2017 Alabama Baptist Convention Session 3 - Rick Burgess

you know it's it's pretty simple message tonight and first of all I wanted just so thankful to have my wife with me here tonight how many of you had the honor of hearing her speak at the dinner earlier tonight she is a treasure and I am thankful to be your husband it is an honor to be your husband and you know the Bible is pretty clear the man who has a godly wife has a good thing and and I am extremely blessed and I'm very proud of you you did incredible and your love of God you know I know normally a lot of people we talk about you know you if you have for me with the show if you are that's fine if you're not that's alright too it's not going to mean a whole lot tonight it's just a vehicle to get me in this place I'm honored to be trusted by the Alabama Baptist state convention Kevin and I were brought in nine years ago I remember you know wondering how that was gonna go I talked to you then that my grandmother was close to going into heaven at that time and my grandmother always received the Alabama Baptist newspaper she was gravely concerned about anyone going to heaven who was not a Southern Baptist I can remember her whispering to me one time when one of our cousins was dating a Presbyterian and she said he thinks I don't know about it but I do and so it was but but I want to tell you about tonight's theme because this is true my grandmother did not just believe in Jesus she was a disciple of Jesus and and I will tell you that's not something that a grandson says to make his grandmother look good it is evident throughout Birmingham where she had the platform now Here I am the gods given me a platform on radio and television and things that go into many many places and and my impact from the King for the kingdom pales in comparison to my grandmother who managed a high school and elementary school lunchroom that's what she did and everywhere I go in Birmingham I'm talking in the hundreds of people that will say are you Margaret's grandson and I will say yes sir yes ma'am you know where they'll say she led me to Jesus she led me to Jesus and and this this was her passion and this was why she was here and I will tell you this but there's not many people in this audience tonight that on surface would ever look at my grandmother is somebody you would aspire to be you'd rather be some much bigger names that come from Alabama usually tied to football or something like that and I'm going to tell you something I have been all over the southeastern United States I've been all over the country I've even been around the world and I've had a lot of people mention people who are very famous from Alabama got statues of them and they never once said those men led them to Jesus never once but which one do we aspire to be which one would you rather spend time with a a lunchroom lady who led hundreds of people to Jesus or some famous coach that has stadiums named after which one would you rather be well according to the Word of God it should be my grandmother because because I assure you in heaven right now my grandmother is a much bigger deal than those men see it's different here in it and see what Jesus has said to us it's really quite simple when you think about our theme as Jesus is getting ready to accomplish while he why he came and and he accomplishes everything he was supposed to do then he spends 40 days preparing the first followers of Jesus for what they're supposed to do and What did he say he said all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me go therefore and make what disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeing them to observe all that I have a commanded you and behold I'm with you always until the end of the age so Jesus said I'm gonna teach you for three years I'm gonna go and reconcile you two to a holy God I'm gonna pay the debt for sin I'm going to defeat eternal death I'm gonna come out of the tomb on the third day telling the entire world who I am so I'm going to teach you for three years I'm gonna spend 40 days with you after I have been resurrected and the last thing I'm gonna tell you to do is to go and make disciples and teach them to obey everything I've taught you to do that's what I expect you to do that's the instruction now some of you first of all if you're like me you start thinking to yourself well what is the disciple and I want to tell you I was ready to through you with some incredible definitions of what a disciple is and I've come up with one because as I have said many times common sense is a super power it hasn't always been but it truly is now and as I begin to search all I was going to thrill you I was gonna go Greek and Hebrew like my wife can do but then I said but at the end of the day what is the disciple and you know what I've come to the conclusion of what the Bible tells me a disciple is it's someone who says what God says to say and does what God says to do that's it even a C student from Calhoun County can understand that but now that may be easy to understand but it's extremely difficult to do and I will tell you what one of the biggest problems is it is impossible for you to teach someone what Jesus commanded if you never know what he commanded it is impossible to do what Jesus would do if you don't know what he did it is impossible to emulate the life of someone you don't know if you want to teach me something you better know it and the problem is this is a general statement that I'm making and I know it's gonna bother some of you and you know how soft-hearted I can be I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings I am my grandmother's grandson she was never overly concerned about that either but but what I'm gonna say is this if the way we're doing things is the way we should continue it then I should see a lot more of transformed disciples of Jesus Christ who walk like Jesus Christ or at least walk like his early followers and I've got news for you I don't see it we're not sending transformed people out of these churches why why is that well if it was if it was the way we're doing things with our rituals and the way we carry things and their bulletins and this is the way we do service this way we do it this is how we preach this how long we preach this is how we handle response these are the songs we sing if that was enough then we should see a transformed society and we don't so undoubtedly we're not doing it right and and and the reason that may be is that we have