Can You Think From Jesus’s Perspective

Well, praise Jesus today everyone. I have a short message that I wanted to speak about today, and I thought this live video would be a good way to do it.

I have been very blessed to grow up in a family and to have been raised by parents who virtually had no social front. And what I mean by that is my parents and my family were exactly the same person in the public eye as they were in their private life. They didn't pretend to be someone that they weren't. They didn't try to portray themselves to clients or to people at their church as something better or something different than they actually were. And because I saw this in my life, even as a kid, that is what helped develop me to be honest, truthful, even if there were times in my life where I was distant from God. I was always honest.

What I realized though, as I went throughout life, is most people are not honest. I want to give an example of something that I noticed later on in life, and this took me a while to catch on to. And I think a lot of people just automatically knew how to do this, at least in the world, and that is to put on a face that everything is good or act like you're more friendly than you actually are to people, or always be smiling when you don't feel joy.

For me, that was never something of who I was. I don't smile if I'm not having a good day. And if I'm telling you something serious, I'm not going to be smiling and waving and acting with a false joy. I'm just going to say it as it is because that's who God has created me to be.

But I want to give a certain example so it would help put in perspective what I'm talking about. I graduated from high school with a class of about a hundred other kids, and those students all went their own way. Some of those students, once they graduated high school, went out and wrecked their lives. Some of them likely committed suicide, or they got on drugs, or they overdosed on drugs and alcohol. They wrecked their lives.

Some of those people that are now adults, they're now 40 or so. I see them around town. In particular, there's one guy who graduated from my same high school class, and he's homeless, likely due to drugs and his addictions. That guy never looks anyone in the face. He's always looking down and will never acknowledge anybody.

There's another fellow, however, that acknowledges everyone. If you go to the post office, or you see him at the supermarket, or anywhere in a public place, "praise Jesus today everyone." This guy is always smiling. He's always happy. He's always recognizing other people. Likely he would remember your name if you have spoken to him one time.

Early on, I started to wonder, what makes this guy different? Is it Jesus that makes him different? Because I'm pretty sure he's not a Christian. So what makes these people different?

I started to realize, even from a young age, that what makes these particular people different isn't that they've been changed by Jesus, but what makes it different is that they are in the public eye and they own a business and they're trying to bring in customers into their business.

This particular guy that I'm talking about, he owns a bar and grill and a lot of people know him in the community. People go to his shop and he wants people to buy his stuff, to buy his food or his products or whatever it is that he's selling. But it has nothing to do with him being a Christian, why he's friendly to others.

But it does help you in the world, I'm saying, to be friendly and joyous and to put on a false front, even if you're emotionally depressed and all of those things. It helps you to appear to be happy and joyous and friendly to others because probably 80% of people, if you're friendly to them, will be friendly back to you. But that has nothing to do with the true joy of Jesus Christ.

Why am I saying this? This is because the world has truly changed what it means to practice the golden rule. The golden rule is to treat other people how you want to be treated. And the reason why you would do that is because our Father in heaven is love. God loves us unconditionally in the sense that even if we're evil, He does good to us. He loves us even though we are corrupt and wicked people, and He hopes that we repent of our evil and that we come into the light of the truth and that we also get what it means to love others—not with a pretense, not because we own a shop and want to look good to other people—but that we just love others and treat others as we want to be treated without this pretense, without wanting something in return.

Even from a young age, I noticed these guys aren't Christians, that they're not caring to be godly. So for me, I had to figure out, why are these people being so nice? And when it hit me, it made me upset. The people in the world are only being nice. They're only being caring for what they will get on this earth.

To them, everything is about this earth—how much money they get, how much respect they get, how popular their business is, how good they look before men. But they don't care about Jesus and His kingdom. They don't even believe He exists. To them, Jesus is no different than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or something like that.

But for us that actually know Jesus as our Lord, we want to do everything as unto the Lord, not for this other reason of getting people into our business and trying to look good to the community so it helps us get more money and more security in this world.

I hope this is making sense to someone, because most Christians are not living for the kingdom of God. They're living 100% for themselves, and they're deceiving you. They're deceiving other Christians into thinking they're good brethren, they're righteous people because they appear to be joyous.

