the faith at some point in time down the road, regardless of age, circumstance or whatever.

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What I see in Scripture is that it is clear that if a person has truly become a Christian,

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that they will stay the course to the very end and live for the Lord.

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Now, not to get into predestination or deep topic like that, and we may even address that on an upcoming Tuesday night,

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but not to get deep into the theology of it, but the bottom line is that Jesus says that anyone who is in his hand, no one can take it.

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No one can take that person away. And that he would not lose anyone who has become his while he is still alive.

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And the disciples were so adamant in their faith that they literally were persecuted unto death all but one.

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And we see that kind of devotion in our world to cults, to hobbies, to entertainment distractions.

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What do I mean? So people that are so sold out on certain cults that are in the world that they will literally strap on a bomb

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and blow themselves up in a coffee shop to take out just 12 innocent bystanders and to accomplish nothing more than that.

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Because they believe that that will translate them into an eternity of glory.

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There are people who will give literally everything they own. They'll sell their house, sell their cars, quit their job,

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all their money and their savings and everything, and give it over into the corporate pot of a cult and go live in Central America

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or somewhere in a compound and just get up every day and serve and give of themselves,

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and then commit suicide at the end of that because the time has drawn nigh and they'll drink the Kool-Aid.

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That's where that saying comes from. They'll literally drink the Kool-Aid that kills them.

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Yet Christianity, where we have Jesus who literally actually died for us and rose again to prove that there is eternal life

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and that there is an abundant life in Christ, who literally actually paid for our sins,

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people's devotion to Christ seems to be more like this, that they stay the course until they don't.

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Now, one of the messages was for Christians because as a Christian, if you're sitting here,

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you should probably resonate with my feelings there and go like, yeah, that doesn't make any sense. It shouldn't be like that.

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But at the same time, there's a part of you, the Holy Spirit is comforting you saying, it really isn't like that.

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So how is it that that's what we see with our eyes, that's what we experience in life,

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or it seems to be so when in reality it's not actually like that?

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So today's sermon, having done so do so, speaks to that very topic.

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And not from my words per se, but from Jesus' words.

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So if you'll grab your Bibles and maybe you'll give me a little hoot holler, amen, something as we go to Matthew chapter 10.

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This is God's word. And from the moment that we begin reading it, when I read the word,

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unless I just completely read the wrong words, which would be very unlikely, then this word of God that we're about to read,

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and if I did do that, by the way, it would be your responsibility to catch it.

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So you should try to read along if you can or know the words so that you can catch it if there's a mistake.

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But I don't intend to make a mistake, but here we go. So, okay, Matthew 10, beginning of verse 24.

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Jesus is speaking, and you'll notice that everything that I'm going to read today, if you have that kind of a Bible, is in the red print.

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These are all words of Jesus as quoted by the disciple Matthew as he wrote the book of Matthew,

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which we know was written primarily to Jewish folks who were embracing Christianity or questioning Christianity.

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It was kind of a polemic at the time. He was arguing for the truth of Christ.

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And so what we read argues on the topic that we are looking at.

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It says, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

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And without going any deeper, talking about what he's pointing at there, that just makes sense, right?

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So you have somebody who is your teacher, who's in charge of you, they're your master, they own you, right?

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You're not greater than them. And even if you should become free, that would not make you greater than them, right?

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You're not greater than the teacher who teaches you what you need to know.

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Rather, you receive the teachings from the teacher and disseminate them to others.

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A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25.

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It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher and the slave as his master.

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So in other words, if this is what we want to do, is be a disciple of Jesus, speaking specifically of Jesus,

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you can be a disciple of a lot of things, right?

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But to be specifically a disciple of Jesus, if that's what you want to do,

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it's enough for you that you would become as he is and that you would be the slave of Jesus.

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That's enough, right? It won't make you wealthy, per se.

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It's not going to fix all your problems, per se, but it would be enough to become as he is,

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to receive the same results that he received.

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Now let's be real clear about the results that Jesus received as following his father.

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He did exactly what he saw his father doing. Well, Jesus was crucified.

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He was crucified for all the world, lost and un-lost.

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It doesn't matter if people were believing him or not. He was crucified for everybody.

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But not everybody accepts the crucifixion as the payment for their sins.

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But he was crucified for everybody. So it's enough.

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Let's put this in very simple terms. It would be enough for you if you should follow him until you are crucified.

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That's very plainly put.

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If you should follow him until you are whipped within an inch of your life

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and then nailed to a rugged cross to bleed out or suffocate.

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That would be enough for you.

381
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,000
That does not seem like the Christianity that most people are living.

382
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,000
Let's be completely transparent, shall we?

383
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,000
Because most people are living, yeah, I'm living for Jesus, but need a new car.

384
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,000
Yeah, I'm living for Jesus, but need my bills paid. Yeah, I'm living for Jesus, but I've got to do this, that and the other.

385
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000
And all of the this, that and the other is woven into a carpet that they'll buy.

386
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:46,000
But if the this, that and the other weren't in there and it was just the getting crucified tomorrow.

387
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,000
So in other words, if I came in and I preached the gospel today, just like I did at the inspirational moment,

388
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:55,000
and I said to you, beware, the government has already declared and they've dispatched army units

389
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,000
to crucify everyone who accepts Jesus Christ here today, tomorrow.

390
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:05,000
Tomorrow they're coming and they're going to crucify us all if they determine us to be truly followers of Jesus.

391
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,000
How many of you would accept Jesus then?

392
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,000
Because according to what Jesus said, that would be enough.

393
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:16,000
You understand that if you accept Jesus today and are crucified tomorrow as your master was crucified,

394
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,000
you go immediately to heaven for eternity.

395
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:23,000
So if you're living for the things of this lifetime and you'd be unwilling to accept Jesus under the circumstances,

396
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000
knowing with almost certainty that you'd be burnt at the stake or whipped within an inch of your life

397
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:32,000
or crucified or some combination of the three, drawn and quartered, whatever,

398
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:38,000
and therefore would not accept Jesus, then I submit to you, if under those circumstances you would not accept Jesus,

399
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:45,000
then you have not accepted Jesus under the circumstances that Jesus himself made qualification for your salvation.

400
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,000
He said you will deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow after him.

401
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:58,000
And to take up your cross is not to bear Millie's bad cooking or put up with the man in the government who wants to tax you.

402
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,000
That's not to bear your cross.

403
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:05,000
To bear your cross is to be willing to pick up that cross piece minimum when you're at your weakest, worst moment,

404
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:11,000
to be whipped within an inch of your life, and then pick up that cross piece and go out there and be nailed to the cross as he was.

405
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,000
That's what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus said so.

406
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:19,000
If you would be my disciple, then deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow after me.

407
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:23,000
That's what it means. And here he reminds us or says it very simply,

408
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:28,000
it is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher and the slave as his master.

409
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,000
Now the beauty of this is, while that did happen to Jesus,

410
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:36,000
the beauty of it is it does not have to happen to every one of us in the physical.

411
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,000
We do not have to be crucified to go to heaven because that's already been taken care of.

412
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,000
We do not have to die for our sins physically speaking because that's already been taken care of.

413
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,000
In fact, you cannot die for your sins. That's not possible because you're a sinner.

414
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:55,000
And so you cannot pay for the sin that separated you from God that will still put you in hell for eternity.

415
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,000
But Jesus could pay because he was not a sinner.

416
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:03,000
He was a man, died a sinner's death and paid the atonement for all.

417
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,000
So we don't have to be crucified. So I'm not preaching a message

418
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,000
that you have to be crucified with me tomorrow if you want to go to heaven.

419
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,000
Or that you will eventually have to be strapping on a bomb to go to heaven.

420
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,000
Or that you will eventually have to sell everything you have and put it in the coffers to go to heaven.

421
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:21,000
That's not the message. But suddenly because that's not the message,

422
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:26,000
now we think we can be greater than Jesus. And so Jesus cautioned us with no uncertainty.

423
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:31,000
It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher and the slave as his master.

424
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,000
And then he goes on to give a specific example of that.

425
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,000
He says, if they called the head of the house Beelzebub, let's be very clear.

426
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,000
If you weren't there for it, three weeks ago we very clearly ascertained who the king of the kingdom is.

427
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,000
Who the head of the house is. On Tuesday night we went through scriptures appointed to it.

428
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,000
We couldn't do them all because there's so many.

429
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,000
Jesus is the head of the house. And they called him repeatedly, said he was possessed by Beelzebub.

430
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,000
That he was doing what he was doing only by the power of Beelzebub.

431
00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:00,000
Now Beelzebub is actually the name of a false god from back a long time before that.

432
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,000
But by this point in time he had been equated with Satan himself.

433
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:12,000
And so they called Jesus Satan. They said he was being occupied by the king, the prince of the demons.

434
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,000
And that's how he was doing what he was doing.

