WEBVTT 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.679 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.919 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.100 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:24.960 enjoy this week's message. Let's turn to Galatians 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.739 chapter 2, verse 20. Galatians chapter 2, verse 00:00:30.739 --> 00:00:40.719 20. There's a fresh impartation for you. I said 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:54.320 there's a fresh impartation for you. Galatians 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:58.939 chapter 2 verse 20 says this. I have been crucified 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:05.340 with Christ. It is no longer I who live. but 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:10.879 Christ who lives in me. I have been crucified 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:18.019 with Christ. This is essential to the gospel 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:23.340 of Jesus Christ. For the apostle Paul is not 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:26.640 just declaring the death of Jesus, but the death 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:33.659 of himself with Christ. He does not exclude himself. 00:01:35.629 --> 00:01:38.170 And only proclaim the death of Jesus, but he 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:43.590 declares, I have been crucified with Christ. 00:01:47.250 --> 00:01:49.250 Turn to your neighbor and let them know, I'm 00:01:49.250 --> 00:01:52.209 so glad I came for this message this morning. 00:01:53.849 --> 00:01:56.450 Turn to your other neighbor, who you neglected, 00:01:56.689 --> 00:02:02.670 your second choice, and tell them, this word's 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:16.150 for you. When we talk about the gospel of Jesus 00:02:16.150 --> 00:02:23.629 Christ, we often, we try to, and I'm guilty of 00:02:23.629 --> 00:02:26.629 this, by the way. I know none of you are, but 00:02:26.629 --> 00:02:29.550 I'm guilty of this. I'm guilty of having a conversation 00:02:29.550 --> 00:02:31.629 with somebody who doesn't know the Lord, and 00:02:31.629 --> 00:02:33.550 I'm trying to deliver the gospel to them, and 00:02:33.550 --> 00:02:35.469 I'm telling them about the death of Jesus Christ, 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.189 how he died for them. But one of the things that 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:44.240 is so interesting and so mysterious And maybe 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:50.300 this is the foolishness that confounds the wise. 00:02:51.699 --> 00:02:57.539 That the death of Jesus Christ is something that 00:02:57.539 --> 00:03:01.599 we must partner with and we must live with in 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:06.439 order to even have a life with Jesus. In order 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.659 for us to live a life of Jesus, we have to die 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:16.469 from our old life completely. We cannot say that, 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:19.469 well, I can live and do my own thing and also 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:21.770 live for God. It's impossible. You can't do that. 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:26.969 One, by saying yes to one, you have denied the 00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:30.930 other. They cannot agree. As Galatians says, 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:35.610 your flesh and your spirit cannot agree. They 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:37.870 are opposed to one another. They are opposites. 00:03:39.210 --> 00:03:41.909 So the moment I say yes to my flesh, I have said 00:03:41.909 --> 00:03:47.889 no to the spirit. I cannot do both. And so there 00:03:47.889 --> 00:03:55.930 has to be a death inside me in order for me to 00:03:55.930 --> 00:03:59.729 receive life and the life everlasting that comes 00:03:59.729 --> 00:04:04.789 from Jesus Christ himself. The apostle Paul says, 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:10.530 it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives 00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:15.379 in me. The only way to resurrection life is through 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:22.660 crucifixion. It is through death. We cannot shortcut 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:26.620 the gospel. We cannot shortcut resurrection life. 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:32.540 There has to be crucifixion. There has to be 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:37.240 death. And of course, I'm not talking about, 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:43.000 well, I mean, I kind of am. No, I really am, 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:48.779 actually. There's such a temptation to try and 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:53.579 water down the seriousness of this because it 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:57.620 makes it easier to swallow. But by doing that, 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:02.819 any preacher who preaches a watered -down gospel 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:05.939 robs the listener of encountering real resurrection 00:05:05.939 --> 00:05:12.480 life. Because if they do say yes to a gospel 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.259 that's watered down, they have not said yes to 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:18.600 a gospel of God or a gospel of the Bible. They've 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.459 said yes to some form of religion that is useless 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:26.540 