Doug Batchelor | Do You Need To Be Perfect To Be Saved?

praise the lord it's just wonderful to see the way God's spirit is moving and uh seems like we've had the baptistry full every other week through the year and that's what Jesus told us go teach baptize teach teaching before teaching afterward I'm the teaching afterward this morning want to welcome everybody who is here at the Granite Bay Hilltop church and I always want to make it a point to welcome those who are watching some on a phone a computer screen uh some on a television some listening to the radio program and I'm so thankful for our local church family here that uh is coming out and braving the elements this is the faithful here to come out on a rainy day like this and also the thousands that are joining us online pray for me as I preach um I'm going to talk about a tough subject today dealing with perfection there's a few topics that have been sources of much discussion and debate even some heated discussions in church life and Christian history things about arminianism and Calvinism you know once saved always saved Free Will that's a been a debate that still goes on today the nature of God and perfectionism or how holy do you need to be to be saved or my ser title do you need to be perfect to be saved I think all of us kind of Wonder Lord what do I need to do to be saved and um we see Jesus who is such a perfect example and I think it's fair to say nobody feels like we measure up to Jesus we wonder does that mean I'm good enough we understand being justified ified by faith but after you've accepted that then what I think sometimes we we think maybe it would have been easier to be like that thief on the cross where the Lord declares you will be with me in paradise and you think I can't makeing any mistakes now I'm just going to die with my nails my hands nailed you know and and so he had no chance to get into any trouble but it's for those of us that have to live from day to day how do you live a holy life in a wicked world and how holy how perfect do you need to be to be saved saw an interesting program uh on YouTube this week it's an old program it's 2005 from National Geographic and what they did by the way it's called um finding the scientific atom or they call him the super ancestor and in this program what they've done is they've they've tracked the white chromosomes of men you know only men have white chromosomes no matter how you feel that's still a fact it's just only men have white chromosomes I'm sorry but uh they see that all men you can trace the little idiosyncrasies in the white chromosome and say who's related to who and they kind of track the migration of people around the world and they made some really amazing discoveries for one thing they discovered that everybody in the world originates from one of three places that being Northern Africa Mesopotamia or the Middle East or Asia meaning maybe eastern or western China and um which is you know the Bible says Middle East the other thing they discovered is this ancient ancestor that all men are related to happened recently it wasn't millions of years ago that's astounding because that's what the Bible teaches the other thing is they found out this common ancestor this Ultimate Super ancestor the scientific Adam that when he appears in history he is sophisticated speaking a sophisticated language and using complicated tools not dragging his knuckles which is what the Bible teaches now they still attribute thousands of years beyond what the Bible would say but it kind of shook them and they're not done with their research right now but uh how many of you know you're all related to Adam how many know you're all related to Noah see I think their study is a little bit misnamed because they're assuming that if you want to find where all men are related you had to go back to Adam actually you only have to go back to Noah so this characteristics of the super DNA or the the chromosomes that they found probably are starting out at Noah and what does the bible tell us about the days of Noah in your Bible turn to Genesis 6 verse five after God made man it says then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart so the Lord said I will destroy man who I've created from the face of the Earth see after Adam and Eve were made God made everything good right God made everything perfect can I have an amen some of you are thinking well if it was perfect then how did it go bad he made it perfect and they were given a perfect free will but when Adam and Eve chose to listen to the word of the devil instead of the word of the Lord something terrible happened to Creation it became corrupted it became diseased and and something happened within us God God made man originally motivated by love after sin the compass needle was broken instead of pointing away from self in love for God and love for others it spun around and it pointed to self Man became preoccupied with self- worship instead of God worship His worship turned inward instead of outward and that is a self-destructing formula and every child of Adam and Eve from that day to this day we've got this chronic problem with selfishness sin is what it is but in spite of the world going bad so quickly then you read in Genesis 6:9 with this backdrop of every imagination of the thoughts of his heart's only evil continually