435
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,000
And he says, if they called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household.

436
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:23,000
In other words, they're going to attribute all kinds of bad things to you as you follow me.

437
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:28,000
And that ought to be enough for you.

438
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:33,000
I'm not sure that that is the kind of Christianity that we see coming out of most Christians.

439
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,000
We're not okay with taking the hits. Right?

440
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:41,000
So when you know there's somebody that does not like Jesus, does not like God, does not want to hear it.

441
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,000
Rather than living boldly in front of them or quoting scripture or saying how blessed you are.

442
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:50,000
Just mentioning the name of Jesus. You kind of downplay it because you just don't want to deal with them today.

443
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,000
And that's what people tend to do.

444
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:57,000
But we need to realize it's enough for the disciple to become as his teacher and the slave as his master.

445
00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:00,000
And if they called him Beelzebub, then how much more us.

446
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,000
Therefore do not fear them, he says.

447
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:07,000
Even though the therefore there means God did that.

448
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:11,000
He allowed that to happen to me. If he's going to allow it to happen to me, it's enough that you be like me.

449
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,000
And therefore don't have a problem with it when it happens to you.

450
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,000
Do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.

451
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,000
In other words, Jesus is going to show it all eventually.

452
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,000
And to some extent he already has.

453
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,000
But there is more to be seen in the end.

454
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:33,000
The fulfillment of it all. The very clear exposure of it all is yet coming.

455
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:40,000
And so we should not fear when people come against us or if they would even call what we do the work of Satan.

456
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,000
Or call it hate when actually it's love.

457
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,000
Or call it evil when actually it's good.

458
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,000
Which is becoming that much more common in the world to call it evil good and good evil.

459
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,000
But it shouldn't be like that.

460
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,000
Because all things will be revealed, we can have no fear.

461
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,000
And be okay with our being like Jesus, 27.

462
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,000
What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light.

463
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:07,000
And what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

464
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,000
So when you're sitting at home and you're reading your Bible and you go, oh, see, that's cool.

465
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,000
That's right.

466
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000
Or, oh, convicted, man, I did that yesterday.

467
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:19,000
I've got to stop that, repent, turn to God.

468
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:23,000
Those things that you discover on your own in the silence of your own prayer time and your quiet time,

469
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:28,000
you're supposed to, let me read the exact phrase, proclaim upon the housetops.

470
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:34,000
Which may not be you're actually supposed to go to the top of your house and stand there later and yell loudly what you did in your devotional.

471
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,000
But you understand the symbolism.

472
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,000
What he's saying is you're supposed to declare it everywhere all the time.

473
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,000
This does not appear to be the Christianity that we are largely living on a daily basis.

474
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,000
When is the last time you were doing your devotional on a Wednesday morning?

475
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:55,000
And by Thursday bedtime, you had told everybody in your circle and everybody around what God said to you on Wednesday morning.

476
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,000
But this is exactly what Jesus told the disciples to do.

477
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,000
It's what he is clarifying.

478
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:01,000
It says a disciple is not above his teacher.

479
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,000
In other words, we are to do what it is that he has shown us to do.

480
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:06,000
We walk as he walked.

481
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,000
As God whispers in our ear, we proclaim upon the housetops.

482
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,000
Verse 28.

483
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:14,000
He says, and do not fear those who kill the body, but are able to kill the soul.

484
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:22,000
In other words, if the world should come against you, if everything should go wrong, don't worry about it.

485
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:27,000
Because even if they take you out, you shouldn't fear them.

486
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:33,000
Then he says, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

487
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:39,000
There is one being in the known universe that you should fear.

488
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,000
Man comes against you with a knife, you shouldn't fear him.

489
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,000
You might, right, because that's a natural physical human reaction.

490
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,000
Man comes against you with a gun, man breaks into your house, you shouldn't fear him.

491
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:51,000
In fact, fear is the antithesis of action.

492
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:55,000
So once you fear, there is a good likelihood you're going to make the wrong mistake.

493
00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:00,000
Most people who were shot in most aptitude shooter situations, you know what they were doing when they were shot?

494
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,000
Nothing.

495
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:08,000
Cringing in a hiding place, ducking under a desk, nothing.

496
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:13,000
They weren't praying, they weren't talking to God, they weren't running.

497
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:18,000
You know, if you at least run, there's a chance he'll miss, right?

498
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,000
They weren't fighting back, they weren't swinging, they didn't go down fighting.

499
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:30,000
They just stood there or knelt there or hid there in fear, and the shooter found them and put a bullet in them while they were doing, you got it, nothing.

500
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,000
Because fear is the antithesis of action.

501
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:42,000
And Jesus says, we ought not fear the one who can kill the soul or kill the body, but rather the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

502
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:48,000
Your life is not your own, it belongs to God, and if he wants you to lose it, let it be so.

503
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:56,000
But not just stand there and do nothing, be found doing that which it is all the while until that moment that you're supposed to be doing.

504
00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:04,000
Verse 29 says, are not two sparrows sold for a cent, and yet none of them will fall to the ground apart from your father.

505
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:10,000
So there's this tiny little coin that they had, it was a sixteenth of a denarius, and you could go to the marketplace,

506
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:15,000
you could buy two sparrows typically in a cage or a box or something for that tiny little coin.

507
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:22,000
It was like an hour's wage. If you worked for an hour, you'd get paid that tiny little coin, like minimum wage back then, sort of.

508
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:28,000
And the poor would eat sparrows because they couldn't get nothing else, and it was a meat that they could get.

509
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:38,000
And he says, aren't they sold for a cent? But none, not one of them, none of them falls to the ground apart from your father, God, and it was known.

510
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:45,000
It's biblical. They accepted, the Jewish people accepted that the sparrow was watched over by the Lord.

511
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:52,000
No sparrow dies except God specifically allows it. That's what they knew to be true.

512
00:44:52,000 --> 00:45:00,000
And he says, is that not so? Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

513
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:07,000
Do not fear, therefore, therefore do not fear, you are of more value than many sparrows.

514
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:16,000
God has you well in hand. If you're here today and you're not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's still got your life in his hand,

515
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:22,000
and he's going to do whatever the heck he wants with it. You can't change that. People don't believe in God, can't change what God's going to do.

516
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:29,000
If anybody can change what God's going to do, it's those of us who do believe in our following him and can entreat him and can have an effect on the world through prayer

517
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:33,000
and doing the miracles out of Holy Spirit and so on and so on.

518
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,000
He says, therefore, do not fear, you are of more value than many sparrows.

519
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:55,000
So I submit to you that by this point in time, as we've gone through 24 to 31, we see that it is fear largely that Jesus attributes to the inaction of disciples.

520
00:45:55,000 --> 00:46:03,000
And that's wrong. He says, do not fear. Rather do what it is that you are supposed to do.

521
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:14,000
It is enough for a slave or for a disciple to be as his teacher or his master. Do not fear.

522
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:22,000
32, everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.

523
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:32,000
So in this he builds up to the fear and then he says, because you should not fear, because it should be enough for you to be like me,

524
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:41,000
because that is true, if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father who is in heaven.

525
00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:47,000
But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

526
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:53,000
So if you say no, not a follower of Jesus, or if your actions, right, doesn't have to be words, does it?

527
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:58,000
Does it have to be words? Can you not deny something is true with your actions?

528
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:05,000
I submit to you that when people commit suicide, they deny the value of life.

529
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:09,000
When people overeat regularly, they deny the value of proper nutrition.

530
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:13,000
And even they may not ever say a word about it. They're doing it.

531
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:19,000
When a father abandons his children, he's denying his fatherly responsibilities, even though he never comes out and says,

532
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,000
well, dads aren't important, right?

533
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:31,000
So your actions deny just as much as your words. And he's saying, if you shall deny me before men, I will also deny you,

534
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:37,000
or if he shall deny me, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

535
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:38,000
Take your stand.

536
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:46,000
34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

537
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:52,000
That is probably one of the least preached and most challenging verses in all of the New Testament.

538
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:58,000
Because is he not Prince of Peace? He sure is.

539
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:02,000
Is he not the sacrificial lamb to bring peace between us and God? He sure is.

540
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:07,000
Did the angels not sing, peace on earth, goodwill to men? They sure did.

541
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:15,000
Jesus himself said, do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

542
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:19,000
And then he goes on to quote an Old Testament scripture, which is a prophecy about the Kingdom of God,

543
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:22,000
about the existence of Jesus in us. And he says in verse 35,

544
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:29,000
For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against his mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

545
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:38,000
Listen to this, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. Ouch.

546
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:45,000
Now our church has a core value of family. Brothers and sisters in Christ, all children of God,

547
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:49,000
but also husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters in the household,

548
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:55,000
and your aunts and your uncles and your cousins, and you have a responsibility to them, familial responsibilities.