against the powers of your flesh. For Galatians 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:28.300 also tells us, or is it in Colossians, I can't 00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:30.500 remember, but it says this, that you have these 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:34.000 things, these disciplines that claim to have 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.560 a form of godliness but have no power against 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.970 your flesh. No power against the indulgences 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:45.370 of your flesh. What we have to understand is 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:50.990 that there is our flesh and it's in all of us. 00:05:51.029 --> 00:05:53.990 Let's not get to a religious jargon and a religious 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:57.069 place where we think to ourselves that we don't 00:05:57.069 --> 00:06:05.649 like sinning. We do. We love it. We love to sin. 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:12.160 We love to sin, and we like to sin just for sin's 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:21.240 sake. Anybody who likes cookies, and mom put 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:23.360 cookies in the cookie jar on the fridge so that 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.740 you would not get them, you want that cookie, 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.600 yes, but how many of us are honest enough to 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:35.899 say, because she said I couldn't have it, I wanted 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:43.009 it more? My hand's going all the way up. You 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:44.209 don't have to raise your hand, but thank you. 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:49.149 All the fellow cookie lovers in the room. Come 00:06:49.149 --> 00:06:56.870 on. Glory to God. There is a, there's a deception 00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:01.170 in a Christian that will actually rob them of 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:03.850 living in true freedom. And it's the lack of 00:07:03.850 --> 00:07:08.970 awareness that you do want to sin. Get over that 00:07:08.970 --> 00:07:12.879 hill. And it'll make things a lot easier. Because 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.100 the moment you know your flesh is evil, you then 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:21.439 can see it for what it truly is. But we try to 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:25.759 put makeup on a pig and call it something it's 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:33.019 not. My flesh loves to sin. But that's why Jesus 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:37.100 says, the word of God says that you must delight 00:07:37.100 --> 00:07:41.449 in him. James says that out of your heart is 00:07:41.449 --> 00:07:45.689 the temptations, is where temptations come. So 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:48.089 I've had so many, this is nothing like, this 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:51.509 is not on my notes at all, but we're gonna get 00:07:51.509 --> 00:07:54.649 into it. But I would just, I wanna talk about 00:07:54.649 --> 00:07:56.449 this for a little bit because it just, I feel 00:07:56.449 --> 00:07:58.629 it's so impressed on my spirit to mention this, 00:07:58.730 --> 00:08:02.490 that when we understand that our flesh loves 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:06.779 to sin, that it is not just discipline of denying 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:12.420 myself that crucifies your flesh. Just saying 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:16.740 no is not crucifying your flesh. That is a form 00:08:16.740 --> 00:08:20.379 of godliness that is useless. You will not last. 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:23.379 You will give yourself to that sin eventually. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:26.420 You might last for a day, you might last for 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.879 a week, but you will not last. You will say yes. 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.299 Because, If I tell you, if I were to tell you, 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.559 okay, I want you to convince yourself to stop 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.539 thinking about an Oreo covered in peanut butter, 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:44.200 getting ready to be dipped in whole Umpqua milk 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:46.460 right now. Guess what's going to happen? You 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:51.080 are just going to be thinking about that. So 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.620 what has to happen? I don't have to just stop 00:08:54.620 --> 00:08:56.940 thinking about the temptation. I have to shift 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:02.039 my desires. Let's just go to that passage. Let's 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:13.440 go to James. Let's go to James, I believe. Here 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:32.009 we go. Thank you, Jesus. Here it is. Chapter 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.970 one, verse 12. Blessed is the man who remains 00:09:35.970 --> 00:09:42.509 steadfast under trial. Okay, wait a minute. Blessed 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:48.330 is the man who remains steadfast under trial. 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:52.950 Some of us think trials is a absence of blessing. 