WEBVTT

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Thank you for choosing this episode from New

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Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

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Hope you enjoy and reach new heights in Jesus.

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We're going to dig into, for some of us, what

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would be a relatively familiar short passage

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of Scripture, at least one verse that's somewhat

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fairly often quoted. But we're not going to treat

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it that way because as I looked at this and prepared

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for this message today, the Lord asked me to

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look at it almost under a spiritual microscope,

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if you will, and we're going to do that. So we're

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going to see some things, even if you have studied

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this passage of Scripture before, you're going

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to see some things, I think, that I hope that

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the Spirit will show you that... that you've

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never seen before, and I did. And so whether

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you do or not, that's already been done. So I've

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already done that. So you can trust me when I

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say I grew and maybe even was saved again by

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this text. All right, so before we go into this

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text, there's a little bit of business that we

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have to take care of. All right, so as I am speaking

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today, I'm going to use a few illustrations.

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And you're familiar with this trend in the world

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today to put on the video game box and the movies.

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There's a rating on everything, right? So this

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is that little short passage of scripture where

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we have a little rating. We talk about those

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things in advance. So I'm going to talk to you

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about money during the sermon today. And I want

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to say to you just very simply right now, I am

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not talking to you about money to get you to

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do anything in particular with your money. That

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has nothing to do with me. What you choose to

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do with your money is... really up to do with

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God and you. But when we talk about money, I

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am talking about money from the Christian perspective,

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from the godly perspective, from what I think

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Jesus would say about money. And that means that

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tithing is a foregone conclusion. The first 10

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% of all your increase, of all your increase,

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that is to say of all your increase, goes to

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God, the first 10%. Beyond that is considered

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an offering. Up until that is considered a tithe.

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It's a partial tithe or a whole tithe. Then after

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that is considered an offering. And New Testament

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standard for giving is actually sacrificial giving.

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So really, it goes above and beyond the tithe

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and the offering. It should be giving until it

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hurts. And God said this. Jesus said this. The

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Bible says this. Give by whatever standard or

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measure you give. That's how it will be measured

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back to you. So if you have a stingy heart about

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giving, then you're going to have stingy giving

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back to you. And if you have an overflowing,

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abundant, merciful heart about giving, then you're

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going to have overflowing, abundant mercy. I

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give them back to you. And that's the standard

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when I'm talking about money. That's the biblical

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standard that we're going to be talking about

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today. Second thing today is I'm going to talk

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about violence. I'm going to use a couple of

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illustrations from violence that are actually

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in the Bible text. So we're going to clear up

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a couple of things in case I don't clearly say

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them at that time. And that is that as Christians,

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it should be our desire in Christ to never hurt

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anyone. Never cause anyone any physical pain

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whatsoever. Never cause anyone any emotional

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or psychological pain whatsoever. In fact, so

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much so that we, like Jesus, we should have the

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same mind, Philippians 2 says, like what was

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in Jesus. So he didn't consider equality with

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God something to be grasped, but rather sacrificed

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himself, gave himself over to death, even death

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on a cross, so that what? So that others would

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not have that experience. Paul says, why do you

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go to court against those who defraud you? Would

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you not rather be defrauded? In other words,

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why would you hurt somebody? Would you not rather

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let them hurt you? Right? Basically. So we should

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never, ever want to do harm to anyone. That being

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said, that being said that we should never want

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to do harm to anyone, there may be a time at

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which you are required to defend yourself. And

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when I'm talking to people and I just say, if

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someone comes against you with lethal force,

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then you use lethal force to defend yourself

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if necessary. So as Christians, we are also not

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commanded by Scripture, even though I know there's

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where it says turn the other cheek and so on.

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We're not commanded by Scripture to be anybody's

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doormat. But if they're trying to use lethal

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force on you and you cannot use lethal force

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on them, that should be your preference. And

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we don't kill people who are stealing from us,

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for example. We don't want to hurt anybody if

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we possibly can avoid it. That is the Christian

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position on violence. And that would include

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not hurting yourself. So you should not hurt

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yourself. You should not cut yourself. You should

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not physically harm yourself in any way, shape,

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or form. That means that you should not overeat.

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You should not undersleep. You should not underhydrate.

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You should not drink alcohol or consume drugs

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that damage your body, etc. You should not want

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to harm yourself. In this scripture, we're going

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to talk about The self a little bit. And so when

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I say the self, I'm going to break it down for

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you. There is the old self, there is the new

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self, and there is the whole self. I'm not guaranteeing

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I'll break it down for you at that time, but

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I'm going to try to be as clear about it as I

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possibly can. But old self, new self, whole self,

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none of those should you want to cause harm to.

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You should not want to hurt yourself in any way.

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And that's a foregone conclusion of Scripture.

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And Paul says, does a man, I mean, if a man is

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against his wife, for example, he's against himself,

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does a man really want to be against himself?

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No. Should never. No one should ever want to

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be against himself. A person who wants to commit

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suicide or wants to cut themselves or something

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like that has a psychological disorder of some

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kind, a sure failing, and they need help. It's

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often involved with spiritual warfare. It's often

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involved with mental damage and scarring and

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like that. And I have been there. I have been

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at the point where I wanted to commit suicide.

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So I'm not speaking without knowledge. What I'm

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saying is no one should ever want to harm themselves

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if they are healthy in Christ. So we're going

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to talk about money. We're going to talk about

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violence. And I wanted to clear up those things

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in case I don't when the time comes. And then

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I want to say I think everybody wants to do well.

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Is there anybody here who wants to just be a

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bum and a wastrel for the rest of their life

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and you don't really want to do anything of value?

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I think we all want to do well, don't we? I mean,

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like when a teacher scolds you about a test,

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they say something nasty, or when your boss says

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something nasty, it's not like you were intentionally

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trying not to do well, right? Even if you lie

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to try to get ahead, you're still trying to do

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well, right? You're more consumed by the doing

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well than controlling your choices of how to

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get there. Some people are waiting for their

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ship to come in. Some people are down at the

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docks trying to flag the ship to come in. And

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some people are trying to build the ship. But

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everybody has a desire. to do well inherently.

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If you don't have that, that's where you fall

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into those problems like self -destructing financially,

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self -destructing physically, causing harm to

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yourself, things like that, because now you've

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lost your ability to realize that you, like anybody

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else, ought to have a drive to do well. I think

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everybody should want to do well. The world wants

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you to think that you can't do well, or they

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want you to think that you need what they have

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in order to do well. That's sort of part and

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partial with the world. Neither one of those

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things is true. Do you want to do well? I think

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you do. And you can. And that's what we're going

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to look at in Scripture today. The sermon is

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entitled, To Do Well or Not to Do Well? That

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is the question. Of course, I've played a little

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bit on Hamlet. And you may or may not recognize

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that line from Hamlet. Hamlet is to be or not

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to be. It comes right after the line, Alas, poor

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Horatio, I knew him well. It's in that same scene.

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And he's got a skull, and he talks, and everybody

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knows that one. But some people know to be or

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not to be. And he's thinking about whether or

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not to commit suicide. because the woman that

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he loves supposedly has done so. And then it

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turns out he tries to commit suicide, or I think

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he's actually successful in committing suicide,

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and then she wakes up, she wasn't actually dead,

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and then she commits suicide. It's a horrible,

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tragic ending, right? But it surrounds that idea

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of to be or not to be, and I submit to you the

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question is actually to... To do well or not

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to do well, that is the question, and that's

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what we're going to look at today. All right,

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now I got all that housework out of the way,

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and now we're going to go to Scripture. And would

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you grab your Bibles and maybe take a breath

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and hoot, holler, amen, yahtzee, cry out, uno,

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there is only one God, something, as we go to

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Luke chapter 9. Thank you. Thank you. Very good

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today. I appreciate it. Those of you who are

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left out, I apologize. You can jump right in

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next week. Okay? And Luke chapter 9. Beginning

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in verse 20 is where I'll be reading from. And

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you will see that it is a really kind of neat

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overview of the scripture, but then we're going

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to drill down on one particular aspect of it,

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okay? So 9, 20 says, and he, and that he is Jesus.

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And he said to them, but who do you say that

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I am? Years ago, I did this sermon series on

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the questions that you really should ask, and

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this was one of the questions. You really do

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need to ask yourself, who do you say that Jesus

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is? I think we, by now, have figured out, if

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you haven't, I guess I'll bring this up simply.

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Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and God in

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the flesh. That's who he claimed to be. But the

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question is, who do you say he is? If you're

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not living for him, if you have not received

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salvation through him and from him, then I'm

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thinking maybe you haven't figured out that he

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was who he said he was, and that's where you

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should be asking yourself, who do I say he is?

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What am I supposed to do about what he said and

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who he was? So that's the question. Who do you

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say that I am? And he was asking the disciples

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this, and then God loved Peter. Peter, who was

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one of Jesus' disciples and a close friend, if

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you want to use that term for him, and traveled

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with Jesus and so on. Peter answered and said,

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The Christ of God. Now, that little phraseology

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right there is steeped in doctrine. So the word

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Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, which

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means anointed one or Messiah. And so Peter,

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as a disciple, was hearkening back. He was also

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a Jewish man. He was hearkening back to the Old

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Testament, which promised that a man was going

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to come, someone was going to come from God.

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And there were hints that he might be God in

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the flesh, but they didn't really understand

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that. And there were clear statements that he

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was going to be a suffering Messiah, but they

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didn't accept that. They didn't want to accept

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that he would suffer. In any case, that there

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would be this anointed one or Messiah of God

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who would come and that that one would bring

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salvation to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike.

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Most of us are Gentiles. And so Jesus, Peter

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is saying Jesus is that guy. the Christ or the

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Messiah or the anointed one of God. You are the

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one that God promised he would send. His statement

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means nothing less than that. And to them, that

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meant he was supposed to provide salvation for

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all people. It also meant, if they read their

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scriptures, that he would suffer, that he would

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die, and all of those kinds of things. And that

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he would come back to life, and so on. 21. But

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he, the he is Jesus, warned them and instructed

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them not to tell this to anyone. So the disciples,

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remember what a disciple is? A disciple is a

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person who learns from the master and tells others

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what the master has said. So Jesus had not told

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them that he was the Messiah or the anointed

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one. He asked them, who do you say that I am?

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So they were saying that he was the anointed

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one or the Messiah. Then he says, now don't go

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and tell anyone that that is true. So it wasn't

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time, if you will, for the world to know it.

