Our Lord's Most Aggressive Command for Holiness - Tim Conway
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0:00 - 0:04Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 9.
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0:04 - 0:09The title of my sermon this morning is:
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0:09 - 0:16Our Lord's Most Aggressive Demand For Holiness.
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0:16 - 0:23Mark chapter 9 verse 43.
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0:23 - 0:31Before we read let's pray once more. (P)
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0:31 - 0:37Father, undoubtedly there are 10,000 reasons
that You give us to sing Your praise. -
0:37 - 0:42And, Lord, I pray that we would have many more reasons
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0:42 - 0:45in hearing Your Word after this meeting,
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0:45 - 0:51being under the sound of the Word this very day.
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0:52 - 1:02Father, we pray that You would feed us.
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1:02 - 1:12Man doesn't live by bread alone,
and we need what You have to feed us with. -
1:12 - 1:17I ask for that in Christ's name. Amen. (P)
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1:17 - 1:24Our Lord's Most Aggressive Demand For Holiness.
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1:24 - 1:31Oh, you could argue that, perhaps; but I don't know that you'd...
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1:31 - 1:44[Microphone disruption]
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1:44 - 1:49But Mark 9:43 -
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1:49 - 1:53I can't imagine that we read these words
and then you would want to argue with me -
1:53 - 2:00that there's something more expressive,
more dogmatic, more to the point, -
2:00 - 2:07that our Lord has ever said regarding holiness.
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2:07 - 2:11These are strong words. (P)
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2:11 - 2:16Mark 9:43.
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2:16 - 2:23Let me just tell you right off that this is one of those places
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2:23 - 2:31where your ESV is actually going to go from
verse 43 to verse 45 to verse 47, -
2:31 - 2:36and you're gonna say, "Hey wait, where's 44? where's 46?"
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2:36 - 2:48Well, verse 48 in some manuscripts,
including the KJV and the NKJV, -
2:48 - 2:58verse 48 is what you find in verses 44 and 46.
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2:58 - 3:01So it's not like it's not here, it's here.
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3:01 - 3:04It's just if you are holding a King James Bible,
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3:04 - 3:08you're going to see the same statement made 3 times.
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3:08 - 3:11I'm going to read it according to the ESV,
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3:11 - 3:14but you know, I just want you to know what's there.
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3:14 - 3:20It is a textual issue, but it's not like something is lost.
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3:20 - 3:26Verse 48 is here, it's here in all of our Scriptures,
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3:26 - 3:31just so you have an idea about what's being omitted there. (P)
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3:31 - 3:42Mark 9:43, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
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3:42 - 3:50It is better for you to enter life crippled
than with two hands to go to hell, -
3:50 - 3:54to the unquenchable fire.
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3:54 - 4:00And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
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4:00 - 4:09It is better for you to enter life lame
than with two feet to be thrown into hell. -
4:09 - 4:19And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.
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4:19 - 4:25It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
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4:25 - 4:29than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
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4:29 - 4:38where their worm does not die."
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4:39 - 4:46Isn't it interesting that here in our ESV anyway,
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4:46 - 4:48I didn't specifically look at this,
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4:48 - 4:55but isn't it interesting that 'their' is not T-H-E-R-E?
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4:55 - 5:02It's T-H-E-I-R.
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5:03 - 5:08Isn't it amazing that there are some people, some even in this room,
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5:08 - 5:16who have worms assigned to them? Their worm.
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5:16 - 5:21It's the worm that chews and gnaws you.
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5:21 - 5:29Their worm does not die –
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5:29 - 5:35that is an expression of the unending reality of hell.
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5:35 - 5:37You know why the worm doesn't die?
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5:37 - 5:41Because it's always got something to eat.
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5:41 - 5:46It's never totally consumed.
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5:46 - 5:51"And the fire is not quenched." Why?
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5:51 - 5:59It's got something – there's fuel, perpetually, ongoing. (P)
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5:59 - 6:05Our Lord's Most Aggressive Demand For Holiness.
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6:05 - 6:11And you know, this kind of language isn't just found here in Mark 9.
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6:11 - 6:17It's also found in Matthew 5. It's also found in Matthew 18.
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6:17 - 6:21Now we know this, that what we have in our New Testament,
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6:21 - 6:24you remember what John said?
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6:24 - 6:31Listen, if we took everything that Jesus did and said, and we put it in books,
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6:31 - 6:33John didn't think the world could contain them.
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6:33 - 6:42We have little snapshots, little summaries, of what Jesus said.
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6:42 - 6:48The very fact that this kind of language
shows up three times in the Gospels, -
6:48 - 6:53it probably was something Jesus said pretty often when He talked.
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6:53 - 6:59Pretty common to His teaching. Common expression. (P)
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6:59 - 7:07If we are honest, there's nothing gentle about these verses.
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7:07 - 7:13Jesus, yes He is called the meek and lowly One,
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7:13 - 7:16but I'll tell you what this meek and lowly One did.
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7:16 - 7:24He looked men directly in the eye, and He said, and He warned:
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7:24 - 7:34"You – you – will be thrown into hell, not gently placed there.
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7:34 - 7:46You will be thrown into unquenchable fire
unless you cut off hands that cause sin, -
7:46 - 7:52and feet that cause sin, and eyeballs that cause sin."
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7:52 - 7:54That's what He says.
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7:54 - 7:58That's serious.
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7:58 - 8:07And if we're honest, we might just stop and say,
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8:07 - 8:12"This doesn't feel much like grace.
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8:12 - 8:17It sounds like it's saying I have to work; I have to do something;
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8:17 - 8:20I have to work at amputating,
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8:20 - 8:26and work at gouging out eyes, tearing out, in order to avoid hell."
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8:26 - 8:29And listen, if that's what it sounds like it's saying to you,
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8:29 - 8:32well I think you're right on target.
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8:32 - 8:39If words have any meaning, that is exactly
what Jesus is saying in these statements. (P) -
8:39 - 8:42These are conditional statements.
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8:42 - 8:48You will go to hell if certain things are true about your life.
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8:48 - 8:54You will avoid unquenchable fire
if certain other things are true about your life. -
8:54 - 8:57That is exactly what He is saying.
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8:57 - 9:01And isn't it interesting, He doesn't talk in third person.
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9:01 - 9:07You know what I mean? First person is me, second person is you,
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9:07 - 9:10third person is somebody else.
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9:10 - 9:14He doesn't talk in third-person language. He rarely did.
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9:14 - 9:19He isn't talking about some guy over there,
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9:19 - 9:24far away in another place or long ago at another time,
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9:24 - 9:28who might have done this thing, that thing or another,
or been like Adolf Hitler. -
9:28 - 9:30That's not what He is saying.
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9:30 - 9:38He is saying, "You. You." – direct second person approach.
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9:38 - 9:42It is your hand – you.
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9:42 - 9:48It's your hand, it's your foot, and it's your eye that are the issue here,
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9:48 - 9:53and you are the one who will go to hell if it's not cut off.
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9:53 - 9:55Pretty direct stuff. Very personal.
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9:55 - 9:57There's no dodging this.
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9:57 - 10:01Well, people do dodge it, but if you just take Jesus at face value
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10:01 - 10:07and listen to His words, He is speaking to you, He is speaking to me. (P)
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10:07 - 10:11Now the first thing that I want to stress here is this:
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10:11 - 10:20This is obviously a metaphor.
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10:20 - 10:31When He talks about cutting off a hand,
cutting off a foot, tearing out an eye, -
10:31 - 10:35obviously it's not literal.
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10:35 - 10:37Now I probably don't even need to explain that
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10:37 - 10:42because it's obvious by looking at you people
that you don't think it's literal. -
10:42 - 10:48If you did, you would look different than you look.
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10:48 - 10:51But Jesus often spoke in metaphors.
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10:51 - 10:53He spoke in hyperbole.
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10:53 - 10:58I mean, He spoke like we do, and He used expressions of language.
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10:58 - 11:06I mean, if anybody used expressiveness in language,
our Lord Jesus Christ did. -
11:06 - 11:12"We must feed on His flesh and drink His blood
if we would have eternal life." -
11:12 - 11:14Scripture is full of metaphors.
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11:14 - 11:19"We must hate mother and father." Full of hyperbole.
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11:19 - 11:24But one dead giveaway that this is not to be taken literally
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11:24 - 11:28is simply comparing scripture with scripture.
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11:28 - 11:29What do I mean?
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11:29 - 11:32Well, if you go over to Colossians chapter 2,
do you know what Paul said? -
11:32 - 11:35Don't turn there please, but you know what Paul said?
