1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,120
Now, before we go any further, I
am really sorry to have to ask 

2
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,760
this of you, but I'm going to 
beg you, I'm going to plead with

3
00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,000
you right now. 
Please watch this video all the 

4
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,120
way through. 
I've got so many people who are 

5
00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:15,600
asking me many different 
questions saying to me, Joe, you

6
00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,640
know, you're telling me that in 
one video God loves you no 

7
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,440
matter what you've done, but in 
the next video you're saying 

8
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,960
that you're deceived if you're 
living in sin. 

9
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,040
Which one is it, Joe? 
Tell us the truth. 

10
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,040
And the other reason is really, 
I do fear God. 

11
00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,400
And one day I will stand before 
God and I will give an account 

12
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,280
for all the souls that I've 
preached to. 

13
00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,120
And I do not want to mislead 
anyone into error. 

14
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,920
So I really am very sorry if 
I've confused anyone and I want 

15
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,600
to deal with it right now. 
This big question. 

16
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,760
So here's how it works. 
In the Bible, there's a tension.

17
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,680
In one hand we have the love of 
God, the mercy of God, the grace

18
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:58,120
of God, And then in the other 
hand we have the wrath of God, 

19
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,280
the judgements of God, the fear 
of the Lord. 

20
00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,040
And that tension should always 
be there when we're reading the 

21
00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,440
scriptures. 
What God has joined together, 

22
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,480
what God has married, let no man
set asunder. 

23
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,320
I mean, have you ever read the 
book of Hosea? 

24
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,160
Here's this guy who is told to 
marry a lady called Gomer who 

25
00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,000
will 100% cheat on him. 
But the Lord commands him. 

26
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,440
You must marry this lady because
I want to show a valuable 

27
00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,480
lesson. 
I want to show the the people of

28
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,880
Israel that it doesn't matter 
how stubborn you are. 

29
00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:31,880
It doesn't matter how much you 
run from me. 

30
00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,480
I will always take you back. 
And then we go to Hosea, Chapter

31
00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,280
3. 
And there's this very moving 

32
00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,040
picture. 
Hosea finds himself in this 

33
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,120
market and there in front of 
him, is his beloved wife. 

34
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,560
Her eyes are sunken. 
She's clothed in nothing but 

35
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,040
shame and guilt. 
So what does Hosea do? 

36
00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:57,400
He digs deep into his pocket and
he pulls out some silver and he 

37
00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,200
goes to the master and says I'm 
buying my wife back. 

38
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,800
He looks his wife in the eyes 
and says, you're my beloved wife

39
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,840
and you're coming home with me 
this very day. 

40
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,840
And my dear friends, that is 
what God has done to me so many 

41
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,760
times and I'm sure he's done it 
to you so many times. 

42
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,600
It doesn't matter how many times
you run from him, if you come 

43
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,800
back and you knock on the door 
of God's heart, he'll always say

44
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,560
of course I'll take you back. 
How can I give you up? 

45
00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,760
I love you too much my dear 
precious son. 

46
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,040
My dear precious daughter. 
But then on the other hand we 

47
00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,200
have the wrath of God, the 
justice of God, the anger of 

48
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,640
God. 
I mean the Bible is is full of 

49
00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,360
terrifying verses that that 
should really rightly produce 

50
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,360
reverence and fear in US. 
Look at Ephesians chapter 5 

51
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,040
verse five. 
It says let no one deceive you 

52
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,520
with empty words, but because of
these things the wrath of God 

53
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,720
comes upon the sons of 
disobedience. 

54
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,200
So did you catch that? 
Here's the Apostle Paul, who we 

55
00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,000
literally just heard from a 
couple of minutes ago, who said 

56
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,440
I keep committing these same 
sins over and over again and I 

57
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,520
hate doing it, but I do them 
anyway. 

58
00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,200
Here he is writing to a church 
in Ephesus and he's saying to 

59
00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,520
them, if you're living in 
unrepentant sin, there's no 

60
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,920
inheritance in heaven for you. 
OK, so I I can hear what's going

61
00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:20,000
on in your mind right now. 
You're feeling even more 

62
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,520
confused than when you started 
this video. 