developed cultural Christianity but we are not developing disciples of Jesus Christ I was a cultural Christian I can speak to that I know exactly what it looks like to believe in Jesus and it doesn't look very good at all you know why I didn't know much about him you knew that he came knew that he died for my sin didn't want to go to hell got it I believed in Jesus from the time I was a child but I was not transformed to I became a disciple of Jesus and guess how I became a disciple of Jesus a pastor finally looked at my sin filled life and said you're lost there in premarital counseling and I said to the pastor who you to tell me I'm lost I'll have you know I've been baptized twice by the way that was true I kept getting baptized over and over because I hadn't seen transformation I say must be something to this ritual I can't I can't seem to make it happen dunk me again but see I've never been baptized into the Holy Spirit I've been baptized with water but I've never been baptized about the Holy Spirit because I'd never submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ I had simply believed in him guess who else believes in Jesus the demons if you notice if you look through if you want to have fun with the New Testament watch how many times the disciples don't know who Jesus is but the demons do they get him right every time every time he comes to cast one out they call him son of God they they talk about all the authority he has hey you didn't committee what you can do with us now send us in these pigs meaning he can they know everything about him before the disciples get it right we know that James tells us in his very difficult book we know that James tells us so you believe in the Trinity great so do the demons and they shudder at the sound of it how many of you when God's name is mentioned you have so much reverence for the father son of the Holy Spirit that you shudder the demons do so so you think see this is where we come up with these these people that aren't disciples of Jesus I do a lot in men's ministry and it makes me want to what's a nice word for I don't want to say it makes me sick it makes me nauseous I wanted to say something worse than that it makes me nauseous when I see some man that goes to church every single Sunday if it doesn't rain and he goes or if he be getting too late from the ballgame he goes to church holds his bulletin looks perfect every week sings the hams even hold his hands up and when you ask him about something to do with God you know what he calls him the big man upstairs that man don't know Jesus he said he's afraid to even utter his name the big man upstairs like the like the great I am the beginning in the end all authority in heaven how about this who created you God nobody I just am sherry talks about this at the dinner what's your name I am I've always been Paul tells us he's working out his salvation with fear and trembling job tells us after God finally said you wonder who I am there are just you talk about you want to have the right kind of fear come over your body read the book of Job when Joe finally gets a little angry about what's going on there this is a man that in the beginning of the Bible tells us that he was what blameless and upright but when God in in job gets toward the end right around chapter 40 somewhere in there Lily went out right in there the late 30s and it says what and God answered finally God said to job you want to sit down I'd like to tell you I am now job when he gets started about about a quarter of the way it says hey I got he said no no I'm gonna finish I'm gonna tell you everything I am this is a man who the Bible said was blameless and upright and when God was finished through the suffering so Joe would finally see who God really was he says before I had heard of you with my ears now I see you with my eyes and I despise myself and I repent and ashes and dust he didn't call him the big man upstairs some folks he grandfather sitting on the porch with some fancy things to say I got a few life lessons for you any man that talks like that has never cowered in the presence of a holy God and he's never been reconciled to a holy God he doesn't know Jesus he's afraid to even use the name but what do we do we just let these people continue and perpetual spiritual infancy and that's the reason why they don't impact their families they don't impact their society and they're useless in the church because they're not a disciple of Jesus Christ they may believe in him but they're not a disciple you know what they have I'll say it according to scriptures they have a demonic faith they have the faith of a demon because the demon believes everything about Jesus they do except this man still hasn't done what a demon won't do what's that declared Jesus is Lord fall on their face and say you are Lord and I repent of all sin transform me change me I want to follow you if you believe in Jesus but you live in perpetual sin against him you just like a demon that's it that's what they do so what do we do about it well first of all we have to remember the role of the church when it comes to discipleship what is discipleship discipleship is the developmental process of the local church that brings the Christian from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity so they are then able to repeat the process with someone else that's what we're talking about in it but but you where's the first part the church seems to satisfied in general with with a congregation of people that are perpetually in spiritual infancy why why is that good enough for us see remember what Jesus was an example you ever noticed this now somebody not gonna like this at all and there's certainly nothing wrong with church growth I'm all for it I mean praise the Lord but but I'm not for numbers I'm for disciples of Jesus what did Jesus do every time everybody got excited what did he do did the teaching get easier or harder it got harder weeding him out do you remember when he starts talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood everybody left with the original 12 and he looked around said what y'all gonna do and they said I don't know what were you talking about but we've seen what you can do we're gonna stay with you so he went from what at that point 120 150 people he went down right down to 12 hey after the feeding of the 5,000 we gonna make him King what did he do he left what about in the Gospel of John when he was doing all these miracles they said