"And Peter said, "Behold, we have left all that is our own and followed You." And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."
Good Morning my beloved,
It is our privilege to welcome you to worship today, we're so grateful that you were able join us today. I have been so incredibly blessed to have made several very meaningful connections, both personally and professionally, for which I am very grateful. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, it's following Christ to love one another that makes us a Christian, defined not merely what we say, but what we do in love. As Christians, we are a community that loves one another, prays with and for each other, opens our homes to one another and supports each other with our time, our talents and our resources. Sadly, there are many who seem to conveniently forgotten that, and become less concerned with demonstrating love and compassion and are more interested in to preserving their own man-centered traditions. The church is called to be a living body where the love of Christ is made visible before a watching world, not a bunch of superficial religious activity without demonstrating the heart of God. The church will never change the world by becoming like it, worldliness in churches leads to a lack of distinctiveness, a connection to the source, making it difficult for would be converts to see a need for change. The only way the church will ever change society is through the faithful preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, waiting on the Holy Spirit to do His convicting work. I believe with all my heart the level of a person's commitment determines how intense that "fire in your bones" burning desire is activated in their life. However, as we rejoice, let us not forget to pray for those who are caught up in the war going on against Christians, being attacked and even killed for their faith in Christ. We bear a significant responsibility, as their brothers and sisters, to stand with them in prayer and in action whenever the opportunity arises, a commitment that is deeply rooted in our understanding that we are a interconnected community of believers as the Body of Christ.
Like the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:16, "For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel," expressing the severe consequences he believes would follow any disobedience of his divine calling. I can attest that preaching the Gospel is not merely just a job, but a life-defining, non-negotiable mandate, entrusted to me by God, that I am compelled to fulfill. Jesus repeatedly exhibited mercy and compassion that broke through the traditional barriers, not to be rebellious, but to show that religious rules and traditions only placed burdens upon people, and ultimately, people matter more than rules. So, when religious rules get in the way of showing love, mercy, compassion rules to someone in need, they should be overridden. What religious rules are getting in the way of you loving God with all your heart, and keeping you from loving your neighbor as yourself?
And, while I certainly do believe that many may have initially entered ministry with the noblest intentions, somewhere along the way, they have gradually lost their first love, because their primary focus has shifted to church growth, advancing personal status rather advancing the kingdom with a personal devotion to Christ, and a passion for reaching the lost. Quite frankly, I am thoroughly convinced for many standing in the pulpit, it's a career, a "paycheck-driven ministry" rather than a kingdom-driven calling with a heart for the lost. If you pay close enough attention, you can almost pinpoint the day when everything began to change, like a spotlight is being thrown on it. Everything that the pastor does must first and foremost exalt and honor the Lord above all else rather than seeking human approval, confusing tradition with Truth, preference with principle, and routine with righteousness. I am convinced there are a lot of people who are operating their spiritual lives on fumes, an extremely powerless way to communicate with God, yet there are many who trying to do just that, simply because they think they can get away with it. Believe me, we have all faced various struggles in prayer at one time or another, but ignoring the need to pray will soon leave you stranded on the side of the road of life, desperately seeking divine assistance. The good news is, we’re not the only ones, even those closest to Jesus watched Him pray one day and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." To be fair, the rabbis in Jesus' day taught that God was so Holy, so Righteous, that no one could really experience intimate fellowship with Him, except the high priest, the only one appointed by God to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. Thanks to Jesus, our Great High Priest, Who fully sympathizes with our human weaknesses, having been tempted in every way, yet remaining without sin, we get to approach God's Throne of grace with overwhelming confidence to receive mercy and find grace for help in times of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
Our Lord's Gospel presentation was never a call to pray a prayer or make a decision, walk the aisle; it was a call to discipleship by way of self-denial, it was a call to follow Him in humble, obedient submission along the narrow path, while it confronted sin and condemned hypocrisy, accompanied by strong warnings to those who might be tempted to take salvation lightly. I am thoroughly convinced there is no issue that poses a more critical challenge the church today than the profound controversy surrounding the doctrine of salvation. According to the text before us, Jesus says that salvation cannot be achieved through any means of human effort, regardless of how persuasive or emotionally manipulative methods of evangelism one might devise. Before anyone can receive salvation, one must first recognize they are a sinner before God, which is a prerequisite for genuine salvation. I don't care how good you think you are, you are incapable of saving yourself, because no sinner has no power within himself to transform his own heart, change his sinful desires or to abandon his own self-righteousness. In spite of this, many still believe that salvation can be earned by moral achievement, self-generated good deeds. No sinner is capable of producing true holiness, which requires absolute sinlessness.
