The Squall Of Judgment - [Matthew 7:24-27]

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Well this morning, I'm going to start a sermon the way Jesus ended a sermon therefore
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Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock the rain fell floods came and the winds blew and Slammed against that house and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock
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Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them Will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand the rain fell the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and it fell and Great was its fall bow with me, please and let's pray
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Father we would ask this morning as we continue to worship you That you would help us to see spiritual truths
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You'd help us to understand what Jesus said What he meant and then
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Lord by your gracious Holy Spirit, would you apply that to our lives? Lord I'd specifically ask that for those sitting here today under some kind of illusion that they might be
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Christians or For those who are sitting here today knowing that they're not right with you that today
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Lord would be a great day A day that you would show forth your great grace and you would be pleased to save Pleased to illumine pleased to make them born again and Lord We know you do that at your own good pleasure at your own perfect timing
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But Lord, we have loved ones and friends and we love to see you do your work of salvation We love to see the evidence of that in a baptism and Lord for the
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Christians today. I pray that you would Increase their thankfulness knowing that it's by grace alone that they've been saved and that they would increase their desire
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To love Jesus and love his word in whose name we pray. Amen We're coming to the end of the greatest sermon.
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I believe that has ever been preached Jesus a sermon in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 5 6 and 7
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Today, we'll actually finish his sermon. We'll finish chapter 7 next week
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Jesus is done preaching and instead of acting like most modern -day preachers who would kind of Console at the end of a sermon who would kind of stroke who would kind of make sure the congregation wasn't emotionally
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Battered or abused Jesus doesn't do that at all. He calls for a verdict.
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It's a call to arms He says I've taught these things to you. And now I want you to obey them
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Of course, we know it's the grace of obedience, but now he says I want you to obey
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There's a lot at stake Jesus lays before all humanity and before everyone in this room two builders two houses two foundations and two
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Eternal outcomes and in typical style of Jesus typical of the prophets typical of Hebrew preachers
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He says there's only two ways Choose which day choose this this day which master you're going to serve
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Now if you look back in chapter 5 verse 20 that verse
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Spoken by Jesus pretty much sums up this sermon if you had to focus in on kind of one
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Verse that would give us an idea to the entire sermon. It would be Matthew chapter 5 verse 20
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For I say to you that unless your righteousness Surpasses exceeds goes beyond that of the most religious people on the planet at the time the
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Scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven and Jesus says the righteousness that you have to have has to be an internal righteousness
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It has to be a righteousness that you can't even manufacture. It has to be given to you from the outside Externally, it has to be
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God's righteousness and Jesus comes along as this great prophet of God that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18 and he says this watch out
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For these other false teachers watch out. These Pharisees are going to say well, we'll just turn down God's holiness
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We'll turn up man's goodness and there'll be a good meeting in the middle and Jesus says you can't do that Look at verse 48 with me of the same chapter if chapter 5 verse 20 is more negatively stated
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This is more positively stated Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect My favorite thing to do when
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I go to teach chapels at junior high schools high schools and I go around and I'm invited
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I love to say this is how I start my message most often how many kids in this room believe you have to be perfect to get to heaven and Hardly any of them raise their hand except for that You know typical kid that sits in the front and no matter what question is asked they have to raise their hand
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You know pick me pick me How many people think you have to be perfect to get into heaven? Here's this perfect God this
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Holy God. What are the entrance requirements to God's holy heaven? Less than holiness less than perfection.
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The bar is set so high no human No matter how good they are can somehow live this life
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It's acceptable in God's eyes because there's been the fall Adam and Eve fell we are
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We have inherited that by God's declaration by our own sin we need help we need a
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Savior We need someone to rescue us. We don't need a partner. We don't need to to cooperate
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We don't need some kind of joint venture. We need a God who's holy to save us
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So God sends his son Jesus Not just to die on the cross
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But to also teach about what God wants to be taught in other words I don't think
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I said that well Jesus instead of just coming on Friday morning dying on the cross being raised from the dead on Sunday He came early to teach about the kingdom of heaven to teach about righteousness to teach about God's demands
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So they would all be forced to look away from themselves saying there's no righteousness in us there must be an external righteousness and alien righteousness a different righteousness and He says you're not going to find right teaching by the
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Pharisees. Don't believe them Watch out for what they say then in chapter 6 of Matthew Jesus says watch out for what they do and they're linked.