people were with him but he was not with them because he knew a man's heart he knew they liked the show they liked the miracles but they didn't know who Jesus was they weren't worshiping Jesus they were worshiping the show this guy can heal sick people this guy keeps coming up with some miracles and and say he says be careful I'm not here to give you a show I only do these things to reveal who I am did he heal everybody No did he keep providing food no matter of fact what did he say after he fed the 5000 they're just gonna be hungry again I'm trying to show you I'm the bread I'm the bread of life I'm the bread that my father has sent you and those who partake of me will never be hungry again the woman at the well I'll get you some water but I want to talk to you about the living water because if you will drink of me you'll never be thirsty again so Jesus's example to every pastor in this room if you want to have a congregation of disciples of Jesus Christ make the teaching harder not easier in the book the spirit of the disciplines we're doing this now in our men's Bible study I thought he made a great point he says talking about how we're to discipline ourselves spiritually not just physically of course there's a lot of people in the church and I used to be one of them who are never gonna be able to discipline themselves spiritually until they finally decide to discipline themselves physically but it says this this is one of the things that he says he says that he is concerned about the state of the church because he said it looks like the church is failing to take human transformation seriously he said it's almost like we go out and we teach that their faith is in vain they'll constantly struggle with the evils of the world nothing will ever change they never see victory over sin and all they do is they're waiting to die and hopefully go to heaven that's what we're preaching is the is the transform life of someone who's been transformed and reconciled to a holy father and he says holiness and devotion must now come forth from the closet hey everything else is coming out of the closet why did the church say we won't holiness and devotion to Jesus Christ to come out of the closet he said the greatest danger to the Christian Church today is that of pitching the message too low it's too low we're grace abusers that's all we ever talk about hey I love grace hey we sang about it's great I was saved by grace I'm saved by grace through faith absolutely hey God had to come to me I couldn't come to him but once that takes place grace has power to transform the person into a new creation the old passes away and the new has come Romans chapter 6 Paul says talks about Grace's be careful with grace that you don't abuse it are you we doing to send more so we can show how great grace is he says certainly not he says as a matter of fact what you've got to decide is what what you're going to be a slave to he said you have to decide even though you've been saved by grace will you continue to be a person who has do loss a bondservant the original Greek is do loss a bondservant means you have no rights you're even either going to be a slave to sin which leads to death or a slave to what obedience that leads to righteousness obedience what you don't you don't hear that talked about a lot o the only problem is the Bible talks about all time Jesus went as far as to say very simply in John 14:15 if you really love me you'll obey me so this transformation in becoming a disciple and a completely new creation that's not what earned us our salvation it's the results of salvation but you would think going into many churches today that as long as I keep believing in Jesus he's gonna keep showing me grace it doesn't matter what I do the only problem is that's not salvation when this pastor looked at me and said that I was lost and I said who are you to tell me you're lost you know he said I didn't say you were lost your life tells me you're lost because Rick you live in perpetual sin you can't be transformed by Jesus you could not have experienced Jesus and be a disciple of Jesus Christ and look like you look if you say that you're with Jesus based on what and I couldn't make sense for it other than getting baptized twice and believing it in one time and so I had to come out I said there's some sort of problem what's the problem now God with a great sense of humor somebody who had not read the Bible in 13 years because I was one of these guys you don't have to go to church to be a Christian that's legalism at the word Church bicker do you know any disciple of Jesus Christ don't go to church they didn't become a disciple because they went to church they went church because they became a disciple I don't know anybody who truely's encountered Jesus that doesn't go to church it's not legalism its obedience and its desire to be there and and you know and people you hear this all time with me in today well I don't read the Bible cuz I don't have good study habits I don't like to read and then I was saying what asking about your football team my goodness there's a lot of research that's going into this you just told me a seventh-grader y'all looking at they might playing the 2035 teen where'd you get all this information you ever asked a man who says he doesn't have good study habits when it comes to the Bible and ask him how you can kill bigger bucks Wow he's telling me things about the mating habits I didn't want to know so a man says I won't study what will be transforming and will lead to my eternity got no interest in that but I'm dis I'm just eat up with the mating habits of deer i'm eat up with what an 18 19 or 20 year old kids gonna do on Saturday all right that's where I find that's where I find my place so no it's not that you don't have good study habits you're studying what you care about you don't have a desire for it you know probably means you're lost nobody else may have ever told you that your life that's probably it because if you've ever encountered Jesus Christ it'll change your life not because who you are because who he is and I don't know why we're afraid to say that you know Paul goes on and on in the letters to the churches saying what a lot of times what you see why are you all allowing open sin just keep going onto the church they may leave the church good how about this the church be better off if those people would leave and you know what you know what Paul said if you'll ever do that it may save their life because