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11:35 - 11:46He said, "Severity to the body is of no value
in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." -
11:46 - 11:53We're told by Paul that any kind of severity to this body,
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11:53 - 11:56any mutilation of this body, any asceticism,
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11:56 - 12:00it doesn't kill the flesh.
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12:00 - 12:03It doesn't make you more holy,
it doesn't make you more righteous. -
12:03 - 12:07It doesn't stop the indulgence of the flesh. (P)
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12:07 - 12:11You all know who Origen was? You've probably heard that word.
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12:11 - 12:14I'm not here to argue whether he was a heretic or not a heretic,
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12:14 - 12:16some people say both ways.
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12:16 - 12:21But it is reported that he was doing harm to his body.
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12:21 - 12:28Because he was so grabbed hold of by lust,
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12:28 - 12:33he actually sought to do harm to his body.
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12:33 - 12:36And he eventually gave it up.
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12:36 - 12:40And you know what the primary reason was?
He saw that it didn't work. -
12:40 - 12:47He saw that however asceticism or harm
or severity to the body, [it didn't work]. -
12:47 - 12:50And some of you may have read this.
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12:50 - 12:56I believe it was Lloyd-Jones' days in Sanfields
before he went to Westminster Chapel. -
12:56 - 13:01A woman came up to him one time with an empty eye socket.
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13:01 - 13:03And upon speaking to her,
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13:03 - 13:06Lloyd-Jones was not convinced this was
the most godly woman he ever met. -
13:06 - 13:08She actually had gouged out her own eye,
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13:08 - 13:13alluding to this passage or one of the parallel passages.
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13:13 - 13:20He did not think she was holy, he thought she was weird. (P)
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13:21 - 13:26Anyway, the reality is, asceticism in Scripture is said to be of no value.
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13:26 - 13:30But I mean, if this were to be taken literally,
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13:30 - 13:34we'd know who the true Christians were in our church, wouldn't we?
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13:34 - 13:36We would know it by their empty eye sockets
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13:36 - 13:39and those that have the prosthetic devices.
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13:39 - 13:42But the thing is, where would it stop?
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13:42 - 13:47Because, certainly, if you gouge out your right eye, listen,
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13:47 - 13:50are you going to now find sin dead?
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13:50 - 13:53It won't be long before you'll be taking the left eye.
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13:53 - 13:57And if you cut off the right hand,
you know what you're going to find? -
13:57 - 14:01You're going to figure out how to use the stump to do the same stuff.
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14:01 - 14:04And now you're gonna start pairing away on your body
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14:04 - 14:06till your whole body is just a stump.
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14:06 - 14:11And what if you get to the place where you say,
"Oh no, my mind, that's the real problem," -
14:11 - 14:13what are you gonna do? Lobotomy?
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14:13 - 14:15or you're just going to take your head off altogether?
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14:15 - 14:20Obviously, this becomes totally ridiculous. (P)
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14:20 - 14:23Yes, this is imagery.
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14:23 - 14:29But I tell you, you know this: it's radical imagery
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14:29 - 14:36because He is calling for something radical in your life.
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14:36 - 14:40This is life and death imagery.
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14:40 - 14:45Listen, everybody in this room wants to wake up,
because this deals with you. -
14:45 - 14:52And it deals with you going to hell or not going to hell.
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14:52 - 14:56I was just talking to a sister before the first service.
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14:56 - 15:00You know about the fear of hell. Jesus used the fear of hell.
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15:00 - 15:04Now He appeals to mankind other ways,
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15:04 - 15:13but you know the Lord Jesus appealed
to our best interest in not going to hell. -
15:13 - 15:16Fear of hell. You know what the reality is?
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15:16 - 15:24Those who go to heaven attack their own sin right at the root cause.
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15:24 - 15:29Those who get thrown into hell in the end,
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15:29 - 15:34they may come to church, you may be here now.
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15:34 - 15:38These four walls don't protect you.
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15:38 - 15:42Religion doesn't protect here.
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15:42 - 15:50If you're casual about your sin, you are in danger.
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15:50 - 15:53That's what Jesus says.
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15:53 - 15:59You continue down that path, He shows you where it leads. (P)
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15:59 - 16:04So let me ask you something.
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16:04 - 16:07We might think this:
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16:07 - 16:21"Hey, doesn't Scripture say we are saved
by grace through faith, this is not of ourselves? -
16:21 - 16:29Doesn't Scripture say that it's not by our works, but it's a gift of God?
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16:29 - 16:33I mean, wouldn't you think the Lord would have at least
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16:33 - 16:38tried to make this statement sound more like grace than what it sounds like?"
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16:38 - 16:41Well, let me tell you something.
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16:41 - 16:50This is exactly where multitudes of professing Christians go wrong.
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16:50 - 16:58It's precisely because people cannot find how this can be grace,
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16:58 - 17:05where the connection is with grace.
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17:05 - 17:15I'll tell you, people who just cannot find
the connection with these verses and grace, -
17:15 - 17:22it is oftentimes a dead giveaway that they're not partakers of grace.
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17:22 - 17:36Look, the truth is, grace produces individuals who amputate sin. (P)
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17:36 - 17:39Now you think with me here.
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17:39 - 17:49"They're going to call His name Jesus
because He will save His people from their sins." -
17:49 - 17:54People say, "Oh yeah, that means from hell,
that means from the penalty of sins." -
17:54 - 17:56That is not what the text says.
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17:56 - 17:58It doesn't say that they're going to call His name Jesus
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17:58 - 18:02because He's going to save His people from the penalty of their sins.
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18:02 - 18:05He does save His people from the penalty of their sins,
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18:05 - 18:07but that isn't what the text is saying.
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18:07 - 18:12It says He's going to save them from their sins.
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18:12 - 18:19I'll tell you this, Peter hits on this,
1 Peter 2:24, what do you have? -
18:19 - 18:37Jesus Christ, He Himself, bore in His own body;
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18:37 - 18:38He bore our sins there.
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18:38 - 18:44He bore the punishment of God there in Himself.
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18:44 - 18:50"He bore our sins in His body on the tree," Why?
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18:50 - 18:55"So that we might die to sin and live to righteousness."
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18:55 - 18:57Now you listen to that.
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18:57 - 19:04By His name, by His crucifixion, do you know what Scripture tells us?
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19:04 - 19:09"He came that we might die to sin." (P)
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19:09 - 19:18If you take 1 Peter 2:24, and you just put it in Mark 9 terminology,
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19:18 - 19:21let me tell you how it reads:
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19:21 - 19:30Jesus Christ bore in His body on that tree,
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19:30 - 19:38He bore our sins that we might amputate the cause of sins in our life
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19:38 - 19:40and live to righteousness.
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19:40 - 19:42That's exactly what that text says.
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19:42 - 19:46It's exactly the truth of Mark 9.
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19:46 - 19:49This is what grace does.
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19:49 - 19:56And you see, the person who comes along
and does not get that radical with his sin, -
19:56 - 19:59is showing that the Christ who came to this earth
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19:59 - 20:02to save His people from their sins,
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20:02 - 20:06that isn't happening there.
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20:06 - 20:10And that means that they're not trusting Christ,
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20:10 - 20:17because to trust Christ is to have Christ go to work on you. (P)
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20:17 - 20:22Now that's the first thing: just think about what Christ came to do –
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20:22 - 20:29to bear our sins in His body on that tree, that we might die to sin.
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20:29 - 20:33But think with me here.
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20:33 - 20:39A radical change of desire, have you ever read Galatians 5:24?
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20:39 - 20:49"If we belong to Christ, we have crucified the flesh (our flesh)
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20:49 - 20:55with its - what? - passions and its desires."
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20:55 - 21:00Listen: "If we belong to Christ" – you see, this is it.
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21:00 - 21:04He has come to purchase a people.
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21:04 - 21:08He has come to die for them, to break the power of sin in their life,
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21:08 - 21:11that they might live to righteousness.
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21:11 - 21:17He's come to make you altogether new,
so that you have new desires. -
21:17 - 21:20Those old desires are crucified.
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21:20 - 21:26Listen, if you say, "Well, I was a non-Christian, I was controlled by sin.
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21:26 - 21:30I became a Christian, and you know, I come to church now,
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21:30 - 21:34but really, I'm just as controlled by sin as I was then,"
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21:34 - 21:36you're on your way to hell.
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21:36 - 21:39That's what this is saying.
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21:39 - 21:44You're deceived. You're on your way to hell. (P)
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21:44 - 21:51But here is what happens: The desires of the flesh, crucified.
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21:51 - 21:54But that's the negative side, let's go to the positive side.
