It's good that we can be together this morning.
I've been so thankful to be able to be here with
my family over the last week. This meeting has
been a tremendous blessing to us. I hope that
this meeting has been a blessing to you. You
know, a lot of the times the speaker gets a lot
of the attention during a meeting, and it's easy
for people to see the work that he's done to
prepare and deliver his messages, but... There's
a whole lot of people that work and put forth
a lot of effort to make a gospel meeting a success
and I just I'm thankful for everyone everyone
coming together working behind the scenes doing
all the things That have helped to make this
gospel meeting a success in my mind So thank
you so much for your collective effort this week
Thank you for being here this morning. If you
consider yourself a visitor, we're especially
happy that you're here We hope you find us worshiping
God in a manner that's acceptable and in line
with the teachings of the Bible. And we hope
that our message this morning is uplifting to
you and informative to you. We're going to continue
today as we finish this series of lessons about
restoring New Testament Christianity. Our focus
has been this week on going back to the Bible
to find our faith, to find our doctrine, and
to find our practice. We've talked a lot about
a lot of doctrinal things over the course of
this meeting and this morning we're going to
turn our focus onto how we should hold these
Bible -based convictions in a Christ -like manner.
You know, I think it's important that we do from
time to time go back to the Word of God and study
the doctrine that it gives us and study the practices
of the New Testament Church. I think it's important
we search the scriptures to make sure our faith
looks like just like that of New Testament Christians.
And we feed on the Word of God. We bring it into
our heart and mind so we can develop strong Bible
-based convictions that we can know the truth
and be willing to teach that truth with others.
But there's something that we need to be aware
of when it comes to having Bible -based doctrinal
convictions. How are we going to hold those convictions?
What kind of heart, mind, and attitude do we
need to have toward the things that we've studied
this week? You know, I think it goes without
saying we all want to be right before God and
it should be important for us all to stand in
a Manner that's pleasing and acceptable and right
before God and at the same time We also want
others to be right with God. Also, we want our
family We want our friends our neighbors our
schoolmates our co -workers. We want all the
people around us also to be right with God But
what do we do? What do we do when we find ourselves
in a position where we are convinced from the
scriptures that we are right, but we have someone
close to us that is wrong? What if they don't
know the truth? What if they don't understand
the scriptures? What if they've been taught and
they believed doctrinal error? What do we do
then? What should be our response? What should
be our reaction? There's a couple different things
that we could do when we find ourselves in this
situation on one hand We could have that this
attitude right here the attitude that says you
know what I really hate to do it But I'm gonna
have to straighten this person out I'm gonna
have to tell them how the cow ate the cabbage
I'm gonna have to show them and tell them how
wrong they are and I'm gonna make sure that they
understand it very clearly I really hate to do
it, but you know, I'm gonna have to straighten
all the people out around me who don't know the
truth. I've got the truth and these people don't,
but if I can have my way with them and get my
hands on them, I'll make sure that they come
to know the truth one way or another. Now, I
sure hope I didn't look like that guy right there
this week through the course of the meeting,
right? I don't think this is necessarily the
right attitude or the right heart we ought to
have toward people. When we feel like we're right
and people around us are wrong, this is not the
right way to respond. Now, I don't want you to
misunderstand me. It is important that we do
what we can to try to convert the sinner from
the error of his way. The Bible teaches us that
in James chapter 5 verse 19 to 20. It says, Brethren,
if any do err from the truth, if someone has
erred from the truth, It says, And one convert
him, let him know that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a
soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins. So it is important that we care. We should
care enough about people around us if they're
wrong if they're an error We should care enough
about them to try to help them and to try to
convert them The Bible says when we do that when
we convert the airing brother It says we save
his soul and we hide a multitude of sins But
the way that we go about trying to help them
see their error and trying to convert them makes
all the difference doesn't it? If our approach
is 100 % truth and little to no grace, patience,
mercy, or love, I don't know that we're holding
our convictions in a Christ -like manner. If
this is what we look like, pointing the finger,
condemning everyone around us, you know, sometimes
it feels good. If we were to be honest, you know,
sometimes we might thrive on the opportunity.
to show someone how right we are and how wrong
they are, you know, to put them down and push
us up. And we got to fight and battle back against
that temptation, to feel that way, to act that
way, and to teach people with that kind of heart
and that kind of mindset. So what are we going
to do? If that's not the right response, if that's
not holding our convictions in a Christ -like
manner, what am I gonna do when I'm right and
the people around me are wrong? Well, you'll
notice there the sign on the screen. We tried
going left and it didn't work. Let's try going
right. There's another way to respond. And it's
the response that says, you know what? We just
really don't need to worry about who's right
and who's wrong. All we just need to do is just
love one another. Just love one another The idea
that says it did don't matter if you're right
or you're wrong, you know, you have your opinion.