says but Noah found Grace Noah was a just man perfect in his Generations Noah walked with God now that kind of sets the stage for the rest of the Bible in the sense that we're living in a wicked world but God says you can walk with God and be perfect in your Generations but what do we mean by perfect that is the question as Shakespeare would say go to the Book of Job in the Book of Job chapter 1 first verse you don't have to go very far it says there was a man in the land of O whose name was job and that man was perfect and upright one that feared God and hated evil perfect man and then you've got 42 chapters dedicated to this experience of this one perfect upright man who's got three friends that are not so perfect and his friends are telling them the reason he's going through all these troubles is because there was sin in his life and he said no I don't think that's it I've been following the Lord he felt rather confident about it and at the end of the book The Lord says job was right his friends were wrong and he tells job you better pray for your friends a holy upright perfect man so you find out that whatever that perfect is whatever it is Noah had and job had it is possible to live a Godly life in a wicked world but it seems like it's pretty rare which could be discouraging now in the message today I want to tell you the truth I'm going to give you a lot of scripture I want to encourage you because when we read things like here it comes Grace for impact Jesus says in Matthew 5: 48 at the end of chapter 5 when he's doing The Sermon on the Mount therefore you shall be perfect not just perfect no confusing he's saying you be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect or be perfect as God now have you ever read that before and just kind of thrown the Bible up in the ear and said I guess I'm done for how am I ever going to be as perfect as God and matter of fact why don't we get an audience shot here just for the sake of those that are watching I want to see if my guess is right how many of you there feel that you're as perfect as God yeah we see your hands please so I guess we're all doomed some of you still look you like you got joy and yet you do not believe you're as perfect as God what does Jesus mean by this be therefore perfect well I'm going to get to the answer a little later so stay with me for one thing I think we need to Define what does the word perfect mean now in English it's a little different the word perfect in English English means something being completely free from fault or defect having all the required or desirable elements qualities or characteristics or as close to such condition as possible you ever notice that part of the definition completely free from defects or as close to that as possible now in Greek the word for perfect and you got of course Hebrew and Greek in the new and the Old Testament it's toos and that means whole without blemish complete or perfect in Hebrew it's the word Tom or tamim and it means to be entire Integrity truth without blemish complete full perfect sincerely or sincerity sound without spot undefiled upright whole those are the words that it was using for Noah and for job now the Bible makes it clear let's just talk about about the standard for Perfection god is perfect I mean can you find a better standard to measure by who would be the ultimate perfect one you can read in Psalm 18:30 as for God his way is perfect and then job 37 do you know how the clouds are balance those wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge God know knows everything if you didn't know everything you would be incomplete or imperfect in your knowledge speaking of Jesus 1 Peter 2:22 who committed no sin nor was the seat found in his mouth in Hebrews 5:9 and having been perfected he became the author of Eternal salvation to all who obey him is perfected 2 Corinthians 5:21 for he made him Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him Christ was offering to trade his Perfection for our imperfection but there's still a lot of questions left this may be a two-part message I'll see how far I get I'll watch your expression and see if I still have you after a few minutes you know you can feed a person too much of even the best food and they can have a food coma so you I want to make sure that I'm not giving you too much I'll prepare for about 15 scriptures here I told you it's going to be Bible based the Bible is clear from cover to cover that we do have a chronic sin problem how many of you already knew that okay you feel it every day it tells us in Galatians chapter 5 there is an ongoing war between the spirit and the flesh between what we know we should be doing love and the carnal nature Romans 3:23 for how many have sinned all have sinned except one who's that already defined who that is all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Genesis 8:21 then the Lord said in his heart I will never again curse the ground for man's sake although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his his youth there is something evil in our Natures job 5:7 yet man is born to trouble as the Sparks Fly upward it's almost you just you know you throw wood in the fire the sparks don't go down they go up with the heat heat rises First Kings 8:46 by the way this identical verse is in 2 Chronicles 6:36 Solomon is dedicating