Right now we're at Matthew 17, verse 22.
And Jesus again predicts His death and resurrection.
In the past, we've talked about in Matthew
that He is predicting His death and His
resurrection.
And this is where verse 22 picks up.
Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus
said to them, The Son of Man is
about to be betrayed into the hands of
men, and they will kill Him.
And the third day He will be raised
up.
And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
Jesus Himself is saying He'll be betrayed, He'll
be killed, and He'll be raised again from
the dead.
And at this point, this is where C
.S. Lewis would again ask you, Is He
a lunatic, is He a liar, or is
He the Lord?
And when you talk about Jesus, those are
your only three options.
Is He a lunatic, is He a liar,
or is He the Lord Jesus Christ?
Because only a lunatic would say something like
this, or a liar, if it's not true.
But because it's true, we know that it
validates His claim to be Lord.
He predicts His death and resurrection.
Jesus is saying, I will die and I
will rise again.
But then many people say, well, well, wait
a minute, this happened to me last week.
An atheist said, well, they could just make
that up.
They can just put that in the Bible
later.
Well, it's interesting.
If you read historians from maybe 100 years
after Jesus, secular historians, not Christians, they talk
about Jesus and followers of Christ.
So if Jesus was lying, and He made
this up, and He never rose from the
dead, why were disciples following Him being killed?
They were being killed for their faith.
We've talked about this before, this is no
surprise.
The followers of Jesus Christ, Matthew, Mark, Paul,
and different disciples were killed for their faith.
Nobody's going to die for a lie.
They're not going to say, yeah, saw me
in two, hang me upside down, we hid
the body, it's all made up.
Nobody's going to do that.
So to me, that validates His claim.
And secular historians said that there was a
man named Jesus Christ with followers.
So from a purely historical context, we have
to assume that Jesus was a real historical
figure.
Now let me read a few of those.
Hope I get their names right.
Pliny the Younger was his name.
P-L-I-N-Y.
You can look this up, read his work.
Pliny the Younger.
He lived around 112 A.D. That would
have been about 70, 80 some years after
Jesus was raised from the dead and resurrection,
and His followers started following Him.
He was a governor in Asia Minor, and
he wrote a letter regarding how to deal
with Christians who worship Christ.
Cornelius Tacitus.
55 A.D. to 117 A.D. So
he was born just 20 years after Jesus,
and he's regarded as the greatest historian of
ancient Rome.
Writing on the reign of Nero, Tacitus mentions
the death of Christ and the Christians in
Rome.
He said this, Consequently, to get rid of
the report of the city being on fire
that Nero actually started, Nero fastened the guilt
and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a
class hated for their abominations called Christians by
the populace.
And Lucian, 120 A.D. to 180 A
.D. spoke scornfully of Christ and Christians.
The Christians worship a man to this day.
The distinguished person, the distinguished personage, or personage,
I'm sorry, who introduced their novel rites and
was crucified on that account.
You see, these misguided creatures start with the
general conviction that they are immortal for all
time, which explains the contempt they have for
death and the voluntary self-devotion which are
so common among them.
So you're reading secular historians that are talking
about a Jesus who was crucified, and talking
about his followers who were following him.
So this wasn't just made up.
You couldn't get people to follow a lie,
because they knew, they saw the risen Savior,
many of these people, that died after Jesus
was resurrected and taken away.
They died because of their faith.
They believed it so much so, not unlike
what you're seeing in the news.
When people are dying for the faith that
they believe in, in the Middle East.
So the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
is a historical fact.
And even if you say the resurrection, yeah,
Shane, that's all Christians say, but the death
and burial and existence of Jesus Christ is
a historical fact.
It is.
So a person has to grapple with that.
Lunatic, liar, or lord.
He's not just a good teacher.
I run into people a lot, even the
other day, Trader Joe's, a Jewish guy, and
yeah, he was a good teacher.
If that's all he was, he was a
terrible teacher.
He was a good teacher, but if that's
all he was, he has to either be
lord or lunatic or liar.
He cannot just be a good teacher.
He was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's why I titled this message, really
it's a shorter title than that.
The title of the message is Theology Can
Be Condensed Into Four Words.
Theology, the study of God, can be condensed
into four words.
And I grabbed this quote from Spurgeon.
He said, my entire theology can be condensed
into four words.
Jesus died for me.
At the core of theology, at the core
of what we believe, that is everything summed
up in four words, is it not?
Jesus died for me.
And then from that, we can have a
better understanding of correct theology.
And it's interesting, the denial of Christ has
very little to do with facts.
If you present the facts to people, the
historical facts of the Bible, the archaeological facts
of the Bible, I think they just found
where Goliath lived, if you've been following some
of the archaeological discoveries.
And well, the skeletons of wells out in
the desert, I think off of Egypt or
somewhere out there.
Well, how did that get there?
Well, it's called a flood.
I mean, the Bible, it will show scientifically,
archaeologically, historically.
And Jesus, you read, I only read three
of the secular historians.
There's dozens who wrote about Jesus.
So it has nothing to do with facts.
The reason they deny Jesus Christ is they
don't like, they have issues with authority, submission,
and surrender.
Let's get right to the heart of this
matter.
The reason the people do not bow their
knee to Jesus Christ is they have issues
with authority and submission and surrender.
They don't want there to be a God.
If you talk to people long enough, you'll
find out they want to do what they
want, when they want, to who they want,
however they want.
They don't want any accountability.