I have my opinion I have my interpretation. You
have your interpretation. It really doesn't matter
We just need to get the focus off who's right
and wrong and we just need to love one another
Now this sounds really good. This sounds really
good You know a lot of people in the religious
world would tell us this is the way that we need
to be And it's really easy to take this approach.
All you got to do is just go to the internet
and find some image or meme that says we just
need to love one another and you can, you know,
upload that to social media and you can advance
this idea that we just don't need to focus on
who's right or wrong, just love one another.
As good as that sounds, I don't think that's
the right response. Don't believe that this is
the right response, you know, we see in first
Peter chapter 4 verse 8 That love is important
We should love one another fervently. We should
show brotherly love one to another First Peter
4 8 says above all above all things have fervent
charity That's love among yourselves for charity
shall cover the multitude of sins The Bible says
showing grace love and charity covers a multitude
of sins You know we also read there in James
5 19 to 20 that when we convert the airing brother
we hide a multitude of sins. You know we got
a verse that says we need to tell people the
truth and try to convert them and that hides
a multitude of sins and then we got another verse
that says we need to love one another and that
too is involved in helping hide and cover a multitude
of sins. But at the same time this idea that
it's all a hundred percent grace Just love one
another, have good feelings toward each other,
and just don't focus on what's right and what's
true and what the Bible teaches. A hundred percent
grace and no truth. This too is not the right
response. This is not how we should respond when
we feel like we're right and the people around
us are wrong. So what do we do we're back to
where we started right we tried going right that
didn't work We tried going left that didn't work.
What are we gonna do? Did you notice I changed
the sign I introduced a new sign on the screen
I Introduced a sign with three arrows There's
another approach there's another answer to this
situation let me tell you what we do need to
do we need to look to Jesus We need to look to
Jesus. I want you to stop for a moment. I want
you to think about Jesus. When Jesus came to
this world, He was the incarnate, the living
and only begotten Son of God. He was God in the
flesh. He had all power. He had all understanding.
He knew everything. He could do anything. If
there was anyone who could stand up and say that
they were right It would certainly have been
Jesus in fact Jesus was right Every hour of the
day Every day of the week every day of the year
Jesus was always right and you think about the
type of people that Jesus interacted with on
a daily basis It was easy for him to see how
wrong they were Jesus was surrounded by wrong
people Every day, all day long. I wonder how
Jesus felt being the rightest man in the room
on all occasions. In every occasion, no matter
who he found himself with, Jesus was always the
rightest man in the room. And he could always
find something wrong with the people around him.
And so how did Jesus respond to that? How did
he respond? Let's look at John chapter 1 verse
14. John 1 and 14 talks about Jesus being the
Word, the Word that was made flesh, the Word
that dwelt among us, John says. And John says
we beheld His glory, the glory of the Word, the
glory of Jesus coming in the flesh. It was the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
And when this Word was made flesh in the form
of Jesus, notice it says He was full of grace
and truth. The truth that I want you to take
away from John 1 -14 is that when Jesus came,
He was full. He was full of both grace and He
was full of truth. What's that look like? That
looks like this. A hundred percent grace and
a hundred percent truth. Now you know what? I
don't think I've ever managed at any moment in
my life To be like Jesus in this way I don't
know that I've ever found the right balance between
a hundred percent grace and a hundred percent
truth if I'm going to be honest with you You
know, there are times that I'm probably too much
truth to the expense of grace Or I'm too much
grace at the expense of truth Maybe times I'm
too hard and heavy -handed with people. They
got to know the truth I got to tell them the
truth, but in the process I sacrifice maybe mercy
patience and grace When I get to feeling bad
and you know next time I'll show more mercy grace
and patience than maybe I should maybe at the
at the expense of watering down or not sharing
the whole truth like I should and I'm always
striving to find the right balance in that and
I to be honest I don't know that I ever find
it but Jesus did Jesus didn't have any problem
with that wasn't hard for him because when he
came to this world he was a hundred percent grace
he was a hundred percent truth and we see that
illustrated very well in the story that brother
David read to us from John chapter 8 this morning
John chapter 8 verse 3 to 11 remember they brought
that woman taken in adultery and they brought
him to Jesus and they said Jesus we caught this
woman in the act of adultery well what do you
think that we should do for her the law says
stoner and the law of Moses did say that the
Word of God said that the punishment for adultery
was public execution by stoning Word of God was
very clear about that. That was in God's law.