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You can't get away from what people say and what they do because Eventually, they just mold it together
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Don't believe what they say verse chapter 5 don't believe what they do chapter 6 and then he says in chapter 7
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There's a way to relate to other people in the kingdom and he spells that out in verses 1 through 12
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Then he gives four warnings We've seen the first three but in review the first warning you probably could memorize these and I hope you do the first warning
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Jesus gave at the end of a sermon was found in verse 13 and 14 and He says salvation is narrow and you must enter you see that in verse 13 enter through the narrow gate
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Gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it for the gate is small
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And the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it When I was a kid, we would go to the
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Missouri River in between Nebraska and Iowa and we would bring our inner tubes and we would have our mom drive us up about two miles north of Where we stayed and then we would get in the river with our inner tubes and we would float down We'd say today.
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Oh, can we float down today? You just get in the river you get in the inner tube. And what do you do?
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You just float down In a couple hours, they're back at home and Jesus is saying this
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You can hear about God's heaven. You can hear about God, but you're just not going to float into heaven
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You have to enter he he requires Entrance he requires volition and will and the reason why
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Jesus gives the warning is because too many people think they're born a Christian I'm gonna die and go to heaven because I'm good.
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So you've got to enter He gives the second warning found in verses 15 through 20
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Sermons done basically and now he applies it He's pressing people's consciences up against the
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Word of God almost with the attitude of I dare you You've got to react no reaction is a reaction and he says in the second warning verse 15
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Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves
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There are people in other words who stand by the door that says heaven that doesn't really go to heaven
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It's the broad door. It's the broad gate It says heaven, but it doesn't go there and the false teachers say yeah, that's the door you want to go into Come one come all you don't have to repent.
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You don't have to you know, stop sinning You don't have to do anything. You just keep come you just come as you are
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God loves you already unconditionally This is the door right here. There's no repentance. There's no belief.
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There's no turning from sin Then he gives the third warning in which we found last week verses 21 through 23
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If the first warning was summarized by the word enter and the second warning Summarized by the word beware the third warning would be summarized by the words
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Don't be deceived and he says in verses 21 through 23 Not everyone who says to me
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Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven But he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter
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Many will say to me on that day Lord Lord Did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?
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and then I Will declare to them I never intimately knew you.
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Oh, I knew all about you, but I didn't personally know you depart from me you who practice lawlessness and Jesus says no matter how loudly people say it no matter how often they say it if you don't have
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Actions commensurate with what you say lip service doesn't count for anything Just a quick side note before I was saved at 29 years old
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I had my own list of things that I would have said on Judgment Day It would have been my list
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Standing at the bar of judgment and hearing God say You're gonna be banished from my good presence.
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I would have said God When I was 21 years old I went to a missionary trip in your son's name to Galeana, Mexico to tell them that Jesus is the only way of salvation
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God I was part of the youth group at church God. I went on a Christian backpack
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Backpacking trip to Chicago. I mean you don't back back in Chicago Colorado Maybe they do backpack in Chicago.
