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I was reading something this morning and I

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want to share it with you this afternoon

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before we seek the Lord in prayer for

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revival in our nation.

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And what I read was a news article

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that the Barna Group published concerning pastors in

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America.

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They interviewed evangelical conservative pastors for the last

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two years and the research they performed was

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under the direction of George Barner and his

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research group, and they disclosed that 90%

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of the pastors they interviewed did not preach

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on controversial subjects because they did not want

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to upset their parishioners.

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And when poll pastors were asked how did

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they describe themselves as far as if you

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could know that their church was successful or

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not, and they said that to find if

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their church was successful, they listed the following

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five factors which determined a successful church.

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Number one, attendance.

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Number two, giving.

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Number three, number of programs.

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Number four, the number of staff.

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And number five, square footage.

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In other words, the biggest churches with the

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largest buildings and the largest group of people

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was considered successful.

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So why would a pastor with that mindset

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preach on an offensive message that would drive

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off his comparable membership, which makes up his

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successful church?

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Well, certainly he would not.

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So what this means, friends, that out of

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the churches in America, 90% of them

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will not preach the real gospel with its

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scandalous cross because the real gospel speaks of

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a bloody cross because of sin.

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And the real gospel speaks of man's duty

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of repentance and the necessity of regeneration for

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a person to be truly born again.

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And the real gospel warns sinners of their

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great danger of dying in their sins and

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being cast into a burning place of misery

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called hell.

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And the church of today determines that success

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is not found in the spiritual life of

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a person, but rather in the number of

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persons you can get to join your church

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and in the amount of brick and mortar

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you have on campus.

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That's the shape we're in today in this

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country, friend.

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And we wonder why people aren't getting saved

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today.

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And we wonder why the nation's growing more

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and more wicked every day.

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The answer is found in the great apostasy

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of the American church.

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So this afternoon, before we prepare our hearts

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to pray for revival, I must bring you

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a heart burden.

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And that heart burden is just a description

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of what the true gospel is.

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I will bring you a brief exhortation on

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what true religion is, because chances are you

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won't find it in the majority of our

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churches today.

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And I'll sum it all up with a

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little story about a monkey and a nut.

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Do you know how they catch monkeys down

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in the jungles of South America?

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A monkey catcher will go into the jungle

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with a glass jug like the kind you

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keep apple cider in.

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And that monkey catcher will take a nut

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like an acorn or some favorite nut that

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monkeys like, and he will drop that nut

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into the mouth of that jug.

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And then he'll set that jug down and

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he will back up and hide himself in

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the bushes.

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And he will wait until a monkey climbs

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down out of a tree and smells that

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nut.

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The monkey will go over to that jug

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and take his paw like this.

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He'll stretch out his fingers until they are

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elongated and then slowly shove his hand into

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that jug to where his arm goes down

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deep into it to get that nut lying

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there on the bottom.

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Then the monkey grabs that nut in his

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paw and makes a fist and goes to

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bring his arm out of that jug.

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But he can't do it, friends.

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His fist won't fit through that opening of

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that jug.

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And that monkey refuses to let loose of

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that nut.

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So he'll scream and holler and jump and

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kick, but he won't do what's necessary.

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And the necessary thing is to let loose

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of that nut.

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So here comes the monkey catcher out of

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the bushes, and he grabs the monkey and

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gets him in a chokehold and takes that

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monkey's arm and forces the tendrils of that

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little monkey's paw to let loose of that

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nut.

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And the monkey catcher has him another monkey.

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And that monkey is like the sinner who

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won't let loose of his sins.

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He will gladly accept Jesus as his Savior

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and join the church and scream and holler

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and jump up and down during the music,

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but he won't let go of his sins.

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And standing back in the shadow is the

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devil, and he's on his way to catch

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another sinner in his sins and drag him

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down to hell, all because that sinner, like

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the monkey, won't let go of his sin.

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He clutches it tightly.

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He holds it to his bosom and cradles

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it.

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He hugs his sin and won't let loose

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of it.

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And there comes a day when the old

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jug of death rolls down that hill and

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lands at his feet, and he dies in

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his sins.

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And there is the devil, the monkey catcher,

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so to speak, and he has caught yet

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another fool in his sins.

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This is very somber, friends, and you better

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pay attention to God's word, because if you

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sleep through it and if you ignore it

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and if you disregard its warnings, then you

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will have no excuse if you die in

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your sins and drop into hell.

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My text is Ezekiel 18, 4, which states

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the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

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We live in a day, friends, where chances

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are you won't hear the true gospel preached

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in your ears.

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That's because 90 percent of the churches refuse

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to preach it.