And I'm telling you, almost all Christians are fooled by this. They think that because a pastor or a preacher or someone in the community has a good smile, they must be a real Christian. And because they open the door for the ladies and they don't cuss, they must be a good Christian. They must love God. I'm telling you, this is not true.

Even evil people love their own. Friends do good for friends. But Jesus calls us to go way beyond that. If you read what Jesus says, He says, "love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you, do good to those that don't do good to you. Go the extra mile."

We know what it means to be a Christian, to be a Christ follower, but the amount of people that are actually practicing this—turning the other cheek, giving to those that ask—is almost close to none.

You will find people in the community that give to those that give to them. They love those that love them, and they smile at the people that they know may come to their business. But if you are poor, they're not going to care about you. If you're someone that can't help them out in the world, you are worthless to them.

This is not how the kingdom of God works. Jesus calls us to help people that can never give back to you. When's the last time you thought about helping someone that wouldn't help your business or wouldn't make you look good—possibly even would make you lose business if you associated with them? Probably never.

So we need to make sure that we're not showing partiality towards others, that we're not putting on a false face just to look good in the community to boost our own businesses, and that we're really loving others because Christ Jesus first loved us and we're trying to demonstrate that love to other people that they may also come into the kingdom of God. God doesn't want us just to call the rich people or the people that look good. When Jesus called out in that parable of who the people should go and bring into His kingdom, He says, "Call the lame, the blind, the poor." You're basically calling anyone out on the streets. Gather them. Bring them into My kingdom.

And we want to call whoever will listen to come into the kingdom of God, that the supper may be full, that there will be people with Jesus.

I want you to think for a minute from Jesus's point of view. You have a business, and that business is saving souls. And you don't just give a few dollars to this business, but you actually give your own blood, your own blood and guts, you give to your business.

Jesus was sent to earth by His Father, not just to mess around, not to just play or to look good or just to preach a few sermons to boost His ego. But Jesus came into this world to show us what true love really meant. And then He went all the way to a brutal cross, a Roman cross, where He died and shed His blood for this business, if you want to call it that, so that then He would reap the reward for what He did.

He didn't just go to the cross because that would be fun. In fact, He even prayed before He went, pleading with His Father that He wouldn't have to do that. He said, "Father, if there's any other way, let there be some other way that I don't have to drink this cup." But His Father didn't let Him. He had to drink the cup.

And so Jesus drank that cup of death. He sweat blood. He died on the cross, and He paid for all of our sins with His own blood, sweat, and tears. God resurrects Him from the dead, and He becomes the first fruit for us of the living, and that if we also come into His kingdom, into this new covenant, into His business, then we can also share and have a part of what He's doing.

So try to see it from Jesus's perspective. He's given everything He has for this business of saving souls, and He wants us to join in with Him, helping save people from their sin, save people from death.

Yet pretty much the entire church is batting a zero. They're not helping people come into the kingdom of God. They're preaching sermons on, "Oh, you're saved already, brother. Oh, don't worry about eternity. Oh, it's okay to be homosexual. Be who you are." They don't let their light shine for Jesus. They don't give a rip about what Jesus says. They don't pay attention to His words. They just want to get people into their program.

Now imagine Jesus, who has given His all, shedding His blood for His church, and no one wants to be a part of it. No one wants to help Him save souls. Everyone thinks they're already saved, so they turn the other way. "We're going to heaven in the end." These people are waiting for the rapture.

You think Jesus is proud of those people that aren't helping Him, that don't care to save the lost, that just think, "I'm saved, brother. I'm going to be in, you know, I'm going to be so glad to see you in eternity, brother"?

You think Jesus is proud of those churches, those people, those individuals who are not sharing in His suffering at all? They don't care to speak out about His kingdom at all. All they want is to look good at their business, not Jesus's business. Oh no, they want to look good at their pub. They want to look good at the bar and grill.

Do you think Jesus is proud of you for that?

We need to make sure that we join in with Jesus, that we start walking with Him now, because if we're not bearing good fruit for Him now, we will be cut off. Jesus is very serious about His kingdom, His work. He's very serious about the things that He spoke. He wasn't joking around.

