I hope that the things we have to sail encourage us to Greater
Love and good works whenever I try to think of one of our
things to accomplish during a short gospel meeting.
I remember Hebrews 10:24 and 25 where it says that when we
gather together were to encourage one another to love
and good works. In other words they're supposed
to be some effect that transfers from the pulpit into the lives
of everyone. And so I hope that what we have
to say tonight is Appropriate and Will some way enhance our
spiritual growth or change our lives in a positive way.
So that's what we're going to try to accomplish tonight and
honor God. In all things, if you will, I'm
going to talk about microwave religion and somebody who, you
know, said one time. When I put this up that was
going to talk on microwave religion.
They said well Glenn, you know we've heard you speak and it
used to be you know, stovetop religion and we're glad it went
to microwave. Maybe it'll be a little bit
shorter. Shorter time, you know, baby do
it in 3 minutes instead of 40 or whatever.
No wrong, that's not correct. I hope what we have to say is
tonight showing that sometimes what we want, we wanted simple
quick, we want to take a pill. We want a quick fix.
We live in an age of instant, gratification and spiritual
maturity doesn't come with a pill.
It doesn't just come with reading the Bible at 30 minutes
a day, it comes. With some effort, it comes with
some focus, it comes with some dedication and I want to talk
about the difference between sometimes making it too simple
and yet at the same time it's very simple, it's simple but yet
it's difficult, you know, the someone said the word of God is
kind of like a Deep River you can swim across the surface or
dive and if you die you'll go really deep and I think that's
what Christianity is to there are some who just like to stay
on the surface. And there's others that really
enjoy digging into it and really getting some more meaning out of
it and their lives. And so, I hope tonight, we can
do that as well. And so tonight, I want to talk a
little bit about microwave religion.
We have many conveniences in our world, computers smartphones,
high speed, internet and emails, and texts, stings, and GPS and
all kinds of stuff in. I'd hate to see what it would be
like without that, I don't know about you but the invention of
GPS and my Phone has changed my life and I hope it's changed
yours for the good and it is something that needs to be
appreciated and we're thankful for all of these things.
But you know, there's nothing inherently evil about
conveniences, and yet living in this world, we can develop some
beer, really bad habits because of our inconveniences as as one
person used to set, at least my husband used to get Sighs when
they had to go up and physically change the channel, you know, at
least they got some exercise then.
But now with remote control, he doesn't even have to do that.
You know, well conveniences are nice but yet, sometimes we want
things. So simple and so convenient, we
don't want to do it ourselves at all.
We don't want to fix, we don't want to, you know, as as one
person said about why marriages don't last as long today.
And I saw this poster once with an older couple on, on it, it
says back in my day, when we got married, if something broke, we
tried to fix it, not throw it away and I think that's that
says something about our our day and age.
We live in instead of working on it, we tend to just throw it
away and get something new or different.
Well, whenever it comes to Christianity, sometimes we have
to look past what's convenient and maybe we have to just
recognize. We need to dig a little bit
deeper. Deeper, there's a poem.
I read that I thought was very helpful.
It says, gimme three dollars worth of Jesus.
I thought this little poem. If you get home, you could look
up the whole thing. I'm just going to allude to it.
This one says, I don't know if I, if I can come to prayer or I
don't know if I can come to worship, then Jesus Will
interests, if you'll just fill this for free, praise God for
salvation. I want it.
I don't want to live it on 24/7. I just want, I just want a
little bit of just give me three dollars worth of Jesus and I'll
be fine. Well, that's about all we did we
get about you know, just give me a little bit and let me go on my
way. I've got a life to lead, I can't
give my whole self to Jesus. Give me three bucks worth.
Well, you know, we want the Easy Button, whatever it comes right.
Let's just push the button and have everything just given to
us. Let's just give it a little try.
If you will, well you can't just give it a little try to be, holy
to become righteous and to become mature in Christ Jesus.
You have to make a commitment, you have to give it all All you
have to give it some time you have to carve out some space in
your life. You have to make a choice about
priorities. There must be two choices about
priorities. How many years have we made?