Can you imagine if the fear of God
hit Planned Parenthood?
That's why they're doing what they're doing.
They have no fear of God.
The fear of the Lord has left.
But it's interesting, on this note, everyone is
under authority already.
They just don't realize it.
They are submitting to something.
They have already surrendered their soul.
They just don't know it yet.
So children of God, we've surrendered to Jesus.
We say, Lord, I can't win this battle.
I need you.
I'm a sinner.
Now I'm a saint, but I was a
sinner who's confessing my sin, and I'm repenting,
and I'm turning to you.
I'm under your authority.
You're under your direction.
I'm submitting to you.
But somebody who doesn't do that, they're still
under authority.
They're under the control of the enemy.
They're not called the child of God.
They're called a child of wrath.
They're not called the son of the Most
High.
They're called the son of the devil.
Jesus said, you sons of the devil.
You hypocrites.
And that's the interesting thing.
Anytime I'm talking with people on this topic,
they don't see it, but I can already
see it.
They're already under submission.
They're already under the control of the enemy.
Their soul is lost.
They're gone.
You're a pawn in Satan's army.
But they often don't realize it until it's
too late.
That's why you preach the gospel.
That's why you preach the good news.
That's why you tell people there is a
hope.
Because when you unravel the onion, and you
get to the core of people, you find
out that this is really the issue.
It's one word called pride.
The pride of your heart has deceived you.
Pride.
It's pride.
We don't want there to be a God.
Do you remember before you came to the
Lord, or even in your prodigal son's state,
or wherever you were at, I didn't want
to hear about God at all.
I didn't want to hear one word.
I got Waylon Jennings on the radio, and
a 12-pack of Budweiser, and I'm heading
to Vegas, and don't mention God to me.
I don't want to hear anything, Mom.
Don't say you're praying for me.
Nothing to do with God.
Nothing.
Why?
We know the answer.
Because we're dead set on rebellion.
The sinful heart is set on rebelling against
God.
So, keep that in mind.
It's a spiritual battle.
There's enough facts that support that Christ lived,
and died, and was resurrected.
I truly believe.
You could show...
About a month ago, I talked with an
atheist for three hours.
Fact, after fact, after fact, after fact, after
fact.
And I finally said, this is nonsense.
You can have the Bible say whatever you
want.
You can twist whatever you want.
And the sad fact is, you don't want
to surrender your heart to God.
You don't want to repent of your sin.
That's the bottom line.
Because I was giving fact, after fact, after
fact.
Don't confuse me with the facts, right?
That's what he was basically saying.
And that's why I often say, you can't
argue somebody into heaven.
You can pray them in.
And it's good to...
That's what apologetics is.
Apologetics is to give a person the reason
for the hope that's within you.
That's apologetics.
You're studying the word of God, and you're
able to share it with other people, and
convince them lovingly.
It's okay to do that.
But understand that many times you can give...
And that's why you get frustrated.
You give all these facts.
What's your problem?
It's a problem of the heart.
You can make the Bible say whatever you
want.
God supports slavery, and he doesn't like women,
and all this stuff, and whatever you want
it to say.
God was a mean God, and vengeful, and
all this stuff.
And that keeps us away from God.
Because we make the Scripture say whatever we
want.
And it's really Christ has come to set
us free from this bondage.
So people are already under bondage.
They're under the spiritual authority of the devil.
And Jesus comes to set them free.
That's why he came, to set them free.
And we'll read that in a little bit.
The message of the cross, the message that
we're talking about tonight, is very inclusive.
Have you ever heard those words, exclusive and
inclusive?
The media will say that a lot.
Christianity is very exclusive.
It's only...
Exclusive means it's very narrow.
It only includes a certain amount of people.
But the call, the message of the gospel
is inclusive.
I believe the Bible says whosoever.
Whosoever will believe and repent.
Whosoever will return.
Whosoever from the African desert to the shores
of Maine.
Whosoever.
Japan, China, whosoever.
That's where it's very inclusive.
It includes everybody.
But then it gets exclusive because the message
is narrow.
The only way, the only truth, the only
life.
Jesus said I'm the only way, the only
truth, the only life.
Nobody comes to the Father except through me.
That's very narrow.
Very narrow.
But you know, I thought about this this
week.
How exclusive is oxygen?
Everybody complains that the gospel is exclusive.
Too exclusive.
Well, how exclusive is oxygen?
When was the last time people tried to
change that?
Well, I'm just not going to breathe today.
That's too exclusive.
Hold your breath for how long?
A minute maybe?
Boy, that's very exclusive.
Yes, it's very narrow.
It operates under a certain dynamic with your
lungs, with the capacity of your body to
take that oxygen and breathe and live.
Very, very exclusive.
There's no other way to breathe.
Jump in the ocean and try breathing.
You can't.
Why is the ocean so exclusive?
Oxygen, gravity.
We have no problem with natural laws.
Nobody's ever came up to me and said
I'm so mad at gravity.
I'm so mad at oxygen.
I am teed off the two plus two
equals four.
It's so exclusive.
What's wrong with people?
Nothing.
But when it comes to moral truth, when
it comes to moral compasses and saying God
says we must live our life like this,
this is absolute truth, that's why everybody has
a problem.
Keep your religion away from me.
So see, it's really not about exclusivity.
We love exclusivity when it applies to us.
The world does.
But when it becomes about conforming and changing,
that's why Planned Parenthood, I use that example
but I use it again, that's why they're
scrambling.