He wants us to bear good fruit, or we will be cut off. Remember all those parables that Jesus talks about at the end? It will be like a dragnet, and that dragnet will collect good fish and bad fish. What happens to the bad fish? Are they brought into God's kingdom as well? No. The bad fish are cast out.

All the bad fish aren't going to make it into the kingdom of God. And there's very few people in the Lord's church who are doing His work. And this makes Jesus very upset. How is it that He gave His entire life for His church, and people aren't even willing to lift a finger to speak about it?

How is that even a thing, guys? How can you say you believe in Jesus and you love Him, and you're so worried about your own life and your own image that you don't even acknowledge anything that Jesus has done and help out your fellow brother and sister, when your own King went to His death, shedding His blood for it?

Jesus expects way more out of His church. And we want to make sure that we are obeying His commandments, not just with our mouth, but with our life.

Now, I know there are some Christians that believe this false gospel, that you don't ever have to speak a word. You just demonstrate to people by your actions. Well, that's false as well. You have to have the words proclaiming Jesus, and you have to have the actions.

You can't tell anyone about God without opening your mouth. There are a lot of people who can demonstrate a sort of love with their actions, but they never open their mouth about the kingdom of God. And you could attribute all that good they did to humanity or humanitarian efforts.

The government, after all, they don't really believe in God, and they give thousands and millions and billions of dollars to other countries. And that doesn't mean they're making it into heaven just because they've helped people.

So we need to profess with our lips to others about Jesus and His kingdom and true repentance. And with our actions, we also need to prove that we are Jesus's disciples.

Look around. Who is doing the work? Who is actually doing the work?

Jesus calls us to carry our cross. He calls us, His disciples, to bear good fruit and to preach the gospel. Read Matthew chapter 28. Jesus commands us to go into all the world and preach the gospel for all people to hear, teaching people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to obey His commandments. And He promises to be with us even to the very end of the age.

So let's make Jesus proud in the sense that He is happy and joyous to call us His children, that He is not ashamed of us. So many churches and people God is ashamed of because, even though He shed His blood, they're not lifting a finger to do His work.

Put yourself in Jesus's position. If you were the CEO of His business, would you be glad to see people just thinking that they're sharing in your business without lifting a finger, or would you be enraged?

God is very angry, and when He comes back to this earth, He's coming back with vengeance. And vengeance will start in His own house. He will weed out all the corruption. He will weed out all those who are pretending. He will separate the sheep from the goat and the wheat from the tares.

And so we need to determine if we are serious to do the Lord's work and if we will actually carry out the great commission.

I want to pray for those of you that want to be serious about Jesus, to do His work, and to call your fellow brother and your fellow sister, your neighbor, into action, because that's what Jesus calls us to do—to love our family, to love others as ourselves, but whoever we're around, to be preaching the gospel to all creation.

So Lord Jesus, I pray for my fellow brothers and sisters that they would really be Your church, that You will reap the reward of Your suffering. We thank You that You did die on the cross and resurrect. We want to be a part of what You did. We want to share in Your suffering so that we can also share in Your glory and be part with You forever and ever.

I pray that someone listening today may be pricked in their heart and in their conscience, that they really would repent of their sins, that they would put their faith in You and start doing Your work. We pray that we can be fruitful, bearing much good fruit, and be worthy to be called Your children.

In Your name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Christians Enslaved in the Babylon Echo Chamber

 I want to bring something up that is not talked about enough in the Christian community, and that is this horrible—I'm going to call it—echo chamber in church. One person says, "We are all sinners," and another person echoes that "all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Another brother says in a false kind of humility, "I am the chief of sinners," as Paul said. And it becomes a way for people to hide behind their sin in this false kind of humility, trying to relate with the world.

Everyone knows that the world is full of sinners; no one's going to argue that the world is a pure place filled with righteous men and women. Everyone knows that all have fallen short of the glory of God. So it's easy for the Christian culture—that is the pastors, the lay people in the church—to hide behind this pretend shield of humility, claiming that we are all sinners. This is what the Christian church echoes, and a lot of Christians are stuck in this echo chamber. They're saying, "We are sinners. We are sinners saved by grace."

But this is a far cry from what Jesus actually taught about his church, about his people. I want to read to you what Jesus said in regards to sinners compared to people who obey his truth, that come into his light. This is found in John 8; I'm going to start in verse 31.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him, "If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with my Father; therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father."