Commitments to read the Bible through in that year and made it
to about now needed to up every and Deuteronomy and numbers just
suck the life out of us and we stopped well that's that's
unfortunate that we can't make a commitment that goes for a whole
year. What about Give it a life, you
know, that's what I'm talking about.
The reason why we don't make it in reading the Bible, through in
a year is we don't carve out the time and demand that only
something spiritual go into that time.
It's either in the morning at noon or in the evening but we
need to carve it out and dedicate it to the Lord.
We need to make a commitment to use that time for specific
things and get it done. And that's how spiritual change
happens in our life. If we can do it for 5 to 15
minutes, you can read the Bible through in a year, but we, you
know how come we run successful at doing that?
Well, it's because we just simply don't are too busy.
Well, that's what Satan has used.
Satan, has used it to make it so that we have to have it.
Convenient. We have to take a pill.
We have to be able to do it quickly, and get it over with,
and then get back to our life. Well, Some people just are
selling this. They recognize everybody's
inclination to this and on one website.
There was a ABC's. How to be saved, just ABC.
And just remember ABC and you get it done.
Number one, admit fess up that you messed up to believe in
somebody who loves you three confess.
Give Christ to shout out for handling business of your
Redemption and they say you do this in your saved.
Well that sounds really good, doesn't it just ABC, admit.
It believe confess and you're done.
Is that all there is to Christianity.
I'm sorry. But whenever I read the Bible,
it's quite a bit more than that. It takes a little bit more than
just the ABCs. It's not that simple.
It's little bit more complex than that and then there's
something the blasphemous that comes along.
Every once in a while. This is a little towelette that
you can zip open and it's been said that this is a baptism in a
packet. You wipe away your sins and
towelette just wipe again as needed and stuff like This is
ridiculous. How can this be a substitute for
baptism? I believe it is Blasphemous.
But truth is contrary to human wisdom.
It's not just that simple. Sometimes the way of Salvation
is straight and narrow and whatever we're talking about
straight and narrow. We're talking about sometimes,
it takes some commitment to be successful, like the phrase
straight and narrow comes almost as a nautical term talking about
ships, going through some rocks that are close together and you
have two point that boat and get it through there.
And you have to keep from being bashed against the sides, and
you have to make it through that.
Well, that's the way it is with us as well.
Sometimes it takes a great deal of effort and skill to be
successful at the Christian life, but most of all it takes
attention. It takes commitment.
It takes us, knowing that this is the way that we've got to go
through here, and that their smoother sailing after we've
gone through the straight and narrow, this wires complete
submission, you know, back when the the Restoration movement was
starting in America. There's a Walter.
Scott used to go around and call it five finger salvation.
He says, you got to hear the word of God.
You got to believe it, you got to repent, you got to confess,
and you have to be baptized. Now, I'm not putting this down.
I believe this is a good way to memorize the Plan of Salvation,
but some people think that is all there is to Christianity as
well. No, this is how you begin your
relationship with God. But this is how you begin.
This is how you start out. This is only the beginning.
This isn't the entire gospel. This isn't the fruition of all
the Bible has to say about Christianity.
It's more than just, that simple formula if you will, yes, these
are necessary. And that's a good way to
remember how to get into the kingdom.
It's a good way to remember what it takes to be born again.
How to be chemical? Come into a covenant
relationship? With God but it's far more than
that. It's more than that sometimes we
talk about these steps and we say it results in conversion and
other people say well you know what?
You're treating it like a checklist.
Have you ever heard that I have about up to here?
They said well we need more than just a checklist.
I didn't check all those things off you go.
Now I've done. As if being born is somehow
makes us mature Christians. Can we understand that?
Whenever word child, the being born isn't the in subject of
life. It isn't the end result of
everything that Christ died for he died.
And that's the beginning. But that's the start where babes
in Christ and then the growing begins, then it takes a little
bit more complex. That's not the end result of
everything. Then we need to grow in the
grace and knowledge of Our Lord O.