00:09:55.009 --> 00:09:58.289 But actually, you are more blessed because you're 00:09:58.289 --> 00:10:03.879 in a trial. Because you're going through something. 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:08.000 And the trial that it's speaking of here is actually 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.179 the trial of temptation. Blessed is the man who 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:14.120 is tempted. Blessed is the man who actually goes 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:17.500 through suffering and trial. Because when temptation 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:22.740 comes, we have an opportunity to change our desire. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.500 For when he has stood the test, he will receive 00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:33.019 the crown of life. So wait a minute, we see a 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:36.399 complement to what Paul has said, that I have 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:39.399 died. Only through the death, only through going 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.700 through the trial of the cross, only going through 00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:45.779 something dying, do I actually receive the crown 00:10:45.779 --> 00:10:52.059 of life. Only when my flesh is crucified, which 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:59.100 God has promised to those who, to those who love 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:04.990 him. And listen to this. Let no one say when 00:11:04.990 --> 00:11:08.870 he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For 00:11:08.870 --> 00:11:10.830 God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:16.570 tempts no one. So God is not tempting you. And 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:18.330 here's what I've seen a lot of Christians do 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:21.929 is that they assume that every weird thought, 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:24.429 every thought that comes into their minds, every 00:11:24.429 --> 00:11:27.350 just temptation that shows up, it's always the 00:11:27.350 --> 00:11:31.620 devil. The devil's after me, Pastor Trent. I 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:36.879 need you to pray for me. The devil's after me, 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.460 Pastor Trent. I just keep getting hit with these 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:42.460 thoughts and I can't escape them. Well, that's 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:46.519 a lie. God says that he always provides a way 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:53.799 of escape. Because what's happening there, it 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:57.360 points back to Genesis. The devil's out to get 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.870 me. What did Adam say when Jesus said what happened? 00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:08.289 It's this woman you gave me. What did the woman 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:12.549 say? It was the devil, God. The devil made me 00:12:12.549 --> 00:12:20.690 do it. No, he didn't. He didn't tell you to do 00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:29.279 it. He didn't put a gun to your head. Sin always 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:33.139 involves choice. And love always involves choice. 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:38.179 You remove choice from the matter, love ceases 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:42.980 to exist. True love. Otherwise, our relationship 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:47.000 with God is like robotic and numb and worth nothing. 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:52.419 That's why God gave Adam and Eve the choice to 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:56.110 obey or not to obey. How did he give them the 00:12:56.110 --> 00:12:58.029 choice? I don't remember reading in Genesis, 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:02.049 okay, you have a choice. Eat it or don't eat 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:07.409 it. No, he just says don't eat it. Everything 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:13.450 else is yours. It's funny how we will give up 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:18.950 the abundance of God for one thing he says we 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:24.139 can't have. That's sin. The fact you told me 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:29.320 I can't have it, I want it. The definition of 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:32.059 sin is to rebel. It's technically to miss the 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:35.440 mark, but it's the idea of to rebel against God, 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:39.759 to refuse. I do not want to do things your way. 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:44.779 I want it my way. When we come to the altar of 00:13:44.779 --> 00:13:48.539 God, when we come to Jesus and we say, Lord, 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:52.639 have my life, have it all. What are we saying? 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:58.259 I am going to say no to me and yes to you forever. 