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I don't know Lord. I got confirmed I got baptized when
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I was 10 days old or whatever I would have these list of things and Of course would
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God know about it. Yes. He doesn't learn anything. He sees everything He he sees everything is the eternal now and he knows but there's no intimate relationship
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Because I didn't enter because I followed the false prophets and I myself was self deceived and it's the goodness and kindness of God incarnate who says don't be deceived enter beware watch out and Now we come to the final warning and again people don't preach like this today
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Because it just seems too hard. It seems too strong. There's too much masculinity here
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Almost you you kind of want him to end with the poem, don't you? Some kind of well, you know and they all lived happily ever after That's just not the way
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Jesus preaches and if you want to end with a poem or a hymn, that's fine occasionally
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Let me reread these verses again verses 24 through 27 And I will read them with the focus on the main point and the main point ahead of time
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I'll telegraph it is this there's a different difference between Hearing and acting and hearing and not acting in other words 21 through 23 was we say but we don't do 24 and following is we hear but we don't do
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Some say and don't do these here and don't do Verse 24 therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them
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Maybe compared to the wise man verse 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine same phrase and does not act on them will be like a foolish man
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That is the key. The key word here is obey Enter beware.
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Don't be deceived now. You have to obey This reminds me of Moses's words in Deuteronomy.
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I was reading the other day Deuteronomy 32 when Moses had finished speaking all these words to Israel Jesus has done speaking a sermon
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Moses was done. How do these two end their messages? Moses ended like Jesus.
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He said to them take to heart all the words, which I am warning you today Which you shall commend your sons to observe carefully even all the words of this law
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And then for those who think you know, the letter kills People worship the Bible Bible olitary, they're just words listen to Moses For it is not an idle word for you
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Indeed, it is your life These words are your life and by this word
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You will prolong your days in the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess
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The similarity is here's the end of Moses's sermon in Deuteronomy the second law and he says these words are your life
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But for Moses, these were your words for your life able to enter into Cana For us it's words that not let us enter into some kind of physical place
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But heaven itself Let me give you a series of proclamations this morning if you'd like an outline so we can see progression and feel the sermon move
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Let me give you a series of proclamations that will fine -tune Your mind so you can say do
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I obey the gospel by grace or do I not obey am I a doer or am I a hearer only
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Somehow deluding myself a series of proclamations many times by the way, the Bible teaches that pastors are called heralds they're called preachers and so Many times the king would say by the way, we're gonna go slaughter that Land up there and all the people in it, but before we do before we exercise this judgment
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Let's send a few heralds up there and these heralds are gonna say this If you don't do what the king says, you're going to be slaughtered
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But if you do what the king says, there's clemency There's kindness the king will take care of you
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The king will guard you the king will watch over you the king will grant you wives The king will do all these things if you don't do what the king says
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It's judgment, but if you do there's clemency, there's forgiveness. There's kindness That's exactly what heralding is
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And so let me give you a series of Heralding proclamation that will help you ask the question and answer it.
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Do I obey the gospel? Am I entering am
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I be wearing am I self -deceived? Real belief obeys do
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I really obey? False belief does not obey am I fooling myself proclamation number one
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Your obedience are a belief that obeys has eternal ramifications
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Your obedience to the gospel has eternal ramifications Your your belief that obeys a belief that follows has eternal ramifications
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Did you say didn't we hear this last week? Do we hear this the week before and didn't we hear this two weeks ago?
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The answer is yes It's basically the same sermon because they're the same kind of warnings just different views of the same warning eternal ramifications
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Are you sitting here today? Known by God as a hearer and a doer are a hearer and a disobeyer
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Some say oh I obey verses 21 through 23 some here and don't do
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And look at how this text it almost speaks of some kind of invitation some kind of call are beckoning to believe
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You notice how it starts therefore everyone verse 26 Everyone each of you sitting here each of them listening originally
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There's this open -ended come one come all whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved kind of open invitation as it were and Jesus says
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I'm inviting you. I'm commanding you to be the wise one. Not the fool.
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Would you be the wise? You can almost feel his his words having this hand that wants to pull you in and say everyone
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You're either one of these others. So be the wise one. Don't be the fool. There's a lot at stake
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It's not some kind of parking ticket I mean I'm just trying to think of the most inane kind of stupid thing in my life that I could think of that just kind of Ruins my my state and I remember one time
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I was driving mom was almost dead. She died the next day I went home to sleep for a couple hours.
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I left the hospital go home sleep I'm driving back to go see mom and just processing all these things and I Forgot that I was driving too fast.