Our Lord Walter Scott had a good idea when never used to tell
children to go home and tell their mom and dad this, but he
wanted them to come back so that they could learn more and that's
what we need to do as well. Well, let's start a little bit
about microwave, religion, a lot of times and this is something
that's very important today. There's a gospel being preached
that you can have forgiveness without repentance.
There's a lot of people just say accept Jesus and you say well
where's repentance in that? Well what's repentance, they
don't even understand the word. The word isn't a word you use
every day. It's about time.
You repent, they go. I heard that word in church but
I don't know what that means. Well have you heard the word
change change Direction? That's what that word means.
The word repentance means to turn around to go in another
Direction. Not just stop repentance is more
than just stopping repentance. Is not a stop sign, it's a you.
Learn sign. It's a used to go in a different
direction than the one you've been going in so that it's more
than a stop sign. I want you to know just because
you've stopped doing a lot of things.
Doesn't make you a mature Christian.
You say, well, I don't sin, I don't lie, I don't cheat.
I don't steal anymore. I must be a Christian by
default. Well, there's a lot of people
that don't lie. Don't cheat, don't steal, but
they're not Christians. And that's what we're talking
about here. We want remission, they want
forgiveness without Out repentance.
The Bible tells us unless we repent we will perish Luke 13:3.
We will likewise perish like others.
We find in Acts 17:30. Jesus Christ.
Came and commanded the entire world to repent the times of
ignorance, God overlooked, but as thou, commanding all men
mankind, all mankind everywhere to repent.
Well, if that's what Jesus came for, what does it mean?
It really means we stop doing fleshly sinful things and we
start doing spiritually, holy things, obedient things.
It's our sin that caused Jesus to come here and die so that we
won't get the consequences or the wages of sin.
God wants us to stop sinning but start obeying and that's
repentance repentance is more than just saying our that we're
aligned with Christ. I want this though because
that's simpler repentance is for, in Winter.
We obey the gospel. It comes to us before remission
of sins, for forgiveness of sins of all of the steps in the Plan
of Salvation, you would think by the amount of topics that we
sometimes generate that the big issue is baptism in reality.
Baptism is not that hard to understand.
We can study it and understand it and get a hold and get a
grasp on what God means. Whenever He says he wants us to
be immersed in water. A washed in water, we can
understand that. Baptism is a burial.
And like the Jesus burial in Acts the sixth chapter, we can
begin to understand that the problem with Christianity isn't
that baptism is hard, it's repentance is hard, repentance
is the change of Allegiance, the change of direction that goes on
in the heart of a sinner where he decides.
I am no longer going to sin. I'm going to deal with my Your
to sin. I'm going to put it to death
every day. You see that's work to put to
death the flesh every day, but that's the working part of
Christianity repentance. Is this commitment to putting to
death, the Flesh and walking after the spirit that is walking
into court to a spiritual things every day.
Every moment we're going to stop lying, we're going to start
speaking the truth. We're going to stop lusting and
we're going to start being faithful with our eyes.
We're going to start being faithful.
We're going to start being obedient to God.
That's the difficult part of Christianity baptisms, pretty
easy. Repentance is the tough one, and
that's what we got to get at in our life.
Repentance is required of God. In fact, repentance is essential
to Salvation. It needs to have more of an
emphasis than while we've given it because there's were the
change of heart, the change of loyalty, lies, the commitment to
obey. God, if somebody would repent,
they wouldn't have a problem with that is mmm.
Because repentance get you committed to obeying, the Lord
and all three have to do is say Lord, if that's what you want,
we're going to do it. So God commands, all men
everywhere to repent, It's the hardest Commander requires a
change of mind, resulting, in a change of behavior, Jesus
continually taught. This, this the apostles, the
doctrine of the early church, that is what people found
offensive was the call to repent of their life.
People want Jesus as Savior but not as Lord.
And I want you to think about this for just a minute.
People want Jesus as Savior but you can't have him as Savior
unless you take him as Lord too. You've got to have him for both.
You can't have one or the other, you can't pick which Jesus you
want. If you want him as Savior, you
got to take him as Lord. This Jesus.