the temple and he's talking about people praying to the temple and he said when they sin against you you notice he didn't say if he said when they sin against you for there is no one who does not sin Psalm 90:8 you have set our iniquities before you our secret sin in the light of your presence Psalm 40:12 mine iniquities have overtaken me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart fails me Psalm 13 ver three if you oh Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand but with you there is forgiveness that's our hope amen that you may be feared Psalm 143:2 do not enter into judgment with your servant for in your sight no one living is righteous that's pretty comprehensive I think Proverbs 20:6 and verse 9 but who can find a faithful man who can say I've made made my heart clean I am pure from my sin well we just did a survey here and didn't find anybody Ecclesiastes 7:20 for there is not a just man on Earth who does good and does not sin now I'm not giving you all the scriptures but Bible says in the mouth of two or three Witnesses pretty clear that people have a sin problem question is can we overcome it Romans 3:9 through 12 what then are we better than they not at all he's talking about these people in the Old Testament for we have preious previously charged both Jews and Greeks Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin as it is written quoting now from the Old Testament there is none by the way this is Psalm 14 among others there is none righteous know not one there is none who understands there is none who seeks after God they have all turned aside they have together become unprofitable there is none who does good know not one that also sounds pretty comprehensive James 3 2 and 3 for we all stumble in many things and then Galatians 3:22 but the scripture has confirmed all I'm sorry confined all under sin that the Promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe so we've got this issue in our nature and we see it even among little children that as soon as you tell them here's the boundary they'll look at you and they put their foot over it and you say whatever you do don't stick anything in the outlet they look at you and they take the screwdriver and they just want to see what's going to happen it's like the mother who told her son strictly not to go swimming after school and she said why did you disobey me he said I got tempted she said why did you take your bathing suit to school said I knew I'd be tempted so we've we've got this this bent this chronic problem in our Natures with sin but God is calling us to Holiness but how perfect do we need to be Jesus said be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect all right first of all it's established that I think most Christians agree that it doesn't matter what your sins are when you come to Jesus he covers you with his robe of righteousness he Embraces you just as I Am Without One Plea except your blood was shed for me it's not based on any works that I have done we are Justified freely by his grace can you say amen amen I was telling Karen that you did a good job that time but there are other times you don't do so well and I I thought about getting a little electronic button so one of the guys in our office he's got a button and when you ask something he doesn't want to do he presses the button it says I can't do that don't bother me I'm busy and I want to get an amen button and I'll give it to two or three people on the front row when I look at them they're going amen or maybe I could just look at you see what happens so we're Justified we agree with that Hebrews 10:14 for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being Sanctified notice we're Justified those who are being Sanctified now I remember when I first started going to church and I heard the pastors using these big words you don't use in everyday speech of justification and sanctification and glorification and and I wondered what does that all mean so just for the record justification means you come to the Lord by faith you confess your sins you repent of your sins he Embraces you forgives you gives you a gift of perfection your record is now clean as though you have never sinned okay that takes care of past sin now what do I do today for the rest of the time and tomorrow as I'm tempted that's now entering the process of sanctification learning to be a saint is sanctification notice the word process you'll find where Isaiah says learn to do good cease to do evil there's learning involved in that that means like as a baby learning to walk they're probably going to fall a minute ago we quoted that verse in Romans all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so does that mean everybody who ever Liv sinned John the Baptist the greatest of the prophets did he sin he said Jesus you need to be baptizing me and yet Jesus said he is the greatest of the prophets and Joseph and Daniel while he Daniel says while I was confessing my sin and the sin of My People Israel I mean these are godly people and if you have a baby next month first of all I hope you know it's coming but if you have a baby next month is that baby going to sin is there any excuse for sin now it well first of all when you say is a baby going to sin well before the age of accountability it's not held to them they have no record of guilt are