you turn them over to their sin see we're trying to teach lost people the same way we're teach people who claim to already be found and that's not the same are the way we treat the loss coming into the church it's not the way we treat those that are members of the church they keep living like they've never been transformed that's not the same thing if we don't bring church discipline back into the church we're gonna find ourself in a lot of trouble and there comes a time you go to somebody and you say you claim to be a follower of Jesus and you're living and open sin and if they don't come around you bring some other people back from the church and say you're living open sin and and you need to repent and if they don't you bring it before the church and that if they don't you throw them out that was the first time when we started doing a new men's ministry program in our church the first time I got to speak to the guys in the church the first thing I said was our church would be better off when we throw some of y'all out and boy that went over great that was but we had some men and open sin in the church and and we needed to do with it and and you know what we found after that approach was a lot of those men gave his testimonies that they went home and their life was changed because they finally come under conviction because somebody looked him too high and said according to Scripture you're wrong now we did that in a men setting that's one thing you talk about disciple in church one thing you got to understand and and I and I always have fun with this and this is something that God's just ledo mean we got to start disciple Ament of the church I had a pastor to him I said why do you not work to get the men discipled you're always catering to women and children you know what the pastor told me because it's easier it is easier to get women to everything to church it is but I don't mean it's right and here's what I love and I was talking any time I talk about men's ministry I'll tell you this the men's ministry is the most important ministry and every church represented in here and if a pastor says to me where do you get off who told you the men's ministry is the most important ministry in the church you know I'll say you did every Father's Day every father's day that's what you say you give me the Barna research right there's nothing more influential in the home than the man there's nothing more influential in society than men nothing does more damage on the house than a godless man and nothing has a more powerful role by God than to transform a home than the man well let me ask you something pastors what are you doing about it are you deciding men in your church have you made that your number-one priority because everything you keep saying points to if you can disciple a man it'll solve a lot of the problems of the church in the family why don't we why don't we why do you know we not look at that as our number-one priority based on all the research we'd love to talk about I mean you you wonder if George Barna wouldn't walk in and say I've been trying to tell you all this what why do you keep quote quote my stuff not do you think about it did God say the man is a spiritual leader at home yes or no why aren't you disciple in him you know why he can't lead us home he's a spiritual infant he's never left spiritual infancy and you know why he hasn't because you keep talking to him like he's a woman or a child you'll never disciple a man by treating him like he's a woman or a child men and women are equal co-heirs with Christ but they are not saying God did not make the genders interchangeable no matter what this lost world is telling you now where a man in a lot but what we do it about it that's whenever sit right but what are we doing about it do you have a system that is in your church right now that is designed to disciple men from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity because if the answer is no then you don't really mean what you say yeah I just changed you just change a message on Father's Day come up with something behind great they are talk to them like they're women and children if you're not serious about it because if we really believe what we continue to say it should be paramount that we're disciple II men before anybody but what we've done is we've put a flawed discipleship strategy out there that says disciple their children try to disciple their wife and then the children and the wives will bring the husband and the father into the church that that that is strategy from the pits of hell what that is Satan is laughing at that strategy why do you think so many men are getting destroyed because Satan believes barnum Satan says I go get the man I get it all why don't we as the church say if we disciple the man we get it all why don't we say that you know what some of you and Forte's you don't want to say great cause it's hard this sure yes you better believe it's hard so what we what we did is we designed a program and we've got a devotion outside that it's part of that but what we did design a program that keeps men in discipleship because the problem that you have not just with the man I'm talking about them now but really with anybody in the church is we as the church have got to stop treating symptoms we need to have a porn seminar for the men that's fine if you want to do that and there's certainly nothing wrong with that because I know a lot of men who struggle with that core sadly so are women now but that's not the problem we need to talk to men about being the spiritual leader of their home yeah right got you we do you talk about men but having the priorities wrong footballs an idol hunting fishings an idol right all that's great but their symptoms what you're saying when you see a man live like this is you just got a person who's either lost or they never been discipled discipleship is a disease these other things just symptoms of a man that's never been disciple he's he's in perpetual spiritual infancy if you don't believe it just talk to him he has no idea what's going on because he's never been discipled and and I started noticing a flaw and even events I was part of the best thing I could find is that we would do an event we'd get men fired up and we give them six weeks of Bible study and then that's it and you know what men do if you don't have anything next that's it enjoy it see it's the cocklebur Oh did our six Bible study and I'm out so we developed a system