Consider Jesus — Steve Gallagher

I'd like to ask all those who will be graduating within the next month or so, raise your hand. How many have we got here? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven guys? Does that look right? And I'll include David in that, since he just graduated.

Welcome on board to Pure Life Ministries, David. You just made the biggest mistake of your life. Just kidding. I really want to dedicate this message to you seven guys, if I can remember where you were, kind of like maybe this is the final thing you need to hear before you leave Pure Life Ministries and go back out into that world.

Considering Jesus in Hebrews

We're going to be in Hebrews 2 this morning. And let me just say something about the book of Hebrews before I get into the message. There's a, I don't know exactly how to say it. There's a primary theme and a secondary theme that holds true throughout the book.

That primary theme is found in, it's just two words in chapter three, verse one, consider Jesus. Consider Jesus. That is the primary theme of the book of Hebrews, to focus on him and consider who he was and who he is.

This book is all about Jesus Christ, but also kind of like a follow up to that or a tied into it is a threat. Actually there are five urgent warnings in the book of Hebrews, five urgent warnings in the book of Hebrews, and we'll get into that a little bit later, but let's just, let's just go back to chapter one because I really want to begin with this thought in our minds.

Even though you guys have already spent some time meditating on these verses and Pastor Ed shared some thoughts on these verses, let's just read the first three verses of the book. Long ago, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.

I'm comparing this to the NAS because I usually use the NAS. It says, this is the Christian Standard Bible, says he has spoken to us by his son. The NAS says spoken to us in his son, and I think I like the NAS better on that.

It could be either. But when I think of the message that came forth from the life of Christ, it wasn't just through his words. His character was a message and who he is and his position in the kingdom of God, his position with God.

There's a message in that and the way he lived his life, of course. There is a message that comes forth from that. So it's not just his teachings that you find in the Gospels. It's more than that. He has spoken to us by who he is.

The Sevenfold Glory of Christ

And then look at these next two verses. These are the ones that I asked you to kind of focus on and you see here seven descriptions of him, seven different aspects of his work and his character, who he is, what he is.

And let's just go through them again, because this is where you begin to consider Jesus Christ is right here in these verses. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. God has appointed him heir of all things.

Let me just stop there. He has appointed him, he appointed him heir of all things. So right away, the writer of Hebrews takes us to the end. In fact, you know what, I'm going to just look at a verse here in Revelation 5.

It really ties in. Revelation 5 is when Jesus is presented the scroll that has the entirety of bringing the world to a completion and bringing the world under his dominion. And it says, let's see, I think it's in verse 9.

Sorry about that. I wasn't thinking I was going to do this. Yeah, it's in the song that the angels were singing. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and you redeemed people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign on the earth. That right there is the inheritance of Jesus Christ. So right away, he takes us to the end of the story and he says that God has appointed him to be the heir of all things.

In other words, all the souls from all down through the ages who have been redeemed, that is the booty of the war that God has undertaken on this earth for the last 6 ,000 years. That's the bounty. That's the inheritance that he's giving to his son.

Jesus Christ. That's why he did it all, was to redeem a people unto himself that he could enjoy forever. And then it goes all the way back to the beginning. And made the worlds or the ages, the eons through him.

You know, everything that has ever been was made through the agency of Jesus Christ. And, you know, and I can't help but think of nature because it's just like in me, you know, every time I go outside, well, not every time, sometimes I'm oblivious, but a lot of the times.

A lot of the times, I think, just think about all the things that God has made, that Jesus made. You know, a caterpillar. Who could ever conceive of such a thing? A caterpillar. Kathy and I were talking about dash-ounds the other day, and I said, dash-ound is a caterpillar who barks.

Why would anyone want to dash-ound? I don't know. But, I mean, the imagination. You know, God created millions of different creatures. There's some that we probably haven't even discovered yet down in the deepest parts of the sea and stuff.

I mean, and every one of them is a unique creation, and they all have their ways. You know, I've watched my two bullmastiffs, and, you know, even these two bullmastiffs who are cousins are completely different from each other.

They both have their own personalities, and they're really a trip to watch. And, you know, God created them to have their ways of doing things, and certain things that, you know, yeah, just the dog thing.