They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father."

They said to him, "We are not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God; for I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me? Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why don't you believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."

The Christians today are stuck in the echo chamber that they are sinners. And they even think that they are humble because they claim to be sinners. But they clearly are not of the children of God because Jesus said, "If the son of God—that is himself—sets you free, then you are free indeed."

So if you really have had an experience with Jesus and he has touched you, then you have been set free of your sins. But if you are still sinning, it proves that you belong to your father, the devil. A lot of people want to argue with this and say how everyone is sinful—"Just look at the world." Well, of course the world is sinful; the whole world is in the grips of Satan. But only those that Jesus has touched their heart and purified them, they have been made free.

But if you are still sinning, then how has God purified you? You can't just be part of this echo chamber, this Christian community that thinks that they are going to heaven because they are echoing the pastor's words. It is not humility to claim that you're still a sinner relating with the world. Either you belong to Jesus and you repent of your sin for real—and you love and you obey Jesus and you hold his hand and you go with him every day—or you belong to this Christian community that belongs to the world, that's gripped by sin, that's gripped by lust, pornography, hatred of the true God.

All the lies that they believe from the pulpit... are you in the Christian community that is stuck in sin, that is enslaved to sin? And are you in this echo chamber also preaching that everyone's a sinner? "I'm just like you, brother." Or have you truly been set free by the Son of God? Those the Son sets free are free indeed. But those who are entrapped, enslaved to sin, and have no desire to get out—they belong to the devil, and the devil is taking them where he is going.

So you have to choose this day who you will serve. Will you serve Jesus? Will you let him purge you and purify you? Will you come out of sinful religion that continues to speak from this echo chamber? Or will you come to Jesus and be set free of sin and walk in the newness of life, practicing righteousness, practicing the love of God, loving your neighbor? Will you love the Lord your God with all your heart and demonstrate that you do by practicing holiness, obedience, righteousness, doing what's good in the eyes of Jesus? Who do you belong to: Jesus Christ or Satan?

Escaping the Broadway

 

How Satan Deceives the Masses

I just wanted to give a word here that the Lord's put on my heart to share, and that is about how Satan deceives the masses across the world.

A lot of Christians think that the battle is against atheism, or against evolution, or against witches and warlocks and things that look obvious. But in reality, if you look up what percent of people are actually atheist, it's only like one or 2% in America. It's virtually no one. But if you look up what percent of people are religious or spiritual or Christian, it's almost 100%.

People want to experience God. They want to experience something spiritual. And so if you were Satan, what would you do to distract people? What would you do to convince people of the wrong way but thinking that it's the right way? If you knew that only 1% of people are atheist, would you put all your eggs in the basket of atheism? No, you wouldn't, because 1% of people is not the majority of people. You're only going to be able to take a small portion of people to hell by atheism, so it's not worth convincing the 99% that atheism is the right way.

But the way to lead people to hell, that is the masses to hell, is convincing them that they're going the right way by following their tradition, by following their religion. So you tell Catholics that they're doing the right thing by going to mass. You convince Christians that they're doing the right thing by going to church. You convince evangelicals to go out and street preach. You tell Jews to believe in Jehovah and read the Torah and be obedient to the 613 laws that come from Moses, from God. So you convince all these people that they are doing the right thing and that they shouldn't change.

And you tell big leaders like presidents, kings, influencers, movie actors to encourage these people to be strong to their faith. That's what you would do if you want to take the masses to hell. But you would not focus on atheism or on Darwin. You wouldn't focus on these things because very few people actually believe in atheism and are following evolution. But there's a lot of people who follow a form of Christianity, Catholicism, so that is where you put your focus as Satan, as the devil.

I want to read to you what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 23, because this group of people that Jesus rebukes are people who were convinced that they themselves were the best of the best and were leading other people into heaven.

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.” What is the chair of Moses? This is the same seat that the pastors today put themselves in. It's behind the pulpit. It's in the place that they think they're a mouthpiece for God. Moses was the leader of his people, and we know that Aaron was actually his mouthpiece, but he was in the seat of God to the people. That's what it says in the scriptures, that he was as God.

