[Music] Devils most dangerous deception I have some some friends that we're telling a story that they were taking a dream vacation they bought the tickets themselves but then online they purchased this vacation with beautiful hotel white sandy beaches on this island meals included there are a tours and and and diving and excursions in this oh boy well this is a great deal it was expensive it cost a couple thousand dollars but they were getting a week in paradise for both of them into some very nice hotel they got there and the hotel said we've got no record of your reservation and they searched and searched and and they said no and that they asked for the receipt it turns out they had bought this vacation from a bogus website that had ripped them off the island and the hotel were full and the only thing they could do is stay at the flea bite hotel overlooking the cemetery and eat it too sleazy spoon talk about the great disappointment you think you're going to paradise and you end up somewhere altogether different you know there are about 2.2 billion Christians in the world today they call themselves Christians they identify as Christians but biblically jesus said the road is narrow and the way is straight and if you find it and that's because a lot of people are being misguided they're being sold a scam I want to begin by taking two a verse in the Bible it's in Ezekiel matter of fact we're going to visit Ezekiel several times in our study this morning ezekiel chapter 33 and stay with me i'm just gonna read the first eleven verses here again the word of the lord came to me saying son of man speak to the children of your people and say to them when i bring a sword upon a land when army comes in there's a battle and the people of the land take a man from their territory and they make him a watchman and when he sees the sword coming upon the land and if he blows the trumpet he warns the people than whoever hears the sound of the trumpet if they don't take warning the sword comes and takes him away and his blood is on his own head he heard the sound of a trumpet but he did not take warning his blood will be upon himself and Bible times you know they had cities off and on a hill and they were different areas had fortifications most people lived in the suburbs and the farms and they worked the field and you'd had someone that was that a prominent spot on the city walls cities were on the hill frequently and if there was an approaching army they had different ways of signaling from different high spots so they could even see the cloud of dust and they blent of their armor and there was an army coming they had plenty of time blow the trumpet warned people folks in the field would hear they drop what they were doing they'd head to the city and they would be protected often be able to withstand the attack but if someone hears a trumpet and they stay out there in the field if they're overtaken by the army and killed they're bad they heard the sound of the trumpet they did not take warning but he who hears who takes warning will save his life but if the watchman sees the sword coming he sees the approaching army and he's more concerned with his own safety and he runs and tells his family but he doesn't blow the trumpet I'm paraphrasing here and the people are not warned and the sword comes and takes away any person among them he's taken away in his iniquity but his blood I'll require at the watchman's hand and then the Lord summarizes this and says so you son of man I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me when I say to the wicked a wicked man you will surely die the penalty for sin is death and you do not speak and warn the wicked from his way that the wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood I'll require your hand nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way he'll die in his iniquity but you have delivered your soul therefore you O son of man say to the house of Israel thus you shall say if our transgressions and our sins lie upon us and we pine away in them how can we then live if you're pining away in your transgressions say to them as I said live says the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turned from his way and live turn turn from your evil way for why will you die o house of Israel so the message there is hard to misunderstand God is saying that ministers have a responsibility to some extent every believer the we are Watchmen on the wall to let people know that there's an enemy out there that wants to destroy us and that we must flee from the wrath to come we must seek the refuge that we find in Jesus we must turn from our sins if we were just going to pine away in our sins we will die and he appeals at the end of this he said sin will be your undoing turn-turn you know in Hebrew you did not raise the volume when you wanted to increase the point you did it through repetition it's like Jesus said surely surely truly truly I say to you and so here he's saying turn turn why will you die and one of the most important messages that God gives and his word is that we need to be careful not to be deceived by this outward form of godliness without the power form of religion without the power so there's a lot of things we may not understand Bible is a big book we may not agree on the seven trumpets what they are I know good Christians that disagree on if their past future or if there's a dual application there are about a hundred and forty-five thousand people that view the hundred and forty-four thousand differently there are different views on baptism you know there's gonna be people in heaven that were baptized the wrong way there are different views on diet and healthful living there are going to be people in heaven that ate pork did you know that there are going to be some people in heaven like Martin Luther the drank beer I know you get real quiet now you thought that was the unpardonable sin there are gonna be people in heaven like John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace who smoked they thought it was good for your lungs back then