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21:54 - 21:57You remember what was said in the Sermon on the Mount?
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21:57 - 22:02"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
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22:02 - 22:04for they shall be satisfied."
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22:04 - 22:05You see, that's the opposite.
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22:05 - 22:08Now you think about hunger and thirst.
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22:08 - 22:14You see what's the driving factor in this?
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22:14 - 22:19Hunger. Thirst. They are constant.
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22:19 - 22:23You can eat now, you're going to be hungry again before the end of the day.
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22:23 - 22:27Hunger and thirst keep coming.
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22:27 - 22:29It was hot yesterday.
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22:29 - 22:32I went for a bike ride, and I was really thirsty.
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22:32 - 22:34I couldn't get enough yesterday;
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22:34 - 22:38kept having to put away the water and the orange juice.
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22:38 - 22:39Thirst.
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22:39 - 22:42You know what happens when you really are hungry?
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22:42 - 22:46I mean, you're hungry! You're thirsty!
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22:46 - 22:48You're gonna get at that water.
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22:48 - 22:56And if a hand or a foot or an eye
stands in the way of what you really want, -
22:56 - 23:01you're gonna get those things out of the way.
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23:01 - 23:05That's the thing about hunger and thirst, they're unrelenting.
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23:05 - 23:10They drive us. They move us. (P)
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23:10 - 23:12Or how about this: The Holy Spirit.
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23:12 - 23:18You see, once you have trusted Christ,
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23:18 - 23:22you know the reality that we find in Scripture?
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23:22 - 23:27We find that if you belong to Christ, you have the Holy Spirit.
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23:27 - 23:30If you don't have the Holy Spirit, you're none of His.
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23:30 - 23:33And if you have the Holy Spirit, you know what Scripture says?
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23:33 - 23:36"If you live according to the flesh, you will die.
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23:36 - 23:42But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
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23:42 - 23:44Well, how is that?
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23:44 - 23:49By the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.
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23:49 - 23:53That's life. That's the same reality that we get here.
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23:53 - 23:54It's the same thing.
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23:54 - 23:57One of the most obvious evidences of being a Christian:
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23:57 - 24:02the Spirit of Almighty God enables you to put sin to death. (P)
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24:02 - 24:07Or how about this: Fear.
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24:07 - 24:12Do you know that in Jeremiah 32,
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24:12 - 24:18you have one of those passages
that deals with the New Covenant. -
24:18 - 24:21Let me read it to you, you don't have to turn there, but let me read it.
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24:21 - 24:25Jeremiah 32:40, "I will make with them an everlasting covenant
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24:25 - 24:28(this is the New Covenant),
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24:28 - 24:32that I will not turn away from doing good to them."
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24:32 - 24:41Now notice this: "And I will put the fear of Me in their hearts,
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24:41 - 24:45that they may not turn from Me."
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24:45 - 24:47It's the fear that I want you to see.
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24:47 - 24:54If you belong to Christ, God has put His fear in you.
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24:54 - 24:56Do you know what that means?
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24:56 - 25:03That means that when you hear Jesus say,
"Cut off that hand or go to hell," -
25:03 - 25:07the Christian fears.
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25:07 - 25:11We have a fear, we have a healthy fear of the warnings in Scripture;
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25:11 - 25:13and we turn away.
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25:13 - 25:15I heard Charles Leiter say it one time,
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25:15 - 25:18it's like these warning signs that there's a cliff right there,
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25:18 - 25:19and you got these signs.
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25:19 - 25:24The Christian reads the signs, and he fears and turns away;
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25:24 - 25:26and therefore doesn't go over the cliff.
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25:26 - 25:29Whereas the unbeliever, he doesn't regard the sign;
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25:29 - 25:34and he goes over and plays on the edge,
and he eventually falls over that edge. (P) -
25:34 - 25:38You see, some people here, I can tell you
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25:38 - 25:41that if you don't attack the cause of sin in your life,
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25:41 - 25:43you're going to go to hell.
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25:43 - 25:46And you're going to go out,
and you're going to play and dabble with sin, -
25:46 - 25:48because there's no fear.
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25:48 - 25:51You're going to be casual about your sin,
you're just going to go out. -
25:51 - 25:52And you're going to end up in hell,
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25:52 - 25:54and you're going to say, when it's too late,
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25:54 - 26:03"Oh, you know what? What God preached
that day in March of 2018, that was true!" -
26:03 - 26:05But you know what? It does you no good to figure it out then.
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26:05 - 26:10Today is the day to figure this out, the reality of this.
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26:10 - 26:15You do not want to downplay our Lord's threats.
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26:15 - 26:22I know that many find it hard to take Christ
at face value when He says this. -
26:22 - 26:26You know why? Because of the doctrine of justification by faith.
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26:26 - 26:30And we say, "Hey, I believe. I've been justified.
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26:30 - 26:35These words don't have application to me."
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26:35 - 26:40If you do that, you are on the path to deceiving yourself. (P)
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26:40 - 26:44Listen, the doctrine of justification by faith is very real.
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26:44 - 26:49We love it, we embrace it.
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26:49 - 26:53But I'll tell you this, if you're justified, you have the Holy Spirit;
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26:53 - 26:56and you'll put the deeds of the body to death.
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26:56 - 27:03If you are justified by faith, you have the fear of God in you;
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27:03 - 27:07and you will take these warnings seriously.
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27:07 - 27:10If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
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27:10 - 27:15and your sins are pardoned by grace,
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27:15 - 27:21then you are embracing the Christ who said
that He has come and laid down His life, -
27:21 - 27:24that you might die to sin.
-
27:24 - 27:27These things are a reality. (P)
-
27:27 - 27:32To the lost: I know we've got, maybe, girls from the Grace House,
-
27:32 - 27:38we've got children who come here because your parents bring you here,
-
27:38 - 27:42there's friends that visit:
-
27:42 - 27:47if the truth be known, if the truth be told, you don't know the Lord.
-
27:47 - 27:51You're here for one reason or another,
-
27:51 - 27:54but it's not because you're a Christian.
-
27:54 - 27:57It's not because you really desire to come here and worship Christ.
-
27:57 - 28:00There's some other reason that you've come.
-
28:00 - 28:04What I want you to do is just listen to me right now.
-
28:04 - 28:06Look at the stakes.
-
28:06 - 28:12Look at what's at stake: You going to hell.
-
28:12 - 28:15Unquenchable fire. That's what at stake.
-
28:15 - 28:20God throws people into hell, who live in sin and love their sin.
-
28:20 - 28:24Make no mistake. Make none. (P)
-
28:24 - 28:27And here's what I want to tell you.
-
28:27 - 28:33To come to Christ by faith does not make all your problems go away.
-
28:33 - 28:37In fact, as some people have said before,
-
28:37 - 28:41sometimes it's coming to Christ that
really causes all the problems to come. -
28:41 - 28:43All hell breaks loose against you.
-
28:43 - 28:45I want to tell you this:
-
28:45 - 28:51If you lay down your weapons
and you surrender to being saved by Christ, -
28:51 - 28:54(I mean, saved, not just from hell, saved from your sin –
-
28:54 - 28:55He's going to break the power,
-
28:55 - 28:57and He's going to take the idols out of your life);
-
28:57 - 29:04if you're willing to lay down your weapons
fighting against Him, and surrender to Him, -
29:04 - 29:12I want you to know, life will become a fierce battle.
-
29:12 - 29:15It will not be easy.
-
29:15 - 29:20The battle for righteousness is radical, it is violent.
-
29:20 - 29:24You must attack sin.
-
29:24 - 29:26That's what your life will look like. (P)
-
29:26 - 29:30The Christian life is all-out battle.
-
29:30 - 29:34I'm not going to try to sell you on a bill of goods.
-
29:34 - 29:39There are shiny-teeth preachers who will tell you,
-
29:39 - 29:43"Oh, it's just your best life now, and you can come,
-
29:43 - 29:47and it will all be good, and your problems go away."
-
29:47 - 29:50You know, there's the preachers that will tell you,
-
29:50 - 29:52"You become a Christian, and you tithe,
-
29:52 - 29:55and then God's going to give you your Cardillac (car)."
-
29:55 - 30:04No, I'll tell you this: if you come to Christ, Satan is coming after you;
-
30:04 - 30:08and sin is going to try to reign in your mortal bodies;
-
30:08 - 30:12and the world is going to try to draw you away;
-
30:12 - 30:19and your own family members,
Christ said He brings a sword in the family. -
30:19 - 30:23And you know what? As James said in the first hour,
-
30:23 - 30:29it will be appointed to you to suffer for Christ's sake (Phillipians 1:29).