Pastors have put themselves in the same position as if they are God to you. And churches think that they are the hand of God, that they're leading people to God. The Catholic Church thinks that they're the one true religion and that if you want to be saved, you have to come through them, their pope, their fathers.

So this is what Jesus says. They've seated themselves in the chair of Moses. “Therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe. But watch this. But do not do according to their deeds, for they say things and they do not do them. They are hypocrites.”

This is the crux of it. A lot of the Christians in the church, they do tell you, “Know Jesus. Repent of your sins. Get rid of addiction. Stop smoking. Stop drinking. Marijuana is evil.” They say all these sorts of things. Don't go to the R-rated movie. Don't be looking at pornography. They preach all of these things, but don't do as they do, because they're hypocrites. They're doing these same things. They say don't do these things, but then they go and they pay their good money to watch movie actors commit adultery and fornication, murder, lust. They laugh at the jokes that Hollywood is putting out.

So in church on Sunday, and then they go and pay their own money to watch movie actors do them. Therefore, they're supporting all of this. So that's why Jesus is rebuking this.

And then they tie shoulders, but they themselves are not. They are unwilling to move them with so much of a finger. Many of the churches do the same thing today. They tell you about them for tithe. Otherwise, you're cheating God. You're robbing God. Thus says the scriptures. These guys are hypocrites because they like the new covenant, not the old. But then when it comes to them supporting their ministry, then they go back to the Old Testament and they pull out an Old Testament law of tithe, which is Old Testament, not New, and they say, “You have to keep this law because if you don't, you're robbing God.”

So they make themselves out to be huge hypocrites. Which is it? Are we saved by grace through faith like they're preaching, or are we saved by tithe and going to church and listening to sermons and making sure we keep up our church attendance and going on mission trips? Which is it? They're not sure.

So they tie up all these heavy burdens, but they do all their deeds to be noticed by men. Do they love to look good on Sunday? They love to sound spiritual when they give their sermon. They love the way they sound, so they hang on their every word. They draw out their words to sound aesthetic. But if you catch them on an off day, they don't want to talk about God. No, you need to go to church on Sunday if you want to hear this scripture.

So their actual life, they're not living genuinely for Jesus. It's only during that hour on Sunday for a show. So you can continue to read this. They do all their deeds to be noticed by men. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues. Pastors love to be called, you know, your pastor, your elder, your leader. They love that title. They love the respectful greetings in the marketplace and to be called teacher, teacher, rabbi by all men.

But then Jesus says, “But you do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your father, he who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders, for one is your leader, and that is the Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant, who himself shall be exalted.”

A lot of people love titles. They love to be a teacher. But Jesus says we need to clean the inside of our hearts. That way, whenever we go anywhere, we can be pure because we're already pure on the inside.

Now, guys, I come from a background of pastors and missionaries, and most of all my family is still involved in church. They're missionaries around the world, missionaries in Egypt, missionaries in South America, in Europe, in all sorts of places. And members of my family pride themselves in how many countries they're in and how many people they've won into Christ or how many pastors they've made active.

Christians and churches love to boast about this. How many people they made Christians, how many they baptized, how many they brought into the faith. But I now realize that there's a huge difference between making a disciple of religion and making a disciple of Jesus.

See, I used to also go around and tell people that they needed to get into church. When I was in church, I would go to my neighbors. I would knock on their door when I lived in my apartment complex, and I would say to them, “Hey, are you in church?” And they would say, “No, I haven't been to church in 10 years. I need to get back in.” And then I would guilt trip them about it. And I would say, “You need to get back in church because God wants us in church. We don't want to be giving up the fellowship.”

And they'd say, “You're right, brother. I know that's a verse in scripture.” And so I would convince people to come to church. I would get people to come to church with me. And when I was a youth leader, I would do a lot of things to try to encourage people to come to church. I would put on a youth group that looked really fun to people.

And at one point, I had a ministry of around a hundred or over a hundred students who came to my ministry. And the way I was able to get so many kids there is because I would do things that attracted kids. It was things that the world likes to do. The music, skateboarding, taking them to Six Flags, taking them to camps, doing things in the city.