And so they bring this woman to Jesus and they
say Jesus What do you think we ought to do to
this woman now? They didn't really care about
this woman. They were using her as a pawn Right
in their scheme to try To trip Jesus up and turn
the people against him in their mind. They were
thinking this You know, we're gonna put this
woman before Jesus and say the you know, the
law says stoner What do you want to do Jesus?
If Jesus were to respond by saying, okay, that's
fine. Just go stoner What was their response
gonna be their response was gonna be why Jesus
that's awful unmerciful of you Can't you show
this woman a little grace? Can't you show her
a little love compassion and mercy? So they thought
they would have him, you know, if if he responded
well, just go ahead and stoner They they say
you don't have enough grace and mercy Lord But
you know if Jesus was to say You know, don't
worry about it. Don't stone her. Just show her
a little grace and mercy. You know what they
were going to say then. They were going to turn
around and say, well, Jesus, you don't believe
the Word of God. The law says we must stone her.
And you're not honoring, you're not being true
to the scriptures. You see, they thought they
were going to catch him either way he responded
to this situation. But Jesus was so much smarter
than they were, right? He's seen this coming
from a mile away. How did Jesus handle this?
Bible says he stooped down on the ground and
began writing in the ground. We don't know what
he he wrote We could only speculate and I'm not
interested in speculating about it It'd just
be my opinion if if I told you what I thought
he wrote But I do know this his audience the
people who were standing there watched him right
on the ground And he stood up and he said we
can stone this woman We can certainly do that.
He said but I want the the person who is without
sin to be the first one to cast a stone at her.
And then he stooped back on the ground and continued
to write. And what happened? The Bible says that
those who were gathered there to accuse and condemn
this woman one by one, they walked away until
it was only Jesus and this woman. And Jesus stood
up and looked around. He said, woman, where are
those people who brought you to me to condemn
you to death for this sin? They they're gone.
They're not here. They're gone Lord and Jesus
said neither do I condemn you neither do I condemn
you He said go and Sin no more now I want you
to consider what Jesus did here. I think Jesus
demonstrated the perfect balance of being full
of grace full of truth. He was full of grace
in the sense that he said neither do I condemn
thee. Now don't misunderstand what Jesus said.
Jesus wasn't saying that this woman's sin wasn't
serious, that it wasn't terrible, that it wasn't
wrong. Jesus says neither do I condemn thee.
What he's saying is that I'm not going to condemn
you and see that the punishment that you deserve
is carried out. That's what he was saying here.
I'm not going to condemn you to death I'm not
going to Execute the punishment that the law
prescribed for this woman who was caught up in
this great sin Jesus wasn't being weak on sin
here. He wasn't saying that sins not a problem
He wouldn't saying that we shouldn't condemn
sin. He condemned sin the Bible condemned sin.
We should condemn sin But he what he was saying
here is he was going to show mercy grace and
compassion and see that this woman had another
chance and that she wasn't put to death for the
great sin that she committed. In that way he
showed grace and he showed mercy. But he didn't
do it at the compromise of the truth because
you know the next thing he said? The very next
words out of his mouth he said, neither do I
condemn thee but he told her go and sin no more.
You need to go and you need to stop committing
this sin. He told her the truth that what she'd
done was a sin and she needed to quit. She needed
to stop. He didn't hold that truth back. He didn't
tell her, don't worry about it. You're okay.
Everything's fine. You didn't do anything wrong.