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And we're going to dig into why he says that.

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And really, I think it's answered in the conclusion.

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But he says, don't tell anyone what you just

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said about me. But he warned them and instructed

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them not to tell this to anyone, saying, the

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Son of Man must suffer many things. Now that

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phrase, the Son of Man, they would have recognized

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that as an Old Testament phrase from the book

00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:38.799
of Daniel. And it was a phrase that specifically

00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.380
referred to the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed

00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:44.099
One. So when he says the Son of Man must suffer

00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:47.240
many things, he is telling Peter in a sort of

00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:51.559
Hebrew code, yeah, you nailed it, that's right,

00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:55.079
but your idea of what that means and what a lot

00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:56.920
of people's idea of what that means is actually

00:24:56.920 --> 00:24:59.700
wrong. Here's what's actually right. So he's

00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:01.519
saying, yeah, you got it, you nailed it, but

00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:03.420
don't tell anyone because they don't get it.

00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:05.180
They don't understand what it means. And I'm

00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:07.000
going to share with you now what it means. And

00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:09.799
so he says, the son of man must suffer many things

00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:13.019
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests

00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:17.099
and scribes and be killed and be raised up on

00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:18.779
the third day. Okay, so break it down real quick.

00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.640
So in there is the elders. That's the older group,

00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:25.170
if you will, the leaders of the... synagogues

00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:27.130
and the people who really should know better.

00:25:27.150 --> 00:25:29.089
They really should recognize the Messiah. The

00:25:29.089 --> 00:25:30.950
chief priests, that's the priests who were leading

00:25:30.950 --> 00:25:33.170
the priests. They were the high up, higher up

00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:34.910
priests. They know the scripture like nobody

00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:37.369
does. So they really should recognize the Messiah.

00:25:37.630 --> 00:25:40.619
And he says, and the scribes. And those are the

00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:42.660
people who rewrote the word and they rewrote

00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:45.500
it letter by letter, word perfect, and then afterwards

00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:47.240
performed something, and I forget what the number

00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:50.019
is, but like a thousand tests on every book that

00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:52.440
they rewrote to make sure that it was word perfect.

00:25:52.500 --> 00:25:55.839
And if it was off in the smallest mark, if there

00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:58.180
was a space between two letters that was off,

00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:01.539
if anything at all was off, they would bury it

00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:04.920
rather than use it after spending months rewriting

00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.019
it painstakingly by hand. These guys knew the

00:26:08.019 --> 00:26:10.380
scripture. The word of the scripture, the written

00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.519
part of the scripture, better than anybody. So

00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:15.680
now we've got elders, chief priests, and scribes

00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.579
on the list. And those really should be people

00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:20.859
who would recognize the Messiah. And it says,

00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:25.559
he will be rejected by all of them and be killed

00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:31.440
and be raised up on the third day. 23 says, and

00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.579
he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to

00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:38.019
come after me, Let him deny himself and take

00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:40.220
up his cross daily and follow me. And that's

00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:42.740
the verse that a lot of people quote, a lot of

00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:45.279
Christians quote, because it is almost a more

00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.240
clear statement of the gospel than John 3 .16,

00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:50.700
for example. John 3 .16 tells us the motivation

00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:54.200
for the gospel, right? But this tells us the

00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.240
gospel. This is how you get saved. This is what

00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:59.019
you do, right? As a Christian, this is the definition

00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:01.259
of who we are. If you want to come after Jesus,

00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:05.549
deny yourself. Take up your cross daily and follow

00:27:05.549 --> 00:27:07.049
me. And this is where we're going to come back

00:27:07.049 --> 00:27:08.309
to in the first point. We're going to break this

00:27:08.309 --> 00:27:11.329
down. Almost done with the text. Verse 24. For

00:27:11.329 --> 00:27:14.109
whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it.

00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:17.410
But whoever loses his life for my sake, he is

00:27:17.410 --> 00:27:19.930
the one who will save it. So there's some quick

00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:22.470
math here. A little tricky in the wording. Pay

00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:25.740
close attention. For whoever, that's any person,

00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:27.960
and it's because, right? If anyone wishes to

00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:29.420
come after me, let him deny himself, take up

00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:30.980
his cross daily, and follow after me, because

00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:33.819
whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it.

00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:36.480
So essentially he's saying if your efforts are

00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:39.299
about saving your life, then you will lose your

00:27:39.299 --> 00:27:41.460
life. You will not gain your life. You will not

00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:43.160
gain control of your life. You will not have

00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.079
your life in any way that you want it. But whoever

00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:48.400
loses his life for my sake, in other words, if

00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.279
you would actually be killed or give up your

00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:54.829
life, then... He is the one who will save it.

00:27:54.910 --> 00:27:56.750
So that one for sure will go into the kingdom

00:27:56.750 --> 00:27:59.970
of God, will go to heaven and so on. For or because,

00:28:00.069 --> 00:28:04.109
what is a man profited? What do you get? How

00:28:04.109 --> 00:28:06.789
much gain do you really have? If he gains the

00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:09.009
whole world, in other words, if you became super

00:28:09.009 --> 00:28:13.609
rich or had lots of companies or 37 kids or grandkids

00:28:13.609 --> 00:28:17.829
or whatever, he gains the whole world and loses

00:28:17.829 --> 00:28:22.490
or forfeits his self. Okay, so now we're talking

00:28:22.490 --> 00:28:25.349
about self again. In fact, this is really the

00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:27.990
first, but now remember back in 23, he says,

00:28:28.069 --> 00:28:32.309
deny himself. So we deny ourselves, and he says,

00:28:32.430 --> 00:28:36.089
if you don't deny yourself, you seek after the

00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:38.029
world, essentially, and what if you gain the

00:28:38.029 --> 00:28:41.190
world, but lost yourself? So see the contrast

00:28:41.190 --> 00:28:43.690
between denying yourself and gaining yourself.

00:28:44.049 --> 00:28:48.549
Just the same as he said, he who wishes to save

00:28:48.549 --> 00:28:51.470
his life will lose it, and whoever loses his

00:28:51.470 --> 00:28:53.450
life for my sake, we'll save it. See the contrast.

00:28:54.369 --> 00:28:57.670
I'll break it down in a minute. He says, for

00:28:57.670 --> 00:29:00.309
whoever, because whoever is ashamed of me and

00:29:00.309 --> 00:29:02.910
my words. So to be ashamed of something is to

00:29:02.910 --> 00:29:04.150
think small of it. In other words, if you are

00:29:04.150 --> 00:29:06.529
unwilling to talk about it, if you're unwilling

00:29:06.529 --> 00:29:08.549
to live it out, if you're unwilling to recognize

00:29:08.549 --> 00:29:11.509
it, whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of

00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:13.609
him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes

00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:16.039
in his glory. and the glory of the Father, and

00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.380
of the holy angels. When Jesus comes again to

00:29:18.380 --> 00:29:20.460
put it all right, and finish it all off, and

00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:22.940
it's all settled, all done, if you're ashamed

00:29:22.940 --> 00:29:25.240
of Jesus now, this is what he says, if you're

00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:28.220
ashamed of me and my teachings now, then I will

00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:31.319
be ashamed of you in that day. So again, that's

00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:33.660
teaching us something very significant. There's

00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:35.500
a counterpoint. Don't be ashamed now, otherwise

00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:38.380
he'll be ashamed then. Be ashamed now, he'll

00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:41.700
be ashamed then. But I say to you truthfully,

00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:43.680
this is the last verse we're going to read. Oh,

00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:46.339
no, we're talking 26. Okay, so we're done with

00:29:46.339 --> 00:29:48.900
the text. Okay, so three things I want you to

00:29:48.900 --> 00:29:50.559
see in here, and this will go by quickly. So

00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.980
the first one is the longest and the sharpest

00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:55.140
and the most poignant, and you really need to

00:29:55.140 --> 00:29:57.259
pay the most close attention, but all three of

00:29:57.259 --> 00:29:58.599
them could speak to your life. They really did

00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:01.039
mine, all right? So the first one is, Jesus says,

00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:04.319
deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow

00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:06.720
after me. And that is essentially the gospel,

00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:11.599
right? This has serious ramifications. Let's

00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:15.440
break it down. deny yourself. Okay, so I'm here

00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:19.500
to tell you that my name is Dan. I am Pastor

00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:22.440
Dan to a lot of people. I have multiple jobs.

00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:27.619
I have a wife, just one, thank God. I have five

00:30:27.619 --> 00:30:29.940
children, two of which are grown, one of which

00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:32.279
is almost grown, one of which is hot on his heels,

00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:34.759
and one of which is not grown at all. And I have

00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:39.960
five grandchildren, of which just one is still

00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:44.539
in diapers. and all of them are equally exciting

00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:48.000
and energetic and often frustrating. I could

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.880
talk to you about my skills, my abilities, my

00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:52.539
personality traits. I could talk to you about

00:30:52.539 --> 00:30:55.180
my spiritual gift, whatever. But I do not think

00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:57.960
that I can encapsulate for you what myself is.

00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:03.019
Now, nobody knows myself more than me, except

00:31:03.019 --> 00:31:07.319
God. None of you know myself. None of you saw

00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:10.579
me this last... Friday afternoon, after three

00:31:10.579 --> 00:31:14.420
nights of diminished sleep and beating myself

00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:17.359
up over whether I'm a half -decent pastor or

00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.859
not, whether I can actually preach the gospel

00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:22.380
or not, whether I can actually lead anybody any

00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:26.180
closer to God by servanthood, whether or not

00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.240
I can lead my family, whether or not I make a

00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.700
good husband or a good father. None of you saw

00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:39.029
me about ready to chuck my Bible? I saw me and

00:31:39.029 --> 00:31:41.150
I remember what was happening in those moments.

00:31:41.170 --> 00:31:44.549
I'm talking about two days ago and I can hardly

00:31:44.549 --> 00:31:49.250
believe that was me. Now, you understand what

00:31:49.250 --> 00:31:53.309
I'm saying? Self is very complicated. Self is

00:31:53.309 --> 00:31:56.410
very challenging. Self is not simple to put a

00:31:56.410 --> 00:31:58.930
tag on or a button. Like I said to start out

00:31:58.930 --> 00:32:00.490
with, no one should want to ever hurt themselves.