believe it or not there's gonna be a lot of people in heaven that may be misunderstood some things but there's some things you cannot get wrong or you lose everything what you can't get wrong is what is required to be saved misunderstanding that is like going out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean without a compass on a cloudy day and saying I think I'm just gonna wing it and find my way home you're not being brave or cavalier it's suicide if you don't have a dependable compass then you don't know where you're going so of all the things that we might not understand one thing we need to understand is what does God want from us to be saved what is expected now I'm going to tell you right away what the devil's deadliest deception is you find it in the beginning where you might expect go to Genesis chapter 3 I'm just gonna read the first few verses here Genesis chapter 3 now the serpent was more cunning more wily than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and the devil chose that as his medium and he said to the woman has God indeed said you shall not eat from every tree in the garden he starts out by questioning the Word of God and misquoting actually now the woman said to the serpent we may eat from the fruit of the trees in the garden but of the fruit of the tree that's in the midst of the garden namely the one of good and evil God has said you shall not eat of it nor even touch it lest you die then the serpent said to the woman you'll not really die God knows in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes probably had a nice fragrance attractive evidently he had done something remarkable for the serpent he's talking all of a sudden a tree desire to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate she also gave to her husband with her in he ate then the eyes of them both were open and they knew they were naked things went downhill from there so the devil's most dangerous deception is that the warnings of sin do not apply to you God does not really mean what he says that sin is really going to bring you satisfaction but it doesn't that somehow you'll have some enhanced experience through sin but it's a lie you know back in 2008 we all saw the unfolding of the most serious Ponzi scheme and fraud and scam in history of the world Bernie Madoff people had fun with his name because he made off with everybody's money Bernie Madoff made off with sixty four point eight billion dollars of other people's money it's just as mind-boggling how it could take so long but people put their life savings they trusted him that he was going to make it grow he was promising better returns than anybody which ought to make you suspicious they say in the world of an invest investment hogs get slaughtered meaning if you get greedy for high yields you may really get taken to the slaughterhouse and he promised such great returns what he just had so many new people that kept investing wanting to cash in on this great that he was keeping it for himself he was working the books and changing the numbers and he was able to very clever be able to hide it even from investigators for years he was a president of Nasdaq trusted we could trust Bernie with our money and that was found out almost overnight that it had been squandered and lost either by his spending it are in bad investments and people can you imagine you work all your life to save you're planning on all those good years and you find out some swindler had fooled you and you'll you have nothing you have to start all over again there were companies that had invested other people's money in foundations that were supposed to give to causes in the poor and they were wiped out the devil is a scam artist he makes promises he doesn't plan on delivering and some people are risking losing everything this is something you cannot get wrong friends Jesus made it clear in his opening teachings there in Matthew the Sermon on the Mount chapter 7 I'm sorry I want to go yeah Matt chant Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 not everybody who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me Lord Lord in that day meaning the great Judgment Day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name they know the name of the Lord we've cast out demons they seem to have some evidence of success in your name and we've done many wonders seems like there's power and I'll declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness not everybody who takes the name of Jesus is automatically saved not everybody who even has evidence of success is automatically saved there might be areas where it looks like they've cast out some demons and they have wonderful power they might even have what looks like a successful ministry that's no guarantee the bottom line Jesus says if you are practicing lawlessness I don't know you Jesus came to save us not in our sin but from our sin and there's a lot of people who take the name of Christianity that are being thrown a deadly lifeline can you imagine someone falls overboard on a ship and you know they have those life rings it's attached to a rope and they have the other end attached to the boat and before the boat gets very far you're supposed to hurl it to them and they get a hold of it they think oh praise the Lord I'm saved but the other person untied it from the boat and the boat does it goes off and leaves him there they've just got this illusion that they're saved because they've been misled that describes notice Jesus when he says whew he means for you when he says many he means many many means the majority whew means the minority he says many will come to me in that day so is it the minority or the majority who are deceived into thinking they're safe when they're not so how do you know you're not one of them that to me is the most important question that you all must ask I have to ask myself so lord I want to know that I have you you've heard a life-and-death situation what could be more life and death it's you know if you lose your physical life that's bad if you lose eternal life that's