For the ungodly and the unfaithful who suppress truth, there is no guarantee that they will ever see the fulfillment of that earthly thing they so diligently pursue. In fact, the only thing the wicked, the ungodly, the unfaithful can be sure of is inevitable ruin and divine judgment when Truth will finally triumph over the falsehoods of men. When Christ returns, He will expose every deception, allowing the faithful will witness the public vindication of what they embraced by faith, silencing every tongue opposing God’s Word, and establishing His eternal reign in the Kingdom of Heaven, marking the definitive end of the war against Truth. In contemporary Christianity, we have fashioned for ourselves, a god of our own liking, a diluted perception that allows for a god who will not only tolerate sin, but will affirm sin and endorses abomination, even celebrating sin, rather than a consuming fire who hates sin and demands repentance, effectively stripping away the necessity of His death on the cross. Any Gospel presentation that does require repentance and turning away from sin is not an authentic presentation of the true Gospel. I strongly urge you not to be misled by the appearance of tolerance; those who openly endorse sin may seem accepting to others, but in God's eyes, they stand condemned alongside the very offenders they encourage. By not only practicing these acts themselves but also giving hearty approval to others who do, they seal their own worthiness of death. Understanding God's holiness, and righteous standards is crucial to genuine salvation. True righteousness requires more than passive silence; it demands a firm stand against evil rather than an endorsement of it. O' what an excellent doctrine we pastors have in our hands, fit for convincing sinners, only to allow it to die with the message of some. Unlike many questions regarding Scripture, the question about salvation has eternal implications.
The wrath of God is currently being revealed from heaven against men and their ungodliness and unrighteousness, through the degradation of humanity and the consequences of suppressing the truth and unless they receive salvation through Jesus Christ, confessing Him as Lord, so it will remain. Scripture teaches that Christ’s coming into the world is for the removal of the wrath of God against those who believe on His Name. So, what does believing consist of? Believing includes confessing Christ as Lord, however, Jesus warned that many will call Him "Lord" while having no genuine faith in Christ. (Matthew 7:21) Repentance, therefore, cannot be separated from the biblical call to "believe" because Jesus began His earthly ministry proclaiming: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Therefore, "believing" and "repentance" are inextricably linked responses to the Gospel. Without repentance, turning from sin and unbelief toward God, there can be no salvation. Scripture teaches that genuine salvation produces a changed life, so the claim to salvation should not be considered credible merely because someone professes faith in Christ while deliberately and persistently continuing in sin. The refusal to turn away from known sin suggests that one’s "faith" may be merely intellectual or therefore, false. Anyone who has truly experienced the grace of God will hate sin, especially his own. If Jesus is confessed as Lord, and this is truly believed in one's heart, then this confession is not merely a verbal declaration but a life-changing commitment, granting Him complete and total authority over that person's life. If Christ died for sin, and you celebrate sin, you clearly do not follow Christ. Continuing in sin is not a license granted by God's grace, but a blatant rejection of the transformation life Christ’s death intends to produce. Genuine saving faith does not regard Jesus merely as a means of obtaining salvation while refusing to submit to His authority. And, according to Hebrews 10:26, if any person sins willfully after knowing the truth, "there remains no more sacrifice for sins." Jesus warned that when Christians confront the world with the Truth, including those illegitimately profess to belong to Him, there is going to be hostility. In other words, for the sake of Christ, you shall be hated, not because you're a bad person., but because Satan is controlling the world. So, expect hostility and persecution and don’t do anything that will enable them to bring a valid charge against you by living a godly life and avoiding sin. An unredeemed sinner entirely incapable of dealing with his own human deprivation or generating saving faith possessing a nature that is fundamentally opposed to God. While the earthly ramifications of public exposure of sin are enormous—leading to loss of ministry, personal reputation, and/or family—they do not begin to compare to the eternal consequences, often requiring decades of proven repentance. Perhaps the greatest question before all of us today is: "Who among us is hurting, including physical hardships like poverty or physical or emotional illness, or spiritual struggles and how can we best reach them by demonstrating the love of God?" First, we must recognize our own weaknesses or limitations, next we offer hope and loving kindness in humility with patience, reflecting God’s compassionate and merciful character rather than judgment or harsh criticism, beating them over the head with Bible verses, which will inevitably lead to trouble. What man-made tradition or unwritten church rule have you elevated above demonstrating compassion toward someone who is hurting? Because if our religion allows us to pass by a wounded neighbor while congratulating ourselves for keeping schedules or rules, then we have failed to understood the heart of Jesus. In Luke 10:25–37, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, while religious men saw human need and walked away, the outcast who showed mercy and