that kept me in in discipleship year-round non-stop and we divine we designed services once a quarter from Ezekiel 38 when God told Moses bring me the man I don't want the women in the children three times a year just bring me the men and I'm gonna talk to you about what these men are supposed to be doing they're gonna go back and do it in their homes that's what it's kind of designed by it's actually in the Bible so then you know we did you simple how'd you ever get men to get into sopping up glasses we wrote we wrote him hard to hit him accountable and you know we did to the ones that wouldn't do it we didn't chase after him we kept feeding the ones that would do it we ain't gonna make you do it and if it don't mean anything to you we're not going to I can't find an example in the Word of God nowhere to where somebody rejected Jesus and he chase after him can you it's not there he presented the truth he said who he was he offered who he was - did you see that in the early church the disciples what'd he tell the disciples do about anybody that will reject him wipe it off you think he rolling how many times do we have people in our church waiting to be to soften we keep chasing after these drama queens hey that some people I really think thrive on being in some sort of drama in the church all the time and they sucked the life out of everything is available to the people who just want to be disciples of Jesus it doesn't mean that we don't have compassion please don't misunderstand me but what it means is there comes a time we can't ignore those that are growing we got to keep feeding them we can't think that we keep having to pitch the message low or dumb it down to make her bike comfortable I did not come to Christ because of comfort I came to Christ because of discomfort somebody called me out and said based on Scripture you don't look like Scripture you're living a lie first John didn't pull any punches chapter two what'd he say anyone who says there were Jesus but they don't obey him they're liar she's not in them and this we may be sure that we're with him anybody says they're with him a walk-in the way which he walked she just didn't pull any punches when he's rolling through the Sermon on the Mount yesterday through Chapter seven was Jesus say a lot of people gonna be talking about me saying there do all kinds of things in my name but only those that do the will of the father are the ones that are with me everybody else is just a lawless person only those who do the will of the Father only those who obey me well what was one of the things that Paul said was the will of the Father when he wrote the letter to Thessalonica he said you doing pretty good but I want you to continue your what sanctification keep maturing in the faith because that's the will of the Father and Jesus said only those who do the will of the Father are the real deal maybe that's important so so we have to ask the question what should we do and why 1st Corinthians I love this when Paul's writing to the church at Corinth in chapter 3 two and three Paul is upset about the lack of discipleship he said I fed you with milk not solid food for you weren't ready for it and even now you are not ready for it why this is key he's not just angry he explains why they're not ready for it are you ready because you still live in the flesh I'm trying to move you on from milk I'm trying to give you solid food but you can't handle it you know why you still love the flesh what you don't have a desire for it yet you're still thinking that your flesh and it's desires are more fulfilling than moving on to spiritual maturity you don't want to know Jesus better you're good where you are so what is he saying is it's on you I can't move on so it's not just the response it's not just the problem of church leadership it's also the problem of the church body who doesn't desire it you you have to decide that you want this you want to truly experience transformation power found in an intimate mature relationship with Jesus Christ he will change any person who desires to be changed and you won't change yourself he'll change it but it derives not from legalism but from a devotion to Jesus Christ but you can't will be in love with somebody you don't know and you can't know Jesus if you aren't willing to be discipled the writer of Hebrews says this and Hebrews 5 11 through 14 about this we have much to say meaning hey I'm frustrated it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing for though by this time you ought to be teachers but you still need someone to teach you the basic principles of the Oracles of God you need milk not solid food for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child listen to this but the solid food is for the mature for those who have the powers of discernment trained by the constant practice to distinguish good from evil the writer of Hebrews says the reason why you keep getting trapped is because she refused to grow up spiritually and you know what he says I love this some of y'all should be teaching by now and I got to start all over and teach you like a baby the basic principles of God because you reject solid food and the ones that have taken the solid food the right of Hebrews says this they what have their power of discernment they can discern evil from good because their mature disciples of Jesus and how do they do this by the constant practice to distinguish good from evil is that you every passenger in here will tell you of a hundred percent of the congregation the same twenty percent people do everything what's up with the rest of you what what what are you doing same person got to teach forever you ain't never gonna teach you know some people like to roll off every now and then and and be fed but you know what they can't because you won't you won't man up or woman up and become a disciple of Jesus Christ do you have a desire for that will you always be happy to be in this perpetual cultural Christian no power I'm just like everybody else do you want to be transformed by Jesus are you are you are you this person I'm good I think I've done enough I think I believed enough feel pretty good about myself going to heaven and Rick once I get that done who cares that's a dangerous dangerous dangerous faith you know what it is it's blasphemy do you hear me it's blasphemy for you to think so little of Jesus for you to think so little of a holy God that you can comfortably continue to usher into his presence sin yeah I