Whom you've scanned being crucified has been made Lord and
what's a Lord mean? What does the word Lord mean?
Suggest, what does it imply? It means that now God calls the
shots. He's the one that sets.
The priorities he was the one who gives what we choose to do.
He's the one that tells us but it takes to please God and what
it takes. To please Satan and say, don't
do that. Do do this.
God makes that distinction between light and darkness and
he tells us to obey that which is true.
Well, a lot of people today in this microwave religious age
want righteousness without obedience.
I want this to be given to me, I don't want to have to do it, you
know, if there's any argument by the way, I love first.
John, it first John is probably one of the most practical
challenges. King books in the New Testament
because he says those who practice righteousness her
righteous those who don't aren't, I mean, he just put one
who loves his brother is a child of God.
One who doesn't doesn't know. God, you know, first John is
about as plain as you can kid. It's the most plain-spoken book.
I letter in the New Testament, I think he's pretty.
It's refreshing to read it, you know, because he just says,
here's how you know, if you know, me, turn to First John
chapter 2, and I want you to just to read How plain you can't
misunderstand first John, you just really, he just really gets
at it. In first John, the second
chapter notice what he says here.
Starting read verse 3, first, John, 2:3 by this, we know we
have come to know him if we keep his Commandments.
The one who says verse for verse John 2:4 the one who says I've
come to know him And does not keep his Commandments is a liar
and the truth is not in him. Wow.
You mean people in the Bible called each other Liars.
Yeah. John a loving disciple called
somebody a liar. He says, here's the person whose
lies a person who says, he knows God.
And as a repented yet, that's what he said, somebody who has
here's a it one who says, I've come to know him and does not
keep his Commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but
whoever keeps his His word in him, the love of God has truly
been perfected by this. We know that we are in him.
The one who says he abides in him, ought himself to walk in
the same manner as he walked, how much more straightforward
can you get? Walk.
He's talking about living. He says, if you say you're going
to follow Jesus, you got to live like him.
I can't make it any more simple. He really challenges the readers
and those who hear this word to think about their lives.
If anybody says they know God don't keep his Commandments
there. Liar.
Wow that's pretty profound statement.
Really But he gets at the point of it, you got to be obedient to
the faith. If you want to be pleasing to
God, Jesus is the author of Eternal salvation unto all who
obey him. Now, guys, I don't know if you
ever meet anybody who's a calvinist or met anybody who
claims to be a calvinist but you know, back in school, I got a
chance to meet a lot of people who claimed all different kinds
of religions and their two verses that really destroy
Calvinism. And this is one of them.
Titus 2:11 says the grace of God.
God, that brings salvation has appeared unto all men, that
destroys predestination is asteroids, the doctrine of
election. He destroys this idea that God
made a preference not based on Merit because God can't be a
respecter of persons. They said they said God
Sovereign he can do whatever he wants to do and remain remained
righteous. I challenge that the calvinist
God is evil and we'll come back and talk about that later if you
want, but God does doesn't pay. Certain people be saved and
serve people to a lot to be lost indiscriminately because the
Bible says God desires and Timothy.
God desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the
true. If that statement is true than
the doctrine of predestination has to be wrong.
If God truly desires it and he is, Sovereign, than universalism
is the cuncta consequence of the Bible.
But the Bible says, some people are going to be lost.
Is God not powerful enough to save them?
Well no no don't question the sovereignty of God, here's the
point, my friends, the grace of God, that brings salvation has
been offered or appeared to all men.
Titus 2:11 but Hebrews 5 and 9 makes it very plain.
That Jesus is the author, the originator.
He is the one who will say he is the author of Eternal salvation
unto all. All it doesn't stop there all
them that obey him. He will save anyone if they will
obey him. And that's so important for us
to get, he became the author of Eternal salvation.
And to everybody, anybody could be saved if they will obey the
Lord. So, those who want righteousness
without obedience, God's doesn't offer that he says, you want to
be saved. Here's how you can know you if
you obey me or not, it's important.
It's critical to understand claiming to know God, without
keeping his Mints makes us a liar.
We know that. Well, let's go on what about
Holiness without self discipline?