And because the ministry was cool and a lot of people were going there that liked other people there, it just started to build this entropy where it was the cool church that everyone was going to. But what I found was all these numbers and all these people getting plugged into church were not genuinely coming to Jesus. They were coming for every other reason. They were coming for the food. They were coming for the show. They were coming for the girls. They were coming because I was taking them to amusement parks.

But they weren't coming to get right with Jesus, to repent of their sins, and to become part of the kingdom of God. And this is the same thing that the Pharisees were doing. They were calling people to become disciples of their religion, and they would make them, as Jesus says, twice as much a son of hell as themselves.

When I realized this, I knew that I needed to change. I knew that I needed to stop making disciples of religion, and I needed to start making disciples of Jesus. So that's what I've done for over the last 10 years. I've been calling people to repent of religion, to repent of all the sins that they know, and to put their faith in Jesus and to be led out of this phariseical kind of dead religion called church.

Now, I know that church looks good to a lot of people. They say, “It's better that I'm there learning about the Bible than in the bar.” But what I've also noticed is Satan has two kinds of deceptions. He has the obvious evil, and then he has the not so obvious evil.

Satan can come as looking like a gremlin, looking like a grim reaper, looking like something obviously demonic on Halloween, or he can come as an angel of light. He can look like he is of the truth.

So if you are someone that really likes evil, you can engage in that. You know, you can take part of all of these evil things that everyone knows is evil. But if you're someone who appreciates looking good on the outside, there is also a deception for you. And I think most people fall into this category who are good people in the community.

There's obviously people that are evil and corrupt and wicked, but there's also people that want to do good. They want to help their communities and all of that good stuff. So Satan has a way to lead you to hell whether you want to be a good person in the world or a bad person in the world.

So the bad is obvious. Atheism, transgenderism, it's the outward worship of Satan, pornography, drug addictions. But then the other side Satan has is dead religion, going to church, making money, being clothed outwardly like you're a really good person. And I don't just mean physically, but spiritually, you appear to be a really good person.

But both of these agents, whether they're the evil agent or the good-looking agent, are both used by Satan to bring people to hell. And what we as Christians really have to watch out for are the wolves in sheep's clothing. They might not even know that they are a wolf, but they're leading people to hell because they are teaching people to look good on the outside like the Pharisees, without actually being washed clean by the blood of Jesus, taking up their cross daily and following after the Lord.

A lot of these missionaries and these groups, they're making disciples of church. They're training pastors. They're training people to do house groups and to bring people around the Bible. And they end up making a who aren't really making and producing good fruit and children of God.

We need to be careful not to be distracted by religion. We need to really come to Jesus. We need to know his words. If we don't know his words, we need to read his words again and learn them and hide his truth in our heart and practice it.

So I want to pray for those of you that do want to come into the kingdom of God, that don't want to be deceived by false Christian religion or Jewish religion, but that really want to put your faith in Jesus.

So, Lord Jesus, I pray for your true church. I pray to be a good testimony for you, and I pray that people can come into a genuine relationship with you where they know you and they become different. I pray that people would see a difference in us between us who really love and obey you and those that are of the world. I pray that more people can have their eyes open, their ears open, and be led by you. That they wouldn't be distracted by the world or deceived by Satan, by riches or false religion or all the deceptions that are in this world, but they may come to you and be led along by your spirit and have you in their hearts always.

 

What did Jesus mean when He was on the cross and He said it is finished?

If Moses or Joshua by The Ten Commandments and by the law could have given the children of Israel true rest and finished salvation, then God would not afterward have spoken of another DAY which brings perfect rest and salvation through the SON. (Hebrews 3-4) 

 BUT there remains a rest for the true people of God and this has been spoken of thoroughly throughout prophecy. This is the finished rest: Whoever enters into a relationship with Jesus Christ the Son of God, has himself also ceased from dead works and come into the true works of faith that God gives each of His children to preform! 

Have you come into a relationship with the Living God through HIS Son Jesus Christ?

Passionate Faith Gone Wrong

 Often Christians are passionate about the wrong things, they condemn others based on their false convictions, poor theology, misinterpretations of what faith really is, and their own restrictive convictions. Avoid being this sort of judgmental and legalistic Christian. These sorts of Christians have no reward from God for their sort of sacrifice. God will reject their sacrifice just as He rejected Kane and his sacrifice.   If you get to know Jesus, you will know the truth and you will not condemn innocent people, but rather you will learn to condemn what is evil and stand up for what is true. These sorts of people GOD honors and all Heaven rejoices for and champions! 