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There's the construction zone and the policeman pulls me over and I said Officer I'm completely guilty.
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I was speeding. I have no defense. I'm you see all these oxygen bottles I'm I'm on my way to visit my mother.
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I think she's going to die in the next couple days. He said well I won't charge it for speeding in the construction zone.
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I'll just charge it for nine miles over So it's $100 ticket and he wrote me up. I just thought
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I don't know what kind of Policeman this is but I thought my days practically ruined and I've got a parking ticket
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You want to talk about the ruin of the eternal day? Can you imagine standing before God and he says
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I knew all about you but get away from my presence That is sobering, isn't it this hearing and obeying and hearing and disobeying
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Is this some kind of light thing that can be amended by traffic school? These have this has eternal ramifications for everyone in this room
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And he says why don't you be the wise you notice the text there This is a wise person who hears and does
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Matthew loves to talk about the wise person other gospel accounts Don't usually talk about the wise one
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Matthew seven times. He talks about the wise one most often in parables and Like the wise the contrast that Matthew often talks about is the foolish
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Not many others in the Gospels Luke Mark and John talk about the wise and the fool But with proverbial kind of writing
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Solomonic writing Jesus says here's the wise and here's the by the way, what's the Greek word for fool?
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that Jesus used here's the wise one and here's the moron
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What's a moron a moron someone who is deficient intellectually? They don't have all the information in their brain and their gray matter to process things and here with a spiritual application
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Jesus says this is morally inadequate information processing don't be the fool and Jesus uses a great illustration that almost everyone could see in their mind's eye that we can even see 2 ,000 years later he uses a storm picture
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Something that happened very often back in those days, and you would have in the Middle East something kind of dry something kind of hot
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And out of nowhere here comes these torrential kind of squall like winds with rain that would turn some kind of dry riverbed or dry area or dry wadi into a flood zone and Jesus uses language is interesting look at verse 25.
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Let me give you kind of an interpretive sense and the rain
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Slammed against that house verse 25 and the floods slammed against that house and the winds
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Slammed against that house the rain the floods and the wind all in combination are
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Slamming with kind of a clashing sound if you will against this house that was founded on the rock and what happened
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Here comes the storm and the storm doesn't do anything to this house because it has the right foundation
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Conversely in verse 26 There are other people who here and here comes the same rain that slams wind that slams flood that slams
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And what happens it falls? Falls the house falls full last end times eschatological eschatological judgment and allowing a little greater emphasis look at the verse 27 look at verse 27 at the very end and Great was its fall
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True or false? It is dangerous to listen to sermons every single week
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But never do one of the most dangerous things you can ever do in your life is not pick up some kind of poisonous
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Adder by the tail not somehow run around saying well out of all the mushrooms in the world
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Only 10 % of the edible mushrooms are Excuse me only 10 % of the mushrooms around are edible.
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I think I'll try some of Every mushroom I can just seeing if I can get the good ones.
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That's dangerous, too One of the most dangerous things you can do in your life is listen to sermons every single week and then do nothing about them
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It's eternally dangerous for those who aren't Christians. It's only in time Sketchy and dangerous for Christians.
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It certainly doesn't honor the Lord the context here is it's dangerous to hear Jesus preach and then say I'm not gonna believe in the risen
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Savior It's dangerous and you know, what does the world say? I'll just go to church today.
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I'll go Christmas and Easter only I'm a CEO Christian and I just kind of go and I'll throw a bone to God.