He made sure she knew she committed sin, but
he wanted her to go and sin no more. Isn't that
beautiful? So simple. In one sentence, Jesus
demonstrated the perfect balance of grace. And
you know, Jesus has left us an example, hasn't
he? I think Jesus would have us to do likewise,
to try to show that same level of grace and truth
as we deal with people and try to hold our Bible
-based convictions. Jesus is our example. First
Peter chapter 2 verse 21 says that Jesus left
us an example that we should walk in His footsteps.
We should hold our Bible -based convictions.
In this way, we should hold them in a Christ
-like manner and this morning I want to talk
about several different ways that we can hold
those convictions some thoughts some attitudes
that We need to hold on to we need to keep in
mind To make sure we have conviction. Yes, but
we're holding it in the right way. Here's the
first thing We've got to do we've got to love
the truth More than we love just being right.
It's a difference between loving the truth and
loving to be right Okay, we need to be truth
-seekers and we we need to love truth more than
we do just being right, you know The Bible says
we if we're not truth -seekers if we don't love
the truth we can fall under a strong delusion
That's what Paul told the Thessalonians 2nd Thessalonians
2 9 to 12 He talks about even him who's coming
is after the working of Satan with power signs
and lying wonders with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness and them that perish why he talks
about a group of people being deceived by the
lying wonders and signs of those who work with
Satan and they are deceived by Satan in his lies
because as it says they receive not the love
of the truth they receive not the love of the
truth that they might be saved for this cause
God shall send them a strong delusion that they
should believe a lie God allows us to believe
lies if we don't have a strong love and desire
for the truth That they all might be damned or
condemned who believe not the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness we need to Listen very carefully
to what the Bible is teaching us if if we don't
love the truth if we don't seek after the truth
if we aren't open to learning and Knowing the
truth God will allow us to come under a strong
delusion. He will allow us to believe religious
lies He'll let us believe whatever we want And
you know, a delusion is a very dangerous thing
to be under. And you know, the Bible calls this
not just a delusion, a strong delusion. A strong
delusion. You know what the problem with a delusion
is? Every single person in this world who's come
under that strong delusion, they think that they're
right. There have been times that I didn't understand
the truth, that I was wrong, but lo and behold,
guess what? All along I thought I was right.
I couldn't see that I was wrong. That's what
it means to be under a delusion. When you're
under a delusion, you're delusional. You think
you're right when you're actually wrong. Now
that's a dangerous place to be, isn't it? The
proverb is true, Proverbs 21, 2. Every way of
a man is right in his own eyes. We think we're
right. If we don't have a love for the truth,
we may never see that. We might be wrong in one
area or this area or that area We will never
come to find the truth and know the truth if
we don't love the truth And if we just think
every way of everything in our everything we
believe everything we know is right We could
come under this strong delusion and never come
to know the truth So to do this we have to be
open to the idea that we might be wrong. That's
not easy is it? It's not easy to be open to the
idea that you might be wrong. Now don't misunderstand
me. I'm not saying that we should be so wishy
-washy and not commit to understanding or knowing
anything that we just question everything and
we can't ever come to the truth on anything.
We can't have confidence in what the scripture
teaches. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm
saying is we should be open to the possibility
and the idea that in some things We might be
wrong We might be able to learn something From
the Bible when it's needed. We need to be willing
to say I was wrong If we need to change to get
right with God and a part of our faith a part
of our doctrine a part of our practice We need
to be willing to say I was wrong will never be
able to Honestly say we're right until we were
willing to say that we were wrong If you're wrong
about something if you study the scriptures and
you come to find out you're wrong about something
We need to love the truth more than we might
hate to say I was wrong No one likes to I don't
like to confess that I was wrong Nobody does
But if we are wrong, we need to love the truth
more than we hate admitting that we were wrong
all along Proverbs 23 23 tells us to buy the
truth and sell it not if we come to learn something
That's new that's different from what we've always
known always been taught when we find that truth
the Bible says by that truth By the truth sell
it not When you find the truth take hold on it
invest in it latch on to it hold on tight to
it Don't sell it. Don't give it up for anything
buy the truth and sell it not Pay the price to
know to understand and to obey the truth no matter
what it costs you Here's the second thing. We've
got to do if we want to properly hold our convictions
in a Christlike manner We got to be careful that
we don't let knowledge puff us up You know, knowledge
will do that to us if we're not careful. The
example is from 1 Corinthians chapter 8, verses
1 to 2. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8, 1, he says,
Now as touching things offered to idols, we know
that we have knowledge. Paul, what he's telling
the Corinthians here is that he understood, and
there were some of these Corinthians that understood,
that meat that was offered in an idol's temple
then later sold on the streets in meat markets
in 1st century Corinth. Paul knew that that meat
was just meat. It was not contaminated in any
way because it was offered in an idol's temple.