we clear but does that baby have a selfish nature baby's about the most selfish thing in the world I mean all it thinks about it it's not thinking about I didn't mean to wake you up you tired I'll cry later they don't care if you just all they think about is I am hungry I have a plumbing problem I am bored I'm going to cry until I get some attention in one way or the other all they're thinking about is mim me me right they have to learn to love some never outgrow it which is really frightening Romans chapter 5 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through Jesus our lord through whom also we have access by faith unto this grace in which we stand and rejoice in Hope of the glory of God so after being justified by faith God wants us to live lives of rejoicing now one reason I'm preaching this message is because I meet a lot of unhappy Christians and when you drill down and wonder why are they so unhappy they doubt their salvation they doubt they're going to make it and they're not happy and they're not bringing anyone to the Lord because no one wants their faith because it hasn't helped them so if Christians are going to be good Witnesses and we want our church to be a witnessing church then we need to have the joy of the Lord and you would be a lot happier if you had more confidence that you're going to make it you'd be thinking more about about heaven talking more about heaven and wanting to bring people with you but if we're always going around looking sour and doubtful you're not going to win anybody Paul says they should have joy we stand and rejoice in this hope now Jesus is the only one who has never sinned all others have sinned so where do we go from here the Bible tells us very clearly God has called us to lives of holiness Genesis 17:1 God says to Abraham and this is uh verse one chapter 17 and when Abram was 90 years old 90 years old in 9 99 the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him I am the almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God friends don't take this up with me I'm just reading you what Jesus said What God Says okay Psalm 37:37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright man for the end of that man is peace well I want peace what is this Perfection 2 Peter 3:14 therefore beloved looking forward to these things be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless there's that peace again but he says without spot perfect upright how do we get there I don't think I've arrived but you know I'm in good company Paul says I do not count myself to have apprehended but I press on you may not get to the place where you feel like you're good enough matter of fact I try to avoid people that think they're perfect have you met them no one raised their hand in church today thank heavens but some of you were thinking is this a trick question I want to be the the only one here that's right and you wanted to raise your hand because you're thinking perfectly Justified that would have been okay but I've met people who think I have arrived and they say I'm sinless and they didn't just mean through justification they meant I don't sin anymore and as soon as I began to debate with them they got angry at me and I felt some gratification which probably wasn't right that I proved they weren't perfect but God says he's calling us to Perfection notice in the Bible the reason the Bible is full of stories is the characters the heroes in the Bible we see they are flawed one reason that I love the Bible and believe the Bible is because it's a for real book if the Bible was written like some novels today it always has the hero flawless I just got done reading the hisory hisorical story about uh William baren who did this Expedition up I like reading history books made the Expedition up to um Nova zaa trying going around from Europe to China going through the North Pole they found out of course they can't do it after his third attempt he died but as I'm reading the author he couldn't say anything wrong about Barrett and I thought you're kind of you're U not giving complete history here you're making them out to be hero and you're not talking about any of his flaws there must have been something in his letters or the record but you're just you're glowing you're inflating him Beyond reality it's like the little girl who did the book report on Abraham Lincoln and she wanted to impress her class and she said Abraham Lincoln was born at an early age in a log cabin that he built with his own hands and you know these human historians it gets bigger than life but the Bible tells about the flaws for example speaking in the New Testament of Zachariah and Elizabeth it says they were both Luke 1:6 they were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless how many of you would like that to have the Lord accuse you of that but then you read in the same chapter the angel says but behold you're going to be mute and not be able to speak speak until the day these things take place cuz you did not believe my word well he had a faith issue there right but he's called blameless because the tenor of his life was one of surrender and obedience he was committed to following God it didn't mean he never had his moments this is this is really fantastic the apostles you know them John chapter 17 I want you to read it because you may not believe it's