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I'll throw a bone to my wife I'll throw a bone to my kid and I kind of go and and off I'll go and you think you're pleasing somebody on earth and Jesus says if you're not going to obey him, it's dangerous
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It's better off if you don't hear if you're never gonna obey the gospel never gonna believe that Jesus is the only Savior then
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Run from church because it's only gonna be worse for you. Now shouldn't this kind of talk in Matthew chapter 7
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Obliterate once and for all this insane notion that you can have Jesus as your Savior, but not as Lord This asinine kind of theology that says do you know what we'll have him as a hell insurance
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But we never have to obey him this non Lordship anti Lordship kind of theology
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Just would be stench in the nostrils of Jesus in a sermon like this You don't make
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Jesus Lord Jesus is Lord It's ludicrous and laughable to somehow think
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I'll listen to Jesus. He's gonna take me to heaven But when it comes to obeying him, I've got something for you
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Jesus, and it's not an open hand of praise and worship It's a hand like this. It says I'm gonna stiff arm you
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Jesus in the face And Jesus comes along in kindness and goodness, but sternly saying this is not obey the gospel to get saved
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This is obey the words of Jesus. It says it's only God's grace. It's only what God could do
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A .W. Pink's words in my opinion will echo through the halls of eternity
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We do not ask is Christ your Savior, but is he really and truly your
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Lord? If he is not your Lord, then most certainly he is not your
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Savior Those who have not received Jesus Christ as their Lord and yet suppose him to be their
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Savior are Deluded and their hope rests on a foundation of sand and Jesus would know wouldn't he this omnipotent
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Omniscient Never learning God that has x -ray vision into our lives and our souls and the thoughts and the intentions of our hearts he knows and He says it's just not lip service.
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It's a halfway. It's all or nothing. That's the end of Matthew 7 It's all or nothing choose
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This is the wake -up call, I don't know about you, but when I have a alarm set I don't kind of like nice smooth music.
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I don't usually put some kind of you know, I don't even know who these people are Kenny G does he play saxophone kind of new age kind of you know
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I don't put Kenny G on and say, you know what? I got to take him to the airport I'm gonna get no sleep.
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I got to come back and I better make sure I wake up in time to go preach at church Let's put some Kenny G on you know,
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I do I set up the alarm to the highest kind of Music that I don't like kind of with a shrill super loud and I have to put it across The room so I have to actually get up out of bed and you know
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Once out of every 400 mornings you have your legs asleep and then you know down you go great was his fall
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But you go I'm waking up This is not some kind of lullaby that you need to wake up.
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You need action call the arms When it's time to call people into the war the the buglers, you know
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Don't inhale they don't blast, you know kumbaya
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Back to the notes We love it when our professors get off the notes, but I'm not so sure
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I need to do that today You say I want the loving Jesus This is the most loving
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Jesus that you'll ever know and he's the only Jesus that exists And it's a
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Jesus that says of course the children That the disciples say get away from Jesus he opens his arms and he's kind and he's loving as he's compassionate
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But your friends tell you the truth and so does the Almighty God of the universe and if the requirements are true
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Lee Perfection then Jesus says you've got to believe in the work of another to grant you that perfection
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There is a storm coming and it's not a real storm It's a spiritual end days last time squall
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Now I remember my grandparents and my grandparents My grandmother especially she was a real worrier and she had one of those electric kind of transistor deals with a 9 -volt battery
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And it had one button and that button would go down like that and it would have the weather channel It was all they had not the real weather channel today, but just some kind of Guy in some weather booth announcing and I believe to this day that she had that thing for one reason
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So she could worry more impending storm coming Sometimes those storms never came
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I mean, it's like New England weather say it's gonna rain every day for the next 14 weeks here for summer. Welcome And then you go.
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Oh, wow. I actually got a nice day on Saturday. They didn't intend that to happen They didn't suspect it to happen. They didn't analyze it, but it came
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Jesus says there's a storm coming that's going to Blow your house down if your house is not built on Christ in his words
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Turn with me if you would to Ezekiel chapter 13 Ezekiel chapter 13.
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I want you to begin to try to think like a Old Testament our New Testament Jew Jesus gives this imagery of a storm that every here there especially the
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Pharisees and scribes would go. Oh, that's like Ezekiel That's like Isaiah where there's a storm used of the judgment of God and they go.