549
00:48:55,000 --> 00:49:02,000
But here Jesus says that a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

550
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:09,000
And as I was pondering, sorting through how people stay the course until they don't,

551
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:15,000
I realized that a lot of times I could trace the people who did not stay the course

552
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:18,000
to the situation of relationships between them and their family.

553
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:24,000
The man who told me, I can't do this because my wife's doing that, I can't do this because my husband's doing that, she said,

554
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:28,000
my wife did this and it's a stumbling block to me and now there's that, and my dad was never good to me,

555
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,000
and so now there's that problem that I'm trying to overcome.

556
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:34,000
And it's like all of these human stumbling blocks, and Jesus said this,

557
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:41,000
here you go Christian, pay attention disciple, Jesus you're following, then understand this.

558
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:48,000
Jesus said it was true. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

559
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:53,000
I know you want your wife, your mother, your brother, your sister, your son, your cousin, your nephew, your uncle.

560
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:57,000
You want them all to come to Christ and we all want to be together, we all want to be united,

561
00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:01,000
and we all want to stay the course, and we're going to stay the course until the very end.

562
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,000
What we have done, we're going to do.

563
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:08,000
Except you can't control what they have done, they're going to do.

564
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:12,000
You can only control what you have done, you're going to do.

565
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:17,000
And you said you would be a follower of Jesus, and you can guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt

566
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:21,000
that in the church and in your family connections, your blood,

567
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:25,000
there will be those who bring stumbling blocks, there will be those who will stand in the way,

568
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:32,000
those who will literally draw the sword against you and your faith.

569
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:38,000
I have seen it time and again.

570
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:41,000
He goes on to make it very abundantly clear as he says this,

571
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:46,000
he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,

572
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:51,000
and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

573
00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:57,000
If you have put your family before God according to Jesus in any way, shape, or form,

574
00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:00,000
you are not worthy of Jesus.

575
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:04,000
I didn't say it, Jesus said it.

576
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:08,000
And so now from the beginning of this in 24 through now,

577
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:13,000
we've seen that it almost looks like the odds are against us.

578
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:19,000
It's almost impossible for us to stay the course because who is our greatest support network?

579
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:23,000
Who is the people who will lift us up and allow us to follow Jesus?

580
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:27,000
Is it my family? It's not. It's not your family.

581
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:32,000
They are your enemies, Jesus says.

582
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:35,000
Now I'm not saying they're your enemies like you should punch them in the face.

583
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:38,000
I'm not saying they're your enemies like you should steal their money.

584
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,000
I'm not saying they're enemies like you should not loan them your car.

585
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,000
I'm not saying they're your enemies like you should not love them.

586
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:48,000
In fact, Jesus says love your enemies, and he was talking about your enemy enemies that you don't even know.

587
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:57,000
So I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about undercutting or subverting your ability to stay the course as was Jesus.

588
00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:04,000
Jesus says love me more than your family.

589
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,000
And a man must stand with God when no one will stand with him.

590
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:13,000
And a woman must stand with God when no one will stand with her.

591
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:23,000
And a child must stand with God when no one will stand with him or her.

592
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:31,000
38. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

593
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:39,000
He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.

594
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:42,000
Jesus is giving us a simple reversal.

595
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:49,000
We think if we can scrap it all together, we can figure it all out, we find the pattern, the recipe, do the right things, everything will be good.

596
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:55,000
And if that would happen, I submit to you, Jesus has just told you, you will lose your life.

597
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:58,000
That is not the way it's done.

598
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:06,000
He began by saying, it is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher and the slave as his master.

599
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:14,000
You start by figuring out, by realizing that it is enough and you put your life in the hands of Jesus to do with as he pleases.

600
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:21,000
It happens that time passes and things go well. People get jobs, promotions, rewards, raises.

601
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:24,000
If you're tithing, you've seen a blessing in your finances.

602
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:28,000
If you're serving, you've seen Jesus protect your strength, your energy, your ability, your creativity.

603
00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:36,000
If you're practicing your spiritual gift, you've seen Jesus give you that pat on the back and a more explosive impact of his Holy Spirit presence.

604
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:42,000
If you're submitting to conviction and repentance, then you realize that you're growing as a Christian, a renewing of your mind.

605
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:45,000
And you're advancing and reaching new heights in Jesus a little bit more.

606
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:49,000
And so all these things begin to happen. Good things are happening.

607
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:54,000
And we start thinking, I've found my life. I've found my life living for Jesus and it's all good.

608
00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:59,000
I'll be in church every Sunday. I'll be dressed nice. I'll be working the plan. I'll be paying the bills.

609
00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:01,000
I've just got it. It's all come together.

610
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:11,000
And beware, if Jesus says, if you find your life, if that's good enough for you, you will lose it.

611
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:14,000
Because it isn't.

612
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:22,000
Being a disciple of Jesus is what's at stake and nothing is better than that.

613
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:26,000
That concludes our text for the day.

614
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:30,000
And I'm going to try to break down a few of these points that really were convicting to me.

615
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:34,000
You may find other things because there's a lot in there, but these are the things that really the Lord led me to.

616
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,000
So here we go.

617
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:43,000
The first thing that Jesus was saying to his disciples, and it is in being a disciple, is deliver the messages.

618
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:46,000
Deliver the truth.

619
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:49,000
The softest is made out to be the loudest.

620
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:53,000
If God says something to you, then you shout it from the rooftops.

621
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:56,000
That's what he said. Deliver the message.

622
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:59,000
And then repeat.

623
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:05,000
And if at the moment you have no message from God, then get one.

624
00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:09,000
Get in the Word. Pray. Meditate. Ask God, what do you mean by this?

625
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:13,000
When the pastor said that, what did you mean, God?

626
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:20,000
Right now you should be getting filled up with his Word, with conviction over your choices and your future choices.

627
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:25,000
And you can take that message, whatever it looks like for you, it's translated into everybody's existence.

628
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:30,000
Because it will sound different to you in a different language, using different verbiage, using different adjectives,

629
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:33,000
using different levels of excitement, using different levels of conviction.

630
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:38,000
Whatever, you're going to take that message and you're going to repeat it to everyone you possibly can.

631
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,000
Whether you like it or not, doesn't matter.

632
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:43,000
That's what Jesus said. That's what it means to be a disciple.

633
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:47,000
You learn from Jesus and you teach what you've learned from Jesus to anyone and everyone.

634
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:55,000
I did not say anyone or everyone that will listen. I did not say anyone or everyone that likes it, but anyone and everyone.

635
00:55:55,000 --> 00:56:01,000
To that end, I have been convicted to start preparing essentially excerpts when I study the Bible, when I read, things like that.

636
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:06,000
Little snippets. You can text 155 characters, something that you then can take and display,

637
00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:11,000
that you can use. Tony Tate likes to put them on t-shirts. I like to put them on t-shirts.

638
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:13,000
You can take it from there and you can put it out to everybody.

639
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:16,000
You can't make a t-shirt fast enough to put out what God just told you,

640
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:21,000
but you can then use that thing that God just told you over and over and over again.

641
00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:23,000
You memorize a verse and you use that verse.

642
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:28,000
Memorize it by Wednesday and use it through Sunday, then take the sermon through Wednesday,

643
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:31,000
and then take another verse on Wednesday. Just get something.

644
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:35,000
God's got something for you to say if you ain't saying nothing.

645
00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:38,000
Then you ain't following Jesus.

646
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,000
So I've been convicted myself to start preparing excerpts.

647
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:43,000
Excerpts from the sermon, excerpts from the lesson, excerpts from my own devotional time,

648
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:45,000
and putting those things out there. What did Jesus say?

649
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:49,000
Whatever I have given you, shout it from the rooftops.

650
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:52,000
In fact, He's saying, haven't done so, do so.

651
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:56,000
If you're here today and you're a Christian, you heard enough of that message that I shared earlier today

652
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:59,000
at some point in time in your life, and it may have come to you differently.

653
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:03,000
It may have come in different phrases, different words, because whoever delivers it to you delivered it their way,

654
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:05,000
whatever, and it doesn't matter.

655
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,000
But the bottom line is you turned your life over to the Lord.

656
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:11,000
And if you turned your life over to the Lord and you let Jesus be leader, you did so.

657
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:16,000
You accepted the facts at that time. You believed and grace poured in.

658
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:22,000
You were saved. And from that moment on, do so. Do likewise.

659
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:25,000
Go and share the message. And if you've got no other message,

660
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:28,000
you ought to have the message that you received when you got saved.

661
00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:31,000
For me, when I got saved, it was, I don't know what this is going to mean exactly,

662
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:34,000
but the one thing I know for sure is it's going to change everything.

663
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:37,000
That was the message. And it's in my book Think Again.

664
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:39,000
And so it's been all over the world and back again.