Was the Apostle Paul Saved by Grace but Practicing Sin?

There is this idea in the church culture that people are saved by saying a prayer, and that prayer of salvation saves them no matter what they do. And a lot of the preachers in church, they expand on this deception by reading the words of the Apostle Paul, namely in Romans 7. And the idea is that no one actually is without sin on this earth. Everyone goes on sinning. Yet, if we put our faith in Jesus, then His blood washes over us no matter what we do.

Oftentimes, the pastors will say, “We work at perfection, but we’re never perfect.” But the thing is, guys, they use the words of the Apostle Paul and all of these different passages to actually justify sins that all of us need to truly repent of. Now, what I want to do today is show you the verses that the pastors are using in Romans chapter 7 and then show what the Apostle Paul is actually saying. Because this whole thing about once saved always saved and the words of the Apostle Paul — it’s just so blown out of proportion by the Christian church that people aren’t even receiving the true gospel anymore of repentance and having works of righteousness.

And a lot of Christians have completely confused works of righteousness with works of the law, to the degree that they will say if you think that you have works of righteousness, you’re not saved, because anyone who thinks that they’re being saved by their works is going the salvation-by-works gospel and not by grace. And so they act as though a Christian will not have works of righteousness or they can’t. And they call all their deeds filthy, because they misunderstand what the Apostle Paul was writing when he’s speaking against works of the law for salvation. But there’s a big difference.

So I want to read to you what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7. I’m going to start in verse 14. “For we know that the law is spiritual.” When we’re speaking about the law here, we’re speaking about the law of Moses, not the laws of the Americans or any other culture, but we’re speaking about the law of Moses. That was those 613 laws in the Torah. “So, we know the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

So what is the Apostle Paul saying here? Is he actually saying that he himself is a hypocrite, and that he’s teaching people to be holy and pure and to not cheat on their wives, to abstain from lust — but is the Apostle Paul really looking at pornography, cheating on his wife, having murderous thoughts? Is he really saying that? Or how is he using himself in this context? Because a lot of the Christian pastors from the pulpits will teach that the Apostle Paul is basically just sharing the same struggle that we all share. All men are looking at pornography. Everyone is cheating on their spouse. Everyone has evil intentions. And then the pastor will say, “But that’s okay because we’re saved by the blood of Jesus.”

Do you see how they have misinterpreted this? When we use a pronoun — I, we, they — it’s not always including us, or it’s not always including you. For example, if I said, “When you climb El Capitan, make sure you bring enough carabiners,” do I actually expect that you, the listener, are climbing El Capitan? Well, probably not. Maybe you have climbed El Capitan, but most likely you haven’t. And when I say “you,” I don’t mean you directly, but I am referring to anyone. Anyone who climbs El Capitan, if they’re going to achieve all 32 pitches, they need to bring enough gear to make the whole ascent.

So likewise, when the Apostle Paul is speaking about himself in this context, he is not saying, “Guys, I am committing atrocities. I’m cheating on my wife. I’m looking at pornography. I’m doing all these evil things, but just know I’m saved by the blood of Jesus.” That absolutely is not his point. But he’s using the first person to apply to any man who is living in the lusts of the flesh and agrees that what the Bible says is true. You agree with your mind that you should stop sinning, but you just can’t. You can’t give up those cigarettes. You can’t give up alcohol. You can’t give up looking at porn. You can’t get sin out of your heart. But you know it’s wrong. There is a disconnect between the spirit — that is our spiritual inward man — and the flesh. That is why every day we can wake up and say, “I want to do good. I want to do good for God.” But then when the crossroads come, we choose evil every time.

That doesn’t mean that Paul is doing this right here in this context. But he’s including himself in that: any man can fall into that category if they’re living according to the flesh and not according to the spirit. So here is the issue, guys. When the Christians read this passage, Romans chapter 7, they’re using it as a proof text to prove that all men have to live according to the flesh, and that as long as you are on this earth, you will be sinning. And they say, “Well, that’s okay. It doesn’t matter. Even the Apostle Paul was sinful and he was double-minded and he was a hypocrite.” This is not the point that the Apostle Paul was making.