worse not having your eternal life in death situations square is it's the worst tragedy of all to hear the harvest is past the summer is ended and we are not saved to here it's too late and then you might just say well how do I know Jesus gives us the answer jump back to Matthew 7:15 he said beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves you will know them by their fruits des men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear good fruit and a bad tree cannot bear bad fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire if you don't have the right fruit you're not gonna make it but you can know what the tree is by the fruit therefore by their fruits you'll know them and so if person says praise the Lord I'm a Christian because I and this is where so many people get it wrong I went to church the pastor told me if I repeat this prayer and accept Christ then now I have the gift of eternal life and by faith that's all I need just believe that you're saved and they don't instruct them in but wait wait wait that's the starting point that's the first step we are saved from our past sins by faith through His grace but you must repent of your sins which means you turn from your sins we confess our sins whoever confesses and forsakes his sin will have mercy that's what the Bible says you can't just say the prayer and stop there and that's where much of the Christian we're all this and they're going along with this illusion that they're saving I think how could everybody around me they're acting just like I'm acting they're living like I'm living we're very little difference between us in the world they're nice people we must all be saved but have you repented of confessed and forsaken your sins have you been born again are you a new creature are you turning away from what is bad and doing what is good now you might be thinking pass the Doug are you teaching perfection no I've got some trees up in the hills and I know what tree they are but what kind of fruit they have but I Got News for you not every piece of fruit on that tree is edible so you might be the right kind of tree with the right kind of fruit and it doesn't mean there's not gonna be any flaws or faults in your life the key is have you turned from your sins if you do fall are you sorry do you repent does it grieve you that you've grieved him I heard a pastor saying one time people come to church they joined the church they accept Jesus they start following the Lord they got this sin that's bothering them twenty years later they still have the sin it just doesn't bother him anymore we get used to it and that's what Jesus is saying is so dangerous yes Christians do make mistakes but you should be growing he is the author and finisher of your faith there is sanctification but you know if you've got a baby eating with their fingers when they're you know eight months old that's okay if they're 13 and they're still get the food in their ears and their nose you better take them to the doctor there's something wrong see what I'm saying and you got some Christians they've been in the church their whole lives they haven't grown and you wonder are they really saved this is the the question we can't be confused about well it doesn't matter what kind of label you put on a person Bible says you'll know them by their fruit I like to remind people the story Abraham Lincoln would often ask me there's so much twisting of terms and politics and he would ask some of his friends how many legs does a dog have and they'd say four he said let's suppose you call the tail a leg then how many legs does a dog have and they'd say five he'd say wrong calling the tail a leg don't make it so is it it is still a tail and you cannot change the truth by changing the labels now the truth is the truth Jesus came to save us from our sins if we remain in our sins and pine away we will not live we must repent of our sins jesus said John 15 still talking about the fruit John 15 1 and 2 I am The True Vine and my father is the vine dresser every branch in me that does not bear fruit nay notice that these are branches in him they say they're Christians every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes it you'll get disciplined but if you get the fruits he'll prune it that it might have more fruit God's looking at the fruit we also need to look at the fruit Bible tells the second Corinthians 13 let every man examine himself pastor Doug that sounds pharisaical it sounds like you're being judgmental it sounds like legalism I'd like to read a quote to you from the book steps to Christ page 60 there are two errors two errors against which such Oh God especially those who have just come to trust in His grace especially need to guard what are the two errors first Arte dwelt upon is that of looking to their own works trusting than anything they can do to bring themselves into harmony with God he who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law is attempting an impossibility all that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin it is the grace of Christ alone through faith that could make us holy okay just wanted to underscore that we all agree what's the other error the other opposite and no less dangerous error is the belief in Christ belief that in Christ men are released from keeping the law of God that since by faith alone we are become partakers of the grace of Christ our works have nothing to do with our Redemption now I run into this all the time in the evangelical world a lot of friends out there good people but you don't mention the Sabbath see Pastor Joe not under the law where we're saved by grace I don't have to keep the commandments anymore I always like to say we're really which ones are you breaking it's ok to sin you say that a chris no no no no there usually a problem is just with the fourth commandment of course there's some Christians they got a problem in the second commandment about idolatry too but they say oh we're not we're saved by faith they think that any idea of keeping the law what Jesus was pretty clear he said whoever