People want once again to be blasted with Holiness and boy,
I'm glad. I hope you give me an extra
portion so that I could just be really hope or holy
superabundant. Holy and I could Spirits as if
it's come, some kind of of You know, aura or something.
Holiness means basically separation from sin, it's the
same word, translated, sanctification or Saint often
times in the scriptures. in order for us to be successful at
our Christian Life, it takes more than just being wholly once
We can be saved from our sins. We can go on our way, rejoicing
know that. So we've been forgiven but now
the task of remaining or maintaining Holiness is ours.
We can like a dog go back to our vomit.
We can like a salad, go back to wallowing in the mire.
That doesn't mean we weren't cleansed once we were but we
went back. It's our responsibility to
maintain Holiness in our lives. We've got to do that.
What do we do? We must deny ungodliness and
worldly lust and live, soberly righteously and godly.
We can't just do anything we want to.
I want to make a side point here before I go on.
No, we're not going to play church here for a few minutes
and I want you to really pay attention.
I've had an opportunity to deal with a lot of addicts and my
life, not just alcoholics. I'm talking about heroin abusers
and meth crack addicts and also homosexuals.
And guess what? I've dealt with a few very, very
angry people. You know, some people who said
they were born, that way they go, I'm Irish, I'm just born
angry, I was mad at my mom, whatever I was born Now, people
are that, they don't look at this fact and they sent to
excuse whatever thing they want to be genetically.
Believe that they may have You know, I don't know if you're
blaming your family for your anger, you know, or maybe like
they used their doing nowadays, finding a genetic weakness for
adultery. There are some men who are born
with the adultery gene they say and there's some who born with
alcoholic predisposition there's some who are born.
They say I'm born homosexual, friends.
That doesn't matter to me. I know some people very close to
me, it doesn't matter what's in that you're born with a
predisposition to That doesn't matter if you've got a problem
with same-sex attraction, you can get out of it.
If you've got a problem with adultery you can leave it.
How about fornication? Yeah.
That too. How about thievery?
Oh, so we'll go out if you get an adrenaline rush or whatever.
It might be, covetousness name is sin.
I don't care if you have a predisposition, and I don't care
if your jeans lean that way. The point is, is Jesus said
you've got to repent of your sin.
You got to work on that now. Yes, for some people, it's
easier to live life. If they don't have a problem
with covetousness or lying, there are some people who seem
to be pathological liars. I'm just born liar.
It's easier for me to tell a lie than it is to tell the truth.
Well, guess what? You still got to stop lying, you
got to stop lying, you've got to stop stealing.
You've got to stop getting angry without any purpose.
I don't care if you have a predisposition to same-sex
attraction, the Bible says repent.
I don't care if you have a predisposition to covetousness
of be free. It doesn't matter.
God tells us all. We've got to practice
self-control and Holiness. We've got to practice some
Holiness, and yes, that takes self discipline.
It takes a commitment success. Paul said he had to discipline
his body and bring it under subjection lest after he
preached to others. He himself should be Cast Away.
Yes, it comes with commitment and growth but it can't happen.
There is no sin in this world that God cannot help us get
victory over I did. Nye that their sin that is as
strong or stronger than God. God promised us that if we
sought first, the kingdom of God, we can make it.
We can be Overcomers, we can succeed.
I know, X homosexuals in the church.
I know X thieves in the church that came as a real surprise.
To me one day, a person in my congregation said he was going
to go away for a little while because he had made a deal with
the da I said over what? What he said, oh, I robbed a
bank. That was news.
I said you robbed a bank. He said, yeah, but I've worked
it out. I'm turning myself in. you just
don't know what's in people's past sometimes, But I'll tell
you what guess what? The church is full of X centers.
That's what it's about guys. All of us have had sins in our
lives. But all of us don't have to
remain in our sin. If God sets us free, we are
free. Indeed, we can be forgiven.
We do not believe that any sin is stronger than God's power.
Yes, there are Temptations. He says, but there is no
temptation taken you. There is no temptation taken
you, what 1st Corinthians, 10:13.