00:14:00.700 --> 00:14:04.159 And I'm going to say yes to you more than yes 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.659 to myself. Because really this is a battle of 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:10.700 yeses more than a battle of nos. What do you 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:13.600 say yes to is way bigger than what you say no 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:21.230 to. I say yes to Jesus. I say yes. By saying 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:25.309 yes to you, I've denied everyone else. And I've 00:14:25.309 --> 00:14:29.570 denied everything else. And it says here in verse 00:14:29.570 --> 00:14:33.450 14, but each person is tempted when he is lured 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:42.269 and enticed by his own desire. What has to change? 00:14:45.830 --> 00:14:53.720 Your desire. desire, or in the Greek, from what 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:55.840 I understand, it actually translates to be your 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:02.480 inclinations. What you are inclined to. When 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.940 you get a free moment, what do you draw yourself 00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:16.539 to? What are you inclined to? This is something 00:15:16.539 --> 00:15:20.220 that I've... In studying through the altars of 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:24.960 scripture, the Lord has brought me many, many 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.320 times to a place of where I feel stuck almost. 00:15:29.659 --> 00:15:33.639 But really, God responds to me, revealing to 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:35.460 me that I'm not stuck. There's just something 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:41.720 in me that hasn't died yet. There's something 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:45.820 in my desire that hasn't changed to be about 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:58.389 him. You know, when I'm in a place of like, man, 00:15:58.429 --> 00:16:03.429 I feel in line with God. I feel in line with 00:16:03.429 --> 00:16:07.149 his presence. I feel in line with him. When you 00:16:07.149 --> 00:16:10.870 get to that place, do everything you can to guard 00:16:10.870 --> 00:16:17.350 that and protect it. And if you've never felt 00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:21.409 that before, give up every worldly pleasure until 00:16:21.409 --> 00:16:28.649 you do. Don't let anything be off limits to God. 00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:37.149 Because I'm telling you, when you see him, in 00:16:37.149 --> 00:16:39.710 your own time with him, he shows himself to you. 00:16:41.649 --> 00:16:47.370 Like really? Nothing will compare. The world 00:16:47.370 --> 00:16:51.570 will have nothing to offer you. There will be 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:53.909 nothing that they could come to you and say, 00:16:54.029 --> 00:16:57.159 but what about this? that would ever come close. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:03.860 Because you've seen it. You've seen him. And 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:07.619 for those who love Jesus, the love of the world 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:13.180 cannot be in them. As you cannot say yes to your 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:14.980 spirit and to your flesh at the same time, you 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.140 also cannot love God and the world at the same 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:24.059 time. You have to choose one. And we have an 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:27.759 opportunity to make that choice every day. Every 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:32.740 moment of every day. Let's go to Matthew chapter 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:40.099 16, verse 24. If you want to be saved, if you 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:42.460 want to truly follow Jesus and you have a desire 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:51.119 to follow God, this is Discipleship 101. Discipleship 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:54.579 101. You cannot follow Jesus unless you do this. 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:59.380 And these are Jesus' words, not mine. So if you 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:00.759 have a problem with it, you can take it up with 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:05.500 him. It says here, Jesus told his disciples, 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:11.559 if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:19.400 and take up his cross and follow me. If you want 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:21.619 to go after Jesus, you have to deny yourself. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:26.640 To deny yourself is to, in the Greek, to refuse 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:32.960 yourself. To refuse. To disagree with. And we 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:37.859 all have arguments in our minds and in our life. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.220 We have to refuse them by saying yes to Jesus. 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:48.000 And when you say yes to Jesus, Not only are you 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.859 denying yourself, but you're picking up a cross. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:54.700 Because why? Because of the apostle Paul. It 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:57.700 further illuminates on this idea that if you're 00:18:57.700 --> 00:18:59.900 going to follow God, you have to die with him. 