That's why they're trying to say this or
say this.
It's not really this and not really this.
Everybody's trying to defend them and they don't
want any accountability.
Nobody can just say I was sorry, I
was wrong, I repent, Lord forgive me.
Very healthy words.
Very, very healthy words.
I was just talking to my mom this
afternoon.
She does a lot of marriage counseling, as
many of you know.
And she said spouses would just say, you
know what, I was wrong.
I'm sorry, will you forgive me?
Can I work on that?
I take full responsibility.
You would end half the counseling appointments.
Right there, no need, no need.
But we want to get a referee.
That's what it is, it's a referee.
But it's very healthy, it's very healthy to
say those things.
Verse 24, when they had come to Capernaum,
those who received the temple tax came to
Peter and said, does your teacher not pay
the temple tax?
He said yes.
And when he had come into the house,
Jesus anticipated him saying, what do you think,
Simon?
Peter, from whom do the kings of the
earth take customs or taxes?
From their sons or from strangers?
Peter said to him, from strangers.
Jesus said to him, then the sons are
free.
Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the
sea and cast in a hook and take
the fish that comes up first.
And when you have opened its mouth, you
will find a piece of money.
Take that and give it to them for
me and for you.
Now this whole passage could have been another
sermon on taxes, the government, submission, authority, all
these things that we don't want to talk
about too often.
And I know there's actually Christians that I've
known high up.
If I mention a few names, you probably
know too.
They actually went to jail for tax evasion.
And they use it in this scripture.
Hey, we're free, we don't have to pay
taxes.
Well, if Jesus did, you might want to
reconsider your view.
Now I'm not going to get on some
rabbit trail, some political trail.
I don't want to take too much from
this.
But I want a few things.
Jesus is saying, I believe, and this is
the item in paraphrase, so obviously check everything.
But there is a greater authority.
Jesus is saying there is a greater authority.
We're sons of God.
The government sits underneath God.
There's a greater authority.
We're free.
However, so we don't offend them.
And that word offense there is pretty interesting.
But so we don't offend them, let's pay
our taxes.
Let's pay the temple tax.
We don't have to.
It's my right, but I don't want to
offend, so I will pay that temple tax.
And that's a very good balance, I think,
in our own individual life.
To me it meant this.
Choose your battles carefully.
Choose your battles carefully and don't seek to
offend people.
With Christianity, there are so many different things.
We can become judgmental.
Every little thing can set us off.
Pick our battles carefully.
Yes, that's right, but I don't have rights
all the time necessarily.
I'm going to do something here that doesn't
cause an offense, that doesn't cause a problem.
We should be peacemakers, not religious negotiators.
We should be ones that want to have
peace with the brethren, peace with the government.
And so what I think he's saying here
is put down your right.
You don't have to pay taxes technically because
we're under God's authority.
However, we don't want to offend them and
tarnish the Christian character.
A lot of people put a little sign
of the fish on their business card and
then they do terrible work.
Those types of things.
So choose your battles carefully.
The truth, see here's the interesting thing, I've
talked about this before.
The truth offends people, doesn't it?
Have you found that out yet?
If you haven't, then you probably haven't been
doing much.
Because the truth offends people.
But our attitude shouldn't offend them.
So the truth I'm proclaiming, the truth will
offend.
But my attitude about it shouldn't be offensive.
In other words, I shouldn't go picking fights
over every little thing.
Picking fights on this, picking fights on this,
picking fights on this.
Every little thing, just going down the line.
And you become very critical, very judgmental.
You're finding fault in everything.
Can you find fault in everything?
Probably.
Follow me around.
I'll follow you around.
Look at my checkbook.
Let me look at your checkbook.
Look at my calendar.
Let me look at your calendar.
How we do things at the church.
How you would do things at the church.
We can all judge and get very critical
of each other.
And that's why I believe we'd rather err
on the side of not causing an offense.
This doesn't mean you don't stand for truth.
But it does mean that your attitude should
be an attitude of humility.
And not wanting to cause a brother to
stumble.
Not wanting to get into an argument.
There are people, and I call them heresy
hunters.
Their websites, they love picking fights.
They'll pick a fight about everything.
Everything.
They'll just critique every little nuance.
Because that's what they believe God has given
them the gift of criticism.
It's not in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, or
14.
I've looked.
I've been down that road before.
Everything is critiqued.
Everything.
And that's not a healthy attitude.
Because a judgmental spirit can grow.
And it can grow.
And that's why we have to be careful
in this area.
So I believe, nevertheless, lest we offend them.
Jesus is saying, listen, like Paul said, to
the Jews, I became a Jew.
To the Greek, I became a Greek.
You become, to that person, you don't offend
them.
One thing I thought of, also how we
conduct ourselves.
I'm not a perfect example of this.
So I don't like using my example.
Because I probably blow it more than I
do good.
But like with our neighbor, we have a
neighbor up above us.
And I used to park on the curb.
By the curb, on the street.
But then he got another car.
And you really couldn't park three before his
driveway.
So it's like he was trying to, he
couldn't get it.
So I say, hey, no problem.
Let me just pull up in my driveway.
Oh, you don't mind?
No, no problem.
So we're trying to keep a good relationship
there.
But I had all the way to my
property line.
I know where that little property line mark
is on the curb.
I used to dig block wall footings.
I know exactly how that works.
I know how much inches I have.
That's my right.
That's my property.