-
30:29 - 30:31You know what Scripture says?
-
30:31 - 30:37Through much tribulation we inherit the kingdom (Acts 14:22). (P)
-
30:37 - 30:40I'm just going to tell you the reality right upfront.
-
30:40 - 30:45The Christian life is full of sighs and moans and difficulties.
-
30:45 - 30:54If it's full of joy... it's tough.
-
30:54 - 30:55You will not get everything you want.
-
30:55 - 31:00In fact, you will have to abandon
many of your own agendas and your plans, -
31:00 - 31:03but Christ is good and He's a gentle Master.
-
31:03 - 31:09But I'll tell you, even though He's gentle,
He will lead you through the fire. -
31:09 - 31:15But it's okay, because He has designed the fire to purify you.
-
31:15 - 31:19And in the end, there's eternal life, there's glory,
-
31:19 - 31:22every tear is wiped away.
-
31:22 - 31:27You see, the hard part is now; for eternity, it's good.
-
31:27 - 31:28Paradise.
-
31:28 - 31:31You see, the devil, he switches it the other way around:
-
31:31 - 31:36"Oh! You need sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.
-
31:36 - 31:39That's what you need. That will make life fun."
-
31:39 - 31:43You see, the devil, he wants to give you all the good now.
-
31:43 - 31:47You remember how it was: "The pleasures of sin for a season."
-
31:47 - 31:51Or you think of Moses: "The treasures of Egypt."
-
31:51 - 31:54"Look what you can have now."
-
31:54 - 31:56He said to Jesus, "Oh, you just fall down and worship me,
-
31:56 - 32:01you can have all these kingdoms of the world."
-
32:01 - 32:06You see, that's how he is, but in the end there's death. (P)
-
32:06 - 32:09We're not going to deceive you.
-
32:09 - 32:13But I'll tell you this: You come to Christ,
-
32:13 - 32:16He doesn't just save you from the penalty of sin,
-
32:16 - 32:20He saves you from sin.
-
32:20 - 32:24You see, don't go to Him just because you don't want to go to hell.
-
32:24 - 32:26That is a good reason to go to Him,
-
32:26 - 32:33but you need to know how He saves –
He saves to the uttermost. Always. -
32:33 - 32:35And if you don't want to be saved to the uttermost,
-
32:35 - 32:36you see, this is the problem:
-
32:36 - 32:40you've got lots of people that say,
"Ah, I want to hold on to my sin, -
32:40 - 32:42but I don't want to go to hell in the end."
-
32:42 - 32:46Guess what? You can't have it both ways like that.
-
32:46 - 32:47You will perish.
-
32:47 - 32:55If you try to go down that path, you will not succeed. (P)
-
32:55 - 33:00Well, let's personalise this. Let's look at our text, Mark 9,
-
33:00 - 33:06"If your hand causes you to sin..."
-
33:06 - 33:10Verse 45, "If your foot causes you to sin..."
-
33:10 - 33:15Verse 47, "If your eye..."
-
33:15 - 33:19This is your hand.
-
33:19 - 33:26This is something that's true of you.
-
33:26 - 33:35You are the one being called to engage in this radical
and persistent attack on your own sin. -
33:35 - 33:38And really, I mean, we could say it this way: Fight or go to hell.
-
33:38 - 33:43You say, "Ah, that just grates on me.
That doesn't sound like grace." -
33:43 - 33:44Well, it is.
-
33:44 - 33:53And it's true: you fight and you succeed,
-
33:53 - 34:00because the Spirit enables you and Christ is for you,
-
34:00 - 34:02and you don't go to hell.
-
34:02 - 34:09Or you don't fight, and you embrace your sin
(even if you're religious), and you go to hell. -
34:09 - 34:12I mean, it's a reality. (P)
-
34:12 - 34:16Beloved brethren, this is a wake-up call,
-
34:16 - 34:19because you need to think about your life.
-
34:19 - 34:22You need to think about what's true.
-
34:22 - 34:26If the doctrine of justification by faith has put you to sleep,
-
34:26 - 34:30where you feel, "Oh, my sins are forgiven,
I don't have to take this seriously. -
34:30 - 34:32I can be lax about my sins,"
-
34:32 - 34:37may these words shake you out of that death slumber.
-
34:37 - 34:46How many, how many professing Christians just are shocked:
-
34:46 - 34:51"LORD! LORD! We were at Grace that day!
-
34:51 - 34:55I have served when they had meals there!
-
34:55 - 35:00I went with David to the ministry!"
-
35:00 - 35:02Remember what He said?
-
35:02 - 35:11"Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness (or iniquity)."
-
35:11 - 35:14What does that mean?
-
35:14 - 35:16They didn't fight sin.
-
35:16 - 35:20They were lawless.
-
35:20 - 35:21They didn't fight,
-
35:21 - 35:26they didn't amputate the causes of lawlessness.
-
35:26 - 35:29They went to church. They were involved in the ministry.
-
35:29 - 35:33Don't let religion deceive you.
-
35:33 - 35:50Sin – Christ died, that we might die also;
die to sin and live to righteousness. -
35:50 - 35:52"I never knew you." (P)
-
35:52 - 35:54And you know, the thing about this is,
-
35:54 - 35:58Jesus says this is going to be true of many – many church goers,
-
35:58 - 36:04many religious people; not just a few, many.
-
36:04 - 36:08That means we've got people in here, I know it,
-
36:08 - 36:11you're not going to take this message seriously,
-
36:11 - 36:13you're going to go out and be casual about your sin.
-
36:13 - 36:19You're somehow going to convince yourself, "I'm okay,"
-
36:19 - 36:28or, "Well, I heard him and I am concerned,
but I am not going to deal with it today." -
36:28 - 36:32And you know, the devil is that way.
-
36:32 - 36:36We heard recently from Craig about the devil picking up the seed.
-
36:36 - 36:41It's not the devil always coming and saying,
"That's not true, that's not true, that's not true." -
36:41 - 36:45You know how he picks up the seed oftentimes?
-
36:45 - 36:51"That was altogether true; but you're young,
-
36:51 - 36:57you're healthy, take care of it tomorrow.
-
36:57 - 36:59Live it up today.
-
36:59 - 37:05Take care of it when you get a few more years behind you."
-
37:05 - 37:10And you know, people like that wake up in hell all the time,
-
37:10 - 37:14and it's too late. (P)
-
37:14 - 37:19I want you to think, does this describe you?
-
37:19 - 37:26Be honest. Look at yourself in the mirror.
-
37:26 - 37:31Can you say this about yourself from the time you've been saved?
-
37:31 - 37:36I mean, I can go back. I was saved in 1990, and I can do the math;
-
37:36 - 37:40here it is, I'll be 28 years old in the Lord.
-
37:40 - 37:47Can I see during that time, that I had to eliminate –
-
37:47 - 37:52now if you think: hands, feet, eyes, they're valuable.
-
37:52 - 37:56So it means it's things that are difficult to get rid off.
-
37:56 - 37:58It's things that are precious to us.
-
37:59 - 38:01It's things that are valuable to us.
-
38:02 - 38:06It's things that are attached to us.
-
38:06 - 38:10It feels like it's part of us.
-
38:10 - 38:18Oh, I remember so well the devil speaking:
"You can't give up those friends. -
38:18 - 38:23You can't give up that lifestyle, that's who you are."
-
38:23 - 38:26"Yeah, that's right."
-
38:26 - 38:29But then I would hear words like this:
-
38:29 - 38:37"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?"
-
38:37 - 38:40I was caught.
-
38:41 - 38:45Has your life resembled this?
-
38:45 - 38:51Have there been major things that you've had to eradicate,
-
38:51 - 38:54that you've had to take violent action against?
-
38:54 - 38:56You know, one of the first things:
-
38:56 - 39:00we've got to identify these things,
and we've got to be honest about them. -
39:00 - 39:01So much dishonesty.
-
39:01 - 39:03You know, you can look at something in your life,
-
39:03 - 39:06and it's dragging you hellward;
-
39:06 - 39:13and you look at it and you say, "No, it's not. It's not. It's okay."
-
39:13 - 39:17And so you justify this thing. (P)
-
39:17 - 39:20Sin – what are we talking about? – Sin.
-
39:20 - 39:25Sin is lawlessness. It's breaking God's commandments.
-
39:25 - 39:27Sin is wrongdoing.
-
39:27 - 39:31Sin is anything that's contrary to the character of God.
-
39:31 - 39:37You know what Scripture says? "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
-
39:37 - 39:40Faith – what does that mean?