shall teach men to break one of the least of these Commandments will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven Matthew 5 but whoever will do and teach them do and teach them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven God wants us to be obedient you can come to Jesus just like you are but I've got news for you he loves you too much to leave you just like you are you need to turn from your sins and repent of your sins are you not gonna make it and you're gonna lose everything it's not worth it this is what the devil told Adam and Eve oh I'm gonna lead you into a more exalted experience this is gonna satisfy the pleasure will be unimaginable you're gonna experience bliss they listen to the Tempe of the devil they thought they weren't have to face the consequences he said you won't really die who are you gonna believe God said sin die obey live for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life there are two choices life or perish and the Bible tells us that we must turn from our sins if we would live now God gives us what we need to obey Him God will never ask you to do something without empowering you to do it but there's a lot of counterfeit voices out there they're false teachers talked about it briefly in our scripture reading look also at 2nd Timothy Paul warns about these 2nd these false teachers 2nd Timothy 3:5 says they have a form of godliness but denying its power what kind of power is it when you come to Christ he gives you the Holy Spirit he gives you power Jesus goes to heaven last thing he says is all authority all of power is given unto me go ye therefore 2nd Timothy 4 verse 2 he tells the young disciple there preached the word be ready in season and out of season convinced rebuke exhort exhort rebuke convinced with all long-suffering and teaching why for the time is coming when they will not endure sound doctrine there is a deadly doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears because it's attractive and it sounds better they'll keep up for themselves teachers and they'll turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables Paul warned acts 20 verse 29 you said something similar for I know this that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock also from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves and Friends it's tough to say this but you know I wish I could say that our denomination is immune to this but the devil is the same in all ages it happened in Israel you had true prophecy of false prophets and yeah even among God's people it it'll infiltrate any denomination these subtle ideas that you can continue a life of sin and still be saved is not true now again I want to reiterate it doesn't mean as a Christian you may not make mistakes you may not fall but if you are held captive by sin if you are willingly surrendering to sin if you have no regret or remorse for sin you're not saved because sins will kill Jesus if you think the sin doesn't matter look at what it did to him and tell me God is indifferent he wants us to be new creatures Isaiah 30 verse 9 that this is a rebellious people lying children children who do not want to hear the law of the Lord who say to the seers do not see and to the prophets do not prophesy to us right things speak to us smooth things prophesy deceit they want to hear lies they want to hear God came so that everybody could be wealthy and healthy have you heard those preachers before hey you know they got different terms for this and well one it's called sloppy agape it's it's love love love and they don't talk about holiness the other one is called a gullible grace and then you've got blab it and grab it that's where you can just say anything you want God's gonna give you whatever you want that he's your you know slot machine in the heavens and you just he's just there to make you prosperous and that's not the teachings of Christ Jesus said if you're gonna follow me you must deny yourself take up your cross and follow me Bible talks about striving against sin wrestling we must endure we must resist there's effort involved being a Christian pastor dark I thought you just had to believe it is true we are saved entirely by faith you've got the example of the thief on the cross he turned to Jesus and by the way what's happening in this story they're in Luke chapter 23 is that this thief when he was crucified two thieves crucified with Jesus they both were first engaged in the mocking of the mob but they were there six hours something happened somewhere along the way he saw them gambling for Jesus clothing and then he heard Christ say my God my God why have you forsaken me and his mind went back to something he probably heard as a boy in Sabbath school that Psalm 22 begins my God my God why have you forsaken me later it says they cast lots for my clothing and his mind became quickened you don't when you're dying they say your Adrenaline's release and things happen very quickly and his mind's quickened by the Holy Spirit then he looks at the sign above Jesus hand and it says this is a king of the Jews and he heard him pray Father forgive them they don't know what they're doing and the Holy Spirit revealed to him this is the Messiah and he had the faith to say Lord even this disciples didn't call him Lord at the cross remember me when you come into your kingdom he did not look like a lord he did not look like he had a kingdom but he said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom he's saying lord save me Jesus it's so wonderful you know even though the devil nailed his hands to the cross he couldn't keep the Savior from saving and Jesus immediately because of that man's faith in Him he reached out to him and he said I am Telling You today I'm making a promise today me and say you be with me in paradise that day cuz Christ didn't go that day read John 21 he said I'm making you a promise today you will be with me in paradise and that man died saved by faith by believing through God's grace now here's the question it's hypothetical but you have to ask this question suppose before