00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:03.460
Let's be realistic. If we went around the room

00:32:03.460 --> 00:32:04.599
and raised our hand and said, how many of you

00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:06.440
have ever wanted to hurt yourself? Like, I want

00:32:06.440 --> 00:32:08.619
to make an intentional decision to maybe cut

00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:11.660
yourself or jump your motorcycle over a track

00:32:11.660 --> 00:32:13.480
that's over 100 miles per hour like I did around

00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:15.920
100 miles per hour. Whoever did things that they

00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:17.640
knew was just really damaging, really dangerous,

00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:19.900
and you did it on purpose because you weren't

00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:21.160
worried about whether or not you were going to

00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:22.900
hurt yourself. You were comfortable with potentially

00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:24.680
being hurt. And it'd probably be every one of

00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:29.279
us, wouldn't it? probably almost all of us, there

00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:30.420
might be some young people here that say, no,

00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:32.119
I haven't quite gotten there yet, and I hope

00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:36.400
you never do. But most of us would say that we've

00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.339
had moments in time. But now, if you live in

00:32:38.339 --> 00:32:41.680
the life that we're living here, and you're kind

00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:43.779
of happy, you're kind of, okay, I know where

00:32:43.779 --> 00:32:46.019
I'm supposed to be, and you've got problems,

00:32:46.059 --> 00:32:47.519
but you're overcoming your problems, you're dealing

00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.240
with your struggles, you've got issues, but they're

00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:52.079
not running you down like a steamroller or whatever,

00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:54.839
right? Then you probably don't want to hurt yourself.

00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:56.099
At least I hope you don't. I hope there's nobody

00:32:56.099 --> 00:32:58.140
here that does. But the point is, self is very

00:32:58.140 --> 00:33:00.299
complicated, isn't it? When I look back on those

00:33:00.299 --> 00:33:03.059
times in which I wanted to hurt myself, that

00:33:03.059 --> 00:33:07.460
doesn't even seem like that's me. So I don't

00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:09.200
think it's difficult for us to say there's the

00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:11.400
self that I was then in that moment in time,

00:33:11.420 --> 00:33:13.059
there's the self that I am now, right? I don't

00:33:13.059 --> 00:33:15.039
think that's too hard. I did that, yeah, that

00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:18.200
was me, but it really wasn't me now, because

00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:20.359
things have changed. So we see that self is very

00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:24.750
complicated. And Jesus says, deny yourself. Well,

00:33:24.789 --> 00:33:26.089
if I'm going to deny myself, first of all, I've

00:33:26.089 --> 00:33:28.109
got to ask myself, what does deny mean? To deny

00:33:28.109 --> 00:33:30.470
something is to reject it, to put it away from

00:33:30.470 --> 00:33:33.289
you. It has nothing to do with it anymore. Oh

00:33:33.289 --> 00:33:34.430
my goodness, I'm going to have nothing to do

00:33:34.430 --> 00:33:36.809
with the me that I don't even know. So here's

00:33:36.809 --> 00:33:39.930
me and all this hot mess that I am, and I'm going

00:33:39.930 --> 00:33:42.809
to put all that away from myself. But then what

00:33:42.809 --> 00:33:45.829
will I be? If I put all myself away from myself,

00:33:46.009 --> 00:33:49.829
what will I be? It's difficult, right? In fact,

00:33:49.829 --> 00:33:52.230
without Jesus, without... the hope that is in

00:33:52.230 --> 00:33:54.069
Christ, it's impossible. It's literally impossible

00:33:54.069 --> 00:33:57.009
to do this, to deny yourself unless Jesus does

00:33:57.009 --> 00:33:59.130
a miracle to you. And Jesus called it what? Being

00:33:59.130 --> 00:34:01.109
born again. It's that moment at which we trust

00:34:01.109 --> 00:34:03.970
in Christ and he makes us new. Oh, wait, now

00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:06.210
I'm beginning to get the concept of I have a

00:34:06.210 --> 00:34:09.869
new self. Well, clearly I'm not supposed to deny

00:34:09.869 --> 00:34:12.590
the new self that I am in Christ, right? That's

00:34:12.590 --> 00:34:14.969
the self that is supposed to be growing, following

00:34:14.969 --> 00:34:17.789
Jesus, becoming more like him, being strong in

00:34:17.789 --> 00:34:21.119
Christ. I need to build that self up. But there

00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:23.360
still a self remains as long as we're in the

00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:26.679
flesh. I'm not talking about the flesh, the body.

00:34:26.860 --> 00:34:28.340
When he says deny yourself, he does not mean

00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:31.380
just your body. I'm talking about a self that

00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:34.000
remains that's not the new born again self that

00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.500
needs to be denied, needs to be separated, cut

00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:40.320
off. Before you think to yourself that, well,

00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:44.000
you know, after Jesus, things kind of changed,

00:34:44.099 --> 00:34:46.840
became... This topic of Jesus is not all that

00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.199
serious. There's just a couple of quick verses

00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:51.519
that I want to read to you that Jesus also spoke

00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:54.360
that sort of illustrates Matthew 5 as the first

00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:56.860
place. So this is in the Sermon on the Mount,

00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.539
which is sort of a big summation teaching by

00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:01.860
Jesus. Matthew 5, beginning in verse 29, says

00:35:01.860 --> 00:35:04.440
this, And if your right eye makes you stumble,

00:35:04.579 --> 00:35:08.179
tear it out and throw it from you. For it's better

00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:10.260
for you that one of the parts of your body perish

00:35:10.260 --> 00:35:12.119
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:14.949
And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut

00:35:14.949 --> 00:35:17.769
it off, and throw it from you. For it is better

00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:19.809
for you that one of the parts of your body perish

00:35:19.809 --> 00:35:25.090
than for your whole body to go into hell. That's

00:35:25.090 --> 00:35:28.070
pretty radical. Now, is he literally talking

00:35:28.070 --> 00:35:30.670
about ripping your eye out of your skull? What

00:35:30.670 --> 00:35:32.989
is he saying? He's saying if there is something

00:35:32.989 --> 00:35:36.730
in your life, whatever it might be, even if it

00:35:36.730 --> 00:35:40.409
should be so precious as to be your hand or your

00:35:40.409 --> 00:35:43.099
eye, If there's something in your life, no matter

00:35:43.099 --> 00:35:46.059
how precious it seems to you, that it goes beyond

00:35:46.059 --> 00:35:48.659
that ability for you to fathom it, to even think

00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:50.420
that it might be possible for you to cut it off

00:35:50.420 --> 00:35:53.099
and get rid of it. If that's what's stopping

00:35:53.099 --> 00:35:56.019
you from embracing me, from embracing the kingdom

00:35:56.019 --> 00:35:57.780
of God, from being the person that God wants

00:35:57.780 --> 00:36:00.360
you to be, cut it off. Because it's better you

00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:05.059
lose it than go to hell. Jesus doesn't want to

00:36:05.059 --> 00:36:07.320
see anybody go to hell. So he teaches kind of

00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:12.980
radically like that. He says over in Matthew

00:36:12.980 --> 00:36:16.760
18 then, following the same line, and it's the

00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:19.119
same author, so we know this is two separate

00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:25.039
instances of Jesus' teaching. Matthew 18, in

00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:31.219
8 and 9, he says, And if your hand or your foot

00:36:31.219 --> 00:36:34.260
causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it

00:36:34.260 --> 00:36:36.960
away from you. It's better for you to enter life.

00:36:38.059 --> 00:36:40.480
There's a big word right there, life. crippled

00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:43.559
or lame than having two hands or two feet to

00:36:43.559 --> 00:36:46.159
be cast into the eternal fire and if your eye

00:36:46.159 --> 00:36:48.139
caused you to stumble pluck it out and throw

00:36:48.139 --> 00:36:50.320
it from you it's better for you to enter life

00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:53.800
with one eye than having two eyes to be cast

00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:55.860
into the fiery hell now you see why i talked

00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:58.730
about violence to start with No one should want

00:36:58.730 --> 00:37:00.389
to harm themselves in any way, shape, or form.

00:37:00.449 --> 00:37:01.929
And Jesus is not suggesting that you should do

00:37:01.929 --> 00:37:04.650
that. But what's absolutely clear is that nothing,

00:37:04.789 --> 00:37:07.929
nothing, nothing at all should be allowed to

00:37:07.929 --> 00:37:11.869
stand in between you and this other self. This

00:37:11.869 --> 00:37:14.809
self that God wants to give you, wants to have

00:37:14.809 --> 00:37:18.030
in you. Nothing should be able to stand in the

00:37:18.030 --> 00:37:22.050
way. And then 947 of the book of Mark. Book of

00:37:22.050 --> 00:37:25.769
Mark 947. Now this is Mark writing, so it could

00:37:25.769 --> 00:37:28.239
be one of those other instances. Again, but from

00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:30.300
a different perspective. And if your eye causes

00:37:30.300 --> 00:37:32.199
you to stumble, cast it out. It's better for

00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:34.559
you to enter, listen to this phrase, the kingdom

00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:37.739
of God with one eye than having two eyes to be

00:37:37.739 --> 00:37:40.900
cast into hell where their worm does not die

00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:43.179
and the fire is not quenched for everyone will

00:37:43.179 --> 00:37:46.380
be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt

00:37:46.380 --> 00:37:49.159
becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty

00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:52.699
again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace

00:37:52.699 --> 00:37:55.739
with one another. I did a preschool lesson about

00:37:55.739 --> 00:37:57.380
a year and a half ago on a Tuesday night about

00:37:57.380 --> 00:38:00.980
being salty, and we drew these outlines on tablecloth

00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:03.260
material and put it up on the wall. And I wrote,

00:38:03.380 --> 00:38:06.079
I want to be salty, and Ariana signed it on there.

00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:08.320
And every now and then, we refer back to that

00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:10.460
lesson. Now, I know that it's taken a different

00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:13.139
meaning in 2019. People use it a different way.