Paul had that knowledge. He understood he could
eat anything as it was sanctified by the Word
of God and by prayer. That's what he told Timothy
in 1st Timothy chapter 4. Paul understood that
he could eat meat offered in the idol's temple
because that meat was just meat. The idol was
nothing. The meat offered in the idol's temple
was just meat, and Paul had every right or privilege
to eat that meat. But he says, you know what?
Knowledge puffeth up. Paul says we need to be
careful. He tells these Corinthians, be careful
that that knowledge and that understanding doesn't
puff them up with pride. Knowledge puffeth up,
but charity edify. Charity is what builds up.
If any man think that he knoweth anything, He
knoweth not nothing yet as he ought to know We
got to be careful that our knowledge our understanding
of the scriptures and what they teach Doesn't
cause us to develop this attitude that Smith's
I'm smarter and I know more than you therefore.
I am better than you You know if we let knowledge
puff us up, that's the attitude that will develop
That we're better than everybody else because
we know so much more about the scriptures than
everybody else You know, we could know it all
we could know everything But the Bible says if
we don't have love in our heart, it don't matter
how much we know. It's all for nothing It's all
for nothing. 1 Corinthians 13 to Paul says though
I have the gift of prophecy and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge Paul said I could
understand it all and have all the knowledge
in the world about God and about the scriptures
and though I have all faith which comes from
the Word of God so that I could remove mountains
Paul says if I have not charity if I don't have
love he says I'm nothing you can know it all
and it don't matter one bit if you can't have
love in your heart Ephesians chapter 4 verse
15 it tells us we do need to speak the truth
truth is important important knowing the truth
is important But it tells us we need to speak
the truth in love so that we may grow up into
him That's Christ in all things which is the
head of the body of the church God causes to
speak the truth and love but do it from a humble
and sincere heart And I want to show you this
later in first Corinthians chapter 8. That's
that chapter where he introduced the idea You
can eat meat that's offered to idols. It's not
sinful Paul says but you need to be careful about
doing that Tells the Corinthians you need to
be careful about doing that. You might have every
right to do it But what does he say in verse
13 he says wherefore if meat make my brother
to offend He says, I know I can eat meat that
was offered in the idol's temple. I can go buy
it in the meat market and eat it. I got no problem
with that. But he says, you know, if that's going
to offend my brother and cause him to stumble,
if he don't have the same knowledge and understanding
about that that I do, he says, here's what I'm
going to do. If that's going to cause my brother
to be offended, he said, I will eat no flesh
while the world standeth, lest I make my brother
to offend. He says, I won't eat another bite
of meat my whole life. If I thought that eating
that meat was going to offend or cause my brother
to stumble so you see godly knowledge always
acts with consideration and love toward others
It takes both the knowledge and the understanding
of how to hold that knowledge and love others
at the same time When we're holding our Bible
based convictions, we can't let knowledge puff
us up and make us proud Something else we've
got to do is make sure that we don't ignore the
weightier matters. We don't want to develop the
mindset of the person who said, you know what,
I just can't see the forest because there's too
many trees in the way. Right? We don't want to
miss the forest for the trees. In Matthew chapter
23, Jesus told the scribes and the Pharisees,
he said, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites. By the way, that's not something
you want to hear from the Lord. Okay? When the
Lord says to you, whoa, you're a hypocrite. That
is not what you want to hear from the Lord. That's
not good. But he told these scribes and Pharisees,
whoa unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
why? For ye pay tithe, you give one tenth of
mint and anise and cumin. Those were some of
the tiniest spices among the Jews at that time.