compassion proved to be the one who truly loved his neighbor. Why? Because only God can change the heart. There are massive numbers of people who want some significant change to occur in their life, and sadly, there is no shortage of modern false teachers who play on the emotions of these people, making promises they cannot deliver, by telling them what they want to hear with no regard to the fact that only God can change the heart, leaving them unchanged and vulnerable to further deception. Unlike Christ-centered biblical preachers who are willing to forgo popularity to deliver uncomfortable truths, such genuine repentance and turning away from sin. The work of Christ in regard to man's sinfulness is so comprehensive, through the indwelling Holy Spirit and His ongoing intercession, providing true believers with the resources necessary for victory over the power of sin. The greater the sin, the greater the grace was given to cover that sin, ensuring that no sin is beyond the reach of divine forgiveness, and does not imply that grace is given as a license to continue in sin. In other words, all who would believe have been delivered from power of sin into salvation, experiencing a transformation and ultimately glorification. You don't need to put restraints on those who have truly been redeemed because the new life which is under the control of the Holy Spirit, that renews the mind and focuses attention on Jesus, replacing the desire to continue in sin with a desire to live for God, pursuing righteousness and holiness. replacing the desire to continue in sin with a new desire to live for God, pursuing righteousness and holiness. Salvation is not merely God declaring you righteous; it is God literally recreating righteousness in you. Quite frankly, I am convinced that much of the modern church has become powerless due to cheap grace, leading to a shallow understanding of the need for a Savior, resulting in a neglect of personal holiness, rendering them unregenerate and Hell-bound. Christ is not your buddy, Who casually accepts your sin, He is your Lord, Who demands obedience, reverence, and holiness. I dare say, that if you've not made Christ the Lord of your life, then you really haven't the right to call yourself a Christian, do you? Because Paul writes in Romans 10, "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
I believe that Scripture explicitly teaches that a saved person, one who has died to sin, can continue to carry on in the same sinful life pattern, because God's seed, the imperishable Word of God, has been implanted in them through the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. (Romans 6:1-2) Colossians 3:23 says, " Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men," implies doing one's best with enthusiasm and passion, rather than merely going through the motions. Are you living for Christ with all of your heart and soul, or are you just going through the motions? There are some things you will never be able to do, until you've fully surrendered your life to Christ and one of them is live a life that is pleasing to God, because partial obedience will hinder His best work. Satan loves to undermine the terms of salvation, misrepresenting the truth through lies, to ensure that people remain in spiritual darkness. I have found nowhere in my Bible where someone's sins were forgiven and they were permitted to deliberately continue in sin. In John 8:11, Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, "I do not condemn you, either. Go, and from now on sin no more." Then, in John 5:14, after healing the man at Bethesda, Jesus warned him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." In fact, for a true Christian able to continue in sin, to remain in sin, abide in sin, to go on habitually practicing sin is not only impermissible; it is impossible, according to 1 John 3:6 and 1 John 3:9. Proverbs 28:13 emphasizes, that "Whoever confesses and forsakes—his sins— will obtain mercy."
While sin may still be a struggle for a believer, it is no longer his chosen way of life. While the phrase "deliverance from sin" is no longer commonly used in the Christian vocabulary today, I believe that it is a profoundly important in understanding God’s redemptive work. God is in the business of delivering sinners from the power of sin, therefore, releasing sinners from the practice of sin, allowing believers to live holy, godly lives rather than merely to forgiving sin while leaving them enslaved in bondage to sin. In John 1:29, when John the Baptizer saw Jesus coming to him. he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John uses the Greek verb "airó" which by implication means to remove. Figuratively, it means to keep the mind in suspense, to completely "carry away," a complete departure of sin from the believer’s life. If a departure from sin has never occurred, then we have every right to suspect that genuine salvation, which produces a transformative work of the Holy Spirit, has never occurred in that person's life either.
Let's pray,
Heavenly Father,
Father, we humbly that You for Your Word, and we are thankful that You’ve given us a pattern. Lord, help me, and these beloved people as well, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, to live up to the high and holy timeless principles which You have set before us, so that we might be the kind of Christ-like people You want us to be. May righteousness and holiness become a reality in our lives, so that we might have a Kingdom impact on this world. Lord, we thank You and praise You for those who are involved in ministries of all different kinds, here in this country, and around the world. O' Father, how our hearts rejoice that You have given us everything we need in terms of instruction and power to reach this world for Your Kingdom. Grant us the boldness and courage to do it. We ask and pray these things in Christ's Name, for Your glory.