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Oh, it makes sense there's a judgment storm coming an eschatological storm an end -day storm coming and just to give you one example as we try to Think like they did back in those days
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Ezekiel 13 verse 10 it is definitely because they have misled my people by saying peace
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When there's no peace and when anyone builds a wall behold, they plaster it over with whitewash
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Ezekiel 13 11 So tell those who plaster it over with whitewash that it will fall a
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Flooding rain will come and you oh hailstones will fall and a violent wind will break out
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Let's sound just so similar to Jesus's words Verse 12 behold when the wall has fallen will you not be asked?
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Where's the plaster with which you plastered it? Therefore thus saith the Lord God I will make a violent wind break out in my wrath
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That's the language of Jesus There will also be in my anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath
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So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground so that its foundation is
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Laid bare and when it falls you'll be consumed in its midst and you will know that I am the
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Lord verse 15 Then I will spend my wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash And I will say to you the wall is gone and his plasters are gone along with the prophets of Israel who prophesied in Jerusalem Who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace declares the
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Lord So because the storms coming get out the two -by -fours and batten down the hatches
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The windows are gonna be broken You see what happens in Florida and some of you have been there in Florida during these hurricanes
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The glass is gonna go so put the plywood up on the windows and Here the way we put the plywood up on the proverbial window is to repent to believe to trust
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Jesus Christ and his word to believe in the risen Savior Who bore our sins and was raised from the dead?
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Isaiah 28 says the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters will overflow the secret place
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The house that's being built is your life. Do you know you're building a house? Day by day brick by brick
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Foundation is built and then up you go as I notice let's go back to Matthew chapter 7 these two houses
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Look the same on the outside. I Think they use the same material besides Maybe some minor deviation who knows same wood same nail same
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Joyce's everything looks the same except they didn't build it upon the right foundation You Can't see the differences and a good spiritual analogy would be when
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I look at someone Two people can look like churchgoers act like churchgoers talk like churchgoers but when the foundation when their internal righteousness examined one can be found lacking and Jesus says
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I came to save people not to damn them. So run under the cross to be saved Now sometimes when
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I have to get something done at the house I can't believe I have to go through all these building code things Codes and what usually motivates me to do the building code deals and get the inspection as I think if my house burns down Because some kind of electrical problem.
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I wonder if my insurance agent will pay if I don't have the right codes Very self -seeking self -serving.
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I don't understand all the building codes There's one building code for this spiritual analogy build on the words of Christ or else.
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That's it Very simple back in those days the feast could could dig through the walls
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The the roofs had sod on them sod on them and you could have people come down through the roofs and Couldn't get any better than that But you could decide back in those days
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Do we make the foundation on rock bed dig deep enough to do it or do we just put it up on sand?
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That'll do this Judgment that's coming is at the end of time and after there's been the great slamming
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Squall there's no time for redos. There's no purgatory. There's no kind of wall. I'll just do it over again
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This is at the end time Spurgeon says the fall was so great because he could never build again
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Now Jesus isn't tilting this towards the positive But if I can just for a moment talk about the house that didn't fall because it was founded on the rock
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Can you imagine for the Christian no matter what struggle what trial the gates of hell can be opened up And you could stand at the maw of the gates of hell and you could say, you know,
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I am secure No one can snatch me from the father's hand Only thing
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I could think of would summarize by him by Charles Gabriel. How great is it by the grace of God?
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many here today have built their life on the words of Christ and have the right foundation and Charles Gabriel wrote a song called
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I stand amazed in the presence. Do you know the song? I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the
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Nazarene and wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned
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Unclean. Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful and my song shall ever be.
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Oh, how marvelous Oh, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me?
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There's a house that slams this house it stands firm proclamation number two
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We must move on proclamation number two The first in a series of proclamations was your obedience our belief that obeys has eternal ramifications secondly, not only
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Your obedience to Jesus The belief that obeys excludes obedience to any other spiritual leader.
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That is to say Jesus's words Not someone else's words
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Jesus's words not plus someone else's whether it's the Pharisees Buddha Muhammad Joseph Smith Oprah, I don't care who pick a false teacher
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It's Jesus's words. Take a look at the passage Matthew 7 24 to 26 Verse 24 these words of mine.