There's no temptation that can overtake you as the point.
There's nothing that is stronger than God's ability to set you
free and you can practice Holiness in your life.
But such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not
allow you to be tempted Beyond? There's the bird.
Oh, Glenn. But I can't help it.
You can I don't care what it is. if you're a homosexual tonight,
you better not tell me because I know some ex homosexuals in the
church and they say, The repentance and allowing God to
change your life, works just as well with that as lying as anger
as any other sin, the same thing works in all of those things,
Holiness, practice, Holiness and our life, it comes with kelp,
commitment and self-discipline. They want growth without
diligence. To be the Christian remain,
spiritual babies. Hebrews 5 pieces went for the
time, you ought to be Growing up.
He says, I can't but I have to address you as those who are
babes in Christ. Long for the sincere, milk of
the word that you may grow, thereby.
He said, I want to say some North aint, but you're unable to
digest it because you're still babies.
Well, in order to be babies, we've got to make every effort.
The Bible says, make every effort to add to our faith
virtue and to Virtue knowledge on his temper temper page.
We've got to add to ourselves Christian virtues that are
mentioned there and that takes work.
So I'm going to ask you straight out.
Do you've heard this sermon a hundred times, but what are you
working on? That's why we're not successful.
We're not focused. What are you working on?
Oh, I Glenn. You know.
I'm a sinner. You know I need to grow and
everything else. What are you working on?
I don't know. There's nothing that's really
bothering me lately, really? That's the reason why we're not
growing. Come on guys.
Christian growth ought to be something that's important to
us, so we can't have Christian growth without giving it some
effort, some energy, some Focus, The Bible says, if we failed to
do. So we're short-sighted even as
blindness as we've forgotten that we were once cleansed from
our old sins, second Peter 1 and verse 9.
If we fail to add these Christian virtues to our life,
we need to add to our faith virtue knowledge and Temperance
diligence in gaining knowledge that we may walk worthy.
Maybe about worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God collations. What does that describe your
life? If it isn't, you're going to
have to do something to get there.
That's what I want to encourage you to do this week.
I want you to not go away from this place unchanged.
I want some change to be really important to us.
You cannot continue to do what you've always done expecting to
get a different result. That's Insanity to always do
what you've always done. Hoping for a different result.
If we're wanting a better result, if we're going to grow
in our knowledge, we're going to have to do something about it.
That's what we need to do. That's right.
Knowledge without study is impossible.
You are as Bible literate. As you ought to be, my people
are destroyed for lack of knowledge, we know that and so
we're going to have to do something.
I need to be a diligent student of God's word.
I need to get more familiar with who wrote it.
When it was written where was who has written two, I need to
become familiar with the word of God.
It's a static by the doesn't change.
I didn't open it up the other day and find third Peter.
It's still there. That's why I'm trying to say
it's not that difficult, if you study this your whole life,
you're going to have it memorized, you're going to get
it. It's going to make sense to you
as you continue to layer upon layer, those experiences of time
and reading the word of God. It comes though with that habit.
It's the only source of saving faith and spiritual growth.
My friends. If you're weak in your faith,
faith comes by hearing hearing, by the word of God, Romans
10:17. So, we got to get back into the
word. It's a source of our strength.
And everything, a lot of times we get lukewarm and sometimes we
grow weary and lose our fire. And what do you say to someone
like that? Well, I'll tell you what, I've
been good been beginning to say, to people.
I beginning to say and I want you to list.
If you don't go away with anything else, I want you to get
this time listener. if there is no God, Then, nothing matters.
The nothing matters. If there is no God, then,
nothing matters. Even as Ecclesiastes says what,
let's eat drink tomorrow. We die and that's it.
If there is no God, nothing matters.
If there is a God, Nothing else matters.
Nothing else matters. If there is a God, nothing else
matters. I don't care what you did today.
It's only the spiritual stuff you did that had any Eternal
importance? Honestly.
We need to have that kind of mind to sort out all of the
things that we think are important.