I don't care if you can't park.
Technically, right?
But, lest I offend him, let me park
somewhere else.
And build that relationship.
See, that's how this works.
There's times we can take the lower road.
And you better get used to it.
And just saying, you know, it's not worth
an argument.
It's not worth the fight.
That's what that means.
Let's not offend them.
Because did Jesus have to pay his temple
tax?
There's no way in the world.
He could have, he says, Peter, no way,
we're not paying that pride.
But he humbled himself.
And he said, let's not offend them.
So there's a lot of truth to that.
Nevertheless though, he also said, let us submit
to the earthly authority.
Since we have dual citizenship.
Again, I'm paraphrasing.
As a Christian, it's a very interesting thing.
Do you realize you have dual citizenship?
Not with here in Canada, or here in
Mexico, or here.
You have dual citizenship.
You are a child of God, in God's
kingdom.
But you're also a citizen of the United
States.
So we have dual citizenship.
That's why Paul wrote in Romans 13, let
every soul be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God.
So you have to remember that.
God in his sovereignty and in his control.
God is the ultimate authority.
And you might say, well, how did he
let that guy in North Korea go?
This long, or Saddam Hussein, or Iran.
How, how, how, how?
Well, you have to understand that the concept
of authority is good.
But the concept of government, from God's perspective,
and ours, it's a good concept.
You want to try anarchy?
You want to try every man defending himself?
No police horse, no authorities, no jails, no
firemen.
You want to live in that world?
I hope not, because you wouldn't be here
probably.
It would be survival of the fittest at
its height.
So God says the authority, the government, is
my institution.
God's institution.
The whole purpose of government is to be
a terror to those who do evil.
But then man gets in, and corrupts what
God has designed to be ultimately for good.
So the concept of authority, and government, and
governing people, is not a bad concept.
Actually, America, when it was first conceived, came
over the pilgrims in 1620, and the Declaration
of Independence, 1776.
It's not really a democracy, it's a republic.
In the republic, they would vote for people,
in positions of leadership, who held to a
higher standard of integrity, and feared the Lord.
In some constitutions, if you can find it,
you couldn't even run for office, unless you
profess a belief in God, the Father, and
His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You couldn't even run for office, at all.
So that's what the concept of government is,
God's concept for this reason.
Again, Romans 13.
For there's no authority except from God, and
the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance
of God.
And those who resist, will bring judgment on
themselves.
For rulers are not a tear to good
works, but to evil.
Do you want to be unafraid of authority?
Do what is good, and you will have
praise from the same.
For He is God's minister to you for
good.
But if you do evil, be afraid.
For He does not bear the sword in
vain.
For He is God's minister to avenge, and
to execute wrath on those who practice evil.
That's the purpose of government.
And then you have to say, well Paul,
you're writing that under the reign of Nero,
who put Christians on the street, and lit
them up for lights, as candles.
What is going on here?
You have to assume that also Nero was
reading this.
Hopefully, and people in positions of leadership are
reading Paul's words.
He's saying, listen, you're under an authority, and
the whole purpose of authority, the whole purpose
of government, is to be a tear to
those who do evil.
Actually, that's really the design of government, is
to be a tear to those who do
evil.
To protect and to defend the nation.
That's why we've gotten into all kinds of
trouble now, with the government getting into everything.
That's not the concept.
They're supposed to protect and defend.
And that's the authority there.
So how does that play out?
Well, this could be another whole sermon in
itself.
But the bottom line is, we are to
submit to authority, until that authority starts to
make us go in a direction, that's actually
blaspheming or mocking God.
For example, when the authorities in the New
Testament said, don't go out and preach about
Jesus anymore.
The disciples said, okay, sure, yeah, right, whatever.
I can't obey that authority.
Or if the authority said, Shane, you've got
to marry gay people.
I can't do that.
I can't submit to that.
Your authority now, you're usurping God's truth.
You're usurping His authority.
You're making me do things now against God.
And many times though, what they're asking us
to do, isn't going that dramatic, or that
drastic.
Like parking tickets, or submit to this, and
pay taxes.
You know, there's a gray area there.
But when it comes to issues that are
clearly, clearly outside of God's will, and then
by obeying the authorities, I would be disobeying
God.
That's when you have to look to the
greater authority.
Fortunately in this country, we've been very blessed.
Very blessed.
But as we all know, it's going in
a very unhealthy direction quickly.
Like I often say, the Titanic has been
struck.
It's not going to turn around without God
repairing and doing something there, if that's His
will.
And then we get into chapter 18 of
Matthew.
The beginning.
Who is the greatest?
Is what the title of this opening chapter
is.
At the time the disciples came to Jesus
saying, who then is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?
Boy, you've got to love these guys.
They want to know, who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?
Then Jesus called a little child to Him,
set Him in the midst of them, and
said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you
are converted and become as little children, you
will by no means enter the kingdom of
heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever receives one little child like this in
my name receives me.
And this is the scripture that is so
important.
I wish Christian radio, Christian television would just
put this verse up on the screen for
a while.
Unless you are converted and become as little
children.
Now, it's interesting.
We talked about the different versions of the
Bible a few weeks ago.
I'll refer you back to that if you
want.
The English Standard Version actually, in my opinion,
translates this part, unless you are converted and
become as little children, a little bit better.
The new King James decided to use this
word, convert.
Convert.
In the Greek language, it's stefro.
Stefro.
And what stefro means, it doesn't mean saying
a prayer.