I like dogs, usually. Dash-ounds are questionable. But, anyway, God, through Jesus Christ, created the entire universe. What an amazing thing. And then it starts talking about Jesus himself and what he is, the essence of his being.

He is the radiance of God's glory. I mean, God's glory is a tremendous subject to study in Scripture. You go through the Old Testament, the word kabed, it's what a—I don't have the words to describe. Because this word, because it's such an awesome word to depict what it's like to be around this being, this God, his weighty character.

That's part of that word kabed, his weighty character. And, you know, the glory of God that came on the tabernacle, the glory of God that shone through the face of Moses, the glory of God that came on the temple that the priests couldn't even stay in it because it was too overwhelming.

And then you get into the New Testament, the word doxa, Greek, you know, which is all about where worship comes from. Doxology is worship. It's the worship of God and his glory. And that glory, that eminence that's coming forth from the throne room of God at all times, that is what they are saying, this writer of Hebrews, that radiance is Jesus Christ.

Consider. Consider. Have you ever stopped to consider these things? He's the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature. Now, that's this translation. The NES says the exact representation of God's nature.

So God has a nature. You know, we all have a nature. We're all different, different temperaments and personalities and makeup and so on. God has a nature. And Jesus Christ, it's like he took his heart out and put it into a man.

I mean, it's basically what Pastor Ed said. Put it into a man. And if you want to know what it would be like for God to walk on earth in the body of a man, just read the Gospels and there it is. And what is that nature if it isn't a constant outflowing of God, God's love, agape?

God is agape, right? That is the essence of what his being is. And everything that Jesus did and has ever done has been mercy. It's always the outflowing of his merciful heart to people. Sustaining all things by his almighty word.

Sustaining all things. Now, I heard this explained once by Chuck Smith. Actually, it's a verse in Colossians that he was talking about. But it's basically saying the same thing. And he was explaining how, if I can remember this, every atom has a neutron and a proton and an electron.

And scientists say it's impossible that they can stay confined there because they are constantly wanting to go the opposite directions. Something like that. And, you know, when you think of Jesus Christ sustaining by his almighty word, all things.

If he wasn't sustaining this universe, it would completely fly apart. The Big Bang Theory, right? But he holds it all together because he's got a purpose in mind. He's got a purpose. And then the writer of Hebrews brings it home to us.

This almighty being who lived this perfect life and he did something for us. What did he do? He purified our sins. At least he made it possible for us to appropriate that purification. Not everyone's sins are purified, right?

Not everyone's sins are purged. Not everyone in here whose, your sins are purged. But he has made it to where it's, we can appropriate that. That's what Jesus did for us. Man. And then he went and sat down at the right hand.

How's it said? The right hand of the majesty on high. And there he is right now, sitting at the right hand of God. All right. The writer of Hebrews begins this tremendous epistle, just wow, laying out Jesus Christ and asking us to meditate on this, to ponder who he is and so on.

And then he spends the next several chapters, basically kind of doing what Pastor Ed did last Sunday. Jesus is better than Moses, better than the temple, better than, I can't remember. Jonah, right. Did you say Moses?

Oh, you should have said Moses. No, better than Solomon. That's what Jesus said. Something's better than Solomon is here. Better than Jonah is here. Something better than the temple is here. And the writer of Hebrews is just taking the same basic thought.

And in this book, these first few chapters, he's saying Jesus is greater than all the angels. And he's greater than Moses, the lawgiver, the one who established the nation of Israel. He's greater than the Levitical law system and on and on.

And it all can be summed up in chapter three, verse one. Consider Jesus. Consider Jesus. Thoroughly think about him. Meditate on him. You know, some of you guys have the natural capacity to really think in a deep level.

And you haven't done it out of laziness or because you've been distracted with other things. But some of you really could be deep thinkers about the things of God if you would really get your minds focused on it.

Others, maybe it doesn't come so naturally, but you can still do it. And, you know, it doesn't take mental power. It takes willingness. It takes interest. It takes desire to look on these things. The most simple-minded person can come into a greater revelation than the greatest scientist on earth.

One of the greatest just died a few years ago or whenever it was, Stephen Hawking, a hard-hearted, callous, evil man with all his intelligence was a million miles away from knowing God. How sad. But the saddest, I mean, but the simplest-minded person, if they will just take the time, if they would just care enough, they could sit and ponder what Jesus is, who he is, what he's like, and so on.