He said, you give a tenth of these tiny spices,
You give a tenth back to God, but you have omitted
the weightier matters of the law. Judgment, mercy
and faith. He says, these ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone. The idea here
is that we shouldn't get so focused on the minor
details that we lose sight of the big picture.
That's what Jesus is trying to help the Pharisees
to understand now don't misunderstand it giving
10 % of their spies Spices tithing of their spices
that was important to God. They needed to do
that. That wasn't wrong They needed to do that.
They needed to give a tenth of those things But
you know what the problem was they were so focused
on that That they overlooked the weightier matters
of the law. They overlooked judgment. They overlooked
mercy. They overlooked faith Both are important
The small things, the weightier matters, it's
all important. We don't need to get too focused
and fixated on one or the other and focus on
one to the exclusion of the other. So we shouldn't
lose sight of what matters most. Yes, these doctrinal
things matter. Yes, having Bible -based convictions,
having the right faith, having the right practice,
teaching the right doctrine, all of those things
matter. And we've tried to emphasize that over
the course of this meeting. But don't lose sight
of what matters most. What matters most? Loving
God and loving people. When you boil it down
to its most basic elements, loving God and loving
people is what it all boils down to. In Matthew
chapter 22 verse 35, a lawyer comes to Jesus
and says, Master, which is the greatest commandment
in the law? Jesus tells him, love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with
all thy mind. That's the first and great commandment.
The second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. Jesus said, look, on these
two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,
everything else in the law. Believe the law had
613 commandments in it. All the law and then
all the prophets hang on these two commandments
to love God and Love our neighbor and Jesus recognized
that that was the motivation for obeying the
entirety of the law obeying the whole law boiled
down to the motivation of loving God and Loving
our fellow man. So we can't lose sight of what
matters most loving God loving our fellow man
Here's something else. We can't lose sight of
we can't lose sight of the gospel the death burial
the resurrection The gospel that saves us and
washes us clean and makes us right with God.
Yes, these doctrinal things matter. But this
is one of the things that matters most. The death,
burial, the resurrection of Jesus. We can't lose
sight or ignore the weight of your matters. Here's
something else that will help us hold our doctrinal
convictions in a Christ -like manner. You need
to keep a mirror handy and use it often. What
do I mean by that? We need to look in the mirror
and genuinely try to see our own faults and failures.
We're not careful. We get really good at pointing
out the faults and failures of everyone around
us But then when we look in the mirror guess
what it's hard for us to find fault and see our
own failures Do you ever you ever get that way?
You ever get that way it's really easy for me.
I can tell you all of my wife's faults and failures.
I'd be easy But then I might struggle to tell
you maybe even one of my faults You're be honest
you ever been that way We need to be careful
of that We need to keep a mirror handy and use
it often for ourselves Matthew 7 1 we need to
consider our self before we'll overly scrutinize
those around us Judge not that you be not judged
for with what judgment you judge you shall be
judged with what measure you meet It shall be
measured to you again why behold us thou the
mote That's the tiny speck that is in thy brother's
eye, but consider is not the beam That is in
nine oh nine how will thou say to thy brother?
Let me pull out the moat the speck out of thine
eye behold a beam is in thine own eye Thou hypocrite
when Jesus calls you a hypocrite it is not good
So we don't want to be guilty of this he says
thou hypocrite Cast out the beam out of thine
own eye and then shout thou see clearly to cast
out the moat out of thy brother's eye now Don't
misunderstand what Jesus said Jesus didn't say
we shouldn't try to remove the speck out of our
brother's eye That's not what he said If we see
a speck in our brother's eye, yes We should try
to remove it if we if someone we know and love
is in error and they don't understand the truth
We should try to help them and we should try
to help them see the error of their way Jesus
didn't say don't try to remove a speck in your
brother's eye. He said look before you do You
need to make sure you're also looking in the
mirror to check your own eyes first Need to be
willing to see our own faults and failures and
not just those of the people around us Matthew
7 and 12 we need to treat others the way we want
to be treated Therefore all things whatsoever
you would that men should do to you do do ye
so even Do ye even so to them for this is the
law and the prophets? When we are confused, when
we have a misunderstanding, when we don't know
what's right, how do you want people to approach
you and teach you the truth? Do you want them
to come heavy -handed, 100 % truth, no grace?