It doesn't mean raising your hand and coming
forward.
It doesn't mean getting baptized.
It doesn't mean going to church.
It doesn't mean being, I was raised in
a good Christian home.
Stefro means, as the English Standard Version puts
it, to turn from your sin.
To turn from your sin like a child
would and turn to God.
So unless, Jesus is saying this, unless you
turn from your sin, humble yourself like this
little child, you will by no means enter
the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child,
humbles himself, that's how you enter the kingdom
of heaven.
By being converted, by turning from sin and
turning from God.
Humble yourself.
It's interesting, there's a side effect of conversion.
You know the side effect, you say this
medication has a side effect.
There's a side effect of conversion, it's called
change.
If there's no change taking place, there is
no conversion.
I like what A.W. Tozer said, he
said, millions of professed believers talk as if
Christ were real, but they act as if
he were not.
And our actual position should be discovered by
the way we act, not by the way
we talk.
And this is a point you really want
to drive home, because a side effect of
conversion is change.
If a person truly turns and is truly
converted, there is genuine fruit, there's genuine change.
So when you talk to people and there's
no fruit, there's nothing there.
You have to wonder, were they converted?
Because when I raised my hand, I said
a quick prayer, I was baptized as a
baby, I come to church, that doesn't matter.
None of that matters.
It's good, some of it, except the baby
baptism part.
You can dedicate, but not to baptize a
child, the little baby.
But none of that matters.
What conversion is, that's why I don't worry
too much about the eloquence of a person's
prayer.
You don't have to say pray after me,
and you don't have to, if you do
it's good, but you don't have to.
What it is, it's a person's heart breaking
before God.
It's a person's heart humbling themselves before God,
and in their heart, they're converting, they're turning
from their sin, and they're turning to God.
You don't even have to pray, you can
just groan.
I've heard people say, oh God, and they
fall on their face, and they're converted when
they leave.
What happened?
They didn't pray.
Wait a minute, they didn't pray, and they
didn't come forward.
That guy's not saved.
No, what happened in his heart?
Because so many people go forward sometimes, and
they're not saved.
And I used to, I've worked down at
Harvest Crusade, at Great Glories, a while back,
10 years ago, down at the grass area.
You're just coming down, coming down, and I
don't dismiss that.
I think giving sinners the opportunity to turn
to Christ, and come forward, and get plugged
in, is a great, great, great thing, if
it's explained correctly, and many of those guys
explain it correctly.
Not a bad thing.
But it's not on them, it's on the
person coming down.
And I would talk to some people, some
people you see crying, and crying, and oh
my God, and other people are like, where's
my free Bible?
So he came down, yeah, she came down,
she's my girlfriend, she brought me here, followed
her down here.
So is that guy good?
No, I mean, well, don't judge, okay, I
won't judge, but based on what I saw,
you don't just come down and say, give
me a free Bible, I'll come down with
my girlfriend.
Like that, that's the ticket into heaven.
No, whoever humbles himself.
And actually, people who didn't even, I'm convinced
there's people who didn't even come down, that
were saved.
They stayed in their church, and say, Lord,
I'm a sinner.
That sermon convicted me, I'm turning to you.
My heart's breaking, I'm getting, I'm searching for
you with all of my heart, Lord, I'm
leaving here a different person.
And they walked out, nobody even knows they
were saved, because they didn't come down.
And so that's why I want to make
a distinction.
It's not raising, a person raising their hand,
although they can.
It's not coming forward in an altar call,
although they can.
It's not even saying a prayer, although they
can.
Conversion is when a person turns from their
sin, basically they're saying, Lord, I'm humbling myself,
I need you.
I'm a sinner, and I need a savior.
I'm giving my life to you, I'm turning
my life.
That's conversion.
That's when a person's converted.
And then because of that, now the Holy
Spirit now comes in and resides in them,
and they have to change.
They say, I don't want to drink that
anymore.
I don't want to snort that anymore.
I don't want to hang out with that
person anymore.
I don't want to watch that anymore.
These old CDs, I don't even like this.
What's happening to me?
You're changing.
You're changing your child.
So if there's no change, that's why I
tell a lot of times young adults, when
I used to speak at young adults conferences,
if you look just like the world, and
there's no change in your lifestyle whatsoever, you
better go do business with God.
Paul said, examine yourself.
Look in the mirror, examine yourself.
Do you not know yourself as Jesus Christ
in you?
And John even used harsher words.
He said, those who say they know him,
but do not do his commandments, are a
liar, and the truth is not in them.
You say, boy, Shane, you're really trying to
upset.
No, I'm really trying to convict.
Because there's not, and this church is different,
but when I used to speak at different
conferences, I'd have people every single time come
up and say, that's me.
That's me.
I've had religion.
I've been playing church.
I've been playing games with God.
And it's not until you can allow God's
word to penetrate their heart and examine.
Paul says, examine yourself.
I think it's healthy for every Christian to
examine themselves.
Not to say, oh, am I not saved?
Oh.
No, once you're a child of God, you
know there's great comfort in there.
But if there's no fruit, if there's no
distinction, there's no difference.
Actually, in Matthew, I believe chapter seven, Jesus
says, many will come to me in that
day.
Say, Lord.
They'll say, Lord, we cast out demons in
your name.
We did many miracles in your name.
And Jesus will say to them, depart from
me.
I don't know you, you who practice lawlessness.