Although there's things that are urgent but they're not more
important. If there is a God, nothing else
matters. So stop trying to live life as a
we got to have some balance between the fleshly in the
spiritual and I'm having a real tired time hard time getting
that spiritual up where it needs to be.
My friends, it needs to be everything.
It needs to be total commitment, it needs to be everything.
And that's what we've got to get at in our life.
We've got to get that knowledge. It's absolutely vitally,
important, eternally, important. We're hoping to cram just before
judgment, ain't got to work. That's not the way it work.
You know. I like these pictures that I
look out every now and then of people reading their Bible.
The story behind this one is that this person right here,
these two people don't read. And this person is reading to
them first time, they've written word for word of God, read to
him and he's being Fascinated by, you know, I just talked to
Keith Thompson two days ago about going to Dar Salam, and he
talks about how nasty Darcel obvious.
It's a big city in Tanzania. If you look at its on the
western coast of Africa and he just got back and he said, oh,
they trudged through that City and it was muggy and it was
trashy, you know, and you'd go. He said, we showed up at this
place and there were 18 people there, and all they wanted to do
was just hear the word of God. They just wanted to hear the
Bible and they read it and people just rejoicing and
hearing the word of God and Dar Salam.
My friends, we have no idea what it would be like to be without
our Bibles, but we've got a lot of copies laying around.
And we think just because we purchased the word of God, that
it's part of our Lives. I don't care how many bibles you
own, if it doesn't change the way, you think of the way you
live handed in? We've got somebody else that can
use it. Having a Bible isn't the point.
Having the Bible change us is what its purpose is all about.
So get at reading it, get it, understanding it, take it to
school with you. If they kick you out, I'll tell
you what's more important. Reading the Bible, that's what's
most important. You know that we've got to get
it back into our lives. Well some people want salvation
without sacrifice. Jesus said, take up your cross
and follow me. Whoa, what a statement?
Can't you make this Christianity a little bit cheaper if you're
trying to sell it. That's not very appealing.
That's not a good slogan. You want to go to heaven.
Pick up a cross and follow me. That just, that just sounds like
a hard sales line. My friends Jesus wants us to
make a commitment and he understands that we might be
taking up a cross in order to follow him.
That's right. If you lived in Egypt, And you
realize that like those 21 people the other day.
You might lose your actual head because you were going to claim
to be a Christian. That could have been you.
In that picture. Could have been today.
Those people died for claiming to be Christians.
I don't know if they really were Don't know have been their lives
if they do babe, the Lord or not, and I kind of studied a
little bit about the Coptic church.
I don't know much about it. But I know one thing.
They were ready to die for their faith, they knew what it cost to
be a Christian, a lot better than sometimes we do.
I know that they understood the commitment, it took.
We need to take that kind of look at this and realize that if
the day comes that we just can't be an ABC.
Christian, we got to recognize there more to it than just an
easy button. Sometimes it means giving it
more, but it doesn't show in our life, we need to take up our
cross. We need to deny, it deny sinful
pleasure. We need to give up pleasure and
selfish desires and give ourselves wholly.
The following God and being ambitious, we need to prize
those who put these virtues at the Forefront of their life.
Not they may not make a ton of money.
You're going to you're going to become an evangelist in a
foreign land instead of going to school and making big bucks.
I'm not sure that's a wise decision.
Should that come out of our mouths?
Yes, that's the. Supremely wise thing to say, it
shows the priorities are right, and that's what I'm talking
about here. We've got to give God ourselves
to the service of God becoming a Living Sacrifice, Romans, 12:1,
and 2. Well, I'm trying to cut this
down, trying to make a little microwave anyway.
Anyway, Luke Now, the parable is this, the seed is the word of
God those soon by the wayside. What does it say though?
Some, by the seed is the word of God but the ones that fell on
the good. Ground are those having heard
the word with a noble and good heart?
Keep it and bear fruit with patience or endurance.
That's what we want to be. We view ourselves as good
ground. The Bible says, if we view
ourselves with as good ground than, we need to be bearing
fruit with patience, we need to Show some evidence of that in
our hearts and in our lives, but microwave religion is just the
opposite. Many in this world.