00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:16.699
But to be salty in this context means to be a

00:38:16.699 --> 00:38:18.920
representative for God. And what God is saying

00:38:18.920 --> 00:38:22.659
in there through Jesus is if you become unsalty,

00:38:22.909 --> 00:38:24.949
if you no longer are the salt of the earth that

00:38:24.949 --> 00:38:27.670
God has made you to be, then that's the self

00:38:27.670 --> 00:38:30.570
that's you that I don't even recognize. And if

00:38:30.570 --> 00:38:32.849
I've already given you another self so that you

00:38:32.849 --> 00:38:35.690
can put away the unsalty self, if I've given

00:38:35.690 --> 00:38:38.369
you another self so that that self can be rejected

00:38:38.369 --> 00:38:41.349
by you, and this self can be built up by you,

00:38:41.449 --> 00:38:44.409
I'm looking for this self. And when you're acting

00:38:44.409 --> 00:38:47.449
in this self, I don't even recognize you. And

00:38:47.449 --> 00:38:49.949
what can I do, by the way? I already died to

00:38:49.949 --> 00:38:53.150
give you this self. So what more can I do? You

00:38:53.150 --> 00:38:58.710
see? Jesus said, deny yourself. Now, some folks

00:38:58.710 --> 00:39:01.690
have taken this to the extreme. They have punished

00:39:01.690 --> 00:39:03.489
their physical bodies, trying to get control

00:39:03.489 --> 00:39:13.090
of themselves. They have chopped off their literal

00:39:13.090 --> 00:39:19.389
hand, whatever. They have pushed dying, caused

00:39:19.389 --> 00:39:23.059
themselves to be martyred. But Jesus disallows

00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:26.420
that. Did you hear it when he disallowed that

00:39:26.420 --> 00:39:30.019
in the text? He said, deny yourself and take

00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:33.820
up your cross. Insert the word. What's the next

00:39:33.820 --> 00:39:38.320
word? Daily. Right? This is a state of being

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:41.179
that Jesus now commands us to exist in until

00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:44.719
he returns or we should perish and then go to

00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:47.480
heaven. Right? So you don't get to deny yourself

00:39:47.480 --> 00:39:50.420
to the point of killing yourself. And someone

00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:52.900
might argue that that is true, right? Deny yourself

00:39:52.900 --> 00:39:56.139
to the point of killing yourself. But you instead

00:39:56.139 --> 00:40:02.159
deny yourself and continue to live, right? You

00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:04.880
deny yourself and continue to live, taking up

00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:06.199
your cross. Well, what does it mean to take up

00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:09.980
your cross? Well, we know what it means. Jesus

00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:11.320
knew what it meant, and all the Jewish people,

00:40:11.380 --> 00:40:12.579
all the people who lived in that day knew what

00:40:12.579 --> 00:40:14.380
it meant. To take up your cross is a picture

00:40:14.380 --> 00:40:17.440
of crucifixion. Death on the cross was the worst

00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.079
form of suffering. By the time your cross was

00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:21.099
up, you were suffering in the most extreme way.

00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:23.260
You carried your cross to wherever you were going

00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:25.119
to be crucified at, and you were suffering in

00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:27.159
the most extreme way. And so he is saying, deny

00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:30.480
yourself, reject that self of you that will not,

00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:33.940
I don't want to get ahead of myself, reject that

00:40:33.940 --> 00:40:35.980
other self of you, the one that I am doing away

00:40:35.980 --> 00:40:38.440
with, and instead embrace the self of you that

00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:40.679
I want to build up, the born -again self, the

00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:43.940
new self, the self that I'm giving you, and Take

00:40:43.940 --> 00:40:47.920
up your cross means suffer every day as necessary

00:40:47.920 --> 00:40:50.099
to ensure that that happens. Now, some people

00:40:50.099 --> 00:40:51.880
have made the mistake of thinking that that means

00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:53.820
self -mutilation or some stupid thing like that,

00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:56.360
but it doesn't. He is talking in spiritual terms.

00:40:56.719 --> 00:40:58.840
Jesus was talking in spiritual terms almost all

00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:01.420
the time. Now, where he said it would be better

00:41:01.420 --> 00:41:03.280
to cut off your hand than to allow your hand

00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:05.159
to not let you come into the kingdom of God,

00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:09.030
the truth is... If that could be a thing, if

00:41:09.030 --> 00:41:10.690
your hand could literally keep you from coming

00:41:10.690 --> 00:41:12.090
into the kingdom of God, you would be better

00:41:12.090 --> 00:41:13.909
to cut off your hand than allow it to keep you

00:41:13.909 --> 00:41:15.590
from coming into the kingdom of God. So that's

00:41:15.590 --> 00:41:17.489
a literal thing. But your hand can't do that.

00:41:18.010 --> 00:41:20.170
Your hand is just one small part of yourself.

00:41:20.230 --> 00:41:22.449
It's your brain that does that. It's your soul,

00:41:22.489 --> 00:41:25.750
your spirit that does that. Deny yourself, take

00:41:25.750 --> 00:41:29.949
up your cross daily, and then follow him. So

00:41:29.949 --> 00:41:31.969
the following of Jesus is what? Let's be really

00:41:31.969 --> 00:41:34.309
practical. What do you do to follow Jesus? You

00:41:34.309 --> 00:41:38.659
do what Jesus told you to do. Right? You follow

00:41:38.659 --> 00:41:41.860
his example. What he modeled, the lifestyle he

00:41:41.860 --> 00:41:44.079
modeled for us. We do what we saw him do. So

00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:46.099
we do what we heard him do, or heard him say

00:41:46.099 --> 00:41:49.900
to do, and we do what he told us to do. Right?

00:41:49.980 --> 00:41:51.940
So you deny yourself, take up your cross daily,

00:41:52.059 --> 00:41:54.280
and follow after him. Let me say it this way.

00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:55.960
Jesus said, cut off your hand if necessary. Here's

00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:57.539
what I want to say to you. If you're steering

00:41:57.539 --> 00:42:00.280
the car of your life, and your old self is in

00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:02.039
the back seat and reaches for the wheel, give

00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:05.369
him an elbow in the face. We've all seen action

00:42:05.369 --> 00:42:08.110
adventure movies, right? If you're steering the

00:42:08.110 --> 00:42:09.889
car of your life and your old self is in the

00:42:09.889 --> 00:42:12.050
back seat and reaches for the wheel, give him

00:42:12.050 --> 00:42:14.650
an elbow in the face. Do what you have to do

00:42:14.650 --> 00:42:18.409
to be the one in charge of your car in Christ.

00:42:19.750 --> 00:42:26.989
So when Jesus says, serve, you serve. When Jesus

00:42:26.989 --> 00:42:29.889
says, go and tell the nations, you go and tell

00:42:29.889 --> 00:42:33.849
the nations. But you say, but I don't know, I

00:42:33.849 --> 00:42:37.070
want to play Xbox. I don't know, I want to spend

00:42:37.070 --> 00:42:39.630
time with my friends. I don't know, I want to

00:42:39.630 --> 00:42:42.510
cook or I want to eat or I want to play or I

00:42:42.510 --> 00:42:46.090
want to work more or whatever. Immediately, as

00:42:46.090 --> 00:42:48.369
soon as that thing, whatever that thing is, whatever

00:42:48.369 --> 00:42:50.949
that excuse is comes in, guess what you can do?

00:42:51.070 --> 00:42:53.030
This is amazingly simple. Guess what you can

00:42:53.030 --> 00:42:58.989
do? You can identify that as self. You have a

00:42:58.989 --> 00:43:00.750
thought. You say, no, I don't want to go tell

00:43:00.750 --> 00:43:02.329
people about Jesus. That makes me feel awkward.

00:43:03.949 --> 00:43:06.849
So, what do you do? Three -step action plan.

00:43:07.369 --> 00:43:10.550
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow

00:43:10.550 --> 00:43:12.889
him. He made it painfully simple. Now, we've

00:43:12.889 --> 00:43:15.130
confused it because of the nature of it, because

00:43:15.130 --> 00:43:17.969
it's radical, because it sounds like dangerous

00:43:17.969 --> 00:43:21.400
or whatever like that, right? The truth is, it's

00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:23.599
an action plan that you can enact. So when you

00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:26.000
start to get angry because someone has hurt you,

00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:28.739
you can say, okay, I'm starting to get angry.

00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:32.039
Should I be angry at them? Do they really mean

00:43:32.039 --> 00:43:34.559
to hurt me? Should I be angry at them? Well,

00:43:34.639 --> 00:43:36.400
the Bible says, put away from you all anger.

00:43:36.460 --> 00:43:38.199
But I have a reason to be angry. I think I should

00:43:38.199 --> 00:43:40.500
be angry. I want to be angry. I'll get this done

00:43:40.500 --> 00:43:42.579
if I'm angry. They'll listen to me more if I'm

00:43:42.579 --> 00:43:44.460
angry, et cetera. But the Bible says, put away

00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:47.139
from you all anger, malice, et cetera, right?

00:43:47.239 --> 00:43:49.539
So I should put that away, but I don't want to

00:43:49.539 --> 00:43:53.340
put it away. Guess what that is? It's self. It

00:43:53.340 --> 00:43:55.260
certainly is not the self that God is building,

00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:59.139
right? So it's the old self. And what do you

00:43:59.139 --> 00:44:03.820
do? Deny it. Deny the old self. Reject it. Put

00:44:03.820 --> 00:44:06.739
it away from you. Say, okay, I hear you, self.

00:44:07.059 --> 00:44:08.880
You want me to be mad right now. I hear you,

00:44:08.940 --> 00:44:11.059
self. You want me to be bored right now. I hear

00:44:11.059 --> 00:44:12.699
you, self. You want me to be sad right now. But

00:44:12.699 --> 00:44:14.480
guess what? I don't want to be mad, bored, or

00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:16.260
sad right now. I want to be walking in Christ,

00:44:16.420 --> 00:44:18.619
rejoicing in my end destination and the fact

00:44:18.619 --> 00:44:20.179
that I have an abundant life in Christ. I want

00:44:20.179 --> 00:44:22.039
to do that. Because I want to do that, I reject

00:44:22.039 --> 00:44:25.380
you, self. I will not go that way, self. I will

00:44:25.380 --> 00:44:28.360
instead take up my cross today as I am supposed

00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:34.380
to do every day and I will follow. Jesus. This

00:44:34.380 --> 00:44:36.920
is what people do. They say, I will deny myself.

00:44:37.079 --> 00:44:39.280
I will take up my cross and I will follow Jesus.

00:44:39.380 --> 00:44:41.340
And then, you know what they do? They don't.

00:44:42.739 --> 00:44:44.840
This is Christianity across the world today.