You know, to consider means to fully occupy your heart with him. To thoroughly ponder who he is and what he is. To reflect on his character, his attributes, his authority, to contemplate the way he lived his life, and so on.

Hebrews’ Warnings Against Backsliding

All right, so that's the first main thrust theme of the book of Hebrews. And as I said, there's a second part that kind of trails behind it, and that is an implied threat that if you don't do this, if you don't care enough, you're in danger.

And as I said, there are five urgent warnings about losing sight of him or letting go of your relationship with him or allowing other things to be more important to you than Jesus is. Let me read a couple of quotes.

Adam Clark said, the writer's arguments against backsliding or apostasy are the most terrifying and powerful that can well be conceived and are as applicable now to guard Christian believers against falling from grace as they were in the apostolic times.

Do you believe that? You know, out in the church culture, you don't hear that kind of thing. All you hear about is God's goodness and how he loves you, which is all true, and it's absolutely true, and you hear that a lot here.

But as if like, oh, God's good, so that means we can do whatever. God's grace, so that means I can sin against him at will. I don't have to consider him or anything. All of that kind of stuff. Andrew Murray said, the purpose of this book was to meet the spirit of backsliding.

This is Andrew Murray who said these things. Not a Pentecostal, good old Reformed guy. The purpose of this book was to meet the spirit of backsliding, to warn against the disease and its danger, and to make known the infallible cure.

He saw that the one cause of all the feebleness and faithlessness was this, the lack of the knowledge and the faith of what Christ and his salvation truly are. It really boils down to, do you care enough?

Does it matter to you? Or you want to just go on with the religious charade as you have in the past? You've been hearing the gospel. Most of you, all your lives. You know, it wasn't, what, a couple of weeks ago I asked you to raise your hand.

How many of you were brought up in Christian homes and almost every hand was raised? It just shocked me, astounded me. I've been hearing it, but somewhere along the line, something went awry, right? Something went awry.

You must make Jesus Christ the focus of your life. All right, so with that background, let's look at these verses in chapter 2. He says, we must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard so that we will not drift away.

For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? I'll stop there.

And this word must will be kind of like my key word in the message here today. He doesn't say you can do this like it's a suggestion. He doesn't say like, you know, you really should do this. He said, you must do this.

I must do this. All of us must do this. All right, so what is it that we must do? Let's begin with the first one. You must pay attention, and that's the way it's said here. Pay attention to. It's the word.

Pros echo in the Greek pros echo echo in the Greek means to hold on to something. And so when you put the pros on the front of it, it's basically saying, take your mind and hold on to these things that you have heard.

Now, again, I'm remember I'm primarily talking to you seven guys. Raise your hands again. Are you afraid to now? OK, you seven guys. Hold on to these things because you're going out into a very wicked culture, right?

It might be an overly dramatic. Three of you believe that. OK, this word pay attention to, you know, OK, they used it the right way. I suppose in this translation and most translations say it that way.

But listen how else this word is used in Matthew 715. Jesus said, beware pros echo of the false prophets. Beware of them. Be on the alert for false prophets. Who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

That is a warning, right? That's a warning. Luke 21, 34, be on guard pros echo so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life. And that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap.

You're getting the urgency involved in this word. But this one's really interesting to me. 1 Timothy 3, 8, Paul said the deacons must be men of dignity, not addicted to much wine. And the word addicted here is pros echo.

In other words, don't allow yourself to be so to be obsessed with the thought of drinking. Now, we all understand addiction in this place, right? We know what it's like to go through life with a filter on our eyes with a mindset that is constantly thinking about sex, right?

We understand what that's like. Take that same mindset, that same infatuation, obsession, concern, however you want to put it. And he's saying you must have that mindset about the things you have heard.

About what? What things? All the things he talked about in chapter one about Jesus Christ. Hold your mind on those things. Now, let me just read this phrase in a few other translations. Give your minds to what we've heard.

Concentrate on what we've heard. Keep focusing on what we've heard. Give what we've heard your closest attention. Be constantly on your guard about drifting away from what we have heard. All right, so that's the theme of the book.

Consider Jesus, right? Consider Jesus. One of the, I guess I would say, greatest compliments I ever heard anyone say about Pure Life Ministries, the work that goes on here. It was a guy who had been through the program and he said it some years later after he'd been out of here.