Want real remission without repentance righteousness,
without obedience Holiness, without self-discipline growth,
without diligence knowledge, without study and salvation
without sacrifice. I want you to know that.
That is totally, not part of the Bible's record, it's totally not
part of it at all. I'll got one last verse.
I want to. I want to read to you.
If you have your Old Testaments. I want you to look at something
in First Kings chapter 13. In First Kings.
Jeroboam is a guy who belt shechem in the Hill Country of
Ephraim and lived there, and he went out from there and built
penuel verse 25. Now, they've just split in
chapter 12, they just split the Kingdom of Israel and notice
what he says to them. Mmm, Verse 28.
So the king consulted, make two golden calves and he said to the
people. Here's what he said.
Verse 28 of First Kings chapter 12 First Kings chapter 12, I'm
sorry. I said there were 13, didn't I?
Sorry, 12:28 so the king consulted made to Golden calves,
and he said to them, it's too much for you to go up to
Jerusalem. Behold your God's o Israel that
brought you out of the land of Egypt and he set one at Bethel
and the other at Dan. Now, this thing became a sin for
the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
Now, this chapter delineates. Why he did that?
He said if the people keep going back to Jerusalem, their hearts
going to be turned back and I I'm going to get fried, I'm
can't keep all these people together.
But notice notice the way he introduced idolatry back into
the children of Israel, the ten Northern tribes.
How did he do it? How did he do it?
He said these simple little words.
It is too much for you. Don't be a radical Christian.
That's too much. Give me three dollars worth of
Jesus and I'll go on my way. You can be that kind of
Christian. If you want, you can buy your
plastic Jesus and sit him on his bobblehead in the back and look
in a mirror if that's what you want.
But my friends, I don't know about you, but I'm sick and
tired of plastic Jesus and three dollars worth of Jesus.
I think we as the church need to become the church.
Again we need to become a spiritually minded people that
have spiritually minded goal and we need to put some effort at
focus and self-discipline into our lives and tell people, it's
not easy, it's not easy to be a Christian.
It takes everything, you've got to be successful at being a
Christian. So quit trying to give it the
minimum daily required its and start giving him the maximum of
everything that you can. It started giving him as much as
you possibly can and guess what? You're going to find
Christianity? A lot easier to live when you're
fully dedicated. When you make a full commitment,
it's going to be easier because you're not going to happy having
to make decisions all day long about which you want to do.
Because the devil is always going to be crying.
It's too much, it's too much. This Christianity's too much lay
down. Take a nap.
Take it easy. God doesn't want you to be a
fanatic? I'm here to tell you tonight.
You don't want cheap religion. You don't want to cheat Jesus,
you don't want a cheap Christianity.
If you're going to be a Christian, it's going to take
everything you got. Your whole mind.
Heart soul body. Because Jesus don't shell cheap
Christianity. The real thing is costly.
But it's wonderful. If you're not enjoying it, it's
perhaps you've not bought the right kind of Christianity.
Perhaps, you push the button for the easy version will tonight in
your faith. I want you to know this.
If there is a God, nothing else matters, this is what pleases
him in your faith, repent of your sins.
All of them, Luke 13:3 confess the name of Jesus Christ before
men man. Matthew 10:32 and in your
repentance and in your confession that you make before
me, men that you believe, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you're
a fit subject for immersion in water, a picture of the death,
burial and G of Jesus Christ. And the resurrection to walk in
newness of Life. Romans 6, 3, through 5.
And I'm here to tell you one last point about that, you can't
be a Christian, if a death doesn't happen.
If you're about to be a Christian you've got to die and
be buried and raised with him. That's a symbol of the change in
our life to that's a symbol that change that commitment to live a
new life to be a new creature in Christ.
Tonight don't buy The Fakes, don't buy the knockoffs by the
genuine thing in order to buy the genuine thing you've got to
die, you've got to repent, confess, be buried, baptism and
raised to walk in newness of life.
But you'll never regret it. You'll never regret it.
By the real thing. Don't just look for the cheap.
Microwave religion, look for the religion of a lifetime.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
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