00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:48.239
Not 100%. I get that. I don't know what the percentages

00:44:48.239 --> 00:44:52.619
are. But this is why many theologians that are

00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:53.699
out there right now are saying that there may

00:44:53.699 --> 00:44:56.260
be as many as 90%. So as I look at this room

00:44:56.260 --> 00:44:58.139
right now, if the statistics that they're saying

00:44:58.139 --> 00:45:00.480
is true, then 9 out of 10 of you, including me,

00:45:00.889 --> 00:45:03.269
So 9 out of 10 of this entire room are not actually

00:45:03.269 --> 00:45:07.269
saved. That scares the crap out of me because

00:45:07.269 --> 00:45:10.389
that does not give me good odds. I know exactly

00:45:10.389 --> 00:45:12.849
what to do about it. I'm going to deny myself.

00:45:14.210 --> 00:45:16.590
I'm going to take up my cross daily. And I'm

00:45:16.590 --> 00:45:19.110
going to follow Him. And if I do, deny myself.

00:45:19.429 --> 00:45:21.130
When my self says, well, you don't have to do

00:45:21.130 --> 00:45:22.670
that. When my self says, well, you're not a good

00:45:22.670 --> 00:45:24.210
pastor anyway. You may as well quit. I say, no,

00:45:24.250 --> 00:45:26.489
self. That's just not true. I don't care if I'm

00:45:26.489 --> 00:45:28.670
a good pastor or not. I'm not doing this to be

00:45:28.670 --> 00:45:32.190
a good pastor. I'm doing it so that God gets

00:45:32.190 --> 00:45:34.650
the glory. So that God, who told me what to do,

00:45:34.750 --> 00:45:39.869
gets my obedience. So I'm going to do it. Right?

00:45:41.230 --> 00:45:43.250
And then self says, yeah, but you'll never lead

00:45:43.250 --> 00:45:46.500
anybody closer to God. And I say, Well, if that's

00:45:46.500 --> 00:45:49.539
really true, if God told me to do it, and if

00:45:49.539 --> 00:45:50.860
it's really true, then I'll just put up with

00:45:50.860 --> 00:45:55.900
that as a result. You understand? Now, have you

00:45:55.900 --> 00:45:58.019
been in those arguments before? Did you know

00:45:58.019 --> 00:46:00.599
enough to deny self and shut him down? Did you

00:46:00.599 --> 00:46:02.099
give him an elbow in the face, put him in the

00:46:02.099 --> 00:46:04.500
back seat? Did you kill him and stuff him in

00:46:04.500 --> 00:46:07.139
the trunk? It's the only way he'll ever get quiet.

00:46:08.460 --> 00:46:10.659
So, people who struggle with money, for example,

00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:13.739
I warned you. People who struggle with money,

00:46:13.820 --> 00:46:19.429
okay? This is what they do. They repeatedly misspend

00:46:19.429 --> 00:46:22.110
their money. Ben Franklin, in his book that he

00:46:22.110 --> 00:46:24.489
wrote, he wrote a series of books beginning in

00:46:24.489 --> 00:46:26.489
1732, and he wrote one every year called Paul

00:46:26.489 --> 00:46:29.409
Richard's Almanac. He used to say, beware the

00:46:29.409 --> 00:46:33.030
little things, or the little expenditures, I

00:46:33.030 --> 00:46:34.170
think was the word he used, beware the little

00:46:34.170 --> 00:46:37.590
expenditures, because by small holes, boats sink.

00:46:38.489 --> 00:46:41.449
And so this is what they do. This creeps in,

00:46:41.469 --> 00:46:42.610
that creeps in. You spend a little money here,

00:46:42.630 --> 00:46:43.929
you spend a little money there, whatever. He

00:46:43.929 --> 00:46:47.429
also said a fat kitchen makes a poor estate.

00:46:49.090 --> 00:46:51.610
So you live well, and what do you got? Nothing.

00:46:52.530 --> 00:46:54.550
Right? You let little things creep in. And so

00:46:54.550 --> 00:46:56.650
we do that. And then we go, oh, man, I shouldn't

00:46:56.650 --> 00:46:59.250
have done that. Shoot. I shouldn't have spent

00:46:59.250 --> 00:47:02.349
that money. Doggone it. I did it again. I got

00:47:02.349 --> 00:47:04.250
a bill to pay off now. It's going to be years

00:47:04.250 --> 00:47:05.829
before I get rid of this thousands of dollars

00:47:05.829 --> 00:47:07.860
or whatever. Now I can't. I can't buy it. I'm

00:47:07.860 --> 00:47:09.400
having a hard time paying my rent or my groceries

00:47:09.400 --> 00:47:10.980
because I did that or whatever. That's what we

00:47:10.980 --> 00:47:15.739
do. And then, somehow or other, we rescue ourselves.

00:47:15.860 --> 00:47:18.380
God rescues us. Our family, our loved ones rescue

00:47:18.380 --> 00:47:21.840
us. Whatever. And then, about a month later,

00:47:22.019 --> 00:47:26.000
we do it again. We do the exact same thing again.

00:47:27.339 --> 00:47:30.179
We go, but I should be allowed to buy that. No,

00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:31.780
I think I can handle that. When we bought our

00:47:31.780 --> 00:47:33.300
house up in Michigan, which is our second house,

00:47:33.400 --> 00:47:36.440
we owned a house that had a $65 ,000, $75 ,000

00:47:36.440 --> 00:47:37.800
balance. We still had to pay off on the loan.

00:47:37.820 --> 00:47:39.739
We were paying $800 a month on it every month.

00:47:39.860 --> 00:47:42.219
And the loan officer convinced us, as a young

00:47:42.219 --> 00:47:44.260
couple, one working full -time, one not working,

00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:46.639
that we could afford to buy a house that would

00:47:46.639 --> 00:47:50.059
have a mortgage payment of $1 ,250 on it. Which

00:47:50.059 --> 00:47:52.639
meant we had a mortgage payment per month of

00:47:52.639 --> 00:47:57.369
over $2 ,000 a month. So that's $24 ,000 a year,

00:47:57.409 --> 00:47:59.469
which was fully half. I can do the math. It was

00:47:59.469 --> 00:48:01.710
fully half of what Sherry was making at the time.

00:48:02.110 --> 00:48:04.590
Nobody can afford to do that. But she convinced

00:48:04.590 --> 00:48:07.969
us, and we wanted to believe it. She played to

00:48:07.969 --> 00:48:09.969
ourself. We wanted to believe that we could do

00:48:09.969 --> 00:48:11.829
it. And so we bought what we could not afford.

00:48:12.030 --> 00:48:13.690
Afterwards, we went, oh, that was stupid. We've

00:48:13.690 --> 00:48:16.170
done that before. And then we went on to buy

00:48:16.170 --> 00:48:18.440
other things that we couldn't afford. So that

00:48:18.440 --> 00:48:20.179
after Sherry lost her job, Michigan went back,

00:48:20.300 --> 00:48:22.760
$29 ,000 worth of consumer debt, two houses going

00:48:22.760 --> 00:48:25.699
into foreclosure. The $29 ,000 became $89 ,000,

00:48:25.699 --> 00:48:27.880
one house sold right before it was supposed to

00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:29.360
go into foreclosure, the other one rented, and

00:48:29.360 --> 00:48:33.139
we moved into an apartment. Where we occasionally

00:48:33.139 --> 00:48:37.900
went, oh, we can afford that. Listen to me. If

00:48:37.900 --> 00:48:40.480
you have to say to yourself, we can afford that,

00:48:40.559 --> 00:48:42.820
you can't afford it. You're trying to convince

00:48:42.820 --> 00:48:46.159
yourself. Right? And that's what people do. And

00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:48.219
money is just an example. But there's lots of

00:48:48.219 --> 00:48:50.320
other things, right? I can eat another piece

00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:52.619
of cake today. I won't be fatter tomorrow. You

00:48:52.619 --> 00:48:54.300
won't. It doesn't act like that. You don't eat

00:48:54.300 --> 00:48:56.280
one extra piece of cake today and gain weight

00:48:56.280 --> 00:48:58.460
tomorrow. You eat one extra piece of cake today

00:48:58.460 --> 00:49:00.360
and then you eat another extra piece of cake

00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:02.199
tomorrow because it was good and nothing happened.

00:49:03.039 --> 00:49:06.480
Because you didn't deny yourself. Right? Your

00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:09.159
relationship. You say one mean thing to another

00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:12.639
person. Nothing happens. Or maybe, even worse,

00:49:12.780 --> 00:49:15.760
they do what you wanted them to do. And you go,

00:49:15.820 --> 00:49:19.420
oh, that worked. Try that again later. Because

00:49:19.420 --> 00:49:23.320
by a mighty ship, small holes will sink it. Right?

00:49:23.579 --> 00:49:26.820
The point is, what you should be doing is denying

00:49:26.820 --> 00:49:30.440
yourself taking up your cross and following after

00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:32.699
him. And what you're actually doing is playing

00:49:32.699 --> 00:49:38.980
with yourself. Right? That's what we're doing.

00:49:40.419 --> 00:49:43.119
So he crawls up and he goes, so I'm riding there.

00:49:43.380 --> 00:49:45.380
It's like as if Ariana was in the back seat.

00:49:45.460 --> 00:49:48.119
And she said, Dad, can I drive? I'm like, no,

00:49:48.119 --> 00:49:50.340
honey, you can't drive. I'm sorry. I'm the driver.

00:49:50.619 --> 00:49:53.199
I'm licensed. Dad, come on, let me drive. No,

00:49:53.420 --> 00:49:56.079
honey, you can't drive. Dad, I'm taking my seatbelt

00:49:56.079 --> 00:49:57.719
off. I'm going to drive. No, honey, you're not

00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:00.139
going to drive. Okay, fine, honey, you can drive

00:50:00.139 --> 00:50:03.579
for just a little bit. That's what we're doing.

00:50:05.539 --> 00:50:08.820
Self is not going away. Take up your cross daily.

00:50:09.159 --> 00:50:11.139
Self is not going away. Self is always going

00:50:11.139 --> 00:50:12.599
to be there. He's always going to be crawling

00:50:12.599 --> 00:50:14.480
up out of the trunk looking like a dead zombie

00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:16.400
that you beat half to death. He's always going

00:50:16.400 --> 00:50:17.900
to be there crawling up out of the back seat

00:50:17.900 --> 00:50:19.519
looking like a toddler who wants to steer the

00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:22.679
direction of your life. Right? Self is not going

00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:24.820
away. Take up your cross daily means it's not

00:50:24.820 --> 00:50:28.460
going away. And so then that's called suffering.

