They FINALLY Got CAUGHT!

TreasureChrist

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And you listen to me, any doctrine, any principle, any law, any teaching that is placed beside the gospel are given more infancies than the gospel.

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No matter how harmless it may be in itself, immediately turns in to a doctrine of demons.

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Jesus taught his followers that the world would hate them because it hated him. But what if it's not just the world that hates the biblical, gospel message of sin, hell and salvation through faith alone in Jesus alone?

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What if even supposed pastors within Christianity also hate this message? We are moving in to a time in which the gospel and those who preach it are in ever increasing scandal.

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Not only to the world, but also to many who associate themselves with Christ and the church.

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Pastors and churches today have become seeker sensitive. And believe that since teaching hard truths about sin, hell, cultural issues and salvation is offensive to the culture.

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They need to adjust the Christian message to reach more people in the culture. This is why all of Joel Osteen's sermons are motivational speeches.

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Where God is always on your side and will help you achieve all your worldly dreams. There's the true you, the one that God created.

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The true you is the blessed you, the happy you, the successful you, the forgiven you. It's still in you.

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This is why T .D. Jakes treats Oprah as a fellow Christian. Even though there is almost nobody further from the

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Christian faith than Oprah. You made us forfeit the dismal waters of mediocrity to experience the blissful while of becoming the highest expression of ourselves.

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While I challenged the sacred, you brought hope to the secular. This is why Stephen Furtick is always talking about human potential and the amazing power that's already in us.

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If we just look deep enough. That's why some of us are miserable. Because of unlived potential that's been sitting in the jug, sitting on the shelf.

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This is why Andy Stanley wants to move away from believing parts of the Bible he sees as mean and outdated.

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The foundation of our faith is not the scripture. The foundation of our faith is not the infallibility of the

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Bible. The foundation of our faith is something that happened in history. And the issue is always who is

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Jesus. That's always the issue. The scripture is simply a collection of ancient documents that tells us that story.

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This is why Kenneth Copeland is always talking about money, blessings and healing.

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I receive my healing right now. I receive my healing right now.

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And this is why Rick Warren prioritizes man -centered strategies rather than depending upon the raw gospel message without compromise.

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I wrote this strategy, S -A -D -D -L -E -B -A -C -K, three different times. And we had a

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Saddleback strategy for the 1980s and we used it that entire decade. And then we had a

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Saddleback strategy for the 1990s and we used that for a decade. And then in 2000,

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I rewrote the letters to mean something different again. But what we're experiencing today isn't anything new.

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But what I want you to see is this is not a strange thing that has come upon us. It is commonplace throughout church history.

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We need to recognize that and we need to live accordingly. The world hated Jesus and the apostles and killed them because of the message they proclaimed.

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The early church experienced much persecution and death. And more Christians today are being persecuted and killed than ever before, especially in countries like China, Afghanistan, and North Korea.

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And here in the United States, there is little tolerance for outdated Christian teachings concerning sin, marriage, human sexuality, morality, and hell.

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If you believe in something that hurts another person, that does not give someone the same rights or freedoms, not necessarily under the

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Constitution because this is under God, I think that that's wrong. And I think that the Catholic Church and many other churches really need to re -examine themselves and their teachings because that is not what

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God is about. More and more, it's becoming clear that there are people on two opposite sides, the faithful followers of Jesus Christ versus the people of the world.

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Paul writes, for the word of the cross is moria, foolishness, to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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There we see the great divide between two peoples, those who follow Christ and those who do not.

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Many Christian pastors abhor this kind of stark divide between Christians and non -Christians.

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They talk as if God loves everyone equally and nobody is under God's wrath and judgment. And so God loves us freely and unconditionally, and receiving that is the equivalent of learning to love yourself.

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I mean, if God can love me, who's perfect, then I can love me. In other words, these pastors have joined the side of the world against the full, true, undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ.

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They want to be friends with the world, rather than to tell the world about the depth of its sin and the judgment that awaits them if they do not repent.

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When Jesus comes back, the slaughter will run for 200 miles, north and south, east and west, bloodbath of eternal judgment.

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Given that the culture hates the undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ, should we change the gospel message to make it sound more acceptable to the culture?

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And what must we do as preachers? What should we do? What should we do?

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Not just merely what should we think. What should we be? What should we do? Should we build a bridge? Should we hold out an olive leaf to our godless culture?

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This is indeed what many pastors today have chosen to do. They don't want to offend the culture, so they refuse to address cultural or political issues.

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And I always wonder, when you say homosexuality is a sin, and there's a bunch of people who clearly are gay who are in your church, you're calling them sinners.

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I mean, that's the opposite of uplifting, I would think. It does, but one, I don't necessarily focus on that.

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I only talk about that on the interviews. But do you feel like you have a moral imperative to speak publicly about some of these more controversial issues?

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No, because we try to be like Jesus. Very rarely did Jesus ever talk about morality or social issues.

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And they compromise on biblical truths to be liked and accepted by the cultural elites in the mainstream media.