here I'm also putting it on the screen here in his dedicatory prayer in Jesus intercessory prayer in John 17 he says to the father speaking of the TW Apostles you can read the context for yourself they were yours you gave them to me they have kept your word they have kept your word now let me tell you what happens within 24 or 48 Hours of that statement um they were arguing among themselves which of them was the greatest refusing to wash one another's feet they fell asleep when Jesus told them to pray then they pull out swords to commit murder in the name of the Lord when they wake up then they abandon the Lord then Peter denies even knowing him with swearing and cursing then when he does rise from the dead they doubt it's true and they still misunderstand the nature of his kingdom and Jesus said concerning the apostles you are going to sit on 12 Thrones in heaven judging the 12 tribes of of Israel are they going to make it well we all know about Judas hope there's no Judas is here but these are the ones why they follow Jesus they didn't when the others turned away you ever read the gospel in it's interesting the verse it's John 666 John 6:66 it says that they forsook him many forsook him and Jesus said to the disciples will you also forsake me they said Lord where are we going to go you've got the words of Life they were committed to Jesus they believed his word and yeah they had issues not only then but even after Pentecost you can see Paul had to chastise Peter because he said you're being a hypocrite you're trying to act a little more religious when the Jews come to visit from Jerusalem but as soon as they leave you hang out with the Gentiles and uh he was right selfishness is going to be a battle until there's no devil we are going to battle the flesh until Jesus comes but you can have the joy of the Lord he who began a good work in you will finish it if you stay with Jesus Jesus will never let go of you that's his promise you can let go of him but he will never let go of you if you run from him it will be your choice this is where we different from you know people to believe once saved always saved God does not take away your freedom and I've used this illustration before but some haven't heard it so Karen and I got married we made a covenant to love each other forsaking all others sickness and health and I I trust she's going to keep her Covenant I'm keeping mine so far so good 33 years I do not worry that she's not going to she I don't believe worries about me just giving her a moment to testify if she had something she wanted to share you know out the weddings there's that awkward moment where the pastor used to say now if there's anybody here who for any reason they don't do that anymore do they but does she still have freedom if she wants to and I have that freedom but we have love when you have love and you have trust you have peace and you can have that in your relationship with Jesus he wants you to if you continue to just say Lord I fell I'm sorry forgive me now do we have arguments Yes you heard it for those listening at home if you didn't hear that it came from the peanut gallery yeah you you're going to have but there's a commitment of love and a commitment that you're going to finish what you started right Jesus said he's going to make that promise and you can make that promise and as long as you do not take your hand out of his hand now but how holy do I need to be it says Mark the perfect man the upright man the end of that man is peace uh Patrick Morley writes in his book I Surrender that the church's Integrity problem is in the misconception that we can add Christ to our lives but not subtract sin we must turn from sin it's a change in belief without a change in Behavior there must be a change it is Revival without Reformation without repentance people want happiness and they don't want Holiness and and so it's a deadly error to believe that all you need to do is say I love the Lord and you can continue living a life of sin there are some verses in the Bible that are pretty clear on that subject Jesus said to the apostles you who have followed me that's not Judas is it will also sit on 12 Thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel he said to the father i in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one you know the closer we get to the Lord as Christians the closer we get to each other but when you come into the light of God's glory you're not going to feel perfect in fact the closer you come to the Lord the more imperfection you will be aware of do not be discouraged this is normal Isaiah chapter 5 when Isaiah Godly Man prophet of God one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament he sees a picture of God In His glory and what does he do this is Isaiah chapter 6 he says woe is me I am undone I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the king in the contrast of God on his throne in his Holiness and the angels there the sarap and crying holy holy holy and they're covering their faces and they're covering their feet the Holiness and the Purity and the Majesty of God and the building is shaking Isaiah is overwhelmed with his sinfulness when you come into the light of God as you get closer to the light the more the imperfections become distinct you know before I come out to preach um they've got a green room where