-
39:40 - 39:44Do you believe that you have liberty to do it?
-
39:44 - 39:48You know, that comes right on the heels of eating meat,
-
39:48 - 39:51drinking wine, observing days.
-
39:51 - 39:58When you look at something, do you say,
"Yeah, I feel like I have liberty to do this." -
39:58 - 40:01But if your conscience is telling you,
"No, you shouldn't be doing this," -
40:01 - 40:04and you keep saying, "Be quiet, other Christians can do this.
-
40:04 - 40:05I know I can do this,"
-
40:05 - 40:07but your conscience keeps...
-
40:07 - 40:13If it's not of faith, if you can't say "I believe that God is pleased" –
-
40:13 - 40:17whatsoever you do, whether you eat or drink,
you are to do it to the glory of God. -
40:17 - 40:22And you know, Romans 14, some eat to the glory of God,
-
40:22 - 40:23and some don't eat to the glory of God.
-
40:23 - 40:26Some observe the day to the glory of God, some don't.
-
40:26 - 40:30We need to be certain, because you know what all of this does?
-
40:30 - 40:32You know what all of this is?
-
40:32 - 40:35All of this, remember what Jesus said,
-
40:35 - 40:38"It's not everybody that says to me, 'Lord, Lord',
-
40:38 - 40:43it's those who do the will of My Father."
-
40:43 - 40:46You know that's what this is all about?
-
40:46 - 40:52It's everything in your life that is not according to the will of God.
-
40:52 - 40:55That's what sin is.
-
40:55 - 41:00Those who inherit the kingdom are those who do the will of the Father.
-
41:00 - 41:04That's what Jesus taught.
-
41:05 - 41:08We're not to be passive.
-
41:08 - 41:13Jesus says, "You are to cut your hand off."
-
41:13 - 41:17Listen, it is by the Spirit that we put to death the deeds of the body,
-
41:17 - 41:18but you're not to be passive.
-
41:18 - 41:21Jesus is saying, you've got to do it.
-
41:21 - 41:23He's not saying God will do it for you.
-
41:23 - 41:27He's not saying, expect the church to do it for you. (P)
-
41:27 - 41:31You know what? We have had people leave this church,
-
41:31 - 41:34who have gone out either through discipline,
-
41:34 - 41:41or they've just packed up and left
and walked away immersed in sin, -
41:41 - 41:47who have blamed the elders.
-
41:47 - 41:53I have not been given the knife to cut your hand off.
-
41:53 - 41:56Yes, there's a place for teaching, there's a place for counsel.
-
41:56 - 41:58You have that responsibility.
-
41:58 - 42:04If you don't take your hand off,
it is not my fault, it is not James' fault, -
42:04 - 42:09and it is not somebody else's fault down the aisle from you.
-
42:09 - 42:13You have a responsibility to amputate,
-
42:13 - 42:16and if you don't, you go to hell.
-
42:16 - 42:19That's what it says.
-
42:19 - 42:25We have a personal responsibility here not to be passive.
-
42:25 - 42:30You must be proactive.
-
42:30 - 42:33You must be intentional.
-
42:33 - 42:38You must face your life with purpose.
-
42:38 - 42:42You must attack with purpose.
-
42:42 - 42:45You must be deliberate.
-
42:45 - 42:49You must identify the causes of sin in your life,
-
42:49 - 42:54and cut them off, and throw them away from you.
-
42:54 - 42:56And God doesn't make deals.
-
42:56 - 42:57I want to tell you this too:
-
42:57 - 43:00God doesn't tell you that it's okay to pluck out your right eye,
-
43:00 - 43:03when it's your right hand that offends.
-
43:03 - 43:04You get what I'm saying here?
-
43:04 - 43:08Ever notice, sometimes we have a tendency to do that?
-
43:08 - 43:11We feel like, in our conscience, God is telling me this thing over here
-
43:11 - 43:17is what really needs to be cut off, and we start cutting off over here.
-
43:17 - 43:20You know what we're wanting to do?
-
43:20 - 43:24"Well, Lord, will this appease you?"
-
43:24 - 43:27He knows where our real idols are.
-
43:27 - 43:32He knows the things that have roots
that go down deepest into our heart. -
43:32 - 43:37And He'll push that aside, and say,
"I want that thing right there." -
43:37 - 43:41And then, we try to convince ourselves, "Oh, He didn't say that.
-
43:41 - 43:43There's just my conscience, my conscience is ill-informed,
-
43:43 - 43:51because I know I got brothers and sisters
who seem to have a clear conscience to do this." -
43:51 - 43:53Don't fall for that. (P)
-
43:53 - 43:57God doesn't make deals, because I'll tell you this:
-
43:57 - 44:01God doesn't tell us all to go offer our children
up on Mount Moriah, but He told one man. -
44:01 - 44:06God doesn't tell us all to go sell all of our
possessions, but He told that to one man, -
44:06 - 44:07because, you know what the thing is?
-
44:07 - 44:10God is a personal God, and God personally knows each of us.
-
44:10 - 44:12And He knows the thing.
-
44:12 - 44:14You know, you've got things in your life that...
-
44:14 - 44:17I can remember the first time I heard Eric say
-
44:17 - 44:21that it was an idol to him to graffitti things.
-
44:21 - 44:24Never felt that in my life.
-
44:24 - 44:28I mean, if God told me, "You can't graffitti anymore,"
-
44:28 - 44:34it'd be like, "Good, we got that one taken care of very easily."
-
44:34 - 44:36But for me it's something else.
-
44:36 - 44:39And it may be something that Eric says,
"Men, I've never struggled with that in my life." -
44:39 - 44:50Isn't it amazing the things, sometimes,
that become an entanglement of our souls? -
44:50 - 44:52Almost ludicrous things, sometimes. (P)
-
44:52 - 44:56These verbs here, aorist imperatives,
-
44:56 - 44:59it means it is a commandment, it is a commandment to you;
-
44:59 - 45:03and it is to be done by you immediately.
-
45:03 - 45:06You are not to procrastinate on this thing.
-
45:06 - 45:10When there is something in your life that is causing you to sin,
-
45:10 - 45:14you need to get rid of it and stop justifying.
-
45:14 - 45:21This is serious: if you justify, you will justify yourself into hell.
-
45:21 - 45:23That is what Christ is saying.
-
45:23 - 45:28I'll tell you this, too: It doesn't say "wound your hand,"
-
45:28 - 45:32it doesn't say "slap your hand."
-
45:32 - 45:40Let me tell you this, sin – we see this in Romans 6 –
-
45:40 - 45:46sin seeks to reign in your mortal bodies;
-
45:46 - 45:52and if you don't kill it and cast it away,
-
45:52 - 45:55your little efforts to slap it,
-
45:55 - 46:03to do anything less than what is being commanded here,
-
46:03 - 46:08sin will thrive and it will kill you.
-
46:08 - 46:13That's the issue. (P)
-
46:19 - 46:30I just recently heard a story
about these nomads in the Sahara Desert. -
46:30 - 46:36And they're shepherds (I forget the exact name of the people),
-
46:36 - 46:42but they shepherd, I think they have goats, they have camels for sure.
-
46:42 - 46:44They live out there in the Sahara Desert,
-
46:44 - 46:48where it just seems like hardly nothing could survive.
-
46:48 - 46:50They've got these puff adders –
-
46:50 - 46:57really poisonous, kind of sidewinder, poisonous snakes.
-
46:57 - 47:03And one of the boys was out tending the animals,
-
47:03 - 47:10and he was bit in the finger by one of these puff adders.
-
47:10 - 47:14His people in this traveling nomadic tribe,
-
47:14 - 47:19they don't have anti-toxins, anti-venom.
-
47:19 - 47:21You know what they had to do?
-
47:21 - 47:25Immediately, what did they have to do?
-
47:25 - 47:28They cut his finger off.
-
47:28 - 47:35He got bit in the finger, they had to cut it off, immediately.
-
47:35 - 47:40You see, we look at that and we recognize, "Oh yeah, yeah."
-
47:40 - 47:42We recognize, there was urgency.
-
47:42 - 47:46We recognize, much better to lose one finger than to lose your life.
-
47:46 - 47:53Isn't it amazing we will then turn around to our souls, and sin;
-
47:53 - 48:02and we will not be as intense, we will not be as quick, as urgent?
-
48:02 - 48:04Isn't that amazing? Why?
-
48:04 - 48:06Because we take the one very seriously because we know,
-
48:06 - 48:10"If you don't cut that finger off, my boy is going to die!"
-
48:10 - 48:16Yeah, but that's exactly what Jesus is saying in a spiritual sense.