00:50:29.619 --> 00:50:34.360
And we suffer. I get it. We suffer. I'm not asking

00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:38.239
you to suffer. That's not my job. But I will

00:50:38.239 --> 00:50:40.000
tell you that in this context, at least, God

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.440
is asking me to suffer. Because that guy himself,

00:50:44.760 --> 00:50:49.760
he's that same dark guy, that same liar, that

00:50:49.760 --> 00:50:51.920
same thief, that same manipulator, that same

00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:54.260
drinker. He's that same guy. He's still back

00:50:54.260 --> 00:50:57.460
there in the trunk. And some, most days, I feel

00:50:57.460 --> 00:50:59.699
like I got him locked in the trunk. Some days,

00:50:59.739 --> 00:51:01.320
I feel like he's that zombie crawling up trying

00:51:01.320 --> 00:51:04.139
to grab hold of the wheel. And I'm here to say

00:51:04.139 --> 00:51:07.219
to you that... If he's coming up out of the trunk,

00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:10.659
you better get violent. So here's what people

00:51:10.659 --> 00:51:12.659
who are getting control of their money do. Again,

00:51:12.739 --> 00:51:15.960
an illustration. They don't spend it. It's like,

00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:17.159
I'm not going to do nothing with it. I won't

00:51:17.159 --> 00:51:19.599
touch the money. This works great if you're in

00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:21.219
a marriage and the other person is not a spender.

00:51:21.639 --> 00:51:25.980
Except, guess what? It's hard on not spenders

00:51:25.980 --> 00:51:29.340
to spend. Right? So in most relationships, there's

00:51:29.340 --> 00:51:30.539
somebody who's more a spender and somebody who's

00:51:30.539 --> 00:51:32.699
less a spender in the marriage relationships.

00:51:33.800 --> 00:51:36.530
And so when the not spender, has to spend all

00:51:36.530 --> 00:51:40.429
the money. You know what they call that? Suffering.

00:51:42.090 --> 00:51:45.090
So in order to ease your own suffering, you put

00:51:45.090 --> 00:51:49.750
all the suffering on other people. I'm just not

00:51:49.750 --> 00:51:52.349
going to do it. I'm just not going to go to church.

00:51:52.449 --> 00:51:54.449
I'm not going to hear the teaching. Or I'm not

00:51:54.449 --> 00:51:56.210
going to give. Or I'm not going to serve. I'm

00:51:56.210 --> 00:51:58.730
just not going to do it. Let them do it. Let

00:51:58.730 --> 00:52:01.829
them suffer. Let them carry the load. This is

00:52:01.829 --> 00:52:06.750
what Christianity has been. because 20 % of the

00:52:06.750 --> 00:52:08.590
people do 80 % of the work, and the reason 20

00:52:08.590 --> 00:52:10.269
% of the people do 80 % of the work is because

00:52:10.269 --> 00:52:12.090
the other 80 % of the people are putting the

00:52:12.090 --> 00:52:15.210
suffering off on the 20 % of the people. Do you

00:52:15.210 --> 00:52:17.769
think they want to do that? No, because they

00:52:17.769 --> 00:52:20.510
have a self, too. And their self is there, too.

00:52:21.190 --> 00:52:23.929
And in the middle of it, people who are, as Sherry

00:52:23.929 --> 00:52:26.889
said, trying to look perfect, okay? So, did I

00:52:26.889 --> 00:52:28.849
burst anybody's bubble by describing my spiritual

00:52:28.849 --> 00:52:30.929
warfare of Saturday afternoon of about 3 o 'clock?

00:52:31.110 --> 00:52:34.760
I hope not. But it's a reality. And if you're

00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:36.579
signing up with Jesus and thinking it's going

00:52:36.579 --> 00:52:38.619
to be peaches and cream all the way to fairyland,

00:52:38.800 --> 00:52:42.539
you will not get saved. Your soul will not be

00:52:42.539 --> 00:52:44.179
saved and you will go to hell and burn for an

00:52:44.179 --> 00:52:45.860
eternity if that's the heaven that you sign up

00:52:45.860 --> 00:52:48.920
for. Because Jesus said, this is how you get

00:52:48.920 --> 00:52:51.260
where you want to go. This is how you get what

00:52:51.260 --> 00:52:54.199
you want. This is how you do well. Deny self.

00:52:54.719 --> 00:52:56.940
Deny that self that would be the wrong self,

00:52:57.000 --> 00:52:58.380
if you want to say that, if you need to. But

00:52:58.380 --> 00:53:00.699
it's deny yourself, the self that you had, the

00:53:00.699 --> 00:53:03.469
one that you were. Deny yourself. Take up your

00:53:03.469 --> 00:53:06.550
cross daily and follow him. That's how you get

00:53:06.550 --> 00:53:07.889
there because he's going there and he'll take

00:53:07.889 --> 00:53:10.389
you there if you will follow him. And if you

00:53:10.389 --> 00:53:13.889
will not, you will not get there. So if you follow

00:53:13.889 --> 00:53:16.849
peaches and cream all the way to fairyland, you're

00:53:16.849 --> 00:53:18.730
going to get there and then suddenly there's

00:53:18.730 --> 00:53:19.929
going to be a click and the lights are all going

00:53:19.929 --> 00:53:20.849
to go off and they're all going to come back

00:53:20.849 --> 00:53:23.050
up and it's going to be fiery pits of nastiness

00:53:23.050 --> 00:53:27.289
is what's going to happen. Because that is not

00:53:27.289 --> 00:53:33.320
the heaven that Jesus placed. It's so much better

00:53:33.320 --> 00:53:39.139
than that. But this life, well, here's the problem.

00:53:39.539 --> 00:53:42.099
And we're moving on to the second point. And

00:53:42.099 --> 00:53:45.900
they'll go faster. So hang on. This whole thing

00:53:45.900 --> 00:53:49.320
sounds like a self -denial gospel. And that makes

00:53:49.320 --> 00:53:52.880
it a very unpopular message in a you -don't -have

00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:56.639
-to -deny -yourself world. So I have offended

00:53:56.639 --> 00:53:59.559
some of you just with the kinds of things that

00:53:59.559 --> 00:54:02.429
I have said today. There's been that self that's

00:54:02.429 --> 00:54:04.269
in you that's going, I don't like it. You say

00:54:04.269 --> 00:54:06.710
it like that. I don't like to hear it. Don't

00:54:06.710 --> 00:54:12.630
talk about hell so flippantly. When I am in Christ,

00:54:12.750 --> 00:54:15.389
I can talk about hell like it's nowhere and it's

00:54:15.389 --> 00:54:17.250
nothing because it's nowhere and nothing I'm

00:54:17.250 --> 00:54:24.610
going to ever be or see. Hell is nothing. When

00:54:24.610 --> 00:54:27.269
I'm in Christ, I can talk about going there as

00:54:27.269 --> 00:54:29.800
a joke because I ain't going there. And ain't

00:54:29.800 --> 00:54:31.360
nobody going there that listens to the gospel

00:54:31.360 --> 00:54:33.059
that Jesus preached, that believes in Jesus,

00:54:33.139 --> 00:54:34.800
that follows Jesus. Nobody's going there. So

00:54:34.800 --> 00:54:37.019
if you're going there, that's your own stupidity.

00:54:37.539 --> 00:54:41.659
But I know you want to do well. So maybe you

00:54:41.659 --> 00:54:44.760
want to rethink whether you should deny yourself,

00:54:44.900 --> 00:54:46.840
take up your cross daily, and follow after Him.

00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:51.320
Okay, so it sounds like a self -denial gospel.

00:54:53.239 --> 00:54:57.460
But wait. It's exactly the opposite. It's not

00:54:57.460 --> 00:55:03.849
a self -denial gospel. Is it? Deny yourself isn't

00:55:03.849 --> 00:55:06.670
about denying yourself, is it? It's not about

00:55:06.670 --> 00:55:09.269
that at all. Because born again in Christ, you

00:55:09.269 --> 00:55:12.070
get a new self. And that's the self you take

00:55:12.070 --> 00:55:16.869
care of. Ben Franklin also wrote in Poor Richard's

00:55:16.869 --> 00:55:21.349
Almanac, a penny saved is a penny earned. Is

00:55:21.349 --> 00:55:23.610
there anybody here who understands the old adage,

00:55:23.610 --> 00:55:26.210
a penny saved is a penny earned? And could explain

00:55:26.210 --> 00:55:28.280
it to the rest of us? What does a penny saved

00:55:28.280 --> 00:55:33.019
is a penny earned mean? We say it all the time,

00:55:33.039 --> 00:55:36.420
don't we? Go ahead. What does it mean? You put

00:55:36.420 --> 00:55:38.679
money out like that, right? And you don't spend

00:55:38.679 --> 00:55:41.920
it, right? Yeah. When you do need it, and it's

00:55:41.920 --> 00:55:44.360
really something that is necessary to have in

00:55:44.360 --> 00:55:46.719
your life, it's there. And that is a process

00:55:46.719 --> 00:55:49.599
of denying yourself, so it's earned. You actually

00:55:49.599 --> 00:55:51.460
have to earn that. There you go. It's a work

00:55:51.460 --> 00:55:53.380
that's done so that it'll be there so it can

00:55:53.380 --> 00:55:56.110
actually be used, right? I think he also said

00:55:56.110 --> 00:55:58.389
something like, what did he say? Wait, I think

00:55:58.389 --> 00:55:59.630
in my head, wait, I got this one written down.

00:55:59.690 --> 00:56:02.409
It says, the honest man takes pains and then

00:56:02.409 --> 00:56:05.090
enjoys pleasures. The knave, that means the fool

00:56:05.090 --> 00:56:07.730
or the unwise man, takes pleasures and then suffers

00:56:07.730 --> 00:56:12.670
pains. You get it? A penny saved is a penny earned.

00:56:13.550 --> 00:56:14.969
The question is, do you want a penny or not?

00:56:15.929 --> 00:56:17.369
If you never save a penny, you'll never have

00:56:17.369 --> 00:56:20.309
a penny. Not for any length of time. You follow?

00:56:21.369 --> 00:56:24.599
So that's what this is about. Denying the old

00:56:24.599 --> 00:56:26.840
self is about... Okay, let's say it this way.