665
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:46,000
And I have shared that same gospel at a lot of opportunities, but not near enough.

666
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:52,000
I stand before you today a man repentant, because we should be shouting the truths that we know about God

667
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:57,000
to everyone anytime. I don't mean walking to a tea shop or just sitting there teetotaling, whatever,

668
00:57:57,000 --> 00:58:00,000
and it's all real quiet and going, hey everybody, let me tell you about Jesus.

669
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:05,000
And you're disrupting the peace, messing with, and the police come and throw you in jail.

670
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:09,000
Like if you've got to do it that way, then there's a problem.

671
00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:11,000
But you could go up there and say, hey, can I talk to you about Jesus?

672
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:14,000
Can I talk to you about Jesus? Can I talk to you about Jesus?

673
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:17,000
I've messed this up more times than I've got it right.

674
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:23,000
The bottom line is Jesus said, deliver the messages.

675
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:26,000
And in the delivering of the message, which will be a lifelong pursuit,

676
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:31,000
he said, fear not. Do not fear.

677
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:42,000
Hear this. God only, God alone, has the authority to do something that could possibly make you afraid.

678
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:47,000
You hear me? God alone has the authority to end your life.

679
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:50,000
God alone has the authority to cause you true physical harm.

680
00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:54,000
God alone has the authority to mess up your soul or to put you in hell for eternity.

681
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:57,000
God alone. Satan may come, right?

682
00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:00,000
But if God says no, he can't touch you.

683
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:03,000
Demons may come. People inhabited with demons may come.

684
00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:08,000
But if you tell them to stop in the name of the Lord and God backs up what you say,

685
00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:12,000
and if you're walking in the Lord, he will, they can't touch you.

686
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:14,000
If you're doing what it is that God would have you to do,

687
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:18,000
being what it is that God would have you to be, delivering the message that God would have you to give,

688
00:59:18,000 --> 00:59:26,000
he literally said every hair on your head is numbered.

689
00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:35,000
Fear not. God only, he alone has the authority to do something that could make a disciple fear ramifications.

690
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:40,000
In the 80s, there was a song that came out that said, can't touch this.

691
00:59:40,000 --> 00:59:43,000
Except it wasn't about that at all. It wasn't a Christian song.

692
00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:47,000
He was saying, nobody can be as big and as bad and as good as me.

693
00:59:47,000 --> 00:59:57,000
Well, listen to me. As a follower of Jesus, nobody can be as big or as good or as powerful as you.

694
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:00,000
Now, you're limited in the pathways of your life. You're not president of the United States.

695
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:02,000
You're not the governor. You're not a police officer.

696
01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:05,000
Most of us, I don't think there's no police officers here. So you're not a police officer, right?

697
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:09,000
You're limited by your resources, what God pours into you.

698
01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:14,000
That's the prayer of Jabez. Lord, expand my tent so that I may expand your influence.

699
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:18,000
And it took this by storm back in the late 90s or whatever.

700
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:21,000
People started praying it, telling stories about how God was doing it.

701
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:26,000
You realize that if you're living for the Lord and you're putting all the resources on the table that God has given you,

702
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:31,000
there's no reason for God not to magnify those resources unless it's that magnifying those resources

703
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:35,000
or multiplying them will result in a stumbling block for you that actually draws you further away from him.

704
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:41,000
And don't think that doesn't happen because it does.

705
01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:46,000
You could literally say to demons and evil spirits, can't touch this.

706
01:00:46,000 --> 01:00:51,000
According to Isaiah, the highway of holiness, they're not allowed on the highway of holiness.

707
01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:59,000
So you walk in the highway of holiness delivering the messages of God, loudly or at least clearly presented often,

708
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:03,000
then you have no fear because they can't touch you.

709
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:08,000
A more modern day rapper sung the song, Can't Stop Me. Great song.

710
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:12,000
Perhaps not about that. Guess what it's about?

711
01:01:12,000 --> 01:01:17,000
It's about the one person, other than God of course, the one person that could actually possibly stop you

712
01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:20,000
from doing what it is that you're supposed to do for God.

713
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:24,000
And by the end of the song you find out that that one person is, who knows the song?

714
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:29,000
It's yourself. And at the end of the song he's fighting with himself.

715
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:34,000
So who's stopping you? Who's stopping you from fearing not and delivering the messages?

716
01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:40,000
Jesus says only you. If anybody, only you.

717
01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:47,000
Turbulent Skies, the song by Lauren Daigle that I like a lot.

718
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:50,000
That's my phone moving out. There we go. Hopefully they won't call back.

719
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:55,000
Here, just in case they call back. Keep it silent, if you would.

720
01:01:55,000 --> 01:02:02,000
Okay. This song is by Lauren Daigle and she basically says, okay, we're going into Turbulent Skies.

721
01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:09,000
Things are going to get rough. And she says, but it's okay as long as I'm with you.

722
01:02:09,000 --> 01:02:14,000
And that is about what we're talking about. Listen, having done so, do so.

723
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:22,000
When I was entreated to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, in that moment, now I've been in two knife bites.

724
01:02:22,000 --> 01:02:26,000
I've been stabbed once and I had a broken rib once from a fist bite.

725
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:29,000
I've been thrown from high heights and fallen on my own from high heights.

726
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:35,000
I've crashed my bike, crashed my motorcycle, been in half a dozen car accidents, whatever.

727
01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:39,000
And none of that fear, some of which was before I was a Christian, some of which was after,

728
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:44,000
equated with the fear of me having to walk forward to the front of the room and stand in front of that room and say,

729
01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:49,000
I am now living for Jesus. And from this day forward, I will live for Jesus.

730
01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:54,000
None of those other incidents, there have been since then, I've had people shouting in my faces, threatening violence,

731
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:59,000
slamming their fists on the table, getting up in my nose, you can smell their breath.

732
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:05,000
I've had all of those things happen. And nothing after that, the funny thing is I kind of don't feel fear.

733
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:10,000
I just make stupid decisions like, well, I'm not going to bother or, oh, it's too much work or like that.

734
01:03:10,000 --> 01:03:18,000
But none of those circumstances was as scary as me having to say, I'm living for Jesus.

735
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:23,000
And yet I did. So now having done so, I should do so.

736
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:28,000
Do you remember a little fear, giving your life over to the Lord?

737
01:03:28,000 --> 01:03:32,000
If not, you might want to think about the fact that it's entirely possible you could be crucified tomorrow,

738
01:03:32,000 --> 01:03:40,000
or that somebody could put a bullet in your head, or that your very family might undercut your faith

739
01:03:40,000 --> 01:03:46,000
and become an enemy to you. Not that you will treat them like an enemy, but they will make it difficult for you to follow the Lord.

740
01:03:46,000 --> 01:03:52,000
Those are painful experiences that we're setting ourselves up for, folks, or rather that God is saying are sufficient for us.

741
01:03:52,000 --> 01:03:59,000
And so if you didn't fear giving your life over to the Lord, then you didn't fully understand what you were signing up for.

742
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:03,000
And I can understand that maybe having done so, you might sometimes stop doing so.

743
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:08,000
But if you did understand it in the moment that you gave your life to the Lord, then having done so, do so.

744
01:04:08,000 --> 01:04:16,000
Boldly profess, do not deny Christ under the coming duress. That's exactly what Jesus was calling us to.

745
01:04:16,000 --> 01:04:25,000
I submit to you that if you have never in your life been truly persecuted for talking about Jesus, living for Jesus, or whatever, it's coming.

746
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:32,000
If they will call Him Beelzebub, if they will crucify Him, if they would hate Him, if they would chase Him down and try to kill Him,

747
01:04:32,000 --> 01:04:39,000
but they couldn't yet because it wasn't His time yet, then they will do the same for you if you boldly live for Christ to the end of your days.

748
01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:42,000
At some point in time, you're going to face significant persecution.

749
01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:48,000
And if you're going to run from it then, why are you bothering to follow Him now?

750
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:55,000
Because you're just making this story up, that you're actually a disciple of Jesus. You're just pretending. You're not actually a disciple.

751
01:04:55,000 --> 01:05:01,000
Is it because you're still trying to align all the things in your life and get them to all work out so you can get a grasp on everything?

752
01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:06,000
Because this is more fun than that. It's more fun to do this. It provides more. God takes care of His own.

753
01:05:06,000 --> 01:05:09,000
I think it's all going to work out. I'm hurting now. I need some comfort.

754
01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:14,000
It's all about that. What? You're putting together all these puzzle pieces to get a picture of what you want?

755
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:19,000
Because if you manage to put all the puzzle pieces together to get a picture of what you want, you know what will happen?

756
01:05:19,000 --> 01:05:25,000
You will have lost your life. Not my words, Jesus' words.

757
01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:29,000
Is that what you're looking for? Because that is not what Jesus is offering.