that man died if after he accepted Jesus if Pilate sent the soldiers out and said Oh looks like we got somebody's name wrong you really weren't supposed to be crucified we're really sorry please forgive us you can file a lawsuit later and they pry him off the cross take out the nails and they bring him down they bind up his hands and he somehow heels would he go back to stealing and murder our would the grace of God if he was really saved would it have transformed him would he lived a different kind of life I surmise that if he was really saved he would have then had the fruits of obedience on the cross he repented he said to his friend said do you not fear God seeing were in the same condemnation we're getting the just punishment for our deeds this man speaking of Christ has done nothing amiss then he said Lord remember me he publicly confesses he repents he believes he testifies in Jesus he confesses Christ publicly as his Lord and his King right it's one thing people want Jesus is Lord they don't one of his King they one of a savior they don't want him as Lord is what I should have said they don't want him telling them what to do they just want him to save them from their sins but they don't want to be saved from the power of sin in their life just the penalty of sin if you're gonna be saved you need all three you need to be saved from the penalty of sin the power of sin and in heaven you'll be saved from the presence of sin but if the son will make you free you should be free what does it mean to believe you know we often quote and sometimes abuse the verse in acts 16:30 where Paul and Silas talked to this Philippian jailer and he said what must I do to be saved no I love when someone asked me that question I remember studying with a couple and finally the wife just blurted out what do we needed to be saved and I thought I'm glad you asked so Paul said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved you and your household now what do people think typically when you say believe they think that means believe that Jesus is the Son of God okay believe that he died for the sins of the world and even that he died for my sins I believe that and that means I'm saved all I've got to do is believe that that's not the way Jesus meant it and that's not what we Paul that's not the way the Hebrews understood it believe means believe what he said and what did Jesus say deny yourself take up your cross and follow me Jesus we need to turn from and repent of our sins let me tell you the part that people don't read read a little further in acts 16 verse 32 after they told the Philippian jailer believe and you'll be saved says then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house that's why they could say you and your household because they taught them the word what did they teach in the word Jesus went to heaven said teaching men to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you they were taught the commandments of God that's why he could say believen you know what does it mean to believe suppose you're walking down a path and the path comes out into a meadow and Olsson there's a great precipice and down a long way down there you've got this raging river in a canyon this gulf longer than the Grand Canyon and there's a bridge I understand I've not been there I'd like to see it they've got this bridge at the Grand Canyon now that just goes over the canyon it's a glass glass floor bridge doesn't go anywhere people are just awestruck when they walk out and they look down see nothing under them and it's some people that crawl out there they can't handle it we were just in Singapore and we went in Taiwan we went to the top of the Taipei power towers Erin you can get right up there and there's a spot where you got to glass you can stand on a glass look it doesn't bother me at all it's like flying I fly all the time so you have seen that before but some people walk out on that last thing and they just the heart start to race it's like they're afraid of this bridge to nowhere and they say I don't believe it you know it can something could be an earthquake and I could fall off in the canyon they get back so you come to this I haven't forgotten my story yet so you come to this bridge across the canyon and someone asks you do you believe that bridge will take you to the other side and you say yeah I believe it why do you believe it well cuz you got a sign there that says this bridge is solid and it will take me to the other side but you don't get on the bridge then you see other people down the bridge and they don't seem to be falling off and someone else a do you believe yet I do believe now they're making it they look heavier than me do you believe yet not really it's still just up here finally how do you show your belief you walk out on the bridge you believe it will hold you up and until you come to the point where you say I believe that Jesus can save me from my sins and I am going to turn that means repent from my sins I'm gonna confess I'm gonna forsake I'm gonna start doing some tangible things then you don't really have belief James 2:19 you believe there's one God you do well even the demons believe so it's good to believe but that's not where it ends the devil's believe you remember reading and Luke for this demon-possessed man cried out and said let us alone to Jesus what have I to do with you Jesus of Nazareth did you come to destroy us I know who you are the Holy One of God demons always said we know who he is did the demons believe you was God they believe more in his power than you do did the demons believe he died on the cross does the devil believe he died for your sins yes he tried to stop it from happening is it gonna save the devil no so it's not just believing that he died it's believing that he can transform your heart and give you a new power so friends as Paul says in Galatians 4:16 am I your enemy if I tell you the truth do you want to hear these things there is no sin in heaven the devil was cast out for sinning if the devil was cast out for sinning we are not going in sinning