mean you've ever read the Calvary Road by Roy Hessian he said I've been trying to figure out why revival never is long-lasting in the American church I've been other places in the world where it keeps going y'all do realize the problem we're having the American church is not the problem in the world Church this is a pretty much an American problem because we're never persecuted but that's changing isn't it you know what God loves us enough he's about to weed some of y'all out he's gone making a little tougher to follow Jesus even in America and some are you gonna crumble because your babies and some would be forced to mature so you can make it but he said that he'd noticed that the revival has always stopped by the same thing see perpetual open sin in the church always stops revival so the question we had to put before ourselves is this something that we desire so you can't go make a disciple until you decide to become one right are any of you prepared like right now can you disciple somebody are you yet to be disciple 1st Thessalonians 4 1 in 5 paul says finally then brothers we ask and urge you in the lord jesus that as you receive from us how you are to walk and and to please God just as you're doing you need to do more and more for you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus for this is the will of God as I said a minute ago your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality and that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor not in the passions of the lusts like those who don't know God Wow Paul says this is important because if you if your sanctification is not taking place you're not going to achieve holiness if you're not going to achieve holiness you'll never have victory over your body and your body will rule you just like those who don't know God and you know why that's dangerous it sends people to hell because you know what people say when they see a church that has not been transformed by Jesus why would I fool with that it doesn't appear to have any power no need to set the clock on Sunday it looks like a monumental waste of time and how sad because see they didn't get to see Jesus because they saw people who claim to Jesus and they couldn't find him it's a really big deal a really really big deal and see for those of us in here tonight if you've ever decided that you understand who Jesus is Peter tells us that we really have no excuse and that's the key that's what you have to decide I'll hit you with two more things that will close but this is important first Peter chapter 1 verse 13 Peter says therefore prepare your minds for action I think about it whenever you get ready to go do something you prepare for it don't you Peter says prepare your minds for action first of all you've got to think yourself how much preparation do you do for for worship and Bible study now I know if we go into something we really care about we prepare quite a bit don't we hey you wanna says the Lord wants me to tell you this and I've said this before and I even told sherry I think people think that this is all I know how to say but it's important every time because it helps me I remind myself this a lot you may not always live out what you profess you may claim to be a follower of Jesus you may claim it and then not live it you can do that but you know what you can't do you can't stop yourself from living out what you really believe so you can claim to follow Jesus but sooner or later that's what Jesus was telling us in Matthew 7 a lot of people talk about me but they can't help it sooner or later the way they live will show you what they really believe right I mean if I were to tell you that I believe that drinking water I this plastic bottle is gonna give me mouth cancer and I kept drinking here do you believe that why don't you believe that my goodness I'm doing it so I can't really believe that right my actions showed you that I lied to you so Peter says it's important that you prepare your mind for action and being sober minded sober minded how many of you can say when you were not sober minded that's when the devil got you my hands up he said you prepare for action you be sober-minded see this is all action why do you think Paul who is the great example of a Christian who was transformed by Jesus it was never the same but Paul still says what I press on I try to make my body my slave every day what's Paul had to do all this for because he understands that he's working it out and he's growing in sanctification and maturing in Christ because he wants to be able to say as he did get to say at the end of his life well I wish I'd done better if I could have just done more no sir and why don't we make him our hero because you know how he died I've run the race I have fought the good fight I will receive the crown of righteousness from my Lord and Savior I got no regrets you know why cuz he pressed on he worked out his salvation with fear and trembling he prepared his mind for action he was sober minded and then Peter says set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ but he talks about grace but guess what he says next church as obedient children do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance he said if you've claimed the grace of Jesus ignorant is over you can't say anymore I didn't know any better he says you went took the grace that Jesus offered you so ignorant is over now so you can't conform to who you used to be he said but he who called you is here it is holy you also be holy in all of your conduct how many of you wish you could change that to be holy and some of your conduct but that's not what the Bible says Rick that's not attainable sure it's not not for the baby not for the spiritual infant that says I'm good so you're still not quite sold he's better are you not just not quite I had an opportunity to speak at a men's event and I was leaving and there was a young professional fisherman he was kind of shifty and had two of my sons with me and he sick and he said I should talk to you real quick and I said what's going he said I should have come forward I said man that's just a ritual of and it's an opportunity you give you life to Jesus right now if you're sincere in your heart and he looks down and it's just he's just shifting I said you want you want to you want to give you life to Christ now any one single man successful I said you're not convinced he's better I said man I know I've been where you're at I said you're thinking about what