758
01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:34,000
Jesus is offering nothing less than for you to be a son or a daughter of God.

759
01:05:34,000 --> 01:05:44,000
He is offering nothing less than translating your residency into an eternal kingdom which will last forever, may result in suffering today.

760
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:49,000
In fact, I'm going to say to you, surely will result in suffering today in some way, shape, or form.

761
01:05:49,000 --> 01:05:54,000
You will have to discipline yourself. Self-discipline is called for in Scripture.

762
01:05:54,000 --> 01:06:00,000
And self-discipline is the highest form of self-love, despite the fact that everybody wants to think otherwise.

763
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:08,000
Not taking for yourself what you want when you know it's not good for you is the highest form of self-love there is.

764
01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:15,000
You will have to discipline others in your life the same way. And loving them requires that.

765
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:20,000
Now, I'm not talking about you can punish them. I'm not talking about you can scold them with your voice, be all nasty, or cuss them out, or anything like that.

766
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:27,000
Godly discipline, godly love. And discipline is the highest and most sincerest form of love.

767
01:06:27,000 --> 01:06:35,000
Jesus was asking that we not deny Christ under the coming duress, whatever the form of that duress might be.

768
01:06:35,000 --> 01:06:41,000
Having done so, at the moment you accepted Jesus Christ, he now says, do so.

769
01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:46,000
We'd be forewarned of our enemies. We will have enemies, that was clear.

770
01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:50,000
Not only that, but some of our most prominent enemies will be in our own family.

771
01:06:50,000 --> 01:06:59,000
Christians who say that they're living for the Lord, but they're okay with, insert X, they're okay with tons of times invested in things that are ungodly.

772
01:06:59,000 --> 01:07:03,000
They're okay with watching the ungodly and not focusing on the pure.

773
01:07:03,000 --> 01:07:09,000
They're okay with foul language, okay with pronouncing curses, talking about how stupid they are, how stupid somebody else in the family is.

774
01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:13,000
Those are curses. Anything like that. They're okay with that kind of thing.

775
01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:21,000
Those people are literally living the opposite of what Jesus said our faith is.

776
01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:27,000
So now you need to ask yourself right away, if you are one of those, then you need to repent, turn to the Lord, and do it his way.

777
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:33,000
And if you are not one of those, then this you can expect, that in your family, in your closest circle, you will find them.

778
01:07:33,000 --> 01:07:39,000
Doesn't mean you get to dismiss them, right? You still have a familiar responsibility, a responsibility to the Lord.

779
01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:46,000
And while they're professing the gospel, if you will, of Satan, you can be professing the gospel of Christ.

780
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:51,000
So they talk about shows they've watched, things they've seen, things they've done. They talk to you in a negative way. They pronounce curses.

781
01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:57,000
And you say, praise the Lord, hallelujah, Jesus Christ is here. He owns me. He owns this house.

782
01:07:57,000 --> 01:08:02,000
I pronounce the name of Jesus over our family. And we're not going to do this.

783
01:08:02,000 --> 01:08:07,000
And you say, but, and they say, but I hate you. Why are you like this? That's not what Christ is like.

784
01:08:07,000 --> 01:08:16,000
It could be coming. And you say, but I love you. I hate you because you don't like what I do.

785
01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:20,000
You're mean to me. Or you don't accept it. Or whatever. You say, but I love you.

786
01:08:20,000 --> 01:08:24,000
How could I let you go on and keep doing these things if I have any control over it when I know they're not good for you?

787
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:29,000
Because discipline is the highest form of love.

788
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:39,000
In one's own family, danger that is closer to home than we would ever like it to be, Jesus forewarned us of enemies.

789
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:56,000
These enemies may not come with guns or baseball bats. They may come with tools like temptation, reluctance, scoffing, polite asking, passive resistance.

790
01:08:56,000 --> 01:09:01,000
Saying, oh yeah, I'll do it. But today I'm sick. Oh yeah, I'll do it. But today I'm tired. Oh yeah, I'll do it. But I can't right now.

791
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:07,000
Oh, I'll get around to that. Oh yes, we definitely should read our Bibles more. And every time you mention we're going to read our Bibles together.

792
01:09:07,000 --> 01:09:11,000
Like, yeah, we should do that. Yeah, we should do that. But then a week later, it hasn't been done. Why?

793
01:09:11,000 --> 01:09:14,000
Because you're the only one pushing it in the relationship.

794
01:09:14,000 --> 01:09:21,000
Except now, a Jesus let a week go by and you didn't push it at all. Why? Because their reluctance, their passive resistance led you to stumble.

795
01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:31,000
If you meant what you said, and if you didn't really mean it, then you're the one possibly bringing in these tools and you need to repent and turn unto the Lord.

796
01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:36,000
Passive resistance is maybe like the worst.

797
01:09:36,000 --> 01:09:56,000
But there is an open opportunity, a truth that the Bible makes very clear to us where people we love, people who profess the name of God, will literally come to us and ask us to make a priority out of things that God says cannot be.

798
01:09:56,000 --> 01:10:25,000
And Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 6 I'm reading from, it's short, so I'll just read it real quick. It says, If your brother, your mother's son, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.

799
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:33,000
Your family members may come to you and they may say, Well, let's make this that important.

800
01:10:33,000 --> 01:10:39,000
Whatever it could be, there are a lot of other gods, right? Sports, entertainment, money, sex, drugs.

801
01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:44,000
Let's make that that important in our lives, that it takes the place of God in some small way.

802
01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:50,000
But we won't let it be as important as God, but it'll just be like another, right? It'll just be like another one.

803
01:10:50,000 --> 01:10:58,000
And you say no. You say only God. And you see how they respond. Why are you being like that?

804
01:10:58,000 --> 01:11:03,000
Why are you being so harsh? Why are you saying we can't watch or partake of this thing?

805
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:09,000
Everybody in the world does it. All kinds of Christians. If Christians all boycotted the rated-hour movies that are coming out this week,

806
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:15,000
the movie industry would sink. It would go under. But they're not boycotting the rated-hour movies.

807
01:11:15,000 --> 01:11:20,000
They're not boycotting the companies that are pushing anti-biblical teachings on our children.

808
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:24,000
They're not doing that. It's perfectly fine. We still give them money. We still keep them in our homes.

809
01:11:24,000 --> 01:11:28,000
We still watch. We still got their books on our shelves. Whatever. It's perfectly fine that we don't do that.

810
01:11:28,000 --> 01:11:34,000
Because if you do that, somebody's going to get upset. Your enemies are going to get upset.

811
01:11:34,000 --> 01:11:38,000
And they may be your wife, your kids, your brother, your sister, whatever.

812
01:11:38,000 --> 01:11:43,000
And God says, Don't pity them. Call them out for what they are doing.

813
01:11:43,000 --> 01:11:51,000
The truth is, and we're coming to the conclusion now, but it's a doozy, we are still ordinary men and women.

814
01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:57,000
We're still alive, still living on the earth, still walking the ground, still eating the food.

815
01:11:57,000 --> 01:12:04,000
Now what ground you walk on and what food you eat, that's within your realm to choose. You get to choose your free will.

816
01:12:04,000 --> 01:12:11,000
What you take part of, what you focus on, it says focus on the pure, what you focus on, that's within your ability to choose.

817
01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:17,000
That's focus, I says, free will to choose. And it even says, Scripture says all things are permissible, but not all things are profitable.

818
01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:23,000
And Paul meant for you to choose all things that are profitable and not choose things that are just permissible. Right?

819
01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:29,000
That was the context of those verses. But people always say, well, it's all permissible now. I'm fine. I'll be, everything will be fine.

820
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:35,000
James wrote it this way in the book of James.

821
01:12:35,000 --> 01:12:43,000
And it's in chapter five, verse 16 to 18. He said this.

822
01:12:43,000 --> 01:12:47,000
Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so you may be healed.

823
01:12:47,000 --> 01:12:54,000
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

824
01:12:54,000 --> 01:13:02,000
And we'll go on, 17. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Anybody want to be Elijah? Wouldn't it be cool?

825
01:13:02,000 --> 01:13:08,000
God, America's in sin. This is what's wrong. We need a three year drought.

826
01:13:08,000 --> 01:13:12,000
God says, okay, no rain for three and a half years or until they repent.

827
01:13:12,000 --> 01:13:17,000
And then you get on TV and you say, I personally have prayed for no rain in America.

828
01:13:17,000 --> 01:13:22,000
And for the first few months, everybody just laugh at you, mock you, probably kill you. They probably wouldn't even survive it, most likely.

829
01:13:22,000 --> 01:13:29,000
Right? Six months later, we go, maybe that guy was serious. We haven't had rain in six months in the entire country. Wouldn't that be cool?

830
01:13:29,000 --> 01:13:34,000
And then like a year later, we like, there's no rain. It's been a year. It's not rain for a year.