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Trust me, I've talked to enough LGBT, they are not all the same. Oh, for sure. Anymore than all Christians. No, no.

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But how do we, first of all, is your thinking involved in this? Evolved and evolving. Evolved and evolving.

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But true Christian pastors recognize that to compromise on the truth of the gospel is to dishonor and disobey

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God himself. What should we do? How can we avoid the scandal of the gospel today?

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For the true Christian to avoid the scandal of the gospel, well, it would be easier for them to go around the

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Red Sea or to climb the walls of Jericho. We cannot avoid the scandal. We must embrace it, and we must not compromise.

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We must not compromise. Not one doctrine dealing with the blood of Christ must be compromised.

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Everything God has revealed is important, which means every doctrine in Scripture is important enough to proclaim publicly.

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Thankfully, in contrast to the many pastors who dilute the Bible's teachings to be accepted by the culture, there are also many pastors who boldly proclaim all that the

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Bible teaches. I don't care how many times you've heard the illustration. You're sinking, you're drowning, you're about to go down for the last time, and God throws you the life preserver, but you gotta grab it.

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Dead men don't grab. You're a rotting corpse. You are not almost dead. You are not nearly dead.

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You're dead, which means that the only hope is the grace of God. Given that Jesus, the apostles, and Christians throughout history have experienced persecution and death because of the gospel message they proclaimed, a relevant question to ask is, are we proclaiming a message that could possibly bring about this same kind of persecution today?

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If our answer is no, then there may be a serious problem. We've now moved into a time in the

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West, my brethren, when it is very possible that we are going to experience the solemn and terrible privilege of first century persecution.

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Just listen to the sermons preached by some of the most popular Christian teachers today, who always only ever talk about blessings,

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God's favor, health, wealth, and creating your ideal life. It's called favor.

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Favor will cause good breaks to come to you. Favor will take you from the background to the foreground.

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Favor will give you preferential treatment, things you don't deserve. Every year, we finish the year with one word from God, and this year, the

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Lord told me that we were going to, you ready, finish with favor. That's my message today.

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Finish with favor. Finish with favor. Put it right there. Finish with favor.

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And you may be seated. Let's get this sermon started. Finish with favor. I said,

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Lord, I can't say favor is the word for 2020 in good conscience. They'll think

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I'm crazy. Would anyone want to persecute Christians if this is what Christianity is all about?

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Of course not. And that's because these teachings simply are not Christian. It's common for pastors and churches today to dress up the gospel with external tricks such as emotional manipulation, entertainment, and other man -centered gimmicks.

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I got an angel. I got an angel. I got an angel. Now, who are you going to listen to?

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Your angel or your enemy? My angel said I'm going to make it. My angel said

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I'm right on time. My angel said it's working for my... But when we make the gospel man -centered, we take away the power of the gospel.

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But remember this. To the degree that you trust in the arm of the flesh, you will see less of this power of which

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I speak. And the more you abandon all these carnal trappings of modern evangelicalism, the more you will behold the power of God, a preacher standing alone, defying the world.

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With a message of love, Christ came to save sinners, among whom I am chief.

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This is why the biggest problem in the world isn't the Democratic Party or corrupt politicians.

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If you like this message, subscribe to help spread the truth. It's Christian pastors and leaders who have forsaken their sacred duty.

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They seek to impress and attract people to Christianity without telling them about the depth of their sin or calling them to radical repentance.

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If the church is weak, it's not the fault of politicians. The church is weak where Christ's ministers are weak.

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And I say that to you as a man looking in the mirror. I do not have to run to politicians to find the problem.

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I do not have to run to universities, to academia to find the problem. The problem are the ministers of Christ that have dressed themselves in the armor of Saul and laid aside the smooth stones of the gospel.

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And because of that, they can slay no giants. Conniving, pragmatic, always looking for strategy and a method and a new way.

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No, no. As Christians, we need to stop trying to reach the world using the strategies of the world.

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We need to see the great divide between the people of God and the people of the world and to call the people of the world to radical repentance and faith, which are the only means of salvation from sin and hell.

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Now let me ask you a question. How are you going to deal with that as a minister of Christ? What kind of power does your eloquence have to change the heart of people like this?

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And all your strategies and gimmicks and parties and parades. What can they do against something like this?

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You need to understand the heart of man is like Jericho. It is tightly shut up.

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No one comes out and no one goes in. And so is this culture. And you are not going to be able to carry out the work of Christ.

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You are not going to be able to advance the cause of the gospel with your silly little toys.

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Many pastors today put more emphasis on other things more than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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And you listen to me. Any doctrine, any principle, any law, any teaching that is placed beside the gospel are given more emphasis than the gospel.

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No matter how harmless it may be in itself immediately turns into a doctrine of demons.

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For example, being successful. It takes courage to win. People don't talk about people that don't win.

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If you win, they're going to talk about you. Being healthy. So we see right there that God wants us to be healthy.