is that reasonable Ezekiel 28 16 you sinned therefore I cast you out as profane first Corinthians 6:9 do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters or adulterers it's a pure in heart that are going to see God or homosexuals or sodomites or thieves or covetous or drunkards or revelers partiers or extortioners like Bernie Madoff will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you Paul is talking to the Corinthians is that you had these problems but he's got a pretty big list there it says it doesn't matter what your sins are God can forgive and save you but he said you were now you understand that in English that means past tense you were that means you're not anymore but you've been cleansed you've been sing to find Galatians 5:19 the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery fornication uncleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred can go around being hateful contentions argumentative jealousies outbursts of Wrath bad temper selfish ambitions dissensions heresies Envy murders drunkenness revelries and the like of which I've told you I tell you again as I said it before policy look I keep up telling you those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God I want to inherit the kingdom of God he says you can't continue to practice those things it's not just believing and continuing to live like the world God is calling the church to new holiness revelation 21 verse 27 there shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie speaking of heaven there's gonna be no sin in heaven God must save us from our sin Hebrews 12:1 lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us and I appreciate that Paul assuming he wrote Hebrews I appreciate Paul admitting that we can be easily ensnared sin is very tempting sin attracts us in our minds it attracts us in our bodies it attracts us in our pride and our selfishness the devil is always saying oh just one more time and then you can repent later and it'll this time it's gonna bring you satisfaction and there may even be some temporary pleasure in sin but it doesn't last it's a big line so we struggle Bible says we're running this race and the devil is always trying to trip us up with sin it's so easily beset sus but what does he say lay aside most of the weights so lay aside every weight have you seen it's amazing to me that you know the Olympic athletes now the links they go to I remember when I was a kid I'd watch these swimmers they'd jump in the water and they had these big old baggy bathing suits and they swim along they had long hair and and they started realizing you know that suit that little bit of a difference they win by in fractions of a second they started wearing Speedos and then the guys started shaving the hair off their chance to go even quicker then they start shaving their head so they put on the swimming caps and just they didn't want anything to slow them down and the runners they got super technical light running shoes they lay aside every weight anything that can slow them down but you and I we kind of just go slogging through the world thing oh is this gonna make any other what difference will this make now you're not gonna win the race unless you realize that you must be by God's grace unencumbered by the sins of the world one of the ways you can tell a person that's on their way to heaven is they are constantly striving against sin they don't blow it off they don't get comfortable with it that's when you're at risk of grieving away the Holy Spirit when you just act like oh it doesn't get out I don't care it's not that big a deal as long as I send less than other people those are the kind of deceptions the devil has Ephesians 4:22 that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man that grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts put it off there must be repentance going back to Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 13 now when I say to the righteous that he will surely live but he trusts in his own righteousness and he commits iniquity none of his righteous works will be remembered because of the iniquity that he's committed he will die I don't get discourage listen to this again when I say to the wicked you will surely die if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right then he gets specific if the wicked restores the pledge gives back what he's stolen so you got sin in your life and you borrowed your neighbor's leafblower and you have forgotten for the last two years to give it back because your neighbor moved four blocks away and you figure he's not thinking about it so you're not gonna remind them because you don't have your own leaf blower but you've come to Jesus the Holy Spirit says every time you pick up that leaf blower you borrow something for two years it's called stealing you say but I want to go to heaven Jesus said you need to take him back his leaf blower Lord you're not gonna keep me out of heaven for a leaf blower yeah because your heart isn't right do you know you can go to heaven no wait let me say this again you'd go to hell for stealing a pen just like stealing a million dollars if you go in and you figure there a bank they got a lot of money and I put my money here so I'm taking this pin that they just let me with me you just robbed the bank the pins are not free you got the spirit of theft in your heart it doesn't have to be a million dollars you just did what Bernie Madoff did theft in the heart what do you have to do he says if the wicked restores the pledge gives back what he has stolen walks in the statutes of life I heard about a preacher that went through Scotland he was doing a revival and he was preaching near these shipyards and he talked about repentance and he talked about restoration sometimes it means you go to a person you apologize you write whatever wrongs you can now you and I know I mean I used to be a thief I can't go back and repay all the people I ever stole cuz I don't even know who they were where they live it was dark I mean there's some things you can't do right sometimes you