63
00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,080
Well, I think Spurgeon, Charles 
Spurgeon is particularly helpful

64
00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,440
on this matter. 
He says when we read verses like

65
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,600
Ephesians 5, verse five, when we
read verses about Esau finding 

66
00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,760
no place for repentance, when we
read about trampling the blood 

67
00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,360
of Jesus Christ, bringing the 
cross to open shame, and it 

68
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,440
scares us. 
Spurgeon says that's actually 

69
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,080
the right thing that should 
happen. 

70
00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,920
You see, we all have the spirit 
of God. 

71
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,040
If you're a Christian, when you 
put your faith in the Lord Jesus

72
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,480
Christ, God's spirit came and 
lived within you. 

73
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,800
He lives within you right now. 
So when we read these verses, 

74
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,800
they produce a good, a fear, a 
trembling that says no, I don't 

75
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,560
want to get too far to the edge.
I don't want to muck around with

76
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,960
sin. 
This is a holy God who I must 

77
00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,720
serve with reverence, with fear.
You see, if we lose this 

78
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,200
tension, we'll fall into error. 
I'm sure you've all met the man 

79
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,120
or the woman who says it's OK 
for me because God will forgive 

80
00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,360
me anyway. 
No, You're cheapening the grace 

81
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,120
of God, and you need to be very 
careful that you are not taking 

82
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,040
a mockery out of the Lord Jesus 
Christ and everything he did. 

83
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,560
But then at the other polar 
extreme, we've also met the man 

84
00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,880
or the woman who says I keep 
falling into the same sin over 

85
00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,280
and over again. 
I don't think God loves me 

86
00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:40,840
anymore. 
I think he hates me. 

87
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,560
I think that's it. 
I've I've sold my birthright. 

88
00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,680
I'm going to hell forever. 
No, you need to rest and know 

89
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,000
that the Lord Jesus Christ has 
so much more goodness. 

90
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,840
You need to remember men like 
David, that great king who fell 

91
00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:59,640
into sin with Bathsheba, Samson,
who spent his whole life toying 

92
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,160
around with Philistine women, 
but in the end he was still 

93
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:04,800
buried with the people of 
Israel. 

94
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,240
And then you need to remember 
Peter, who denied the Lord three

95
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,120
times but then was used mightily
when he preached at Pentecost 

96
00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:15,640
and the Holy Spirit ripped 
through 3000 souls and brought 

97
00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,240
many to salvation. 
Dear friends, we need to keep 

98
00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,760
that balance in place. 
But here's the big question. 

99
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,400
Is there a side which God leans 
towards more? 

100
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,800
Does he lean more towards mercy 
or more towards judgement? 

101
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:33,360
Well, the Bible actually says 
this. 

102
00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,680
Mercy always triumphs over 
judgement. 

103
00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:40,560
Charles Spurgeon also said this 
once. 

104
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,040
As numerous as your wanderings, 
so numerous your restorations 

105
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,920
will be. 
And you may have sinned 100 * 

106
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,760
1000 times. 
But there is still mercy. 

107
00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,440
There is still grace. 
I do know many men. 

108
00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,360
I've been reading the comments 
and women. 

109
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,880
I've been reading the comments. 
You've been writing to me and 

110
00:05:57,880 --> 00:05:59,600
many of you, you just feel 
hopeless. 

111
00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,880
You feel lost. 
Well, I want to encourage you. 

112
00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,720
I've had the privilege of being 
able to disciple some young men 

113
00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,440
in my local area. 
And I've looked at my own life. 

114
00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,880
And there was a time where these
young men myself, we said 

115
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,280
there's no way I'll ever break 
free from this sin forever. 

116
00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:17,560
I'll be defeated. 
But here we are. 

117
00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,000
We stand today. 
And the Lord has done a work of 

118
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,280
salvation. 
He has rescued us from these 

119
00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:23,960
sins. 
That's not. 

120
00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,120
That's not to say that we're 
perfect, because we're not. 

121
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,800
But it is really encouraging to 
see these young men going on 

122
00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,680
powerfully for the Lord gods. 
And I want to tell you today, if

123
00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,720
you are ruthless with this sin, 
if you fight it, if you fast, if

124
00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,560
you pray, you can overcome this 
sin in the power of the Holy 

125
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:42,040
Spirit.