Now, you can either quietly hop over that
scripture and go to the next one.
And then he says, whoever hears my sayings
and does them, I will liken him to
a man who built his house upon the
rock.
And when the storms came, it did not
fall.
But the man who hears my word and
does not do it is like a foolish
man who built his house on the sand.
And when the storm came, it fell, and
great was its fall.
So you can get away from that fact.
Now, let me just throw out some encouragement,
too.
This is never about perfection.
Never.
We stumble, we fumble, we fall.
But it's about where's your heart set?
What direction is your heart going?
It's about the direction of the heart.
Falling forward into God's arms and forgiveness.
We shouldn't enjoy sin.
We should make steps to get rid of
the things in our life.
There should be a growing there, a conforming,
oh, there we go, conforming to the image
of Christ.
I think it says that somewhere in the
New Testament.
Paul's very clear that we should be conforming
to the image of Christ.
So when you meet somebody, didn't I meet
you ten years ago?
Why do you look no different?
You're the same grumbling, the same complaining, the
same bickering.
You sound like a broken record, the same
thing I heard ten years ago.
Where's the conforming to the image of Christ?
Because spiritual maturity comes by obeying the word
of God.
When you meet very spiritual people, very mature
people in the faith, it's because they've been
obeying the word of God.
They've been falling forward, they've been making mistakes,
but when the day is over, they've been
obeying the word of God and they've matured
as a result of that.
Christian maturity, being conformed to the image of
Christ is always a byproduct of obedience.
Always.
Trust and obey.
Remember the old hymn?
Trust and obey, trust and obey.
It's very good, very important to do.
Unless you humble yourself like a child and
turn from your sin, you will by no
means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Man, isn't that so profound?
That is Jesus warning people.
He goes on to say, I'm going to
read it in a little bit, but I
think it fits here.
For the Son of Man has not come,
for the Son of Man has come to
save that which was lost.
That's why Jesus came.
The next time anything is just a good
teacher to be an example, we have to
read the Bible.
The Son of Man has come to save
that which was lost.
But when we say a person is lost
without Christ, we're labeled a homophobe, a bigot,
narrow-minded, arrogant, and judgmental.
I've been called all that in one sentence,
with big exclamation points and the letters are
in capital.
But Jesus said it.
Why can't we say you're lost without Christ?
He said it.
Verse 6, chapter 18, verse 6, whoever causes
one of these little ones who believe in
me, a little, you can picture here now,
these little kids come running up to Jesus,
four, five, six, seven years old.
They're here with Jesus.
He says, whoever causes one of these little
ones who believe in me to sin, it
would be better for him if a millstone
were hung around his neck and he were
drowned into the depths of the sea.
Now, folks, what do you do with that
scripture?
That tells me if I'm doing something that's
causing a little child to sin, I'm in
big trouble.
It's better for me if I've never even
been born or have a millstone hung around
my neck than to cause a little child
to sin.
Why is that?
Because you can talk about the age of
accountability, you can talk about whatever, but in
a little child there's innocence.
I'm enjoying it right now with the kids
who are little.
There's innocence there.
There's purity.
Like my daughters will come and say, Daddy,
I'm so sorry.
You know they mean it.
There's a humility.
There's a genuineness.
There's a picture there of beauty and of
purity and of innocence.
And God loves that.
That's what he's drawn to.
But woe to the world because of offenses.
For offenses, meaning sin, must come.
But woe to the man by whom the
offense comes.
Here's an interesting verse.
If your hand or your foot causes you
to sin, cut it off and cast it
from you.
It's better for you to enter into life
lame or maimed rather than having two hands
or two feet to be cast into everlasting
fire.
If your eye causes you to sin, pluck
it out and cast it from you.
It's better for you to enter into life
with one eye rather than having two eyes
and to be cast into hell fire.
So it begs the question, does removing a
hand or foot save a person?
So if a person goes out and cuts
off their hand, this hand's causing me, actually
both hands are causing me to sin.
Let me cut them both off.
Are they good with God?
Is that what he's saying?
No.
The answer is no.
What he's saying there is the action, the
action of this person cutting off, he's using
the most dramatic language you could use.
Can we all agree on that?
The action that you take will validate the
sincerity of your commitment to Christ.
If a person isn't willing to cut things
out of their life, then their heart is
not right.
If they're not going to cut out the
sin, if they're not going to, the severity
of what they're doing is so bad, they're
not going to remove those things, then you
have to wonder where's their heart?
It would be like this practical example.
I am cutting off my pride.
I'm getting help.
I'm cutting off pride.
I'm getting help.
Whatever it takes.
Whatever it takes, I'm getting help.
And people, I get emails every week now
when I mention there's accountability software on your
computers.
There's actually a better one.
It's called Covenant Eyes.
It'll send every search you do, every website
you visit, every Facebook page to your accountability
partner.
Everything.
Full transparency.
And I know many guys right now I've
told that to, and guess how many of
them have hooked it up.
And I think of this verse every single
time.
You don't want it bad enough.
You're not willing.
I mean, this is dramatic language.
He's saying, if something is tearing your family
apart, if something is tearing your marriage apart,
if it's going to leave, and the majority
of kids find porn through their parents' computers.
And the software also blocks questionable sites.
And they don't want to do what it
takes.
They don't want to do what it takes
to remove this from their life.
I'm cutting off all relationships and media venues
that are hurting me or my family.
That's what else this looks like.