I don't remember actually who it was or what the situation was. What I remember is what he said. He said, Jesus Christ was very large at Pure Life Ministries. Would you say that's true? Jesus Christ was very large at Pure Life Ministries.

Focusing on Jesus Rather Than Sexual Sin

It's almost like you guys are living in the epistle of Hebrews in this place. You know, we got you here. Now, listen. You know what's coming, don't you? If I would have told you in all our advertising and marketing stuff, hey, come to Pure Life Ministries and we're going to sit around and focus on Jesus and we're not even going to hardly talk about sexual sin, how many of you would have come?

One? Two? I don't believe you. You know, the reason why is because we hear those words and they're said out there. And all the phrases you can conceive of are out there in the church world. And you go to seminars, you go to retreats, you go to this, you go to that.

And it just is so-so. You don't really walk away feeling like you have spent time in the presence of Jesus Christ. You walk away disappointed, a little bit more cynical. And so if I said on our advertising, come and spend time sitting at the feet of Jesus, you would hear those words, but it would go through the filter of all those past experiences.

So we had to pull the bait and switch on you. We couldn't tell you the real deal or you wouldn't have come. We're not here to sit around and talk about your sexual sin. I'm sorry. Man, you've had a lifetime of thinking about that garbage.

Who needs to think about that anymore? I'll never forget Bradley Furgess. Bradley Furgess. Bradley Furgess. Oh, Bradley Furgess. Bradley Furgess was the black brother that came here in 1999 from a drug rehab.

And he came out of the homosexual lifestyle. And before he came here, he had read literally a stack of books like that. He had a, he showed up here with a stack of books like that all about homosexuality.

And he, Brad was a real pill. I'll just tell you that. He was a real pill. He was in the program 11 months. And back then it was only a six month program. Man, he was a pain. But you know something about Bradley?

He had a heart to know the Lord. And, you know, he came to me one day when he first got here. He's just totally in this thing. First of all, he's skeptical because I don't come out of a homosexual background.

What do you know about it? You know, that kind of attitude. And, you know, he's just, all he can think about is his homosexual thing. And what are we going to do to get him out of this and all of that?

And I said, Brad, only the Lord could give me the right answer at the right time, you know? And, Brad, I said, I know that this thing is like a mountain to you. And I say the same with you guys. You came here really the same way.

Sexual sin has been a mountain. It has affected everything in your life. OK, it's a good thing that you want to get it out of your life. But we don't want you to be obsessed with that. And what I told Brad, I said, listen, Brad, I want you to do something.

I know that mountain is there. It's huge. It's ominous. It's overwhelming. It's destroyed your life. But please, for six months, I just want you to set that aside and I want you to focus on Jesus. OK, will you just do that?

And he thought about it for a minute and he said, OK. And he did. I mean, Brad Fergus went after God with a passion, with everything in his heart. That was the thing, you know, that was what made it possible to put up with all his stuff.

Because he was a pill. But, you know, he had such a passion to know the Lord. And he went after God. And before it was over with, he was running all the counseling programs at Pure Life and did that for years until he absolutely fried himself out in this place.

And that's what I'll say to you guys, whether you come out of that background or not. We all come out of the sexual sin background just for your time here. Just set it aside. And you know what happened after that period of being in the program for Bradley?

This didn't actually happen, but I could have said it too. And Brad, turn around now and look at your mountain. And you know, that mountain had become a molehill. Listen, don't worry about figuring it all out.

You're not going to figure it out. Who cares? You don't need to figure it out. Just focus on Jesus Christ, getting to know him, falling in love with him. And that mountain will go away. I promise you.

I promise you. It's exactly what happened in my life. So you must pay attention to this message about who Jesus Christ is. All right. Number two, you must not allow yourself to drift. Yeah, you know, I could kind of say that number one is to all of you guys.

Guarding Against Spiritual Drift

And number two is primarily to you guys who are leaving. You must not allow yourself to drift. The writer doesn't say or imply that, you know, one day you just get up and just say, you know, I'm kind of tired of being a Christian.

I think I'm going to go do something else. It's not like that with Christianity. If you have come to know the Lord in some sense, what happens doesn't happen instantly. Generally, it's a slow, gradual departure from the Lord.