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:05.279 You cannot just choose to live. You have to choose 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:11.740 to die first. Then his life will come. If anyone 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:13.720 would come after me, let him deny himself and 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:20.259 take up his cross. Which is, if you're looking 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:24.180 at the title of my message, The Theology of Altars, 00:19:24.259 --> 00:19:27.579 you're going, well, where's the passage about 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:33.519 the altar? I just told you one. The greatest 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:37.619 altar in all of Scripture is the altar of the 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:44.000 cross. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God, the 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.769 all -sufficient sacrifice. Only he, is sufficient 00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:51.910 to be the atonement for our sins. And he was 00:19:51.910 --> 00:19:56.509 crucified, judged and consumed by the holy wrath 00:19:56.509 --> 00:20:00.430 of fire of God upon what? The altar of the cross. 00:20:03.390 --> 00:20:06.009 An altar is also known as an elevated position. 00:20:06.190 --> 00:20:10.569 Guess where his cross was placed? On a hill. 00:20:12.470 --> 00:20:20.559 Made by God himself. It's the most beautiful 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:24.779 thing to understand that when we look at the 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:32.559 altar, that Jesus is saying, listen, I died on 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:41.259 this altar and now I'm gonna give you one. And 00:20:41.259 --> 00:20:46.819 the early church viewed dying for God as the 00:20:46.819 --> 00:20:50.829 greatest honor and privilege. actually dying, 00:20:50.890 --> 00:20:52.990 not just spiritually, like actually being killed 00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:56.549 for their faith in Jesus Christ. Peter, the apostle, 00:20:56.890 --> 00:21:02.910 Peter the rock apostle, himself viewed it too 00:21:02.910 --> 00:21:05.089 great of an honor to be killed in the way that 00:21:05.089 --> 00:21:08.970 his savior was. He said, kill me upside down. 00:21:09.170 --> 00:21:13.210 Crucify me upside down. I am not worthy to even 00:21:13.210 --> 00:21:20.529 die like he did. This is an honor. And I'm not 00:21:20.529 --> 00:21:25.410 preaching ultra mega level holiness Christianity 00:21:25.410 --> 00:21:32.849 here. I'm preaching basics. If anyone would come 00:21:32.849 --> 00:21:36.089 after me, anyone. This is not a verse for just 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:40.049 pastors. This is not just a verse for the televangelists. 00:21:40.349 --> 00:21:43.509 This is not just a verse for those people that 00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:46.730 talk about theology on TikTok and usually they're 00:21:46.730 --> 00:21:51.430 way off. This is not just for your worship leaders. 00:21:52.410 --> 00:21:55.309 This is not just for mega churches. This is for 00:21:55.309 --> 00:21:58.410 anyone who would say, I want to follow you. Jesus 00:21:58.410 --> 00:22:01.789 says, okay, here you go. I give you the altar 00:22:01.789 --> 00:22:07.430 of the cross. But I thought your death was sufficient. 00:22:07.609 --> 00:22:12.990 It is. But I'm giving you the honor to die with 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:17.779 me. Jesus' death is sufficient for the atonement 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:20.039 of our sins, but we also have to understand, 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:23.599 you're not dying for your sins. You're dying 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:32.559 to be with him. Jesus died to, he died for access. 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:39.920 We die for proximity. He tore the veil. When 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.750 he died on the cross, On Calvary, the veil was 00:22:44.750 --> 00:22:48.910 torn. He made a way where there was no way. His 00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:51.750 blood is sufficient as the atonement and the 00:22:51.750 --> 00:22:54.690 propitiation of our sins that we no longer have 00:22:54.690 --> 00:22:57.309 to fear the wrath and judgment of God, but that 00:22:57.309 --> 00:23:00.869 we receive his love and that we now get to live 00:23:00.869 --> 00:23:10.289 a life and a life crucified. Jesus made a way, 00:23:10.410 --> 00:23:14.910 but we die for proximity. When Hebrews says to 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:17.269 boldly approach the throne of grace, it does 00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:19.410 not remove the truth that you're gonna have to 00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:30.069 die to get there. Boldly die to approach. Anybody 00:23:30.069 --> 00:23:42.450 who's ever been close to God has died. But they 00:23:42.450 --> 00:23:45.009 also got to experience the fullness of his resurrection 00:23:45.009 --> 00:23:59.470 life. This might be hard for some people. But 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:05.289 Jesus knew that. There were many who said, I 00:24:05.289 --> 00:24:09.490 will follow you. And he gave them a chance. But 00:24:09.490 --> 00:24:13.509 when it came down to dying, They couldn't do 00:24:13.509 --> 00:24:20.950 it. I don't want to be a rich young ruler who 00:24:20.950 --> 00:24:27.250 knew the commandments of God, who knew the word. 00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:33.470 And I approach Jesus and I say, what do I do? 00:24:34.589 --> 00:24:41.009 And he says, give the thing you love most. And 00:24:41.009 --> 00:24:48.509 I can't do it. I can't die to it. The only way 00:24:48.509 --> 00:24:50.630 you're not willing to die for something is because 00:24:50.630 --> 00:25:02.809 you don't love it. I'm not here to rebuke. I 00:25:02.809 --> 00:25:04.750 think this is why Jesus wanted me to spend time 00:25:04.750 --> 00:25:07.009 on love because those who really are willing 00:25:07.009 --> 00:25:12.180 to die are those who really love him. And those 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:16.920 who really love him are willing to die. A thousand 00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:22.980 times. As many times as it takes. Because how 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:33.079 often is the cross given? It's right here. Daily. 