I talk to people, especially people who are
addicted, if they've got a problem with alcohol
or drugs or different things, and their Facebook
page.
And I used to, I mean, you guys
know we lost two young adults from this
congregation about two years ago, a year and
a half ago, to heroin overdose.
And I talked to both of them.
We're at this church.
Both of them.
In all cases, I say, if I were
you, I would eliminate Facebook.
I would eliminate your...
Go throw the phone in the aqueduct.
Get a phone from your parents, just your
number.
Nobody wants to take radical steps.
I mean, you couldn't be more clear than
this.
Cut off your foot if it's causing you
to sin.
But see, we hold on to the very
things that Jesus says release.
And two funerals within two months, I've got
a problem with that.
They don't want to eradicate these things.
And you know what?
Here's the exact wording.
I don't want to do that.
They're my friends.
Really?
Those are your friends?
They're leading you in a direction you don't
want to go.
They're pulling you down.
You better reassess the definition of friends.
And when you get to the core of
it, you get to the core of it.
This is the shoot you straight part of
the sermon.
When you get to the core of it,
they enjoy their sin more than wanting to
remove it.
That's why people continue in it.
There's still that, but I love that ecstasy.
I love that oxy.
I love that crystal.
I love that, you fill in the blank.
They don't want to fully turn.
So Jesus says, I don't believe it's a
works-based thing he's saying here.
Do this and you'll enter heaven.
He's saying, you've got to move.
You've got to get to the point you
realize how bad sin is, and you're going
to do whatever it takes to get that
out of your life and turn to God.
That's why I talk about full surrender.
That's what this is dealing with.
And it's interesting.
A word for sin, many of you know,
it means to miss the mark.
And actually he used a different word here.
Scandaliso.
Whoever believes, if he who causes one of
these little ones in me to scandaliso would
be better for him if a millstone were
hung around his neck.
Does that word sound like our English word,
scandal?
That's where it comes from.
That's where our word scandal comes from.
It comes from this Greek word scandaliso.
And it means to put a stumbling block
before others.
And boy, I was convicted today.
How much stuff are we allowing in our
homes, those with little kids or teenagers, that
you're actually putting a stumbling block for them.
They're allowed to go on and watch Netflix
or voodoo and maybe come across Fifty Shades
of Grey or maybe come across this or
maybe come across that.
All these things that we're allowing porn on
our computers.
We're putting a stumbling, it's a scandal in
our homes.
We're putting stumbling blocks before the children.
You see, I'm getting to the point now
where I'd rather err on the side of
removing too much than too little.
You can call me a Jesus freak.
You can call me a holy roller.
You can call me self-righteous.
You can say, oh, that's some weird homeschooling
family over there.
You know, those little terms.
But I'm gonna follow Christ and I'd rather
err on the side of removing too much
that might be distracting than too little.
And every parent, I believe, has got to
take it to the Lord.
For some, some things might be fine, but
for others, we have to be careful.
Because here's the deal.
Kids are moldable and impressionable.
And this is no secret, right?
What you're taking with children is you're molding
them and you're shaping them into who they'll
be.
And many times when you have problems in
therapy and counseling, you can go back to
childhood experiences.
Learn behavioral patterns, right?
Cognitive behavioral patterns.
All these things.
Now, no excuse, in my opinion.
It's not an excuse.
We can't go, well, because my dad was
mean to me, I'm this way.
Well, welcome to my world.
But you can trace it back to those
times when you were moldable and shapeable.
Now, I'm wanting affirmation.
I'm needing esteem.
Girls who want affirmation who never got affirmation
from their father will seek it out in
other men.
And they'll become promiscuous by age 15.
Why?
Because they were moldable and shapeable with those
young ears.
That's why God says teach them, train them
in the way they should go.
When they were older, they will not depart
from me.
Show them.
It was interesting.
In 2005, American Medical Association surveyed teenagers, 13
to 18, and they found, and this is
one of the stumbling blocks, they're talking about
how easy it is for minors now to
get alcohol.
Two out of three teens say it's easy
to get alcohol from their homes without parents
knowing.
Two out of five say it's easy to
get alcohol from friends' parents.
One in four teens has attended a party
where minors are drinking in front of parents.
Nearly one in four teens and one in
three girls say their own parents give them
alcohol.
Now, this isn't a topic, you know, I
mean, just gonna go after alcohol here, but
I am showing you that if that's not
putting a stumbling block before a child, I
don't know what is.
I mean, I can relate to this.
My friends all around town, let's go get
that southern comfort while they're sleeping, put a
little bit of water in there, they will
never know.
Everclear.
Have to go to Nevada to get that.
Just put, replace with some water, they'll never
know.
And my, that formed in me at 16,
17 from parents.
They put it, it was a scandal.
They put a stumbling block before me that
was taken in.
So I would just encourage you, look at
your house.
Look at your, is there, God forbid, is
there a stumbling block in my house?
Is there a stumbling block in my house?
And I can even take this further.
Look at what, look at what we're feeding
little kids.
If I see another five year old at
the Little League Field with a Dr. Pepper
this big and Doritos, I'm gonna have a
heart attack.
Oh, he's got ADD and this and that.
Well, you might wanna start with correctly giving
him something that will take care of his
body.
And I'm asked, I was asked last month
if I could start writing articles for a
big news organization on fitness again because they
called it a childhood epidemic and childhood obesity.
It's an epidemic.
Now, what's going on?
I say, first, look in the pantry.