I kind of Gussy up a little bit as much as I can I want to make sure when I come out here and they're taping there's no glaring problems I I'm working with what I got you understand because I have made the mistake before of walking from the shadows out on stage with TV lights I remember once I met an old friend in the lobby and between Sabbath school and church and gave her a big hug and then went out to preach and I forgot she had about 20 cats and I had a dark suit and I walked out in the light and I looked down it looked like I've been wrestling with a sheep and I thought Oh I thought I was okay until I got into the light I remember when we did the net New York program they had a dark dressing room it was actually a hotel room that was adjoining the stage and I was late and I raced and I put on my suit that was hanging in the closet and I went out on the stage and Karen looks at me and she she kind of sneakers because I had the pant from one suit and the jacket from another I didn't realize it because they were kind of both dark and so now if you want to know what that looks like it's still on tape when you come into the light getting dressed this morning I knew I was going to be talking about perfection and so I said Karen does this time match yes sure I said I got to look good today I going be talking about perfection I might be scrutinized but I think we all know you know we're human and in the same way you want the grace of God you want to share that Grace with others amen but we're commanded to obey Matthew 7: 211 Jesus said not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord haven't we prophesied in your name we've cast out devils in your name and in your name we've done many wonderful works and I'll declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness we need to know the Lord we need to follow the lord and it's not just saying Lord Lord we need to be willing to obey the Lord if you fail do not be discouraged a righteous man falls seven times and rises again if you fail and it doesn't bother you that is a problem you should feel conviction when you sin and then you repent and he forgives you and because it's no fun to feel conviction you pray that God will give you more consistency what about where it says in 1 John 3:6 whoever abides in him does not sin whoever sins has neither seen him or known him this used to really trouble me and it still gives me the right amount of conviction it's saying that those who abide in Christ do not practice a life of sin it's not talking about the occasional good deed or misdeed by the way I'm quoting here from that classic steps to Christ you know the book you look on page 57 the character is revealed not by the occasional Good Deeds or occasional Mis Deeds but by the tendency of the habitual words in Acts John is saying whoever abides in him does not practice a life of sin that's why before person's baptized they need to be turning away people say Pastor Doug can I just quit smoking after I I get baptized they say no so what does that do to your testimony you go to your friends and you say praise God Jesus Set Me Free he broke the chains I'm now his and then you blow smoke in their face see you got to you don't want be practicing a life of sin there needs to be repentance and Reformation amen God is calling us to Holiness says be holy for I am Holy well how do we do that well he gives us a lot of promises for victory 2 Peter 1:4 by which have given to us by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises not just promises but exceeding promises not just exceeding but exceedingly great in Precious promises that through these through these promises in God's word you might be partakers of the divine nature you know what a Christian is simply a follower of Christ God wants us to be Christlike when we love Jesus we want to be like Jesus amen and so when Jesus said be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect what is he talking about perfect love you know what throws people is they don't read the whole thing if you go with me for example go to Matthew 5 I want to show you something you have to go there I can't I'm not going to just read that one verse there in Matthew 5:48 it says therefore you shall be perfect just as your father in Heaven is perfect what happens when you read a verse out of context you get mixed up you got to find out what is Jesus talking about go to verse well the whole chapter you could say you've heard it said in verse 38 and I for ey tooth for tooth but I tell you do not resist a person someone slaps you in One Cheek offer him the other that's pretty radical but he's saying forgive people if someone wants to sue you to take away your tunic give them your cloak he's saying love people overcome evil with good whoever compels you to go one mile go too give to him who asks of you who wants to borrow do not turn him away love your enemies bless those who curse you do you only love those who love you if you only greet your brethren how are you better after talking about loving each other it's all about horizontal love here you got me he says therefore be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect now how do I know that's what he's talking about in the same passage in Luke and you can look it up Luke 6:36 he says be ye therefore merciful as your father in Heaven is merciful