-
48:16 - 48:20And if you think that poison in that finger
-
48:20 - 48:26is more to be feared than the poison in sin, you are wrong.
-
48:26 - 48:30And I'll tell you, there's a multitude in hell right now,
-
48:30 - 48:33if they could stand here they would shriek,
-
48:33 - 48:39they would scream at you: "What a fool I was!
-
48:39 - 48:42I actually did think that poison in a finger
-
48:42 - 48:46would be far worse than what sin could do to me.
-
48:46 - 48:49And it's dragged me to hell." (P)
-
48:49 - 48:54Look, you notice what Jesus does?
-
48:54 - 48:56He doesn't start by saying:
-
48:56 - 49:00"Oh, you're Christians, so this doesn't apply to you.
-
49:00 - 49:03You non-Christians, you better take this seriously."
-
49:03 - 49:05You know, He did not deal with people like that.
-
49:05 - 49:06We tend to deal like that.
-
49:06 - 49:09"Well, I'm a Christian, that can't be true of me."
-
49:09 - 49:13Jesus didn't talk to people that way.
-
49:13 - 49:17He looked at the realities of life, and He said,
-
49:17 - 49:24"If this is true, then we can come to conclusions about what we really are."
-
49:24 - 49:28You don't want to start in the wrong place. (P)
-
49:28 - 49:31I would just say this also.
-
49:31 - 49:37You notice you're not told to pluck your neighbor's eyeball out.
-
49:37 - 49:41It's amazing, the hypocrisy.
-
49:41 - 49:43Of course, Jesus deals with this
-
49:43 - 49:47when He deals with the speck and the beam in the eye.
-
49:47 - 49:50I mean, why deal with that?
-
49:50 - 49:56Because we have a tendency to be able to see what's wrong in other people
-
49:56 - 50:00better than we can see what's wrong in ourselves, oftentimes.
-
50:00 - 50:04Yes, there is a place to help others
and protect others and deal with sin in others, -
50:04 - 50:06but the primary calling here is:
-
50:06 - 50:11"you deal with the causes of sin in your life". (P)
-
50:11 - 50:20Well, very quickly, what sort of hands, what sort of feet,
-
50:20 - 50:26what sort of eyes, typically take men to hell?
-
50:26 - 50:29In fact, we might just say this:
-
50:29 - 50:39what sort of feet, hands, and eyes,
take people in the church to hell? -
50:39 - 50:44because that's what we're dealing with.
-
50:46 - 50:56Let me give you a big one: False professions.
-
50:56 - 51:06Do you know Jesus said to some religious folks in John 5,
-
51:06 - 51:12"How can you be saved, when you desire the glory of men
-
51:12 - 51:15more than the glory that comes from God?"
-
51:15 - 51:17Have you ever read that?
-
51:17 - 51:23Do you know what I have found is true?
-
51:23 - 51:28If people say, "I'm not really saved,"
-
51:28 - 51:36they're afraid that they're going to be treated as an outsider;
-
51:36 - 51:42they're afraid that they're going to be exposed;
-
51:42 - 51:44because people want to be accepted.
-
51:44 - 51:48And there is this sense that if I come clean...
-
51:48 - 51:56There are some of you that profess to be Christians,
-
51:56 - 52:00you know deep down inside,
-
52:00 - 52:06you may come here because of the social life,
-
52:06 - 52:12you may come here because you're really trying to please God
-
52:12 - 52:17and somehow pay your sins off;
-
52:17 - 52:19but you hold to a false profession,
-
52:19 - 52:25and you would rather die and go to hell
with that false profession than give it up. -
52:25 - 52:30Chop it off. Be done with it. (P)
-
52:30 - 52:37It is amazing, people who know, they know deep inside,
-
52:37 - 52:41they don't want righteousness, they love their sin.
-
52:41 - 52:45They know inside, they don't have a love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
52:45 - 52:49They love themselves. They like to be accepted by people.
-
52:49 - 52:56The church often accepts people that society, at large, doesn't accept.
-
52:56 - 52:59And so, people can be attracted into the church.
-
52:59 - 53:03There's lots of reasons that lost people kind of migrate in,
-
53:03 - 53:06not the least of which,
-
53:06 - 53:11just the hope that somehow religion is going to save me in the end.
-
53:11 - 53:15A fear of hell.
-
53:16 - 53:22There are false professions in this church, I am certain of it,
-
53:22 - 53:24that are like a foot.
-
53:24 - 53:26It's causing you to sin.
-
53:26 - 53:28You know the kind of sin it's causing you?
-
53:28 - 53:30Deception. Hypocrisy.
-
53:30 - 53:35You're just a hypocrite, you're not what you say you are.
-
53:35 - 53:38Don't go to hell holding on to that.
-
53:38 - 53:39Cut it off.
-
53:39 - 53:42If you know it's true, because listen,
-
53:42 - 53:47the first step to being right with Christ is honesty.
-
53:47 - 53:48It's honesty.
-
53:48 - 53:51And if you're not being honest with the folks in the church,
-
53:51 - 53:57I guarantee you're not being honest with the Lord. (P)
-
53:57 - 53:59How about this, this is a big one:
-
53:59 - 54:08When Jesus Himself says, "You cannot serve God and mammon (or money)."
-
54:08 - 54:09That's a big one.
-
54:09 - 54:11You remember what Jesus said?
-
54:11 - 54:18"O, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom."
-
54:18 - 54:20You know why it is?
-
54:20 - 54:26Rich young ruler. They won't cut it off.
-
54:26 - 54:31Listen, we have professing Christians in this room,
-
54:31 - 54:38you hear Jesus say, "Don't lay up treasures on this earth;
-
54:38 - 54:39lay up treasure in heaven."
-
54:39 - 54:45You also hear Him, Luke 12, "Sell your possessions."
-
54:45 - 54:51That wasn't just said to the rich young ruler, that's said to all of us.
-
54:51 - 54:53But you don't hear that.
-
54:53 - 54:58The truth is, you want stuff, you want a lifestyle,
-
54:58 - 55:00and you hold on to it.
-
55:00 - 55:05Be careful, covetousness is idolatry.
-
55:05 - 55:14And if you don't amputate; you see, you can comfort yourself,
-
55:14 - 55:20"Jesus never said to me personally what He said to the rich young ruler."
-
55:20 - 55:23I would say, yes He did.
-
55:23 - 55:27He does in Luke 12.
-
55:27 - 55:33You know, we read that; the rich, yep, Americans, by and large, are rich.
-
55:33 - 55:34All you gotta do is travel around the world.
-
55:34 - 55:37All you gotta do is pack up next time people go down to Reynosa,
-
55:37 - 55:41or take a trip over to Nepal, or wherever it is.
-
55:41 - 55:44You go down and see the Wilkinsons down there in Saltillo,
-
55:44 - 55:46and you go out to Santa Margarita.
-
55:46 - 55:50All you have to do is look around. Americans are wealthy.
-
55:50 - 55:56And Jesus said, "It's very difficult for wealthy people to get there."
-
55:56 - 56:05You know why they won't cut off?
There is a reliance: people trust money. -
56:05 - 56:10And Christ allows no competitors. (P)
-
56:10 - 56:13Are you really willing to live by faith?
-
56:13 - 56:17Are you really willing to trust the Lord?
-
56:17 - 56:19Look, I'm not saying that having some savings,
-
56:19 - 56:22I'm not saying that thinking about
how your wife is going to be taken care of -
56:22 - 56:30when you guys get into your 60s and 70s and maybe 80s or 90s.
-
56:30 - 56:33There's a place to take care of your household.
-
56:33 - 56:37There's a place, but just be careful.
-
56:37 - 56:40Family relationships:
-
56:40 - 56:43when Jesus said "you need to hate your mother and father",
-
56:43 - 56:46when He talked about "a sword is coming",
-
56:46 - 56:50that is something people wanting to please their parents,
-
56:50 - 56:53people wanting to please their children.
-
56:53 - 56:55They will go to hell for those things.
-
56:55 - 57:01Jesus said, right at that point, "Let the dead bury their dead."
-
57:01 - 57:04I'll tell you this, young people,
-
57:04 - 57:08you got parents that are not Christians, you are to honor them.
-
57:08 - 57:12Honoring your parents, very good, very biblical.
-
57:12 - 57:14But you be careful,
-
57:14 - 57:16when those parents want you to go down a path
-
57:16 - 57:21that you know Christ does not want you to go down,
-
57:21 - 57:25you need to stand for Christ's truth.
-
57:25 - 57:27Jesus said, "Follow Me."