cannot as they say unscramble scrambled eggs it says but when the Holy Spirit puts something on your heart there was one particular case where I knew I had stole from an employer and I went back years later to make it right and I had to apologize to my stepmother for stealing her Jaguar XKE and wrecking it and I wrecked it in Reverse I was backing up and I wrecked it and then I drove it home it still drove parked it in our circular driveway in front of the house and went to sleep she woke up and thought somebody drove into our driveway hit the car cuz fortunately it was wrecked in Reverse and then we'll drove away and she was ranting around the house as someone had wrecked her Jaguar I never said anything years later I became a Christian I said Betty we need to talk well by that point you know I knew she was gonna let it off the hook she had a Lamborghini so you know finally I had to cuz it bothered me that I had lied to her I probably lied about other things but that's the one the Holy Spirit put on my heart so me and a Christian means you might need to write some wrongs that's what repentance is gives back for the stolen walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity he will surely live he will not die none of his sins which he has committed will be remembered against him gives done what is lawful and right he will live I love that is he you got the gospel right there in the Old Testament Ezekiel of all people talking about saved by grace you repent you get a turn God is merciful he's long-suffering but he will in no wise clear the guilty meaning if we persist in our lives of sin what martially do if we continue to sin willfully Hebrews chapter 10 26 after we receive a knowledge of the truth there's no more sacrifice for sin now that doesn't mean you won't make a mistake but it means if you if you were resigned yourself to a life of sin after Jesus died to save you from your sin and you're not doing all you can humanly to combine with his divine power to walk in a newness of life there's nothing more he can do you want him to offer a second son for you this is no more sacrifice for sin God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance Jesus said Luke 13 1 I tell you but unless you repent you will all likewise perish Jesus is warning us John 5:14 afterward Jesus found this man of the temple he had been healed a crippled in the Pool of Bethesda he said see you've been made well sin no more do not turn back to that life of sin lest a worse thing come upon you he says to the woman who's caught in adultery she's guilty of sin he said I do not condemn you go and sin no more you notice Jesus never said go and send a little less you never said go and see if you can cut down on your sin just reduce sin less than the people around you he tells us here in James 4 verse 7 therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God He will draw near to you cleanse your hands you sinners purify your hearts it's not just your actions your hands it's your hearts in your mind the pure in heart will see God so God wants us peer in action and in thought he says cleanse your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double-minded lament and mourn and weep sorrow for your sin let your laughter be turned in mourning but he doesn't leave us that way humble yourself in the sight of God and he will lift you up he doesn't want to keep you there but we need to realize when we sin what it costs it's not enough just to be here of the word he wants us to be a doer of the word it's not everyone that says Lord Lord but they that do the will of my father Luke 6:46 why do you call me Lord and do not the things when I say Matthew 7:24 he that hears these sayings of mine and does them is like a wise man who builds on the rock blessed revelation 22:14 are those who do His commandments John 3 a third John I should say 3 John 1:11 beloved do not imitate what is evil but what is good he that does good is of God he that does Eve has not seen God it is so clear all through the Bible that God is wanting us to be new creatures you know Moses in his closing appeal at the end of his life I really like the way he puts this chapter 30 verse 15 of Deuteronomy I have set before you this day life and good death and evil in that I command you today to love the Lord your God a lot of people stop right there period love the Lord your God I love you Lord and Jesus said well if you love me how do you show that keep my Commandments notice Moses says love I'm commanding you love the Lord your God to walk in his ways and keep his commandments his statutes and his judgments that you may live and multiply you'll prosper and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you go to possess but if in your heart you turn away so that you do not hear and you're drawn away and you worship other gods and serve them I announce to you today you will surely perish notice he says you got to live on one hand and perish on the other it's like John 3:16 you will not prolong your days in the land that you cross over the Jordan to possess I call heaven and earth to witness today that I've set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live how do we choose life when you choose Jesus and you choose the grace of Jesus the grace of Jesus not only means his mercy and his favor the word grace means we are empowered God does not give us grace to sin he gives us grace to keep us from sin and when you're tempted if you turn to God he will send all the angels of heaven to help you most of the time when we're tempted we wait until after we've fallen to pray if we would pray when were tempted if you draw near to God then submit to God resist the devil he will send supernatural forces to your help that will enable you to succeed do you believe that I do that was very important key I hope I made that clear that you might love the Lord your God that you might obey his voice that you might cling to him for he is your life and length of your days that you might dwell on the land that the Lord swore to your father's to Abraham Isaac and Jacob well