he's talking about loving others being merciful to others forgiving others he wants us to have that perfect as your father in Heaven loves you and has mercy on you you realize Jesus said forgive as you are forgiven right that's what Jesus is saying when he says be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect it means be perfectly merciful because if you do not forgive your brethren is in the Lord's Prayer if you do not forgive your brethren their trespasses neither will your father in Heaven forgive you yes it's true he wants us to learn to love each other how can you say you love God who you have not seen if you cannot love your brother who you do see amen he's calling us to lives of obedience now every day there's a battle every day I've got to say Lord not I but Christ I take up my cross deny myself that's just the selfishness that gets me in trouble many times a day deny myself I have no problem thinking about myself I have problems loving others and we we learn sanctification we learn to love others and if you sayl give me more love for my neighbor you know what God's going to do to you he's going to have your neighbor test your love Lord help me love my children more boy the Lord sends his children to teach us love amen and patience it's also how why he gets us involved in marrying people who are opposites God's Cosmic sense of humor to teach us love he wants us to have perfect love if you love God more you obey him better didn't Jesus say If You Love Me Do What trying to keep God's Commandments without love is attempting and impossibility those people are miserable and they make everyone else miserable but if you love the Lord you know where our biggest battle is and living the Christian Life in Christian Perfection increasing our love for God cu the more you love him the more you're going to love your neighbor cuz God loves them the more you're going to love the Lord the more you're going to want to obey him and please him you don't want to hurt people that you love and when you see how much Jesus loves us by looking at the cross then it makes us love him more all things are possible see friends when we when we believe that the devil can tempt us how many agree that we know the devil can tempt us but we don't believe Jesus can keep us from sin what you're saying is your devil is bigger than your God can you name a sin for me that someone has never been able to get the victory over I mean I'm talking about practical Sins Not the unpardonable sin have people been able to get the victory over alcohol drugs unforgiveness um you name it anything you can think of I know people who have gotten the victory over those things that means you can because all things are possible with God he's calling us to lives of Holiness will it happen in one day I spent my first 17 years of my life learning to sin uh and then God says be holy well give me a minute Lord I'm G to have to work on this and he then teaches you through keeping your eyes on Jesus you become like the one you look at you will become like who you look at I remember years ago and and um been here so long I can't remember anymore what I shared with you and what I haven't but with the first litter of kids Rachel Micah Daniel were visiting Grandpa in Florida I flew home just with the three kids to go up to our home in Koval this this time of year was after Christmas vacation and it snowed big snow like 18 in of snow and I'm driving my Nissan four-wheel drive pickup truck up the road and we're wearing clothing from Florida we just been in Florida and those of you who know the house is 12 miles back on dirt roads no electricity back there it just way out very remote and as I'm driving up the road now I I was young and not as experienced back then I'm driving up the road I'm thinking four-wheel drive wonder how far I can go and I thought to myself well if I get stuck I'll turn around and I I'll go stay at Dr Simpson's house kids said oh let's go home we can make it we're doing fine we got four-wheel drive they wanted so much to get hold and they're like you know they're like uh 11 n and uh 8 years old and I said all right and we went got within two miles and then the truck got high centered which means no matter what I did there was no way it would go I I had nothing to dig it out with I'm wearing not enough clothing it's snowing now the flakes are coming down great big heavy snowflakes are coming down we stepped out and as I went up higher the snow got deeper it's almost like 2 feet I'm surprised I got so far there's nothing nearby I can hook a winch to to pull the truck out we are stuck so I said well guys I think I got enough gas we can sit here until morning and I can try and Hike off and try and get some help they said no Dad we can go home they wanted so much to get home and I said you sure I said well you're going to get cold well we'll be all right I know don't tell me I know it was stupid but you know what took 15 minutes in the truck takes a lot longer walking and longer still if you're walking through 2 feet of snow so we took off and we're all warming the truck and we felt good at first and it was kind of fun and they're throwing snowballs and we're hiking and we're and the snow continue to get deeper and if you're walking through deep snow you're having to you know you can't just kick your feet forward you got