Usually your outward life continues on as it is. You know, you keep going to church, you keep going to your job, you keep doing your family stuff, whatever, but inside your heart starts drifting away.

That's what happens. And you guys who are leaving here, David, don't drift because I'm watching you. Let me illustrate it this way. Hebrews 11, one of the things, you know, it's a chapter of the heroes of the faith, and one of the characteristics of these men were that they were longing for another country, it says.

Another country. Man, talk about something to sit around and ponder. Where are you going? I'm going to another country. All right. And then in the book of Revelation, it talks about the sea, but it's not talking about a literal sea.

It's a metaphor. One of the commentators said, the sea represents the agitated surface of unregenerate humanity. And that's right. You know, so in my illustration here, you've got this country, excuse me, you've got this land, this beautiful land there, and then you've got the sea that's turbulent and just, you know, storms and all kinds of stuff going on.

It's agitated. And then you've got this harbor. You know what? It's a good example. Of course, you haven't been there probably. But Smyrna, you know, the second city of the seven cities of Revelation.

I've been there. The city now is Izmir. And it's got this great harbor, not harbor, it's like a bay. But it kind of comes together like that. Could you give me my water, dearie? And that's what I kind of, that bay is what I'm thinking of.

I'll translate that. That means stupid idiot. You should have thought of that when you got up. Just letting you in on a little inside info there. So just imagine this bay is kind of like the church. All right.

And I mean, the real church. So out there to see, you know, you're still in the water. So you're still part of humanity. And you're still, you're kind of, you're part of the kingdom of God, but you're not all the way in yet.

And so you're in this, what, you know, this kind of never, never land in between. That's the Christian existence there. Your faith is what keeps you tied in to that land. That's your anchor to that country.

That heavenly country. It's your faith, your relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe the two terms are interchangeable. Your relationship to Jesus Christ is your connection to that heavenly land. Okay. That's our illustration here.

So we're here during our time on earth. And we're in a probationary period. Make no mistake about it. That's what this is all about. We're in a time of testing. Just like the Israelites were in the wilderness for a period of testing before they went into the promised land.

That's what we're doing right now. We are being tested. We're in probation to see where our hearts really are. But you got to be aware of something. That there are undercurrents in that water. That if you are not diligent, they will take you out to sea.

And some of you, that is exactly your story. Some of you had a real relationship with the Lord at one time. And you allowed things to come in to your life. And pretty soon you were unaware of it. But you were in trouble.

You wouldn't be here if you hadn't been in trouble, right? I'm going to read a quote from the pulpit commentary. It's lengthy, but it's good. At sunset the ship is close to shore and all is safe. Without a warning it drops into the tide and swings round.

And with no sound but the ripple of the water is carried down the stream to the open sea. And the crew may sleep through it all. So departure from Christ may be as involuntary and quiet as that. A silent, ceaseless, unconscious creeping back to old habits.

David, are you listening? There is its danger. Drifting away means leaving Christ without knowing it. Till we find ourselves far out at sea. And a tide we cannot resist bearing us still further away. You have seen men who were once close to Christ.

But whilst they slept they have unconsciously glided away. And by the current of worldliness been carried into the rapids and whirled along faster and faster. Only waking to stare wildly at their helplessness and close their eyes in despair for the final plunge into the eternal gulf.

Man, did you catch that phrase? The current of worldliness. This was written in 1880. What did that man know about the current of worldliness? In 1880. Was there a popsicle stand down on the corner that he was getting tempted by or what?

Man, and he's talking about danger. What do you think we are in? When will we wake up and realize the imperceptible danger that we live in every day? It's not that you will necessarily outwardly forsake Christianity.

But just as bad and in some ways worse as you do it in your heart. And you keep going with the outward facade of Christianity. Hard-hearted, unbroken, unreachable by the Spirit of God. Just continuing on through the motions plaguing the church.

With your carnality and the evil that you're giving yourself over to. It's very important that we are firmly anchored to the rock. Amen? All right, number three. You must not neglect this great salvation.

Not Neglecting the Great Salvation

Now the writer doesn't warn us about opposing it or even resisting it. Just simply neglecting it. You know, a farmer can lose his entire harvest simply by neglect. A businessman can end up in bankruptcy court just simply by neglect.