831
01:13:34,000 --> 01:13:39,000
And then like three years later, they'd be like, where is that guy? We need to get him to pray and ask God to make it rain.

832
01:13:39,000 --> 01:13:45,000
Wouldn't it be cool to be Elijah? Well, this is what James wrote. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

833
01:13:45,000 --> 01:13:50,000
And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

834
01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:54,000
And he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

835
01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:58,000
Now, I'm not saying God's going to do the miracle of no rain. That's up to him. If he wants to do something like that in our day.

836
01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:02,000
What I am saying this is that he was very clear that you and I and Elijah are no different.

837
01:14:02,000 --> 01:14:07,000
We are people, still people, still walking the earth, still making our choices.

838
01:14:07,000 --> 01:14:13,000
And God wants to work through us. Now, God does not need to work through us.

839
01:14:13,000 --> 01:14:19,000
God does not need to work through you and he does not need to work through me. His arm is not short.

840
01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:26,000
If there were no professing Christians on the earth, he could pick somebody. They'd figure it out. They profess God.

841
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:31,000
They say, okay, God, whatever way you make. And then he'd lead them to a Bible and they'd figure out it was Jesus.

842
01:14:31,000 --> 01:14:35,000
And then there would be Christians on the earth again. So we screw it up so bad that everybody's gone.

843
01:14:35,000 --> 01:14:39,000
He could still do it. His arm is not short that he cannot save. He can save under any circumstances.

844
01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:45,000
There are stories of people who received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, who had never heard the name Jesus,

845
01:14:45,000 --> 01:14:50,000
who had never heard anything but rumors about the Christian God.

846
01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:55,000
And yet they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and they're saved and preached the gospel.

847
01:14:55,000 --> 01:14:59,000
And I submit to you, probably will preach the gospel until the end.

848
01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:05,000
God does not desire like humans desire. I mean, seriously, do I need you to bring me food?

849
01:15:05,000 --> 01:15:10,000
Am I looking for sacrifices from you, like the false gods all supposedly are?

850
01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:15,000
No. Do I need you to pay me to do what I do? No, God doesn't need that.

851
01:15:15,000 --> 01:15:20,000
God does not desire like humans desire. But it's right this way.

852
01:15:20,000 --> 01:15:25,000
It's right that mankind would come into a relationship with God, that his relationship with God would be right,

853
01:15:25,000 --> 01:15:31,000
that man would become a disciple of God, that he would learn from God and deliver that message to everybody in his circle,

854
01:15:31,000 --> 01:15:35,000
that man, yes, even would be undercut by the enemies that come into his life, sometimes out of his own family,

855
01:15:35,000 --> 01:15:38,000
often out of his own family. And the word did not say often, by the way.

856
01:15:38,000 --> 01:15:42,000
The word said that enemies will arise out of your own family.

857
01:15:42,000 --> 01:15:46,000
Adam and Eve make a great illustration that it's right.

858
01:15:46,000 --> 01:15:50,000
Do you understand that before Adam and Eve sending its God, before they went after knowledge tree,

859
01:15:50,000 --> 01:15:56,000
by the way, what did this serpent say to them that made them want to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

860
01:15:56,000 --> 01:16:00,000
There's one kind of primary argument. Is that what it was?

861
01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:04,000
Yeah, I said God was lying, but that's not that wouldn't be enough by itself.

862
01:16:04,000 --> 01:16:10,000
They questioned that they would be like God. That's it.

863
01:16:10,000 --> 01:16:14,000
Right. See, God knows that in the day that you eat it, you will be like him.

864
01:16:14,000 --> 01:16:20,000
Here's what's the ironic, powerful point that you need to discover in the story of Adam and Eve.

865
01:16:20,000 --> 01:16:23,000
They were like God. Do you understand that?

866
01:16:23,000 --> 01:16:27,000
Before they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which they were told would make them like God,

867
01:16:27,000 --> 01:16:30,000
they were already like God. They were created to be in his image.

868
01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:34,000
They were created to represent him over the whole earth. They were given the gift of service.

869
01:16:34,000 --> 01:16:39,000
And by the way, the greatest amongst you should be your servant because God himself is a servant.

870
01:16:39,000 --> 01:16:42,000
He chooses to be a servant. They were given innocence.

871
01:16:42,000 --> 01:16:46,000
They never had sin. Only God never had sin. They never had sin to that point.

872
01:16:46,000 --> 01:16:50,000
They did not have a sin nature. They were made in the image of God.

873
01:16:50,000 --> 01:16:56,000
They had a right relationship with God as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, as he has with himself.

874
01:16:56,000 --> 01:17:00,000
They had a right relationship with God. They were created to be like God.

875
01:17:00,000 --> 01:17:04,000
And the serpent made them think that they were not like God in some small way.

876
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:08,000
And they went after that little bit to be like God. But they were given the ability to create.

877
01:17:08,000 --> 01:17:12,000
They were going to procreate to fill the entire planet and master it, right?

878
01:17:12,000 --> 01:17:18,000
And they were given free will. And they took those things and they went after one teaching that said,

879
01:17:18,000 --> 01:17:21,000
you can be like God. You can be in control. You can have this.

880
01:17:21,000 --> 01:17:30,000
And they went after that and they gave up being like God in order to have the one thing they thought they couldn't have.

881
01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:36,000
Which ironically was being like God.

882
01:17:36,000 --> 01:17:44,000
1 Corinthians 5 verse 9 to 13 says, I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people.

883
01:17:44,000 --> 01:17:49,000
I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world or with the covetous and swindlers or with idolaters.

884
01:17:49,000 --> 01:17:51,000
For then you would have to go out of the world.

885
01:17:51,000 --> 01:18:01,000
But actually I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or a swindler.

886
01:18:01,000 --> 01:18:05,000
Not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders?

887
01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:07,000
Do you not judge those who are within the church?

888
01:18:07,000 --> 01:18:15,000
But those who are outside, God judges, remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

889
01:18:15,000 --> 01:18:20,000
There is a certain kind of person that we're supposed to be in following Jesus Christ.

890
01:18:20,000 --> 01:18:24,000
And if you claim to be following Jesus Christ and you are not that kind of person,

891
01:18:24,000 --> 01:18:29,000
you need to repent and turn to God and do everything in your power to be that kind of person.

892
01:18:29,000 --> 01:18:33,000
And when you have family members or when you have friends or you have business associates

893
01:18:33,000 --> 01:18:37,000
and they claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and yet they are not that kind of person,

894
01:18:37,000 --> 01:18:42,000
you can actually say to them, okay, at this point in time what you say Jesus is,

895
01:18:42,000 --> 01:18:46,000
that he says it's okay for you to live like that, be like that, do those things,

896
01:18:46,000 --> 01:18:50,000
and he says it's okay, you've just become an enemy to me, you're just a stumbling block to me,

897
01:18:50,000 --> 01:18:54,000
you're just trying to pull me away from the Jesus that I know, so now I'm done.

898
01:18:54,000 --> 01:19:02,000
Leave me alone. I don't want to hear that it's okay that I can be a follower of Jesus and also be homosexual because that's a flat out lie.

899
01:19:02,000 --> 01:19:06,000
You cannot practice a homosexual relationship as a devout follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

900
01:19:06,000 --> 01:19:10,000
So somebody wants to teach me that, that I can say to them, you go and live your version of Jesus,

901
01:19:10,000 --> 01:19:17,000
I'll live my version of Jesus into eternity and I'm sad I won't see you pass the throne of judgment.

902
01:19:17,000 --> 01:19:22,000
Let's be realistic. Discipline and truth and living what we know to be true,

903
01:19:22,000 --> 01:19:28,000
these are examples of the love that Jesus shared in his lifetime and we are to walk as he walked.

904
01:19:28,000 --> 01:19:33,000
If you love people, you stand up for what you know is right and yes, it's going to equate to a fight.

905
01:19:33,000 --> 01:19:37,000
You cannot control them, you should not browbeat them, you don't flourish them,

906
01:19:37,000 --> 01:19:42,000
but you diligently present before them what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

907
01:19:42,000 --> 01:19:48,000
And this is why those who have done do not do, because we don't want to do what I just said we must do.

908
01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:55,000
And because they don't want to do what Jesus said they must do.

909
01:19:55,000 --> 01:20:00,000
1 John 3, 9-10 says this, no one who is born of God practices sins,

910
01:20:00,000 --> 01:20:05,000
that means continuing on in sin and getting good at it, because his seed abides in him, God's seed.

911
01:20:05,000 --> 01:20:11,000
And he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious.

912
01:20:11,000 --> 01:20:17,000
Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

913
01:20:17,000 --> 01:20:21,000
So if you're dealing with somebody who says they're a Christian and they're not practicing righteousness,

914
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:26,000
if they say they're a Christian and they do not love his brother and they're full of hate or venom or spit or whatever,

915
01:20:26,000 --> 01:20:30,000
then you need to understand that person is not who they say they are.