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We live in a day of a great

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famine in the land, a famine for hearing

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the word of God.

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We live in a day where God is

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absent from our churches and the Holy Spirit

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has been grieved away by our sins, and

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we feed poor sinners, a diluted gospel that

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has no power to save.

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The watered-down gospel of your day and

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mine couldn't save a flea, much less an

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in-for-help church member who refuses to

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let go of their sin.

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Rather, we preach a sin in religion today.

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We speak of half a God, a God

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of only love.

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We hand out a shrunken Jesus to people

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who feel no need of him in the

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first place.

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So they take him like what a piece

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of chewing gum and chew on him for

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a while.

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And then when the flavor goes away and

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their excitement and their religion cools, they just

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spit him out because they never really needed

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him anyhow to begin with.

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They were just fine without him because he

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came with no conditions attached to him that

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you can leave him or take him when

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you were good and ready.

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And when you finally do accept this modern

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version of Jesus, you can have him and

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go to heaven and still hug your sins,

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still clutch your sin like that monkey in

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his nut and still stay out of hell.

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That's what we're told today.

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That's what the churches tell us today.

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There's no need to repent.

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Just believe.

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Why didn't you hear that the gospel's been

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modernized to keep up with modern man?

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You don't need to repent to be saved.

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Only believe, friends, only believe.

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The problem with that philosophy is that it's

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from the pit of hell because the devils

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believe and tremble and they are eternally doomed

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and damned.

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But Jesus said, unless you repent, you shall

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all likewise perish.

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Listen, friends, the bottom line of true religion

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is not how long you've been a member

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of a church or whether you serve on

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a deacon board or sing in the choir

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and attend your local church faithfully and give

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your money to support it.

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But rather, the dividing line of true religion

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is whether a person is a false professor

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or a true convert, or are they truly

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born again?

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And this is where the fruit of the

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tree must be examined in the life of

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a person.

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But when a person loves the mercy of

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God so they can gain heaven, but they

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love their sin more and they hate holiness,

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they demonstrate through their life's actions that they

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only wanted Christ as a benefactor, but not

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a sovereign ruler over them.

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A true convert will embrace all the demands

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of Christ and his gospel.

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And through that vital union with the living

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Lord, he will hate what God hates and

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love what God loves.

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He will want to obey God and his

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commands, and he will deny himself, take up

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his cross and follow a crucified Savior by

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living a crucified life.

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All that means is this.

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Who is sitting on the throne of your

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heart, friend?

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Is it you or is it the Lord

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Jesus?

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You see, friend, when a person comes safely

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to Christ, something happens.

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A self is dethroned and another is enthroned

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there of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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No longer will you clutch that nut of

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sin and hang on to it for dear

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life to your own destruction, but rather you

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will loosen your grip on sin and turn

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in repentance from it to God.

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The bottom line of a person's faith is

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the foundation they rest upon.

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Is it a false foundation through a false

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profession or is it a sound foundation of

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a sound convert?

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Well, how will you know?

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I can't read a person's heart and neither

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can you.

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There are weeding tears in every church.

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At least that's what my Bible tells me.

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But I can say this, friend, you personally

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will know if you are like that monkey

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or not.

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If you are clutching your sin with a

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firm grasp and you refuse to part with

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it, then you must be aware that a

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sin will always take you farther than you

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want to go and leave you there longer

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than you want to stay.

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And if you stay in your sins, friends,

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you risk dying in your sins and dropping

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into hell.

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Now, that's pretty plain, isn't it?

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Here is the monkey clutching that nut and

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refusing to open his paw to let that

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nut go to the risk of his own

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life, because the monkey catcher is in the

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shadows watching his every move and ready to

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pounce upon him and catch his prey.

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And here is the sinner who is clutching

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his sin and refusing to let it loose

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to his own great peril, because in the

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shadows lurks the devil just waiting for that

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sinner to hang on to that sin long

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enough to die in it.

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And then he and his demons will pounce

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on you and have their prey and drag

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you down to hell for the soul that

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sinneth it shall die.

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At least that's what my Bible says.

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My Bible says that when a person exercise

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repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ,

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that person will be pardoned and saved.

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Their sins will be washed in the blood.

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And when that happens, God gives a person

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a new disposition for holiness, for without no

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one will see the Lord.

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Listen to what God says about it through

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his through his word in Romans.

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For if you live after the flesh, you

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shall die.

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But if you through the spirit to mortify

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the deeds of the body, you shall live

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for as many as are led by the

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spirit of God.

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They are the sons of God, a monkey

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and a nut.

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Now you've just heard the gospel in a

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nutshell, friend.

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What will you do about it?

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Let us pray.