-
57:27 - 57:31If you're not willing to follow Him, just like, rememer those guys,
-
57:31 - 57:33"Let me go home and say 'goodbye' to the family;
-
57:33 - 57:35let me go home and bury my father,"
-
57:35 - 57:39and Jesus is like, "No. No."
-
57:39 - 57:42You better hear that.
-
57:42 - 57:48People will cling to family relationships and go to hell. (P)
-
57:48 - 57:50My own life:
-
57:50 - 57:54Jesus said that I need to hate my own life. I need to die.
-
57:54 - 57:57You know what that means?
-
57:57 - 58:06It means I take my ambitions, and my goals, and my plans;
-
58:06 - 58:09and I put them on the altar.
-
58:09 - 58:10You know what?
-
58:10 - 58:16People who say, "I'm going to do it my way," they go to hell.
-
58:16 - 58:22Who is the guy that sang that? He's in hell. Bank on it.
-
58:22 - 58:27"How can you say that?! He might have been converted in the last hour!"
-
58:27 - 58:31Yes, if he was converted in the last hours of his life, then he did not.
-
58:31 - 58:38But if he died the way he lived, if he died the way he sang, he is in hell;
-
58:38 - 58:43because you don't live the Christian life your way.
-
58:43 - 58:45It's surrender.
-
58:45 - 58:55Jesus said it: "If you don't forsake all that you have, you cannot be My disciple."
-
58:55 - 58:59You can create a different Christ,
-
58:59 - 59:02but that's what the Christ of Scripture said.
-
59:02 - 59:06You can say, "I don't believe it." You'll go to hell.
-
59:06 - 59:08It's surrender. (P)
-
59:08 - 59:11You say again, "Is this really grace?"
-
59:11 - 59:18Yes, yes, because you have to remember, Christ came to save,
-
59:18 - 59:24and He means to save you from every thing that's bad and wrong.
-
59:24 - 59:32And any thing that's not according to His will and
His purpose in guiding your life, is wrong and bad. -
59:32 - 59:37And listen, He is good. You can trust Him.
-
59:37 - 59:41He often, just like the trials we heard about in the first hour,
-
59:41 - 59:44"No, Lord, I'd rather not go down that path."
-
59:44 - 59:46But you know what, that's the path you need to go down.
-
59:46 - 59:52Why? Because it's best, and it is going to make you most like Christ. (P)
-
59:52 - 59:54This is close to false professions,
-
59:54 - 59:58but there are those who need to give up false religion.
-
59:58 - 60:00They need to give up bad teaching.
-
60:00 - 60:07There are those who need to cut off bad companionship.
-
60:07 - 60:15You do not want to say, "Yeah, I hang out with brother so and so.
-
60:15 - 60:18Hey, he's part of the church."
-
60:18 - 60:23Yeah, but I'll tell you, if that's a cause of sin in your life, you need to cut it off.
-
60:23 - 60:24You need to be honest.
-
60:24 - 60:30We can justify, "Oh, but they're a Christian. They're in the church."
-
60:30 - 60:34If they're leading you to sin, cut it off.
-
60:34 - 60:36Cut off what leads you to sin. (P)
-
60:36 - 60:39Whatsoever is not of faith.
-
60:39 - 60:41You want to live a life of faith.
-
60:41 - 60:47I mean, look, if you know that having too much money in the bank
-
60:47 - 60:52causes you not to live by faith... Look at your life,
-
60:52 - 60:56if there are things that challenge you living by faith, be rid of it.
-
60:56 - 60:59It's not healthy. It's not good. (P)
-
60:59 - 61:04Let's talk about sexual sin here.
-
61:04 - 61:08I guarantee, I guarantee,
-
61:08 - 61:13there are going to be professing Christians – professing –
-
61:13 - 61:15I'm not saying true ones, but they're professing,
-
61:15 - 61:19and to all of us they look true and genuine right now.
-
61:19 - 61:21You will not give up your cellphone,
-
61:21 - 61:24you will not give up your laptop computer,
-
61:24 - 61:27and you will go to hell.
-
61:28 - 61:36Now listen, Jesus isn't just dealing specifically with sin itself –
-
61:36 - 61:41yes, it's sin that He is interested in having rid off your life –
-
61:41 - 61:46but it's causes to sin.
-
61:46 - 61:48You know what?
-
61:48 - 61:54If your phone, your computer, your iPad, your iPod;
-
61:54 - 62:06if they're continuously sources of sin
and you can't control it, get rid of it. -
62:06 - 62:10You say, "Ah, ah, ah. I won't be able to do Facebook."
-
62:10 - 62:15You know another thing we need to get rid of? It's time-wasters.
-
62:15 - 62:21You ever really let that resonate with you,
what Craig said a couple of weeks ago? -
62:21 - 62:30That third type of soil, the thorns choked, so that it wasn't fruitful.
-
62:30 - 62:33Imagine how many people waste their time on the Internet,
-
62:33 - 62:35and their life is going to end up being unfruitful.
-
62:35 - 62:39And as Craig rightly said, these are people that don't bear fruit.
-
62:39 - 62:44In the end they're not genuine. (P)
-
62:45 - 62:48Are you ready to take Christ at His words?
-
62:48 - 62:52Look, if you look and you say, "That television, you know what?
-
62:52 - 62:57I make these resolutions: it's NOT going to lead me into sin."
-
62:57 - 63:01But then, it is. It is.
-
63:01 - 63:07You know what? We are in the first generation.
-
63:07 - 63:09My oldest daughter, born in 1994.
-
63:09 - 63:12In the beginning I didn't have to deal with the Internet.
-
63:12 - 63:14We didn't get our first computer until '99.
-
63:14 - 63:22The Internet was terribly slow, that old dial-up something.
-
63:22 - 63:31So, what has happened is, in the last two decades,
-
63:31 - 63:35we are in a place now where we have communication
-
63:35 - 63:40coming at us with an accessibility.
-
63:40 - 63:43Let me tell you something, parents:
-
63:43 - 63:48Every single young man who gets saved,
-
63:48 - 63:53will tell you he viewed Internet pornography.
-
63:53 - 64:02I suspect that every one of you parents
that has a child who lives at home, -
64:02 - 64:07who is old enough for you to allow free access on the Internet,
-
64:07 - 64:10I suspect if I pulled them aside and asked them,
-
64:10 - 64:14if they were honest, they've viewed it.
-
64:14 - 64:18That's a reality. (P)
-
64:18 - 64:20What are we doing?
-
64:20 - 64:23You see, we are caught by this because these things come,
-
64:23 - 64:27you know, the technology comes degree by degree.
-
64:27 - 64:33And suddenly, we look up, and we're like the frogs
being boiled away in the boiling water. -
64:33 - 64:36What are you allowing into your family?
-
64:36 - 64:42What are you allowing as far as the TV, as far as cellphones?
-
64:42 - 64:45You say, "Really? Are those things that need to be cut off
-
64:45 - 64:48or we go to hell, or our children go to hell?"
-
64:48 - 64:50Listen, are you not hearing Jesus?
-
64:50 - 64:53If something causes you to sin, you need to cut it off.
-
64:53 - 64:56You say, "Well, how can I communicate with people by email then?"
-
64:56 - 64:58Well, maybe you don't need to!
-
64:58 - 65:04Listen, would you want to carry your laptop,
-
65:04 - 65:07you know, you got it down there in the flames with you,
-
65:07 - 65:11unquenchable fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth?
-
65:11 - 65:12"Well, I wouldn't give it up."
-
65:12 - 65:16Why? "Well, I had to communicate with my friends."
-
65:16 - 65:17I mean, it's amazing!
-
65:17 - 65:21I watched a documentary the other day
-
65:21 - 65:25on all the refugees around the world, including the Syrians.
-
65:25 - 65:27I'm trying to see these people,
-
65:27 - 65:29people coming across from Afghanistan,
-
65:29 - 65:32and coming out of Iraq, and coming from Syria,
-
65:32 - 65:34into all these countries.
-
65:34 - 65:36And they're out there walking around,
-
65:36 - 65:40they have nothing but a tent and the clothes on their backs,
-
65:40 - 65:43and they've got cellphones!
-
65:43 - 65:46Everybody is gotta have a cellphone!
-
65:46 - 65:50I'm driving up Commerce; I'm driving by somebody;
-
65:50 - 65:53I'm recognizing you know, the guy, it's during the day,
-
65:53 - 65:56he's on the street, he probably doesn't have a job,
-
65:56 - 65:59he's got a cellphone. (P)
-
65:59 - 66:01What are we gonna do? We're Christians.