Out of sight, out of mind.
And it falls directly on the shoulders of
the parents under a certain age.
Unapologetically, I'm saying that.
Under a certain age, it falls directly on
our shoulders.
So if we're feeding them a bunch of
garbage and they have no attention, they have
no discipline, their bodies, we are, I truly
believe we're putting a stumbling block in front
of them.
We are not helping them physically.
We are hurting them physically.
As parents, we should have, we should want
the best for our children, feeding spiritually, mentally,
emotionally.
I'm not putting that at the same page
as spiritual health at all.
But if you think about these little kids
were given to us to mold and to
shape and to take care of physically, spiritually,
emotionally, mentally, yet we're gonna neglect this important
area?
It just, it doesn't make sense.
We're destroying their bodies, physically.
We're destroying their spirit, spiritually.
The parents, the adults who are called to
lead and shepherd these children.
Remember what I said last year, I think
it was Father's Day, with Josh McDowell, said
that one of the questions he gets the
most from young adults is how can we
live for Christ when we don't want the
Christ that our parents have?
I mean, that one sentence should bring this
room to repentance, honestly.
It's a scandal.
Scandaliso.
We're putting a stumbling block before others.
And it needs to stop.
And then of course, verse 10, it's interesting,
he goes right into the lost sheep.
Take heed that you do not despise one
of these little ones.
God's heart for the children.
This might be a good point to tell
you, get involved in children's ministry.
We need a lot of children's ministry helpers
and we don't have enough.
And I think a lot of it has
to do with this.
Do not despise one of these little ones.
I was, I'm guilt, now that I have
kids, I'm not like this.
Because I love them.
I'd want seven more, but it's very hard.
But what does this mean?
Do not dislike.
Do not shun.
Do not, do not, do not dislike, do
not shun.
Remember that guy, get away from me, Ken,
you bother me.
Who was that guy?
He said in the 50s, 60s.
There you go, get away from me, Ken,
you bother me.
That's what people, but that's what parents do.
Many times they're adults.
Get away, you bother me.
And Jesus is saying just the opposite.
Do not despise one of these little ones.
However else you want to interpret that verse,
you can't.
That's what he's saying.
Despise, it means to dislike or to shun.
Get away from me.
When God says a heart should be for
the children, we're saying, get away from me,
get away from me.
Jesus says, for I say to you that
in heaven, they're angels.
All we see the face of my father
in heaven.
So do kids have little personal angels?
Guardian angels?
Well, I don't know what else you'd make
of that.
For I say to you that in heaven,
they're angels.
All we see the face of my father
who is in heaven.
For the son of man has come to
save that which was lost.
What do you think?
If a man is 100 sheep and one
of them goes astray, does he not leave
the 99 and go to the mountains to
seek the one that is straying?
And if he should find it, assuredly, I
say to you, he rejoices more over that
sheep, that one sheep than all the 99
that did not go astray.
Even so, it is not the will of
your father who is in heaven that one
of these little ones should perish.
This is a good point to remind you
of that sermon a few months ago.
Unstoppable love, God the pursuer.
Don't forget that God is the pursuer.
Many mistakenly believe they've done too much damage
that God can't use them now.
But that's not true.
God is always pursuing.
He's always pursuing.
Even when I was living like hell, heaven
was still beckoning me.
Even when I was denying my Savior, He
never denied me.
It doesn't matter if you still have breath
in your lungs right now.
God is pursuing you.
That lost sheep, even the lost sheep, I'm
too lost, I'm too far gone, I'm on
this, I'm on that, God will, no, no,
He's looking for that lost sheep.
That's the message it needs to get out.
There's people on crack cocaine right now on
Beach Avenue.
They're on heroin.
They're on this.
They're on crystal meth.
They haven't slept in two days.
They're on a high.
They're on a trip.
They're saying, I can't step into that church.
God will kill me.
He says, no, God says, I'm drawing you.
I'm looking for that lost sheep to what?
To convert and turn back to me.
That's a loving Father.
That's what He does.
It's unstoppable love.
So all my theology can be summed up
in this.
Four words.
Jesus Christ died for me.
That's five words for you paying attention.
Jesus died for me.
Your theology can be summed up in that.
I don't know of a better, I have
some more notes, but they're pointless now.
So when you go to worship, think about
that.
And I really want to get this point
across.
These aren't just songs.
Well, let's just buy some time until the
next service.
This is the time to, actually more takes
place during worship.
The Monday night worship night, I'm still getting
positive feedback.
70 of 60 of us here, Monday night
worshiping God for an hour and a half.
That's all we did.
And that's the point of worship is to
get our hearts back in that direction.
And if your cause is stumbling block, repent
during worship.
If you don't know God, if you don't
know Christ, all you have to do is
say, Lord, I'm a sinner.
I need you.
Come back and pray with us.
We'll pray for you.
Whatever it is, you need to do business
with God and get right with Him.
If you don't know Him, and if you
do know Him, and you've drifted, know that
God's pursuing.
And if you're still on course, you're doing
great, you're a spirit-filled believer, then take
this time of worship and thank Him.
Thank Him that you have not drifted off
course.
Because we can get pretty proudful on that,
can't we?
As soon as I have a guy tell
me I haven't had a drink in a
year, then I find out he's back hooked
again.
Be very careful because in our pride and
arrogance, in our pride and arrogance, we can
judge ourselves and the enemy saying, I've got
a foothold now.
So be careful in that area.