he's gonna make you give up women that you're not married to I was looking now I said he's gonna make you give up alcohol getting drunk raising hell I said and you think that stuff's still better than Jesus and you're not sure you won't give it up that's what grace is free but it ain't cheap is it cuz what will it cost you your sin and I said let me ask this I said have you ever and I know there's some kids in our I'll be gentle I said have you ever had a relationship with a woman that led you to believe it was possible she was gonna have a baby that you weren't married to he said oh yeah I said you ever been said party with the guys to drunk out that night you didn't even make the tournament the next day and cost you money yeah you're been driving drunk behind the wheel lights come on behind you and you say my life's over I'm gonna be kicked off the tour he said yeah I said that's the better life I said let me tell you why you and I have a better life than you and I told him about what sherry talked about today I said now first I'm gonna tell you I buried one of my kids really yeah I said I've asked that some terrible things happen in my life even after I start following Jesus I said but you know why my life's better than yours cuz I'm gonna go to bed at night apiece I'm gonna go to bed under the lordship of Jesus Christ and I said that's not the easiest life but it is by far the best life and it's not easy as it was Jesus said it wouldn't be easy Jesus said what in Matthew 7 the road is wide and what easy that leads to destruction and that's where the non disciples go it's wide and it's easy he said but if you want to come with me it's gonna be a narrow gate and the way that we will go will be wide say it to me hard and those who find it are few Wow we don't that's not a very seeker friendly message is it it's gonna be hard to get 47,000 members with that one but that's what Jesus said I'm a follower of Jesus and it's not easy it's a daily struggle because I'm not I'm still living in this sinful flesh in a sinful world but I have found that if I will devote myself to him he gives me the he shout I don't want Jesus to give me my desires because they're flawed I'm asking Jesus to change my desires and you know what look at me he has I'm not the same this year as I was last year not because of me but because I wonderful he is you know why cuz I'm not satisfied with being a spiritual baby I want to know him in his fullness and I can't wait for him to show me something else about him and frankly he is so wonderful I've got to the I've gotten to the point that I had to pretend to care about other things so people least hang around me you should see me do small talk I'm miserable oh yeah maybe win the game this week I sure hope so you know and I'm thinking who cares who wins the stupid game I certainly don't care about as much as I care about knowing Jesus and once I became to know Jesus I can actually watch a football game and not make me miserable whoever wins because I assure you when I get to heaven it ain't gonna make a rip how many national championships my team it ain't gonna matter I know some he'll think it is but it's really not think about this the great Adrian Rogers man if you're gonna be at about this convention you got a mention Adrian Rogers Adrian Rogers who said he and my meemaw by the way probably have a mansion anything that you love more anything you serve more anything you value more and this is a big one anything you fear more than God is your idol anything you serve more anything you love boring think you value more anything you fear more than God is an idol the anything that takes that place has replaced Jesus because he's what we should serve he see we should love he is exactly what we should place as complete value but listen to this he's also a whoosh of fear we talked a lot about how hard it is to follow Jesus and we should but don't you ever forget how catastrophic it is not to follow it I'm gonna say that one more time following Jesus is hard but it pays to not follow him is catastrophic and it leads to devastation an eternal damnation and it's far worse the question is as we close do you believe that do you believe that is that something that you really believe Hebrews 12:14 said strive for peace with everyone and we like that that's a good hippy message you know for these churches that that treat Jesus like he's a hippie not that he's Lord and King and his sovereign and has been Authority given authority over all heaven and earth in the spiritual realm in the physical room so we locked that straw for peace where by hey though we need to be nice you know what else it says them and you need to also strive for holiness because without that no one will see Jesus I'm gonna say that again strive for peace with everyone as it relies on us and we should do that but we tend to leave out when we're teaching that he the writer of Hebrews all said strive for holiness because without it and no one will see the Lord some of you is weak you're ready to close maybe thinking well Rick what what turns for you you told us about how you were called out that you weren't a disciple of Christ what happened what can happen for you right here at this altars night and some pastors here maybe to get in here and pray about the strategy that the devil is giving you not the Lord some of you need to come here and pray about the fact that you're not disciple Ament of your church some of you come in here and pray about the fact that you you're not a disciple of Jesus there's all kinds of things and he take place this altar and let's not squander it what happened was I went and opened the Bible for the first time in 13 years and with God's sense of humor it failed to James chapter 4 I didn't realize what a convicting book James was I didn't even know who James was in the Bible I thought it was James of the disciples I didn't know it was Jesus's earthly brother but James says what in James chapter 4 and this is what I cuz I tried to understand how come my cultural Christianity had not transformed me why had had it not delivered me from spiritual emphasis of spiritual maturity why had did not transform me why was I still a man who lived in perpetual sin and I saw the word submit submit yourself into God resist the devil he'll flee from you come here to God he'll come near to you and it clicked the Lord was so merciful to me I didn't know Romans 10:9 and 10 at that point I didn't know it but I knew what submit meant