-
66:01 - 66:06Christ has given us instruction: sever!
-
66:06 - 66:08You say, "Aaaah! I could never give up my TV."
-
66:08 - 66:13Well, you see, that attitude is exactly what takes people to hell.
-
66:13 - 66:15Our attitude needs to be:
-
66:15 - 66:22"We will amputate anything we identify in our lives that threatens us
-
66:22 - 66:24or threatens our children.
-
66:24 - 66:27Anything that is a cause of sin, it's gonna go!"
-
66:27 - 66:30And He doesn't say you can just cut it off and leave it there.
-
66:30 - 66:33He says, "You throw that thing away!
-
66:33 - 66:37You gouge it out and cast it from you!"
-
66:37 - 66:44Listen, if this is not how you are going to live, then die and go to hell.
-
66:44 - 66:48That's basically what Christ is saying.
-
66:48 - 66:49Radical action. (P)
-
66:49 - 66:56Now look, I'm not saying that that means every
Christian needs to go and throw their TV out, -
66:56 - 66:59or that every Christian needs to go get rid of the computer.
-
66:59 - 67:02I'm saying, if it is a constant cause of you to sin,
-
67:02 - 67:05and you cannot get control over that thing, then maybe...
-
67:05 - 67:08You know, it's like some of my friends that I had when I was a young believer.
-
67:08 - 67:12I recognize, I wanted to evangelize these guys,
-
67:12 - 67:15but whenever I got around them I got drinking.
-
67:15 - 67:18Finally, I recognized that I'm not strong enough to be around them.
-
67:18 - 67:20Now I can be around them.
-
67:20 - 67:22It may be the same with the computer.
-
67:22 - 67:24You may have to say, "I can't be around a computer."
-
67:24 - 67:28Five years from now you may say, "It's not a problem to me."
-
67:28 - 67:31The issue is, what causes you to sin?
-
67:31 - 67:34And you need to destroy, and put to death,
-
67:34 - 67:36and amputate, and cast away,
-
67:36 - 67:42those things that are temptations to you
and that lead you to fall. (P) -
67:42 - 67:47Look: hell, do you see it in this verse?
-
67:47 - 67:49Just hang with me a second.
-
67:49 - 67:54Hell, you know what Christ is saying? Hell is real.
-
67:54 - 67:56Sometimes people would say, "Oh, that Old Testament God."
-
67:56 - 67:59Did you hear what was read in the Bible reading today?
-
67:59 - 68:03Those 23,000 fell dead in the wilderness because of their sexual sin.
-
68:03 - 68:09And what God says to us New Testament believers, that's an example for us. (P)
-
68:09 - 68:12Let me tell you about the God you're going to stand before on Judgment Day.
-
68:12 - 68:21It's the God who killed every single person in this world, except for eight souls,
-
68:21 - 68:25when He saw that every imagination of the hearts of these people in this world
-
68:25 - 68:27were only evil continually.
-
68:27 - 68:29He dropped them all dead through a flood.
-
68:29 - 68:32That's the kind of God we're dealing with.
-
68:32 - 68:38He is a just God, and He deals with sin,
and hell is real, and hell is severe. -
68:38 - 68:41There is a fire that does not quench.
-
68:41 - 68:44There is weeping. There is gnashing of teeth.
-
68:44 - 68:46There is a worm that does not die.
-
68:46 - 68:51This thing is forever: don't think that the fires will ever be quenched.
-
68:51 - 68:55It is forever, and it is forever, and it is forever.
-
68:55 - 68:59God looks and He sees the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah;
-
68:59 - 69:03He drops down hellfire, brimstone.
-
69:03 - 69:10Do you know that this God takes His own people, Israel;
-
69:10 - 69:15and out in that wilderness, because of their unbelief, they die.
-
69:15 - 69:18And that's the argument of Hebrews 3 and 4.
-
69:18 - 69:23God killed them because of their unbelief.
-
69:23 - 69:25This is the kind of God we're dealing with.
-
69:25 - 69:29You can make up your own god, a make-believe god,
-
69:29 - 69:32who will not throw you into hell for your sins.
-
69:32 - 69:36But that god is not going to be there to help you on the Day of Judgment.
-
69:36 - 69:40The God you're going to come before is the God of Scripture,
-
69:40 - 69:43and He is the God that throws sinners into hell.
-
69:43 - 69:45This is real. (P)
-
69:45 - 69:51Now listen, this battle is not something we do in our own strength.
-
69:51 - 69:57Christ said to us, "Without Me, you can do nothing."
-
69:57 - 70:02This is a battle that we fight, clinging to Him, trusting Him,
-
70:02 - 70:07looking to the power that's unleashed in His death on that cross,
-
70:07 - 70:11that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
-
70:11 - 70:12It's trusting.
-
70:12 - 70:19This Holy Spirit at work within us, He's going to give us the desires
-
70:19 - 70:21and the power and the ability.
-
70:21 - 70:26But it's all out battle. It's all out amputation. It's fierce.
-
70:26 - 70:30Don't play with sin.
-
70:30 - 70:32You know what?
-
70:32 - 70:41Every person here ought to be able to look
across the landscape of their conscience, -
70:41 - 70:49and find nothing, nothing, that is standing
between you and God right now. -
70:49 - 70:50Nothing.
-
70:50 - 70:55If you know of something, attack it.
-
70:55 - 71:00If you can go week after week with this thing, you know it,
-
71:00 - 71:07you know it's not right, you just go week after week, year after year,
-
71:07 - 71:10what am I going to say to you?
-
71:10 - 71:14You've got this thing you won't amputate;
-
71:14 - 71:18look at yourself in the reflection of this passage, what is it saying?
-
71:18 - 71:23Should I assure you, "O don't worry, brother.
Don't worry, sister. It's okay. -
71:23 - 71:28Afterall, we're justified by faith."
-
71:28 - 71:32No, no, no, that's not what you want to do.
-
71:32 - 71:34I would say to you, you are in danger.
-
71:34 - 71:40Attack that thing immediately. Put it to death. (P)
-
71:40 - 71:43You say, "What if it rises up again?"
-
71:43 - 71:45Okay, attack it again.
-
71:45 - 71:47It raises its head, take that head off.
-
71:47 - 71:50It raises its head again, take that head off.
-
71:50 - 71:51It's a battle.
-
71:51 - 71:56I'm not talking about perfection here, but this is all out battle.
-
71:56 - 71:59The kingdom of heaven is taken by violence.
-
71:59 - 72:01This kind of violence.
-
72:01 - 72:04Make no mistake.
-
72:04 - 72:09Don't hide behind your profession.
-
72:09 - 72:22If there is no sincere battle with sin, trust in Christ, go to battle.
-
72:22 - 72:25Resting in Him, we fight.
-
72:25 - 72:29Without Him, we can do nothing. (P)
-
72:29 - 72:40Father, I pray the reality of this might seize upon us all and grip us.
-
72:40 - 72:48Give us a wartime, a militant mentality,
-
72:48 - 72:52in this fight for holiness to the death.
-
72:52 - 72:58I pray in Christ's name, help us to be a holy church,
-
72:58 - 73:01to live in the power of the cross –
-
73:01 - 73:06dying to sin, living unto righteousness.
-
73:06 - 73:12Lord, I pray that the intensity of our hunger and thirst for righteousness...
-
73:12 - 73:15Lord, I pray for a revival.
-
73:15 - 73:20I pray for a movement of the Spirit
-
73:20 - 73:26that would just intensify the hunger we have to be like Christ.
-
73:26 - 73:28I ask this in His name. Amen.
- Title:
- Our Lord's Most Aggressive Command for Holiness - Tim Conway
- Description:
-
If a person is casual about their sin, they are in danger. Jesus Christ looked men directly in the eye and warned them that they will be thrown into hell unless they cut off occasions that cause sin. Many professing Christians will soften a warning like this under the pretense of "grace", but they misunderstand what grace produces in someone's life. If a person is saved by grace and justified by faith, they will take the warnings of Christ seriously and not dismiss them. We must fight or go to hell.
♫ MP3: https://illbehonest.com/lords-most-aggressive-command-for-holiness
Excerpts taken from this sermon:
It's Your Responsibility to Kill Sin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQrdq-dmCGwDon't Play With Sin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhnbxeYwwIw
► More resources on killing sin: https://illbehonest.com/topic/killing-sin
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 01:13:29
Michael Okiei edited English subtitles for Our Lord's Most Aggressive Command for Holiness - Tim Conway | ||
Michael Okiei edited English subtitles for Our Lord's Most Aggressive Command for Holiness - Tim Conway |