00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:29.239
Beating back the zombie that's crawling up out

00:56:29.239 --> 00:56:31.179
of the trunk to take control of your car is about

00:56:31.179 --> 00:56:34.900
not crashing your car. Do you want to crash your

00:56:34.900 --> 00:56:38.820
car? Not having to look back anymore and say,

00:56:38.880 --> 00:56:43.599
oh my goodness, I did it again. It means you're

00:56:43.599 --> 00:56:48.360
going to have to get brutal. No mercy. No mercy

00:56:48.360 --> 00:56:53.929
to the self that once was me. And all... Compassion

00:56:53.929 --> 00:56:57.010
and growth and love to the self that now is me.

00:56:57.369 --> 00:57:02.510
I want to be following Jesus. I don't want to

00:57:02.510 --> 00:57:07.349
be who I used to be and get violent if necessary.

00:57:08.650 --> 00:57:13.130
So, oh wait, I guess it's a self -choice gospel,

00:57:13.329 --> 00:57:16.869
isn't it? You're going to choose who you're going

00:57:16.869 --> 00:57:20.130
to be. Oh, that very thing that the world promises

00:57:20.130 --> 00:57:22.579
but can never deliver. You can choose who you

00:57:22.579 --> 00:57:27.280
want to be. Is exactly what Jesus offers. Oh,

00:57:27.420 --> 00:57:30.239
now isn't that coincidental that the world teaches

00:57:30.239 --> 00:57:32.739
a message that sounds so much like the gospel.

00:57:33.880 --> 00:57:36.440
And so many people are following it, believing

00:57:36.440 --> 00:57:38.360
they can be whatever they want to be if they'll

00:57:38.360 --> 00:57:41.219
just buy this, do that, follow this person, subscribe,

00:57:41.440 --> 00:57:47.960
click here. And they never get there. Because

00:57:47.960 --> 00:57:51.949
the world is spouting a message just like Jesus.

00:57:53.710 --> 00:57:55.610
And then even there's those religions, false

00:57:55.610 --> 00:57:57.869
religions, right? That actually spout a self

00:57:57.869 --> 00:58:00.530
-denial way of living. So if you'll follow these

00:58:00.530 --> 00:58:03.050
ten steps, these four -fold laws, if you'll do

00:58:03.050 --> 00:58:06.489
this and deny yourself, beat your flesh, fast

00:58:06.489 --> 00:58:08.570
seven days a week, you know, whatever. If you'll

00:58:08.570 --> 00:58:11.170
do all of these things, then you can have what

00:58:11.170 --> 00:58:14.809
you want in the end. So they've twisted the gospel.

00:58:16.170 --> 00:58:18.869
And then when you talk about... The first one,

00:58:18.909 --> 00:58:19.949
when they talk about the world, they say, well,

00:58:19.969 --> 00:58:21.949
you're Jesus. He's a self -denial Jesus. You

00:58:21.949 --> 00:58:23.269
have to deny yourself. Well, yes, you have to

00:58:23.269 --> 00:58:25.190
deny yourself. You're old self. You're no good

00:58:25.190 --> 00:58:27.809
self, right? And embrace your new self, your

00:58:27.809 --> 00:58:30.929
born -again self. And then they're always to

00:58:30.929 --> 00:58:32.929
say, well, those Christians, man, they got it

00:58:32.929 --> 00:58:35.150
easy. Your religion is too easy because everything

00:58:35.150 --> 00:58:37.210
is fair game now. You can do anything you want.

00:58:37.250 --> 00:58:39.230
And that's what Paul said, right? All things

00:58:39.230 --> 00:58:42.889
are available to me. I can do anything I want.

00:58:43.610 --> 00:58:48.380
But not all things are profitable to me. I submit

00:58:48.380 --> 00:58:49.800
to you that all the things that are not profitable

00:58:49.800 --> 00:58:52.139
to me that I want to be now are the things that

00:58:52.139 --> 00:58:57.000
the old self sees as profitable. Beat him back

00:58:57.000 --> 00:59:01.239
into the trunk. Sounds like a self -denial gospel,

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:03.219
but it's actually the opposite. Third point.

00:59:04.440 --> 00:59:07.079
Jesus wasn't denying himself when he went to

00:59:07.079 --> 00:59:10.840
the cross. Okay, so you know the story, maybe,

00:59:10.960 --> 00:59:12.019
and if you don't, I'm going to tell it to you,

00:59:12.099 --> 00:59:14.579
of the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before

00:59:14.579 --> 00:59:17.360
Jesus was crucified. He went into the garden

00:59:17.360 --> 00:59:20.179
and he begged God. He said, God, please, if there's

00:59:20.179 --> 00:59:22.420
some other way, please, I don't want to be crucified.

00:59:22.559 --> 00:59:25.800
And he prayed so hard and he pled so hard that

00:59:25.800 --> 00:59:28.539
he sweat and then some of his sweat glands burst

00:59:28.539 --> 00:59:31.300
and he sweat blood, which is a thing called hermaphrodosis.

00:59:31.320 --> 00:59:33.079
Doctors know that it really does happen for people

00:59:33.079 --> 00:59:35.239
under immense duress. It happens sometimes in

00:59:35.239 --> 00:59:38.559
torture and things like that. So then it opens

00:59:38.559 --> 00:59:40.179
up your pores. So then when he was whipped the

00:59:40.179 --> 00:59:42.840
next day, he was whipped and it hurt him worse

00:59:42.840 --> 00:59:44.880
than it would normally hurt another person. And

00:59:44.880 --> 00:59:47.719
his cord were ripped wide open and his bone and

00:59:47.719 --> 00:59:51.159
sinew showed through the skin of his back. So

00:59:51.159 --> 00:59:53.219
you can imagine him praying, Lord, if there be

00:59:53.219 --> 00:59:55.239
some other way, let's do it any other way. You

00:59:55.239 --> 00:59:56.440
can imagine him praying that because he knew

00:59:56.440 --> 00:59:59.320
exactly what it was going to entail. And people

00:59:59.320 --> 01:00:02.880
say, when he says, but Father, your will, not

01:00:02.880 --> 01:00:07.179
my will be done, that he was denying himself.

01:00:07.300 --> 01:00:09.840
He was denying himself and submitting himself

01:00:09.840 --> 01:00:14.340
to God's will. But wait a minute. What did Jesus

01:00:14.340 --> 01:00:18.340
say about what he did in life? He said, I only

01:00:18.340 --> 01:00:23.519
do what I see the Father doing. Jesus' will was

01:00:23.519 --> 01:00:28.800
the Father's will. When Jesus says, your will,

01:00:28.860 --> 01:00:33.000
not my will, be done. He's not denying himself.

01:00:33.219 --> 01:00:34.760
He doesn't need to deny himself because there's

01:00:34.760 --> 01:00:36.780
only one self and it's fully aligned. He doesn't

01:00:36.780 --> 01:00:39.739
have two selves like you or I do. When Jesus

01:00:39.739 --> 01:00:43.019
goes to the cross and dies, he's denying. Ourself.

01:00:47.219 --> 01:00:52.519
For if he died for us, by substitution, we all

01:00:52.519 --> 01:00:56.239
died. And now we live, 2 Corinthians 5 says,

01:00:56.300 --> 01:01:01.539
not for ourselves, but for Jesus who lives in

01:01:01.539 --> 01:01:07.719
us. Our second self. Our new self. Our born again

01:01:07.719 --> 01:01:14.079
self. That's nothing less than God. himself,

01:01:14.079 --> 01:01:21.280
in ourself. And so when that old you, when that

01:01:21.280 --> 01:01:23.320
part of you that's not been fully turned over

01:01:23.320 --> 01:01:26.300
to God yet, says, oh, don't, you know, just spend

01:01:26.300 --> 01:01:28.820
it. Don't use it for God's glory. Don't give

01:01:28.820 --> 01:01:31.900
it. Or, oh, just waste your time with this or

01:01:31.900 --> 01:01:33.079
that or the other thing rather than going to

01:01:33.079 --> 01:01:34.820
find a way to serve or tell somebody about Jesus.

01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:36.579
Oh, don't bother mentioning the name of Jesus.

01:01:36.639 --> 01:01:38.559
It's clear they won't want to hear it. When you

01:01:38.559 --> 01:01:40.320
hear those things and your old self is saying

01:01:40.320 --> 01:01:42.909
that, That's nothing less than your old self

01:01:42.909 --> 01:01:46.829
fighting its oldest enemy, who is God himself

01:01:46.829 --> 01:01:50.989
in you. Now you tell me, if God is in you and

01:01:50.989 --> 01:01:53.010
your old self is in you, who's going to win?

01:01:55.409 --> 01:01:59.969
God. And if God is going to win, then why are

01:01:59.969 --> 01:02:03.050
you still listening to your old self? Why are

01:02:03.050 --> 01:02:04.750
you still doing the things that your old self

01:02:04.750 --> 01:02:07.409
wants you to do? Why do you even engage in those

01:02:07.409 --> 01:02:09.880
conversations? Why don't you just say, shut up

01:02:09.880 --> 01:02:13.199
old self, get back in the trunk. And just do

01:02:13.199 --> 01:02:15.320
what it is you're supposed to do. I'll tell you

01:02:15.320 --> 01:02:17.559
why. Because there are a lot of other voices

01:02:17.559 --> 01:02:25.280
too. Other old selves. Voices that are directed

01:02:25.280 --> 01:02:28.119
at your ears to speak not to you, not to the

01:02:28.119 --> 01:02:30.000
Jesus in you, not to the Holy Spirit in you,

01:02:30.019 --> 01:02:32.659
not to the new self, but to the old self. To

01:02:32.659 --> 01:02:35.719
elicit from you the old self. To bring the old

01:02:35.719 --> 01:02:40.780
self back up. That's why it says focus on all

01:02:40.780 --> 01:02:43.300
things pure. Because when you focus on all things

01:02:43.300 --> 01:02:47.519
pure, those things boost up the Jesus self in

01:02:47.519 --> 01:02:52.159
you and help you to deny the old self. So you

01:02:52.159 --> 01:02:56.619
want to do well. I want to do well. The question

01:02:56.619 --> 01:03:00.739
is to do well or not. Let me say that again.

01:03:00.800 --> 01:03:04.099
So you want to do well? I want to do well. The

01:03:04.099 --> 01:03:07.360
question is to do well or not. And the answer

01:03:07.360 --> 01:03:14.639
is Which self are you going to choose? If you

01:03:14.639 --> 01:03:17.639
choose the new self, if you embrace the one who

01:03:17.639 --> 01:03:20.920
was born again in you, and you learn, and how

01:03:20.920 --> 01:03:23.360
do you learn? You learn mostly, primarily through

01:03:23.360 --> 01:03:26.780
Scripture. There's one verse I want to read by

01:03:26.780 --> 01:03:28.199
way of conclusion, and then we'll be through.