916
01:20:30,000 --> 01:20:34,000
And you do not have to give them access to your life.

917
01:20:34,000 --> 01:20:41,000
Could be your wife, could be your son, could be your brother or your husband.

918
01:20:41,000 --> 01:20:47,000
And you do not have to give access to your life which is now hidden in God.

919
01:20:47,000 --> 01:20:55,000
The games are many and Jesus and John and Paul have said it very clearly that we are to be a certain kind of people as we follow Jesus.

920
01:20:55,000 --> 01:20:59,000
And in not being that we understand that we are denying Jesus.

921
01:20:59,000 --> 01:21:06,000
And if you deny Jesus, what did it say? He'll deny you before his father.

922
01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:14,000
John 15, 21 says this, but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know the one who has sent me.

923
01:21:14,000 --> 01:21:17,000
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sinned.

924
01:21:17,000 --> 01:21:21,000
But now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my father also.

925
01:21:21,000 --> 01:21:26,000
If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sinned.

926
01:21:26,000 --> 01:21:29,000
But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well.

927
01:21:29,000 --> 01:21:33,000
But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in the law.

928
01:21:33,000 --> 01:21:41,000
They hated me without cause.

929
01:21:41,000 --> 01:21:44,000
Having done, do so.

930
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:54,000
Jesus was just simply saying that you need to take that moment at which you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ and stretch it over the whole rest of your life.

931
01:21:54,000 --> 01:21:56,000
That's all he was saying.

932
01:21:56,000 --> 01:21:59,000
And in our power, I get that that's impossible.

933
01:21:59,000 --> 01:22:04,000
We're going to face temptations that I get in our own strength would be impossible to overcome.

934
01:22:04,000 --> 01:22:14,000
But frankly, I'm tired, exhausted even, of listening to people professing Christ who do not stay the course in the long run.

935
01:22:14,000 --> 01:22:19,000
And so it requires an unadulterated gospel.

936
01:22:19,000 --> 01:22:25,000
What we hear in private we must deliver publicly and openly to anyone, to anyone.

937
01:22:25,000 --> 01:22:28,000
Not to anyone who will listen, but to anyone.

938
01:22:28,000 --> 01:22:35,000
I submit to you that if you bring the true gospel and explain to somebody they have to repent and follow the Lord and the Lord alone,

939
01:22:35,000 --> 01:22:41,000
and that tearing with all these things in the world and trying to get their life under control and fix all the problems and make it just the way they want it,

940
01:22:41,000 --> 01:22:50,000
that that's not Christianity at all, pretty soon it'll be pretty obvious who your enemies are.

941
01:22:50,000 --> 01:22:59,000
There was a man that I was witnessing to this last week. In fact, he was in the Fatherhood Watchmen group.

942
01:22:59,000 --> 01:23:09,000
I sent out a men's text and he came back at me pretty upset because my encouraging text to him was an assault on him.

943
01:23:09,000 --> 01:23:12,000
I was accusing him, which I didn't see anything in there that was like that.

944
01:23:12,000 --> 01:23:18,000
Just to be 100% sure, I sent out a follow-up text in the same group of people just to make 100% sure and explain.

945
01:23:18,000 --> 01:23:25,000
Also at the same time, re-hammered home, this is what it says, this is what it means, this is who we are supposed to be in Christ, and so on.

946
01:23:25,000 --> 01:23:33,000
A few days later, that person who professed to be a brother in Christ texted me, really nasty text, really mean, I don't say nasty, but mean, strong language,

947
01:23:33,000 --> 01:23:37,000
and said, I don't want to ever hear from you again, don't talk to me ever again, don't send me anything ever again,

948
01:23:37,000 --> 01:23:41,000
which he'd already unsubscribed from that group and he was very aggressive toward me.

949
01:23:41,000 --> 01:23:47,000
I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is this all about? I said, we've always been kind to you, I've always shown you love,

950
01:23:47,000 --> 01:23:51,000
but I'm going to preach the Word the way it's written, I don't know what it is, so are you trying to find fault with me?

951
01:23:51,000 --> 01:23:56,000
He came back, but no, I see that I'm doing that and I'm really sorry, whatever, and I said, you want to get together,

952
01:23:56,000 --> 01:24:02,000
he doesn't come to our church, and I said, you want to get together and have a conversation in person about this and let me help you work through this and let's figure this out?

953
01:24:02,000 --> 01:24:05,000
And he said, well, I've got to work through some things first, but I'll let you know.

954
01:24:05,000 --> 01:24:13,000
In the two days choices that I told him we could get together have now passed, I don't know if we'll ever get together or not, but listen to me.

955
01:24:13,000 --> 01:24:18,000
Just because somebody claims the name of Jesus, just because they say they're following Jesus,

956
01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:23,000
and I'm not suggesting that you go around judging people, that's not your job.

957
01:24:23,000 --> 01:24:26,000
I don't want you to judge who's saved and who's not, I'm not suggesting that.

958
01:24:26,000 --> 01:24:34,000
I am suggesting that you live out your faith so large that if there's a demon in the house, that he's mad at you.

959
01:24:34,000 --> 01:24:38,000
That if there's an evil spirit that somebody toed it in, they're feeling uncomfortable about it,

960
01:24:38,000 --> 01:24:43,000
the evil spirit's going like, I'm going to get back at him somehow, right?

961
01:24:43,000 --> 01:24:51,000
Preach the truths, tell it like it is, let's deliver Jesus' messages.

962
01:24:51,000 --> 01:24:57,000
And yes, not meanly, but let us offend because the gospel is offensive.

963
01:24:57,000 --> 01:24:59,000
Let us stand up for what we believe in.

964
01:24:59,000 --> 01:25:03,000
And when your family member that loves you scoffs at you because you're standing a little too high,

965
01:25:03,000 --> 01:25:08,000
and you're putting yourself up on a pedestal trying to live for Jesus like that, or something like that,

966
01:25:08,000 --> 01:25:12,000
you say, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's not my purpose at all.

967
01:25:12,000 --> 01:25:16,000
You've got to live for Jesus your way, I've got to live for Jesus my way.

968
01:25:16,000 --> 01:25:19,000
I'm sure this was my wife yesterday, we were out walking in Pearson Park,

969
01:25:19,000 --> 01:25:24,000
and she and I, when we got married, we were not Christians.

970
01:25:24,000 --> 01:25:27,000
In fact, we lived together before we were married, our first child was born out of wedlock,

971
01:25:27,000 --> 01:25:31,000
and we kind of didn't even know that what we were doing was wrong, had no idea really.

972
01:25:31,000 --> 01:25:35,000
But then when we got saved, our marriage became a Christian marriage.

973
01:25:35,000 --> 01:25:37,000
And we had to ask ourselves, what is marriage in Christ?

974
01:25:37,000 --> 01:25:39,000
And this was one of the first determining factors that we came up with.

975
01:25:39,000 --> 01:25:45,000
The first thing is that she has to be fully free to follow Jesus the way she believes she's supposed to follow Jesus,

976
01:25:45,000 --> 01:25:48,000
and I have to be fully free to follow Jesus the way I'm supposed to.

977
01:25:48,000 --> 01:25:53,000
And this is why it works, because as she's following Jesus, and I'm following Jesus,

978
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:58,000
guess where we wind up? Together, at the same time, in unity, in oneness.

979
01:25:58,000 --> 01:26:02,000
And we come home, and I say, dear, I've got to tell you something, it's exciting, I think God just spoke to me,

980
01:26:02,000 --> 01:26:06,000
and this is what he said, and she's like, well that's amazing, God just spoke to me too.

981
01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:09,000
I'm like, okay, so who's going to go first?

982
01:26:09,000 --> 01:26:14,000
She said, well you go first this time, and I share, and what she shares is the same as what I share.

983
01:26:14,000 --> 01:26:16,000
That's how God makes people one.

984
01:26:16,000 --> 01:26:19,000
If you're sugarcoating it with your spouse or your significant other,

985
01:26:19,000 --> 01:26:22,000
and you're not living full out for Jesus because you're afraid you're going to upset them,

986
01:26:22,000 --> 01:26:26,000
then you need to understand that you're doing your marriage no favors.

987
01:26:26,000 --> 01:26:30,000
If you're doing that with your parents, I don't want my dad, I don't want to obey your parents,

988
01:26:30,000 --> 01:26:33,000
I don't want to bring it up because it's going to be mad at me, whatever.

989
01:26:33,000 --> 01:26:38,000
If you're doing that, you understand you're not honoring your father by letting your father go to hell.

990
01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:45,000
That's no honor whatsoever. You bleed, you die if necessary, you take all the hits if necessary

991
01:26:45,000 --> 01:26:54,000
for the people that you love in human ways to get through to the gospel, to God, to give them faith.