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Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine Verse 26 everyone who hears what these words of mine
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Now the context is his sermon but by implication all Jesus's words by further implication all
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Jesus's apostles word by implication all of the Bible's word these words of mine again
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I'm an original context the sermon By the way, you can't tell this in Greek But when he talks about these words of mine, let me tell you in English but with the
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Greek order what they are my these words With the focus up front if we don't have bold yellow highlighting increased font back in Greek scribes days
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What do you do to make an emphasis? Well lots of things but one of the things you do is you take a word out of order and put it up at the front my
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These words and not oh my but my possessive these words of mine
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Now kind of the nice thing about it is I know there's a downside to having Jesus's words in red in some of the
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Bibles But it makes it pretty easy to find Jesus's words, doesn't it? No one in the right mind even as an unregenerate person can't walk around going.
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I wonder where Jesus's words are found I don't think they can do that. My question to you though is a little bit different And it's for Christians as well
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If eternal destiny is staked upon of course the grace of God, but he uses the instrument of faith and belief
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Shouldn't we do everything we can to know the words of Jesus? Are you an expert in knowing
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Jesus's words if you're an immature Christian because you're a brand new Christian Not talking to you, but if you've been a
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Christian for any length of time you ought to be an expert in the words of Jesus These are the words of life this in life to you as Moses would say
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Some people in this room know computer languages better than they do Jesus's words
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Some people in this room know cookbooks better than they know Jesus's words
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Some people in this room know batting averages better than they do Jesus's words
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Some people here I have a variety of other different ones Rotisserie leagues golf handicaps the latest fashion
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Lawnmower engines I had to throw that in for the mechanic in the audience We're experts in these things of course we have to work of course we make our living doing other things
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But at the top of everything is the words of Christ if you've been a Christian five years ten years twenty years thirty years
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Ought you not by the grace of God given to you through the ministry of the Spirit of God Shouldn't you know the words of Jesus and I thank
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God that this is a church where the answer is I don't have to scold You I say Congregation you do know
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You don't need to come to me to find out what a Bible verse means because most of you know it How can we believe in something and do something if we don't know it?
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Frankly I'm with a particular old writer who says this it's one thing to say we're at a
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Bible believing Church If I ask for a raise of hands how many people would think we're at a Bible raising a
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Bible raising hands Church Not many they don't raise hands there. We would say we're
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Bible believing, but I ask the question are we Bible doers? Are we
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Bible believing enough that we believe something and then we do it I don't know about you, but I get mad at myself so often
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I just think I can't believe I just wasted all that time on the internet Doing a bunch of stuff about news this and that sports, and I go.
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It's just a waste of time I've exchanged insignificant for significant
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I Think it's just a good healthy wake -up call that if these are the words of eternal life
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Then we ought to ask God help us to dig deeply into scripture again Remember when you first got saved
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I Thought I was crazy because I could not care less about any other book in the universe
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I wanted to know what was in this book. I thought you know I've got to know this book I want to know the
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God I want to know the God who saved me. I want to know his mind I want to know what he thinks Almost with the same intensity.
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I think of when I first met Kim, and we got married I want to know this girl And I want to understand her what makes her tick and I and you spend time with her
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You can't do what Jesus says if you don't know what he says the great news is it's never too late today's a day to start
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Jesus said Matthew chapter 5 and 6 You have heard it said, but I say to you
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Focus on my words Don't focus on the Pharisees words the scribes words the rabbis words
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Harrods words focus on my words Hebrews 1 1
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God after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days
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Has spoken to us in his Son and of course his apostolic messengers true or false
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Jesus was a pluralist There could be not just the way of salvation there can be lots of ways and Jesus's way was only a way
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Friends we live in a pluralistic culture don't we here comes Jesus smack down to the middle saying there's no pluralism
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There's only one God Jesus not only talked about the narrow gate But he was the most narrow -minded person that ever arrived on the scene his way was right the only way that was right
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And he was no kind of Kierkegaardian existentialist saying I think I'll create my own reality
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He was no kind of mystic who says you know I really don't feel like those kind of verses apply And I feel like God is more this or that if you don't take
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Jesus at his word as a singular Savior, then you have to deviate and you deviate into Mysticism oh, that's your truth.