01:03:28.960 --> 01:03:32.739
It's from James, the book of James. And it's

01:03:32.739 --> 01:03:36.579
in chapter 1. And when I read this, in light

01:03:36.579 --> 01:03:38.980
of this sermon, I want to say to you that something

01:03:38.980 --> 01:03:40.880
that I thought this verse meant, it doesn't even

01:03:40.880 --> 01:03:42.699
mean. And I'm going to show it to you right now.

01:03:44.300 --> 01:03:49.000
I've been operating falsely quite a while. Kind

01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:50.780
of working against myself. I'll read from 23.

01:03:56.579 --> 01:03:59.420
You've heard this before, maybe some of you.

01:03:59.440 --> 01:04:03.449
Some of you haven't. It's okay. If anyone is

01:04:03.449 --> 01:04:05.989
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like

01:04:05.989 --> 01:04:08.309
a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.

01:04:08.969 --> 01:04:11.369
For once he has looked at himself and gone away,

01:04:11.590 --> 01:04:14.269
he has immediately forgotten what kind of person

01:04:14.269 --> 01:04:16.809
he was. Now I've quoted this verse probably,

01:04:16.909 --> 01:04:20.469
I don't know, 25 times in the last 20 years or

01:04:20.469 --> 01:04:22.730
so. And this is how I quoted it. He is like a

01:04:22.730 --> 01:04:26.250
man who looked in a mirror and walked away and

01:04:26.250 --> 01:04:30.250
forgot what he looked like. Anybody ever quote

01:04:30.250 --> 01:04:33.190
it that way? Or think it said that? But is that

01:04:33.190 --> 01:04:36.389
what it says? It is not. It actually says, let

01:04:36.389 --> 01:04:37.909
me read it again, pay close attention to the

01:04:37.909 --> 01:04:40.269
ending. For once he has looked at himself and

01:04:40.269 --> 01:04:42.690
gone away, he has immediately forgotten what

01:04:42.690 --> 01:04:45.710
kind of person he was. Has anybody here ever

01:04:45.710 --> 01:04:48.309
looked in a mirror? Do you see in a mirror what

01:04:48.309 --> 01:04:52.869
kind of person you are? Do you see whether you

01:04:52.869 --> 01:04:54.670
helped a lady with her groceries or whether you

01:04:54.670 --> 01:04:56.909
gave? No, you don't see in a mirror what kind

01:04:56.909 --> 01:04:59.570
of person you are. See, a person who learns from

01:04:59.570 --> 01:05:01.489
the Word of God what it says and then doesn't

01:05:01.489 --> 01:05:03.730
do what it says is like this. A man who goes

01:05:03.730 --> 01:05:05.829
and looks in the mirror, right? You check, oh,

01:05:05.849 --> 01:05:09.610
my fly's zipped. My hair's straight. Tie's not

01:05:09.610 --> 01:05:11.909
on crooked. Usually I have to fix all three of

01:05:11.909 --> 01:05:12.969
those things in the mirror. That's how I know

01:05:12.969 --> 01:05:15.769
personal experience. And then you walk away and

01:05:15.769 --> 01:05:22.690
go, I have no idea what kind of man I am. Because

01:05:22.690 --> 01:05:23.869
the mirror doesn't show you what kind of man

01:05:23.869 --> 01:05:25.710
you are. It just shows you what you look like.

01:05:27.139 --> 01:05:29.340
So when you go to the Bible, when you come to

01:05:29.340 --> 01:05:33.539
the sermon, does the sermon show you what you

01:05:33.539 --> 01:05:37.820
look like? Does the Word show you what you look

01:05:37.820 --> 01:05:40.960
like on the outside? Anywhere in this book will

01:05:40.960 --> 01:05:42.340
tell you what kind of hat you're wearing today?

01:05:43.760 --> 01:05:47.019
No. But it will tell you what kind of person

01:05:47.019 --> 01:05:49.659
you are. And Jesus will tell you what kind of

01:05:49.659 --> 01:05:52.280
person you are. And if you've not begun to deny

01:05:52.280 --> 01:05:54.119
yourself and take up your cross daily and follow

01:05:54.119 --> 01:05:55.380
after Him, I'll tell you what kind of person

01:05:55.380 --> 01:05:59.409
you are. You're not a Christian. You're not a

01:05:59.409 --> 01:06:02.250
follower of Christ. You're not on your way to

01:06:02.250 --> 01:06:05.969
heaven. We read the verses. You heard it. Just

01:06:05.969 --> 01:06:08.670
exactly how extreme, how important is it that

01:06:08.670 --> 01:06:10.329
you deny yourself, take up your cross daily and

01:06:10.329 --> 01:06:13.869
follow after Him? So much so that if it was your

01:06:13.869 --> 01:06:15.710
arm keeping you out, you'd cut your hand off.

01:06:16.469 --> 01:06:18.150
If it was your eye keeping you out, you'd pluck

01:06:18.150 --> 01:06:20.570
your eye out. Fortunately, it's none of those

01:06:20.570 --> 01:06:23.929
things. It's your choice of which self you're

01:06:23.929 --> 01:06:26.119
following. Of which self you're embracing. Of

01:06:26.119 --> 01:06:27.619
which self you're growing. Of which self you

01:06:27.619 --> 01:06:32.880
want to be. So choose. Who do you say he is?

01:06:35.760 --> 01:06:38.460
And then deny yourself. And take up your cross

01:06:38.460 --> 01:06:42.159
daily. And follow after him. And yes, it will

01:06:42.159 --> 01:06:44.539
be suffering. But the good news is, at the end

01:06:44.539 --> 01:06:47.400
of the road, after all is done and said, the

01:06:47.400 --> 01:06:50.500
sighing, the sorrow of the highway of holiness

01:06:50.500 --> 01:06:53.349
comes to an end. And there, even if there should

01:06:53.349 --> 01:06:57.250
be a reason to cry, God himself will wipe your

01:06:57.250 --> 01:07:00.989
tears. There is heaven. And in the meantime,

01:07:01.130 --> 01:07:03.510
there is abundant life and power. But it ain't

01:07:03.510 --> 01:07:05.130
in that zombie old self that keeps trying to

01:07:05.130 --> 01:07:07.409
crawl out of the trunk. It's in the new self

01:07:07.409 --> 01:07:14.090
that's you afire with the glory of God. When

01:07:14.090 --> 01:07:16.050
I got up today, my last illustration, when I

01:07:16.050 --> 01:07:17.869
got up today for the inspirational moment time,

01:07:18.030 --> 01:07:20.369
we didn't put up a slide that said the inspirational

01:07:20.369 --> 01:07:25.250
moment. And I didn't say, as I often say, this

01:07:25.250 --> 01:07:27.889
is that time at which if you have something you

01:07:27.889 --> 01:07:30.530
want to share, I didn't announce it. I didn't

01:07:30.530 --> 01:07:33.489
ask you to speak on behalf of God. But there's

01:07:33.489 --> 01:07:35.289
only roughly two people in this room who might

01:07:35.289 --> 01:07:40.710
not have known what that time was for. And Sherry

01:07:40.710 --> 01:07:44.349
spoke up. And she spoke about transparency and

01:07:44.349 --> 01:07:49.510
honesty in Christ. She was planning on doing

01:07:49.510 --> 01:07:53.000
that. The question is, Why didn't anybody else

01:07:53.000 --> 01:07:59.300
speak up? Because our self was too busy this

01:07:59.300 --> 01:08:03.619
week to study our Bibles? Because our self was

01:08:03.619 --> 01:08:05.519
too complicated this week to think about what

01:08:05.519 --> 01:08:08.260
God might be doing in our lives? Because our

01:08:08.260 --> 01:08:10.199
self was too concerned about our self and not

01:08:10.199 --> 01:08:11.860
concerned about somebody else in the room who

01:08:11.860 --> 01:08:15.820
might be dying and going to hell? Because our

01:08:15.820 --> 01:08:18.460
self... Just wanted that time to pass so we could

01:08:18.460 --> 01:08:20.119
get on to the next worship song so we could sing

01:08:20.119 --> 01:08:21.939
nice and bold and loud for Jesus. Oh, but wait,

01:08:21.960 --> 01:08:23.920
our self didn't really want to sing in many cases.

01:08:28.539 --> 01:08:31.819
Don't embrace yourself. If you go after that

01:08:31.819 --> 01:08:36.579
self, in the end you will lose your life. Go

01:08:36.579 --> 01:08:38.720
after the self that Jesus gives as a free gift

01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:42.060
to those who have their sins cleansed and the

01:08:42.060 --> 01:08:43.560
Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence and

01:08:43.560 --> 01:08:47.279
you will live with Him. Thank you for listening,

01:08:47.359 --> 01:08:49.779
and I hope you're reaching new heights in Jesus

01:08:49.779 --> 01:08:52.520
today. This has been an episode of New Heights

01:08:52.520 --> 01:08:54.739
Fellowship Baptist Church in East Toledo. We're

01:08:54.739 --> 01:08:58.279
located at 255 Hefner in Toledo, Ohio, 43605.

01:08:58.920 --> 01:09:00.979
If you need more information about the church,

01:09:00.979 --> 01:09:03.119
our ministries, or the other ministries of Pastor

01:09:03.119 --> 01:09:07.239
Daniel Stevenson, please go to churchtoledo .com.

01:09:07.260 --> 01:09:09.699
We're also on Facebook at New Heights Toledo,

01:09:09.760 --> 01:09:12.970
and we'd love to hear from you. If you'd like

01:09:12.970 --> 01:09:14.869
to give to the ministry, you can do so via the

01:09:14.869 --> 01:09:19.329
website or by texting G -I -V -E to 419 -419

01:09:19.329 --> 01:09:22.810
-0095. That's the word give, and the phone number

01:09:22.810 --> 01:09:26.270
is 419 -419 -0095. You'll be able to set up your

01:09:26.270 --> 01:09:28.850
debit or credit card for an individual or recurring

01:09:28.850 --> 01:09:31.949
donation. We appreciate all that you do and all

01:09:31.949 --> 01:09:35.630
the support that we get as we try to help Toledoans

01:09:35.630 --> 01:09:38.170
find Jesus Christ and reach new heights in Jesus.

01:09:38.449 --> 01:09:39.550
God bless you today.