992
01:26:54,000 --> 01:27:01,000
You can't save them, but you can become that same stumbling block in their family.

993
01:27:01,000 --> 01:27:08,000
You can become their enemy as you don't represent your Lord the way you're supposed to.

994
01:27:08,000 --> 01:27:18,000
And what did Jesus say? It's enough. It's enough for you to be like Him.

995
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:22,000
Whatever the cost, it's enough.

996
01:27:22,000 --> 01:27:26,000
I understand sometimes in faith it's hard to see that because we haven't seen heaven yet,

997
01:27:26,000 --> 01:27:30,000
but if you'd seen heaven for just one day, just one minute, just one hour, just a few seconds,

998
01:27:30,000 --> 01:27:38,000
if you could see your arrival in heaven for just a few seconds, it would transform your thinking.

999
01:27:38,000 --> 01:27:43,000
You'd be like, oh, okay, wait a minute, I'll never choose that extra doughnut when God says no again.

1000
01:27:43,000 --> 01:27:48,000
I'll never watch when God says look away again. I'll never talk anyway, but the way God says again,

1001
01:27:48,000 --> 01:27:52,000
is you don't know what that first minute in heaven is going to be like.

1002
01:27:52,000 --> 01:27:59,000
And that's not faith. Faith is when you know what the first minute in heaven is going to be so good

1003
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:04,000
that it affects who you are now even though you haven't seen it yet.

1004
01:28:04,000 --> 01:28:07,000
Tuesday night we talked about, and this is my final illustration, Tuesday night we talked about

1005
01:28:07,000 --> 01:28:12,000
the fact that the kingdom of God is proleptic. That means it works in reverse.

1006
01:28:12,000 --> 01:28:17,000
So that moment of you coming into heaven with God needs to affect everything that has happened to you now.

1007
01:28:17,000 --> 01:28:21,000
All this time I've been saying, haven't done, do so.

1008
01:28:21,000 --> 01:28:27,000
And we all thought, because I made it so, that we were talking about having professed Christ in that first moment,

1009
01:28:27,000 --> 01:28:32,000
having lived for Christ, continue to do so. That's what we thought.

1010
01:28:32,000 --> 01:28:35,000
But that wasn't what I was talking about at all.

1011
01:28:35,000 --> 01:28:39,000
What I was talking about is having claimed the promise of God, having walked into heaven,

1012
01:28:39,000 --> 01:28:43,000
having arrived there, saved, and lived there for an eternity.

1013
01:28:43,000 --> 01:28:48,000
You realize that God is already there welcoming you in now if you're a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1014
01:28:48,000 --> 01:28:50,000
He's already there. He's already seen it.

1015
01:28:50,000 --> 01:28:56,000
But he also knows if you're just playing games and you have not accepted Jesus Christ, in reality or not.

1016
01:28:56,000 --> 01:28:59,000
I don't. No one else does. But he does and you do.

1017
01:28:59,000 --> 01:29:05,000
And if you've been deceived to think that you're not, which you are, then this is a wake-up call.

1018
01:29:05,000 --> 01:29:12,000
And maybe he's saying to you right now, I've been deceiving myself and I need to follow Jesus the way I said I would.

1019
01:29:12,000 --> 01:29:16,000
It's that that's been done. That is sealed.

1020
01:29:16,000 --> 01:29:21,000
That moment of coming into heaven is done. It's sealed if you're a follower of Jesus.

1021
01:29:21,000 --> 01:29:26,000
And knowing that, you could be crucified. Knowing that, you could take the bullet.

1022
01:29:26,000 --> 01:29:29,000
Knowing that, you could be bad-mouthing, persecuted.

1023
01:29:29,000 --> 01:29:33,000
Knowing that, you could cross over the stumbling blocks without stumbling.

1024
01:29:33,000 --> 01:29:39,000
Because you know where you're going and in some sense you know what it'll be like when you get there.

1025
01:29:39,000 --> 01:29:44,000
And that, you can choose over your husband, you can choose over your wife, you can choose over your kids,

1026
01:29:44,000 --> 01:29:50,000
you can choose over your boss, you can choose over your money, you can choose over your peace in this lifetime.

1027
01:29:50,000 --> 01:29:54,000
Because that is what it's all about.

1028
01:29:54,000 --> 01:29:59,000
If you're here today and you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you need to do so.

1029
01:29:59,000 --> 01:30:02,000
Not in a moment when we sing, but right now.

1030
01:30:02,000 --> 01:30:07,000
Don't let the enemy steal back free as they've seen it fall on the pathway and never got to pay group.

1031
01:30:07,000 --> 01:30:11,000
So I get it, I do, I want to live for Jesus, I want this to be mine.

1032
01:30:11,000 --> 01:30:17,000
And believe in God and just say, okay God, I'm just open to you doing what you want to do with His grace and deliverance.

1033
01:30:17,000 --> 01:30:23,000
But according to the inspirational moment time, everybody that's in this room is professing to be a Christian.

1034
01:30:23,000 --> 01:30:27,000
Or you're so wrestling that you haven't gotten there yet and that's okay too.

1035
01:30:27,000 --> 01:30:31,000
But if you're professing to be a Christian, then now it's about what kind of person you're going to be.

1036
01:30:31,000 --> 01:30:36,000
Who are you going to choose Jesus over?

1037
01:30:36,000 --> 01:30:46,000
When you can choose Jesus over anyone or anything or any experience or any result, then you're following Jesus the way He called you to.

1038
01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:52,000
And then my brother, my sister, you are a disciple.

1039
01:30:52,000 --> 01:30:56,000
And there is no difference between being a disciple and being a Christian.

1040
01:30:56,000 --> 01:31:00,000
There is no difference. You're either, if you're one, you're the other.

1041
01:31:00,000 --> 01:31:04,000
And you say, well I'm a Christian, but I'm not a disciple. I don't learn from Jesus. And I'm going to tell others what He told me.

1042
01:31:04,000 --> 01:31:08,000
Really what you're saying is you're not a Christian.

1043
01:31:08,000 --> 01:31:16,000
So be one. Join us. I've already told you this, I repent of not declaring the simple truth as often as I should have.

1044
01:31:16,000 --> 01:31:20,000
And I hope I'll do it better. The truth is, I'm still just a man.

1045
01:31:20,000 --> 01:31:24,000
We get out of bed in the morning and we do what we believe God wants us to do.

1046
01:31:24,000 --> 01:31:27,000
And we teach everyone everything we know.

1047
01:31:27,000 --> 01:31:29,000
The best we can. And some people won't want to listen.

1048
01:31:29,000 --> 01:31:35,000
And if they say they're following the Lord Jesus Christ and they're living in a way that doesn't honor God, then you can dismiss them.

1049
01:31:35,000 --> 01:31:37,000
You can say, I don't have to deal with that.

1050
01:31:37,000 --> 01:31:40,000
Now if it's your spouse or your kid or something, you're going to have to keep trying.

1051
01:31:40,000 --> 01:31:44,000
Because you have another obligation.

1052
01:31:44,000 --> 01:31:47,000
I would pray for you to come forward and lead us in our closing hymn.

1053
01:31:47,000 --> 01:31:50,000
So this is what we have on our agenda. This is our closing hymn for our service.

1054
01:31:50,000 --> 01:31:55,000
We're dealing with our business with God. We're not saying no to God. We're saying, okay God.

1055
01:31:55,000 --> 01:31:59,000
And if you're here today and you say, I need to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and I want to just tell everybody,

1056
01:31:59,000 --> 01:32:04,000
so he'll confess before his Father in heaven and I'll confess before men, this is your opportunity to do that.

1057
01:32:04,000 --> 01:32:07,000
And you can say, I know what God wants me to do, a thing that God wants me to do.

1058
01:32:07,000 --> 01:32:12,000
And I want to say I'm going to do that. And I want it publicly known so people can support me in that.

1059
01:32:12,000 --> 01:32:15,000
And people can pray for me in that. And people can tell me I'm capable of that.

1060
01:32:15,000 --> 01:32:16,000
And this drop can't do that.

1061
01:32:16,000 --> 01:32:21,000
And if you're baptized and you're a father of the Son of the Holy Spirit, this is your opportunity to say that.

1062
01:32:21,000 --> 01:32:26,000
Join the church. I can't say that. You can wait until after the membership meeting, but you need to be 100% sure

1063
01:32:26,000 --> 01:32:30,000
because when you put off decisions sometimes the enemy feels it.

1064
01:32:30,000 --> 01:32:33,000
Whatever it might be, as we sing this song, you respond.

1065
01:32:33,000 --> 01:32:35,000
We should watch the lyrics.

1066
01:32:35,000 --> 01:32:57,000
The sun is close to you. Never let me down. I'm making all of that room.