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Miracles. Glory to God. You're not bound to this chair. The day will come you'll walk out of it. In the name of Jesus.

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Thank you, Lord. Our God -like ability to speak our dreams into existence.

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You are where you are today in part because of what you've been saying about yourself. Words are like seeds.

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When you speak something out, you give life to what you're saying. Now, some of those things are clearly problematic while others aren't bad in themselves.

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But any supposedly Christian teaching that is emphasized more than or that even replaces the gospel of sin and salvation becomes a wicked teaching that is against God and Christianity.

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There are many good things. There are many good ethics. There are many good principles. There are many good laws even in the scriptures.

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But if your conversation is consumed by something other than the gospel then you are not understanding scripture.

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You are not understanding the heart of Paul. You are not understanding the very mind of God.

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The gospel is not just a doctrine added on to other doctrines. It's not just one among many.

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It is the greatest manifestation of the attributes, the person of God that has ever been given or will ever be given.

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As Christians, our focus and emphasis should always be on the full undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only ultimate answer to the ultimate question we all need to recognize.

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Because it is in the gospel of Jesus Christ that the divine dilemma is solved, that the problem of every theologian, philosopher, and thinker is finally answered.

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How can God be a just God and show mercy to wicked men? You see, Earth's problem is how can

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God judge. Heaven's problem is altogether different. How can God save, pardon wicked men?

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And what is this answer to how God can save and forgive sinners like us? It's the truth about Jesus' propitiatory sacrifice on the cross to save sinners from God's terrifying justice and wrath.

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And still maintain His righteousness. And the answer is in the gospel where God becomes a man and goes to a tree and bears the sin of His people.

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And with that sin, the curse, and with that curse, all the holy hatred, all the righteous judgment of God is poured down upon the head of God's Son and He absorbs it.

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He satisfies justice so it no longer has a demand against God's people.

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And God can be just and the justifier of wicked men. Never put anything above the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Let's be honest. How often do you hear this incredible truth taught by popular

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Christian pastors today? Almost never. In fact, you will more often hear popular

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Christian teachers teach against the foundational message of the gospel. They teach that our sin doesn't incur

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God's wrath. That God isn't glorified in displaying the glory of His power and justice through punishing sin.

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But God loves us. He doesn't want to kill us. And so He's given us this life to cover for my failure and my sin.

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How you guys doing? The meaning of this symbol is the exact opposite of the bloodthirsty God who hates you and wants to kill you.

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Folks, listen to me. The justice and righteousness of God will be your all in all in heaven.

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And the eternal punishment of sin and God pouring out His wrath on sin is a glorification and magnification of His righteousness.

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What else could you celebrate? It is just. The foundation of Christianity is the

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Bible, which is how God has chosen to reveal Himself in the truth about the universe and the gospel to the human race.

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You think it's all about one doctrine of soteriology. Well, that doctrine is important. But if you really break it down, the reformers were about one thing and all the other goodness came forth from that one thing and that is sola scriptura,

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Scripture alone. To look at Scripture. That's why they said semper reformata, always reforming. Why?

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Always looking at Scripture. Always seeing need for change. Always praying for change. Always striving for change.

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To conform every aspect of not just our ministry, but our lives and every aspect of our life to the word of God.

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But many Christian teachers today don't teach the Bible, but rather merely use the Bible to teaching non -Christian messages that are designed to impress and attract the world and culture.

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Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life picks and chooses from lots of different Bible translations to communicate its man -centered message that's about humans finding fulfillment.

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The Bible's teachings about human depravity and God's wrath are ignored. And very few pastors today practice expository preaching, which seeks to teach everything the

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Bible teaches and instead only ever pick passages to preach on that align with their unbiblical, man -centered worldview.

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Because preaching is born out of the reality that we worship a God who speaks, then preaching must be faithful to God's word.

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This is why we practice, for the most part, what is called expository preaching. The Christianity that is taught by so many supposed

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Christian pastors today lead to hell, not heaven. They teach a man -centered gospel that does not point people towards their sin, repentance, submission to the word of God, and the glory of God.

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Instead, they point people towards their own selfish, worldly desires and deceive people into thinking they are saved when they are clearly not at all born again.

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If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Well, congratulations, you have just become part of the family of God.

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I'll tell you, that sinner's prayer has sent more people to hell than anything on the face of the earth. The Scripture does not say that Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel and said that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

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Now, who would like to ask me into their hearts? I see that hand. He said, repent and believe the gospel.

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As Christians, we proclaim a message that has eternal consequences and we need to proclaim this message with utmost seriousness, in its fullness, without compromise.

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Do you realize that what we do is a matter of eternal life and eternal death? Even as I'm preaching, it is very possible that I am looking at some people who will spend eternity in hell.

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Minister of Christ, be encouraged. Providence may determine the size of your ministry and whether or not your name is ever known, but you will not be judged based on that kind of providence.

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You will not be judged by the pragmatic standards of evangelicalism. You will be judged by your faithfulness within God's providence and your conformity to Jesus Christ.