Amen.
Today's Message: Losing to Gain
Sadly, many within church leadership seem to conveniently forgotten what Scripture teaches about how we are to reach the world, highlighting a significant disconnect between the clear Scriptural mandates and modern contemporary evangelical practices. For more than twenty years, I have attributed this to the lack of biblical literacy among church leaders and consequently, discernment among church congregants, leading an entire generation of leadership to think they can operate under the assumption that they can "save souls" without the intervention of Holy Spirit. And, as I've stated many times, I believe we need to get back to basics on teaching biblical doctrine, and what it means to be a true Christian, because we have an entire generation of false converts in the church, who think they can come to Jesus on their own terms. I've no doubt you've probably read some of them. If sin and sexual immorality can corrupt the entire church body if tolerated among its professing members, how much more does it corrupt the church to embrace those who bring in Satan’s lies? By tolerating sin within the church and welcoming false teachers, we've essentially become complicit, partaking in their evil deeds. (2 John 1:11)
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18 and keep them open if you would please as we examine verses 28 and 30, I pray with an open mind and a receptive heart. Luke 18:28-30. Normally, I probably would've included these three verses in with the previous messages, but the more I sat and thought about it, the more I believe they needed to stand on the their own. So, I'd like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read these three verses as we continue our study of this profound portion of Scripture.
There are some passages in Scripture that we tend to read quickly because they appear simple and straightforward. I believe that Luke 18:28-30 is one of them. So, as we're going through this study, I'd like you to think about Peter's statement about discipleship, an following Christ: Is the question merely, "What have I gained by following Christ" or perhaps the even more uncomfortable one is, "What have I refused to give up because it was more important to me than Christ?" At first glance, Peter seems to be making a simple observation, "we have left all that is our own" but I'd like you to keep in mind, his statement immediately follows Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler approached Him and asked "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus told him "sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me." The rich ruler walked away, very sad, for he was extremely rich. Beneath Peter's simple statement is a very profound question that I believe every serious disciple of Jesus must eventually confront, is not merely "Do I believe in Jesus," "What is following Jesus actually going to cost me?" Are you putting the wrong things first, or putting the right thing first the wrong way, ultimately achieving the wrong goal? When Jesus pointed to the man's real treasure, the rich young ruler refused to let it go and therefore, could not follow Him. The question isn't whether or not it's inherently sinful but rather is it more valuable to me than obedience to Jesus? The question isn't whether or not it's inherently sinful but rather is it more valuable to me than obedience to Jesus? It could even be something noble or respectable, like ministry? Notice Peter contrasts Jesus' true disciples with the rich young ruler, by essentially saying we have willingly walked away from our families, our jobs, our homes. We have given up everything that we had and followed You. What shall be there for us?" Actually, I don't believe that Peter is being presumptuous, that's an honest question.
Verses 29-30, "And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more at this time and in the age to come, eternal life." I love Jesus' response, "I know you have, Peter. You have loved Me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all of your strength, to the degree you have gladly forsaken everything." In other words, Jesus is saying because you have done this for the kingdom of God, you'll receive many times as much by way spiritual blessings not only in the age to come, but in this life as well. You're not only going to be blessed with everything you need in this life, holding nothing back, that's "kairō," including all the treasures of heaven. Then He makes an astonishing promise, but you will also participate in the "aiōni," that's the future Messianic period, reminding us just how much God loves His children, and assure us that He will never abandon them, even in the era that will come upon the earth when the Messiah reigns. In Acts 3, it's called times of refreshing, the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. You may lose something. You may have to leave something. You may have to surrender something. But if you lose it for the sake of the kingdom of God, you have not ultimately lost. That is a profoundly different message from the message our culture gives us, "Protect yourself no matter cost." "Love yourself, live your truth and do whatever makes you happy!" In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
When Jesus had just confronted a young man who possessed everything, he walked away without the one thing that truly mattered most, because his earthly life had become more precious to him than eternal life. Yet, Peter's statement "We have left all that is our own and followed You," reveals something very important about true discipleship, what I believe is one of the most overlooked truths in Christianity.
Christianity is not merely adding something to your existing life, it's a whole new allegiance that demands that Jesus must become greater than every earthly attachment. I am convinced this is by far one of the greatest spiritual dangers we face in the church today, taking something God graciously gave us —family, homes, money, health—and loving the gift more than the Giver.
When Christ truly becomes your ultimate treasure, you can value everything else without worshiping them or fear losing them, because Christ is MORE.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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