because I'd been raised by a father that told everybody submit to his authority or pay a price and I said I have tried to give God my sin anytime I felt guilty but I've never submitted his authority and said change me ID now and under your authority I'd never done that now I know that Romans Stand had been talking about that forever when it says what if you believe in your heart a sincerity in your heart not no one can do that for you if you believe in your heart sincere your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ what existed no no that he's Lord that he is the authority and that his father raised him from the dead on the third day and you will be saved some of you've not been transformed because all of you done is believed in Jesus you've confessed that he existed the demons got you on that they know more about it you do but what you need to do is confess him as your Lord come and his authority submit to him repent of sin just like in Acts chapter two Rick why are you gonna do a time of decision I thought that's getting outdated I'm doing a time decision because they did in Acts chapter two after the message was delivered it said the people that were listening if their hearts were pierced and they cried out to Peter what what are we supposed to do and Jesus didn't say y'all work it out God takes care of that he's sovereign he'll take care of that at home I don't really want to answer that right here it's kind of uncomfortable they hate they said what are we supposed to do man you convicted our hearts what do we do what'd he say repent repent turn from your sin turn to Jesus and rise and come forward and be baptized into the by the Holy Spirit be transformed by Jesus repent come under his authority and then when that happens I promise you if you'll ever have that happen in your life look at me I'm a living proof that I promise you you'll want to be a disciple the reason you don't be a disciples Protocol's you don't know him you've never submitted to it you can't make a disciple out of somebody that's lost and for those that have already made that decision may we stop being disobedient to the word of God and start disciple in them and take them to spiritual infancy into spiritual maturity and give them some hard tough teaching and weed out those that aren't real so they then can then go out and do what Jesus said to do what made disciples themselves but maybe their wives their children their friends their parents we were called by God to equip them to do that but in order to be equipped you got to make that first decision do I even desire to be a disciple and I pray at a name of Jesus you'll do that tonight let's pray Lord as we come to this time to close I know Frank's gonna come up and get on the piano for just a minute Lord some of the pastor's here if you're here you can either be at this altar and be praying let's stand to our feet right now as we pray lord thank you for this opportunity now to respond to the message that you have given lord I don't know what's going on in this room I have no way of knowing that but I do know that you have always offered a response and this is our response to what you said if you're here tonight and you've never given your life to Jesus never come in as authority I pray you'll come at this altar right now and you'll pray if you're here and you're a pastor or maybe you're just somebody that says something's been laid on your heart you need to come to the altar and pray and get right with God and get his instruction come on to the altar now well I pray though that one sheep that's here that they showed up here tonight for whatever reason it knows their loss I pray in the name of Jesus they will not leave if you're one of those all you have to do the Bible says is just believe in your heart I can't do that as I said but they confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and say I repent of my sins Jesus I believe that you did go to the cross I believe that you do did reconcile through your suffering and blood reconcile me to a holy God that I have the opportunity to be washed clean of my sin and Lord I just want to right now the best way that I know how I want to submit to your authority and repent of my sin and say save the Bible says if you're sincere in your heart and you've confessed that that the Lord Jesus will save you know every heads bowed right now is there anybody here tonight and I just want you to just look up me let me see that tonight for the first time or the first time you every minute you've said you said I've given my life to Jesus tonight Rick and I want you to know about look at me just raise your head it's the right thing to do that's the right thing to do look I'm coming across the middle now just look up at me anybody - nice list for the first time I've submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ anybody else I'm coming across the room that's the right thing to do who else that's the right thing to do don't ever be the same there's pastors all over this room tonight you put your head down then all over this room that can help you if you need help right now I'm just gonna step off the platform as I close this prayer and this altar is open for you to come forward I'll be standing out here if you want to talk to me there'll be some other pastors available if you need us but the altar is open come now and deal with whatever you need to deal with between you and God but we pray this on the name of Jesus [Music] [Music] don't don't leave here and leave his own zone don't leave here think I have this out the miletti they pull you out of here they doesn't need to [Music] [Music] you [Music] thank you Rick and Kevin thank you very much you bless this tonight they will be Gregg Shari and Kevin will be available right back here I believe the be some tables and if you want to have an opportunity to interact with them and let them know how much you appreciated their contribution to our ministries tonight and to our lives they'll be here available now today I know it has been a long day and you have been very good and I want to thank you for that word that we sometimes use called perseverance you have persevered we thank you very much and now may you go in the peace that only the Lord Jesus can give the peace that passes all human understanding god bless you

Channel: Alabama Baptist

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Length: 61min 23sec (3683 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 15 2017