there's a lot of counterfeit Christianity that is being spread around there you know why everybody wants to see our church is growing we want to look successful and the real gospel is tough Jesus walked away from Jesus if people walked away from Jesus when he gave it to him straight he had to ask the disciples are you gonna leave me the truth is sometimes tough and pastors are wanting to make the narrow road wider and it doesn't matter what the pastor says if it doesn't follow the Word of God that Road has not changed its size or its direction and we're more interested in quality than quality I was an evangelist for years you do an evangelistic meeting first thing at the conference president or whoever is gonna ask you is you have a good meeting had a great meeting how many were baptized well we only had two oh I said well you know there were others that wanted baptism but they weren't ready and I've traveled and worked all over the world and I've seen it where I've gotten into arguments with pastors and even conference leaders where they want to baptize all these people I say have you studied with them do they know what this commitment means are they ready - were they in church last week no but they're gonna go people getting baptized through some emotional event and they've never even attended and it's like these people who get married the first day they meet someone those weddings might look nice but they marriages don't last so in their effort to try to grow Christianity we're often hurting people into the church we're lowering the standard to make it more attractive pastors are doing market surveys and saying let's find out what does the community what are the film needs in the community and I realize you want to minister and know what the needs are but to build your whole service around people don't want to have to look respectable when they come to church because it's too much work to dress up and so tell them just come in their shorts and a t-shirt flip-flops they're hungry when they come bring Donuts they're tired give them coffee just find out what they want you can grow a church they don't like the hymns give them some livelier music just make it fun that's kind of the mindset of so many churches these days and there's some people that are you know I want to get be careful what I say here you know what I'm saying we're we're lowering the standard of holiness we're trying to broaden the narrow way change its directions so that we can get more people in the world this is what the church did during the dark ages they said you know we'll get more pagans in the church if we let them keep their idols they started compromising to try to grow their church and so as a result pretty soon yeah you had a lot of people in the church it just didn't mean anything anymore you could barely tell the difference between the church in the world so the devil is seeking to dilute the gospel to try to get more people in let me read something to you this is from reviewing Herald 1904 our churches are becoming enfeebled by receiving for doctrines the commandments of men many are received into the church who are not converted men and women and children are allowed to take part in the solemn Rite of baptism without being fully instructed in regard to the meaning of this ordinance participation in this ordinance means much and our Minister should be careful to give each candidate for baptism plain instruction regarding its meaning and its solemnity the sacrifices that are involved and what it means to follow Jesus you know when a good pastor when a couple comes and says we won't we want to get married while you marry it's a good passage and say look forward to it but we're gonna have some counseling first because we want the marriage to last if you baptize a person too soon you're not helping the church you're hurting them and you're hurting the church help them know what the commitment is so when they make it they stick someone once said that if a person pops in the church too quick they typically pop out also you want to let them put their roots down bring forth fruits that are evidence of righteousness John the Baptist said well I got more sermon but I'm out of time let me close with this a few years ago I remember hearing about this lady who is dying from cancer who sued her pharmacist and she won a lawsuit of 2.2 billion dollars now what in the world would make a jury award someone 2.2 billion dollars this pharmacist Robert our Courtenay was a serial killer but the way he killed people is by diluting their prescriptions you see some of this medication for cancer and other serious diseases they're very carefully measured you don't want too much or you had sad side effects from the chemo you don't want too little or it has no effect and he thought you know if I dilute this and split it two or three ways I can get a lot more money sell more medicine and he never really cared what the consequences would be for the people who are dying and over more than a decade he filled out ninety over ninety thousand prescriptions where he diluted the prescription and there's no telling how many people die from that well that's what the devil is doing with the gospel he's diluting it to the point where it is without effect and watering it down it's like people in a prison of war camp they just keep adding more water to the soup until their it has no more nutritional value and the devil is doing that with the gospel friends I hope I've delivered my soul from your blood today it's pretty clear that we need to flee from the wrath to come so we got a problem we're perishing the wages for sin are death we're all under that death sentence there's only one way of escape it's to accept the sacrifice of Jesus to receive Christ to believe in Christ and then to follow Christ and his teachings have the fruits of the spirit love joy peace goodness faith temperance in our lives that's what it means to be saved please don't be deceived by The Devil's most dangerous deception that we can have a form of godliness without the power [Music] you [Music]