By not taking care of business, right? It's the same with our life with God. And, you know, I have found that people who have had something with the Lord and get away from God, it's usually because of distractions.

It's usually because of distractions. Like, you're supposed to be working on something, but, you know, you get off to the internet or something, and before you know it, you've whiled away hours or even maybe gotten into something you shouldn't have got into, that kind of thing.

Neglect. And neglect typically comes through worldly things. The neglect of spiritual things usually happens when we start getting focused on the world. Nate gave a message, I want to say it was your first message you gave here.

He gave a message on worldliness, and he was talking about how sports and music and TV can corrupt your soul. And he brought out the word amusement, which I still marvel at this. This was just a tremendous insight.

And he pointed out that the derivative of that word is the word muse. Well, muse is a synonym of consider. You know, 3 -1 could be saying muse upon Jesus Christ. Contemplate, ponder. Okay, so that's what the word muse means.

We don't usually use it so much, I don't think, in our normal language. But it means to consider something, to, you know, really give your heart and mind to it. But when you put an a on the front of it, you know, that makes it the opposite.

It's like un, you know, it's, yeah. So what is the opposite of muse? A muse. And this is what the devil does, and this is what the devil is so good at. You know, you set yourself. I'm going to spend today really focusing on the Lord.

You know, maybe it's a Saturday, and you've been out there on your job all week, and you feel the pollution of the world on you, and you're just like, man, I need to get with God. So you determine, Saturday, I'm going to spend the day seeking the Lord.

But pretty soon, little ideas start cropping in your mind. Where do you think those come from? Well, maybe I'll just check the sports scores for a second. And pretty soon, a second turns into five minutes, and pretty soon you get engrossed in some article or something or other.

And pretty soon, there you go. But that really is a microsum of the bigger picture of our life. It should be focused on Jesus Christ, the things of the Lord. But we get distracted because we've allowed so much worldly junk into our lives.

We have laden ourselves with worldly amusements. Now, listen, I'm not trying to give a new list of do's and don'ts, all right? That's not the point. I'm not telling you that you can't watch Andy Griffith's show when you get home, all right?

You can watch Andy, and you can watch Barney. Just keep in mind that Aunt Bea was not a Christian. Don't ever forget that, no matter what she says. Well, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I wrote an article one time.

I'm pretty sure Aunt Bea ended up in the other place, because I was talking about our American idea of Christianity. She's a nice little old lady, dumpy old lady, you know? And I think there was even a show where she was in church one time.

But where is she ever talking about the things of God? Where's the passion for souls? Where's the godly wisdom coming forth from her to Andy and to Opie and so on? You don't get any of that. She's just a Christian in the sense that she's an American.

If she was in Turkey, she'd be a Muslim. And some mullah over there would be ranting and raving about how she's not in heaven right now. Wow, am I getting out of whack here. I don't even know how to get back on whack.

What is whack, anyway? Let me put it this way. God's kingdom is subtle. It's beautiful, and it's subtle. For instance, the starry sky. Now, in Kentucky, you know, I'm from California, so this was one of the things that wasn't all that great about coming here, is out there, the air is so dry that, you know, you don't have a lot to fog out the view of the stars at night.

The best I've ever seen it was on the Negev. I spent the night in a Bedouin tent one time, and I just went out into the desert by myself. And man, you get away from all the lights, what the astronomers call light pollution.

You get away from it all, and especially somewhere like the Negev. Man, it's just a tremendous light show that God has given to us. He didn't have to do that, you know. It could just be a black void up there.

He created all those worlds just so we could go out at night and look up there and see them. Man, what love. God's beauties are subtle. But what's Satan's presentation? Loud, blaring, glaring, flashing lights.

Things that appeal to your flesh, right? And you know, if you're accustomed to your life revolving around the spirit of the world and all the things that he presents and sticks in your face, and you're constantly giving over to it, you are not going to have the capacity to see the things of God.

You're just not. You know, there's a reason why Moses and David and Paul and others, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, others, found God out in the wilderness, away from cities and all the distractions. God out there where there was nothing to titillate the flesh.

Nothing to be done out there. No video games, no internet, no television. Nothing, nothing but God. And that's where those men found the Lord in a powerful way. And so, you know, one of the ways that we neglect this great salvation is, I'll just say it like this, that we neglect what it is and the value of it.