Come with a proud heart, humiliate you, talk
down to you, make fun of you. Is that how we
want people to correct us and bring us to a knowledge
of the truth? No. I've never appreciated anyone
who came to me with that attitude. I have appreciated
those who've come to me kindly, lovingly, and
patiently to try to help me see something that
I didn't understand. And if that's the way we
like to learn and be corrected, that's the way
we not need to try to help others learn when
we're trying to correct them. Second Timothy
2, 24 -25, servant of the Lord must not strive
or quarrel, but be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves. We need to correct the
airing with gentleness, patience, and meekness
in our heart. That needs to be our attitude.
Keep a mirror handy and use it often. And then
the last thing that'll help us to hold our convictions
in a Christlike manner is never forget what makes
you right. Never forget what makes you right.
I'm gonna ask you a question. Does knowing what's
right really make you right with God? Does knowing
everything Right and having a correct and perfect
knowledge of everything. Is that really what
makes you right with God Yes, and no I hate it
when people answer questions by saying yes and
no Kind of wishy -washy, isn't it? But let me
let me explain what I mean When I ask the question
does knowing what right is that really what makes
you right with God? Let me explain what I mean
when I say yes and no John 8 31 John 8 31 Jesus
said to those Jews which believed on him if you
continue in my word Then are you my disciples
indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free. Jesus is telling us plainly
here that we need to continue in the Word and
when we do that we shall know the truth and it's
important that we know the truth because Jesus
says here it's the truth that makes us free.
So on one hand yes, it is important that we know
what's right. We continue in the Word to understand
what's right, to know what's right, to learn
the truth. When we know the truth that's what
makes us free. But I want you to notice something
about this passage. Who's Jesus speaking to here?
Jesus is speaking to those which had already
believed on him He's speaking to those who were
already his disciples. He says you are truly
my disciples If you will continue in my word
know the truth and that truth will make you free
Jesus says this to those who had already believed
and were already his disciples So look after
we come to Christ after we become his disciple
there's a lot of learning to do and then we need
to give a diligent effort to grow in knowledge
and understanding we need to come to understand
and know what is right by the truth of God's
Word so we can be made free from error and False
teaching and false doctrine so that we can know
that we're in a path of truth So on one hand,
yes, it is important for us after we've come
to Christ to continue to study and grow in a
knowledge of the truth. But what about before
we come to Jesus? What about before we believe
on Him? What about before we become one of His
disciples? I want to tell you the truth that
we need. If we're not a disciple of Christ, if
we haven't believed in Him and come to Him for
salvation, the truth that we need is Jesus. That's
where we start. The truth that we need is Jesus.
Jesus said in John 14 -6, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but
by me. There's no way to be right with God but
by Jesus. And that's where it all starts. Knowing
the truth that is Jesus is what makes us right
before God. And that's the truth. We all need
to understand. That's the truth we all need to
accept. That's the truth that we all need to
obey. We need to obey Christ. And when we know
this truth that is Jesus, when we come to love,
accept, and give our lives to the Lord Jesus
for the great sacrifice He made for us, when
we know the truth that is Jesus, then guess what?
You'll want to know. the rest of what he has
to say the rest of what he has to teach and You'll
want to follow and obey the rest of the truth
that he's delivered unto us in his word Jesus
said in John 14 15 if you love me keep my commandments
when you love the Lord We're happy and we're
glad to obey him and follow and learn and follow
in his commandments In John 15 14 Jesus said
you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command
you So knowing the truth and knowing what's right
is very important but that first truth that most
important truth is knowing Jesus and Once we
come to know him then we start a lifelong journey
of trying to know and understand everything he
taught and Doing our best to put it into practice
to honor and serve him I want you to understand
something this morning It's important that we're
right We want to be right in the sight of God
We want to teach and practice things that are
right and true. But at the same time, what I've
tried to help you see this morning is there is
a wrong way to be right. There is a wrong way
to be right, and we need to be careful. We need
to be careful that we hold our convictions, our
Bible -based convictions. You can take a strong
stand on what the Bible teaches. We've tried
to do that this week. But at the same time hold
those convictions in all the wrong ways with
the wrong heart the wrong mind the wrong attitude
It's a wrong way to be right We need to be careful
of that. I hope this lesson today will help us
all to make sure we don't go down that one -way
Street, right? We don't go the wrong way down
a one -way Street. Let's be right But let's hold
the have the right heart and the right attitude
at the same time Let me tell you something else.