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:44.670 It is a daily. Pursuit of death. Because you 00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:54.829 love Jesus. I died to myself. Because the one 00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:59.009 who would save his life will lose it. But whoever 00:25:59.009 --> 00:26:03.049 loses his life for my sake will find it. For 00:26:03.049 --> 00:26:05.009 what will it profit a man if he gains the whole 00:26:05.009 --> 00:26:23.369 world and forfeits his own soul? I can feel it. 00:26:23.369 --> 00:26:24.829 There's people in the room that are wrestling 00:26:24.829 --> 00:26:32.329 with God right now. Wrestling like Jacob. Wrestling 00:26:32.329 --> 00:26:35.009 with God and saying, God, I don't know if I can 00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:38.250 give that to you. I don't know if I can give 00:26:38.250 --> 00:26:46.299 it all. I don't know if I can give everything. 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:52.160 I can give a lot. I can give a lot. I can give 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:58.140 up to 99%, but I can't give it all. This is not 00:26:58.140 --> 00:27:03.920 an altar. The altar of the cross is not for 99%. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:25.599 Jesus didn't just give 99%. When we look at the 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:31.279 idea of the cross, we have to understand that 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:43.180 the resurrection life that we want to experience, 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:50.700 the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:58.170 Even the life, we can come to God and to church 00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:01.349 a thousand times. We can get healed even. We 00:28:01.349 --> 00:28:04.589 can be even raised from the dead. We can see 00:28:04.589 --> 00:28:08.529 signs and wonders. We can do all of these things 00:28:08.529 --> 00:28:15.549 and still not know him. I don't come to church 00:28:15.549 --> 00:28:20.809 to just have an experience. Because an experience 00:28:20.809 --> 00:28:26.180 is not knowing him. And experience is not dying 00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:38.019 to self. God is asking you in this room, will 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:43.279 you give it to me? Will you let it die? Nothing 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:49.359 is off limits. You guys understand that the holiness 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.960 of God is in this room. The fire of God is here. 00:28:53.609 --> 00:28:57.710 And there is moments in time that God gives all 00:28:57.710 --> 00:29:01.390 of us that we can respond or choose not to. And 00:29:01.390 --> 00:29:12.150 they can sometimes make or break your life. The 00:29:12.150 --> 00:29:15.450 prophet says, now is the time for salvation. 00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:26.440 Respond to God while he is here. I just can't 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:32.720 shake this. I can't shake this. I can't shake 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.819 that God loves you so much that he would give 00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:40.839 you this opportunity. Because I could go through 00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:43.480 my notes and just preach this as normal and do 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:45.839 exactly what I did for first service, copy and 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.619 paste, walk away and go, well done, I did my 00:29:48.619 --> 00:29:52.200 job. I am not here to just do a job. I am here 00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:55.799 because I care about the eternal state of people's 00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:59.039 souls, and I know that people need to have an 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:02.140 encounter with God that actually leads to transformation, 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:07.900 not just a title, not just a name, not just to 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:10.940 say, I went to church today, and so I can check 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:15.220 it off my book. I've done it, and it's never 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:24.579 worked. If you're in this place and God is speaking 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:27.839 to you, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you now. 00:30:28.839 --> 00:30:31.259 He's highlighting something in you. This is the 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:33.640 thing about how God works, is the thing that 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:36.200 heightens in us in his presence that we're like, 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:40.119 oh, I'm feeling anxiety. I'm feeling this anxiousness. 