to lift your feet up or it's just too much work and so you start going like this for a long time and I started getting tired and now I'm like halfway there and I had to stop and rest the kids they were making it by putting their feet in my feet and finally then we were going under these trees that had snow on them we bump the tree and all the snow of the tree on the roof Road would fall down on you and we're getting cold and we're wet and covered with snow and the kids were wearing tennis shoes when the tennis shoes got wet every time they put their foot down sometimes the snow's got the consistency where it make a snowball it's really great you know a snowball keeps rolling getting bigger they pick up their foot and it was like a snowball it kept getting bigger and they put it down they pick up more snow and they're having trouble picking up their feet and they kind of knock the snow off their feet and they're getting really tired tired and now it's like 2: in the morning CU we drove up from San Francisco we've been flying all day and we all just got hit with exhaustion and Daniel sat down and said I can't go anymore I said you can't stay here and I'm thinking I can't go anymore but I can't leave them and it got so bad friends I'm not kidding you we were starting to fear for our lives we were closer to home than back to the truck and I thought our best chance is to try to get to the house and I got so tired that and I didn't want my kids to die but I had to keep on going I would literally stand up I would fall down in the snow make an impression stand up take two feet fall down in the snow and the kids were coming after me like you know little bears following their mother yeah it was wonderful to hear them encourage each other because they realize it's getting desperate finally when I I knew I was getting near the house and I was so cold and I couldn't feel my fingers I couldn't feel my feet I felt like here I've killed my kids I started shouting for the dogs I thought if the dogs come they'll make a trail in the snow it'll make it easier and yeah I haven't relived this in a while I started shouting and you know the snow muffles your sound so I'm shouting for the dogs I'm shouting I thought you know when are they going to come and finally they heard me because the snow muffled that they didn't hear me and they all came jumping leaping bounding through the snow and they were so happy to see us and just that little bit made a difference where and we started going downhill at that point we could make our way to the house we got inside and it was so nice you know how they made it they followed in my steps and you know Jesus came into this world to leave us a path and Hees doesn't want to leave you behind and if you follow in his steps you can make it you can be whatever it is you need to be I just know that there is a whole Arena full of people that are going to be there that made it that means you can make it his sacrifice was adequate enough for you to make it you can be whatever you call Perfection you can be that all things are possible with God you just got to keep putting your feet in his steps that he's made that Blood Stained path that Jesus has made for you how many of you want to be like your lord we're going to sing about it let's stand together we're going to sing be like Jesus 311 in our [Music] himels Earth call me I would be like Jes wory shall me [Music] beus the Home in the like Jesus all I would be like he has broken every would be like Jesus that my soul may serve him would be like like Jesus in the and in the be like Jesus all will be like Jesus all the way Earth to glor be Jore the glory I will be like [Music] Jes like [Music] Jesus the and in the be likeus all [Music] [Applause] [Music] dayus he I would be like [Music] Jesus the home and in the throne be like [Music] Jesus I would [Music] be all right you get the rest of the story while you're standing there so we made it to the house and first thing we did is we built a blazing fire and then I had to go get the electric hair dryer we got electricity We're Off the Grid and turn it on to thaw the kids' shoes to get them off their feet and that night we all slept together on the floor in front of the fire and it has never felt so good to be home with people you love how many of you want to be in that home friends if you love the Lord and you're committed to obey him to follow him he will get you there Father in Heaven I pray that everyone listening will believe the promises in your word we understand Lord we've got a chronic problem with sin and selfishness but we believe that Jesus Through the spirit has the antidote where we can be new creatures and I pray you'll help us to have that experience please bless each person today that we might have that peace and that Joy believing you will finish what you started in our lives because this is why your son came and it's in his name that we pray amen God [Music] hi friends the program you just watched was recorded at the Granite Bay Hilltop Church where I serve as lead Pastor we'd love to meet you if you're ever in the Sacramento area come and worship the Lord with us we'll meet you in the lobby and Shake Your Hand

Channel: Doug Batchelor

Views: 102,116

Keywords:

Id: x95ZUQZroDI

Length: 54min 30sec (3270 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 14 2024