Now, the conclusion to chapter 7 has to conclude with chapter 8. And if you don’t read chapter 8, you’re missing the whole context of what the Apostle Paul was trying to relay to his listeners, which is: you cannot please God by being a double-minded man, thinking in your mind you want to please God, but then in your heart pleasing the flesh.

And so the solution is not keeping the law according to how a man can try to agree with the law of Moses. See, no one’s going to be made pure by circumcision. No one’s going to be made pure by trying to go to church on Saturday to fulfill the Sabbath law. No one is going to be made pure by not mixing certain fabrics and making sure they keep dietary laws from the Old Testament. No one is going to achieve salvation by the works of the law. That’s the law of Moses, the law of God that was given to Moses for the nation of Israel.

But how is mankind then perfected? Well, this is Paul’s conclusion in chapter 8: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Now, all the pastors point this out all the time, so I’m not sure why they don’t point this out for Romans. Whenever there is a “therefore,” you have to ask yourself: what is the “therefore” there for? The “therefore” is the conclusion to chapter 7, and you have to read chapter 8 to conclude what the Apostle Paul is saying. That’s what the “therefore” is there for. “So therefore there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

This is the crux of it. If you’re living according to the flesh, you’re of the flesh. But if you live according to the Spirit, then you belong to the Holy Spirit. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.” Again, the law of Moses couldn’t make people stop sinning. It was weak through the flesh. It actually just brought out the fact that all of us can never keep God’s perfect law. And so that is when Jesus comes on the scene and destroys flesh with His own body being crucified.

“So He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Okay, here again you see demonstrated that the Apostle Paul is not putting himself in the category of not pleasing God. Paul knows full well that you can’t be a hypocrite and say with your mouth that you want to keep the laws of God, but with your heart live in the flesh. The Apostle Paul is practicing righteousness, and he is encouraging people not to think they’re saved by keeping the 613 laws of Torah or Jewish principles, but that they would receive Jesus Christ. This is his whole point of the argument here. You can’t be justified by works of the law, but you will be justified if you put your faith in Jesus and truly repent of your sins and live according to the Spirit, and no longer according to the lusts of your flesh, which includes true repentance.

“So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

So there we have it. If we want to please God, we have to receive what Jesus did on the cross. But we also then have to take up our own cross and live according to the Holy Spirit. All of those who live by the Spirit belong to the Spirit, and they are the children of God. But if you don’t have the Holy Spirit in you, then you’re not of the child of God or the kingdom of God. So if you want to be part of the kingdom of God, it’s not about trying to keep Jewish traditions or Jewish laws or keeping the Torah, but it’s about receiving Jesus, then truly repenting of your sins so that the Holy Spirit can come into your heart, and then you can live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

I want to pray for those of you that want to come into the household of faith. Or maybe you’re someone who has backslid and you want to come back to Jesus. Maybe you’re wondering, “Is there hope for me? Is there hope for my salvation?” Maybe you’re thinking that you have messed up too much and now all you hear is condemnation in your ears, but you know you want to get back to Jesus. And so I want to pray for you, that you can cast out your demons in Jesus’s name, that you can be filled with the Spirit of life, and that you can live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

So Lord Jesus, I pray for those who have an ear to hear. I pray for the one today who is listening to this message and that wants Your Holy Spirit in their heart to cleanse them from unrighteousness, to purge them from every evil desire. I pray that evil spirits would be cast out in Your name, that we can just speak against everything that is evil and leave it in the dirt, leave it in the dust behind, that we can walk forward in the newness of life with true repentance and true righteousness. I pray that someone today can receive Your message of salvation and put their hope in You and cast out the serpent, cast out Satan, to come into the newness of life. And I pray, Lord, that we would just constantly be filled with Your presence so that the devil would not be able to keep coming through the door and entering. But we want to shut the door to the devil and lock the door to the devil and be filled with Your presence so that no one and nothing else can fill us but Your Spirit and Your truth and Your life.

We want to eat Your flesh and drink Your blood and be nourished by You every single day, having the oil of Your Spirit in us. And we pray to endure with You to the very end. In Your name I pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.