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:42.519 I'm feeling this, whatever it is, I'm feeling 00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:44.259 this fear of what people are gonna think about 00:30:44.259 --> 00:30:47.000 me. Listen, that very thing is the very thing 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:51.309 that has to die. The thing that's rising up in 00:30:51.309 --> 00:30:53.730 you right now, even if it's like, I don't like 00:30:53.730 --> 00:30:55.950 what is being said and I don't like this. It's 00:30:55.950 --> 00:30:58.349 not according to plan. Okay, control needs to 00:30:58.349 --> 00:31:07.329 die. I need to get home. I need to make sure 00:31:07.329 --> 00:31:09.990 that things go as a schedule. Okay, control needs 00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:21.630 to die. Are you here? Do we come to this place 00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:25.650 to just hear the word and not be changed? Or 00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:29.230 do we come to say, God, let the word be the sword 00:31:29.230 --> 00:31:37.829 and actually pierce my heart. Pierce me. Undo 00:31:37.829 --> 00:31:43.319 me. Undress me as the surgeon. And remove that 00:31:43.319 --> 00:31:45.680 which needs to be removed. Because I don't want 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:49.460 this to be a Trenton Cargill show. Where I say 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:52.079 all the right things. I make all the right moves. 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:54.400 And I pray all the right prayers. And I get to 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:57.920 God. And it is all consumed by the fire. And 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.339 there's nothing that actually is enduring. There's 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:02.539 nothing that actually brought him glory. And 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:10.220 it's just a pile of ash. I want to go to God. 00:32:14.730 --> 00:32:22.130 And say, Lord, have your way. Let even my idea 00:32:22.130 --> 00:32:27.269 of how church is supposed to go die. Because 00:32:27.269 --> 00:32:30.690 it's not me who builds this place. It's him. 00:32:31.450 --> 00:32:37.549 He builds his church. He builds his church, not 00:32:37.549 --> 00:32:42.970 me. You're not responding to me. Please don't. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:48.180 Please don't respond to my words. Respond to 00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:52.140 the Spirit of God who leads people into all truth. 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:57.059 The truth that Pilate asked. What is truth? He 00:32:57.059 --> 00:33:02.240 asked truth who he is. What are you? What is 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:05.480 truth? Jesus said nothing because he didn't need 00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:08.119 to say anything. His very presence was the answer 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:13.410 to Pilate's question. He is truth. Holy Spirit 00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:20.390 testifies of the Son. And the Son lifted up on 00:33:20.390 --> 00:33:24.789 the cross, that's when he draws all men to himself. 00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:29.630 In John 2, it says that when the Son of Man is 00:33:29.630 --> 00:33:32.990 lifted up is when he will draw all men to himself. 00:33:33.730 --> 00:33:36.650 When he is seen as the crucified Lamb of God. 00:33:39.690 --> 00:33:43.319 We have to understand. Even in his glorified 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:53.920 state, our Savior still bears wounds. When John 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:57.519 looks in Revelation, he sees a lamb as though 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:03.140 it had been slain. We can't get around this. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:06.279 We can't maneuver through the scriptures and 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:08.980 get to a place where it's not going to cost us 00:34:08.980 --> 00:34:17.710 something. No, it does. It's fundamental. It's 00:34:17.710 --> 00:34:23.969 the basic, it's the simple truth. If you're in 00:34:23.969 --> 00:34:26.090 this place and you say, I need to respond to 00:34:26.090 --> 00:34:29.909 the Holy Spirit, would you come to the altar 00:34:29.909 --> 00:34:38.210 and get before God? No one's gonna pray for you. 00:34:38.769 --> 00:34:45.130 This is between you and him. Get into whatever 00:34:45.130 --> 00:34:52.630 position you need before him. This is not a salvation 00:34:52.630 --> 00:35:06.429 altar call. This is a... This is a call to the 00:35:06.429 --> 00:35:15.719 altar. what the Holy Spirit is highlighting in 00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:20.500 you, what needs to be crucified, what needs to 00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:24.820 die, your flesh, your desires, desire in you 00:35:24.820 --> 00:35:29.000 that you know, I've loved the world. I've been 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:34.300 loving myself more than loving him. Today, that's 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:39.019 gonna change. Today, that's going to change. 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:50.400 All across this room, would you just close your 00:35:50.400 --> 00:36:11.219 eyes and begin to lift your hands? Jesus. He's 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:21.670 here. Those who have responded, begin to tell 00:36:21.670 --> 00:36:26.349 him now. Give him what needs to be given. Give 00:36:26.349 --> 00:36:30.110 it to him. Say, Lord, I give this to you. I nail 00:36:30.110 --> 00:36:33.909 it to the cross. I nail it to the cross you've 00:36:33.909 --> 00:36:40.650 given me my whole life. For I don't want to be 00:36:40.650 --> 00:36:44.929 the one who lives, but you would live in me. 00:36:48.539 --> 00:37:14.530 Come on, just release it to Him now. If you are 00:37:14.530 --> 00:37:17.510 in need of prayer send us a text message at 541 00:37:17.510 --> 00:37:22.369 -625 -1365. We would love to pray with you.