Not only is there a wrong way to be right There's
a right way to be wrong Now I'm saying I'm not
saying it's right to be wrong. That's a contradiction
can never be right to be wrong What I'm saying
is that when we do find out that we are wrong
when we do find out we hadn't been taught the
truth When we do find out that we're in a in
a place at a place in our life where we're not
right with God There's a right way to respond
There's a right way to respond when we come to
learn that we're wrong and we aren't right with
our God. If you aren't right with God today,
don't you think it's time to make a change? Could
you think of a better time than today, than right
now? If you're not right with God, if you're
not living for God, if you haven't believed in
the gospel of Jesus, If you haven't put your
faith in Christ and His sacrifice, if you haven't
repented of your sins, if you hadn't confessed
faith, if you haven't obeyed the gospel and baptism,
if you're not right with God, don't you think
it's time for a change? Don't you think it's
time to look to Jesus and to come to Him? Because
after all, we saw from the Scriptures, He's the
way, He's the truth, He's the life. You know,
He will never lead us astray. When we come to
Jesus, we can trust that He will never lead us
astray. Here's how we come to Christ if we want
salvation. If you're here this morning and you
don't have salvation. You've got a wonderful
opportunity today. You've got an opportunity
to believe the gospel of Jesus. And here's the
gospel. It's a simple story. Jesus came, He died,
was buried and rose from the dead for you. He
suffered on a cross. He was tortured on a cross,
not because He committed sin, but because you
commit sin. The penalty for sin is death. Romans
6 .23 says the wages of sin is death. We deserve
the death penalty because of our sin. Jesus went
and paid the death penalty on the cross. He paid
the price for sin so that we wouldn't have to.
He took our place. He took our punishment. He
took that penalty upon Himself. And we got to
believe in that death, burial, and resurrection.
That's what Jesus said when He started His teaching
ministry in Mark 1 -15. He said, Repent and believe
the gospel. We've got to believe the gospel of
Jesus. We've got to believe the death, burial,
and resurrection. We've got to believe it so
much that we're willing to repent of our sins.
The fact that the sinless Son of God died on
the cross to save us and to set us free from
sin motivates us to turn away from sin in our
life, to change our heart, to change our mind,
to move away from sin and walk in a different
path. And that turning of heart and mind resulting
in a change of direction in our life, that's
what repentance is all about. And we've got to
repent. There's no doubt about it. Jesus said
in Luke 13 .3, I tell you, nay. He said, except
you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. If
we don't repent, Jesus tells us we are going
to perish. So we must believe the gospel so much
so that we repent and turn away from sin We need
to confess faith in Christ Romans 10 9 to sin
9 to 10 says if we believe in our heart and Confess
with our mouth the Lord Jesus will be saved It
says for with the heart man believes to righteousness
with the mouth confession is made to salvation
We got to confess faith in Christ And we've got
to be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins.
That's what Peter told the Jews in Acts 2 .38.
He told them to repent and be baptized, every
one of them, in the name of Jesus Christ, for
the forgiveness of their sins. And if you've
never put your trust, your faith, and rendered
obedience to this gospel today, if you've never
made God's plan your own plan and the solution
to your sin, if you've never believed, repented,
confessed, or been baptized, you need to do that
today. And if you'll do that, You may have come
here today in a wrong relationship with God,
but you will leave here today. Save from your
sin in a right relationship with the Lord. We're
going to sing a song of invitation if you're
here this morning and you want to respond to
that gospel. You want to make a change in your
life. You want to come forward. You want salvation.
You want forgiveness of sin. You want to be baptized
into Christ. We can help you with that today.
We take no greater joy and pleasure. Than helping
you get right with God today. That's why we're
here. We want to help people I'm gonna help people
get right with God if we're here and we can help
you do just that please don't hesitate now is
the time It's decision time. I Just beg and pray
you'll make a wise decision today choose Jesus
choose salvation choose eternal life