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That's my truth Deviate into kind of your own personal Jesus. Sorry to the band that wrote a song called that I Think Jesus is more like this these words of mine
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There's two ways of salvation these words of mine Everybody goes the same place at the end of their life these words of mine and pluralism is at the highest levels
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Somebody that knows better said this we may safely say if a good pagan Reached the point of throwing himself on the makers mercy for pardon.
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We know it is by grace that Brought him to that point God will surely save anyone
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He brings thus far anyone thus saved would learn in the next world that he was saved through Jesus Wow, I'm a pagan, and I turn my back on a couple sins that must have been the grace of God He's gonna be in heaven
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Could J. I Packer be any more wrong? That is building people's hopes in Venice Italy how many people have been to Venice Italy there a year and a half ago
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And you stand there, and you go this town is sinking, and you that's an understatement is it
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And there's all these Platforms and you know the tourists still want to go do things and so you've got to walk
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Elevated above because that thing is underground when you first get to Venice you go Oh, I'm riding down the street in a canal taxi and there goes the
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UPS boat Wow there goes the FedEx boat This is kind of an amazing thing and then you get off of the taxi cab out of the boat
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And you stand there, and you go. I'm in five inches of water this town is sinking Sooner or later that town is gonna be underwater
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Sooner or later you're gonna die and stand before God, and then we had some heart pains a while ago, and I Went to the doctor.
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He said okay. Everything's fine, and I said to myself. I'll live to die another day Well number three we must hurry.
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Oh, you know what I'm not gonna do number three. We'll have to maybe do it Next week what's your house look like your house can look good.
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You can have all kinds of manners You can be proper you can be polite you can obey the authorities you can obey the elders you can obey the pay your parents
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But the real issue is do you have a desire to obey God? We're not looking at perfection the only perfect one we have is
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God himself We can't say you know if I perfectly have a desire for the word I'm saved if I perfectly obey the words of Jesus.
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I'm saved we wouldn't say that because it's not true But when God saves someone there's a response that says
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I have a desire to obey now I have a goal to obey now. I want to do that and I realized
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I could never perfectly obey yet I'm trusting in the perfect one so for the Christians while some people's
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Assurance may be shaken That's what Jesus intended, but really for the unbeliever who hears this message
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What do you do with the words of Jesus? I just have one simple test and that test is this would you read the words of Jesus I?
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challenge you read the words of Jesus and find out if your Teacher your pastor your priest your reverend is telling you the truth
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Because it doesn't matter what he says it doesn't matter what I say these words of mine
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Just read the Bible that'd be a good thing for all Christians in this room to do how about this as a challenge? Let's read the Gospels this summer
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Matthew Mark Luke and John and just take a look at the words of Christ That's what we ought to do, and then we ought to say
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God by your grace. I just don't want to believe these things I Want to live them let's make our church by the grace of God a
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Bible living church That should be our prayer to God God make us a Bible living church My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness
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I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy lean on Jesus name on Christ the solid rock
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I stand All other ground is sinking sand know what we're gonna. Do it's
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Father's Day We're gonna have the ladies come sing that song the solid rock in an all -come -ladies choir
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I purposely picked the hymns today all about the rock and so we have a song about firm of foundation
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We have the second Isaac Watt songs about a rock of ages We have the final song the solid rock building our life on the word of Christ of course
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This has to be by the grace of God That's why I read Ephesians 1 because we need to be reminded of that grace But we have a duty and a responsibility to follow so we're gonna sing a solid rock ladies
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Please come if you're a visitor. You don't have to come. That's fine. If you'd like to that's wonderful as well I'd like especially daughters to come to with their moms, and we're going to sing this unto the