God Never Said That: Part 3 - "It Doesn't Matter What You Do" with Craig Groeschel - LifeChurch.tv

dude you get those type of videos on your phone totally I don't know what I did before this it's better hope your wife never finds out it's not a big deal besides she's been kind of not fun lately look she's not gonna find out it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't hurt anyone are you serious God never said that it is great to have all of you with us today at all of our life churches and our partnering network churches we love you all so much and all over the world on the other side of computer screens it shirts online we are in part three the four-part message series called God never said that if you missed earlier weeks you can watch them at live search dot TV on itunes roku youtube they're always available for free week number one we looked at the cultural misbelief above all else God wants everyone happy unfortunately God never said that week two we looked at the thing that so many people wrongly believe and that is God will never give you more than you can handle the truth is God never said that next week is the final week and I need to tell you it is a very very special message that has moved me deeply emotionally it is a lie that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere for those of you that know somebody that may not be sure about what they believe this is the perfect week to bring them and I promise you it will build your faith in a really significant way now today we're gonna look at a very dangerous lie and something that has quite serious consequences and so since is gonna be a little bit heavy I thought we'd start off a little bit light so fair enough here's what I want you to do all of our churches I need everybody participating it is no fun without you so could I get all of you just to kind of look at the person sitting on this side of you right now just just get a glance at them just make sure you know who they are now this side you might even kind of look behind you just for fun just gonna turn around real quick like there just look around look at the people in front of you okay what I want you to do is at the count of three I want you to point to the one that looks like they are the biggest sinner okay one two three go go very good there's one guy pointing at himself that's really good at least he's a truthful sinner and I like that about him and so you know that's kind of awkward just to point at someone and say you're the biggest sinner because in reality there is something the Bible calls an unpardonable sin in culture today people could argue the unpardonable cultural sin is to call someone a sinner in culture today it's totally unacceptable to say what anyone else does is a sin which leads us to the cultural misbelief I want to talk about today you will hear it all the time maybe you've even said it or believe it and that is this it doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't hurt anyone doesn't matter what I do it's not your business doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't hurt anyone God never said that and today I want to dive into the reality of what Scripture teaches us about our behavior now to walk into a very serious subject I want to just kind of reflect a little bit and when you if you think back to the time when Jesus lived what do you think was the biggest cultural value to go back during the time when Jesus lived what do you think was the biggest cultural value well it's totally up for debate and I couldn't necessarily prove this but I could make a very strong argument that the biggest cultural value during the time of the life of Jesus was justice and eye for an eye a tooth for tooth you do something wrong you deserve to be penalized if I ask the same question of today what is the biggest cultural value of our world today you could make an argument that the biggest cultural value might be tolerance right there a pretty strong argument in that case what's interesting about even the definition of tolerance has massively changed over the past decade or so tolerance used mean that all peak people have equal value in other words we're gonna we're gonna value people today though tolerance has evolved to mean all ideas and all behavior have equal value even the definition of tolerance has changed so much so in culture today that it is wrong and unacceptable to ever say that behavior is wrong that is sinful in fact culturally we've watered down and sanitized even what otherwise would be sinful terms and given them more acceptable phrases to help us feel better for example if I just took the category of sexual sin and you look at what we call things today instead of saying you know you're looking at pornography instead today we say oh well that's adult entertainment it sounds so much more acceptable we're not going to say somebody committed adultery that just that's almost too harsh instead it's well they had an affair doesn't sound nearly as bad we're not gonna call premarital sex a sin and in our culture today you know in fact we're not gonna call it premarital sex we're gonna say well that's that this is fooling around and everybody fools around we've taken what once was wrong and have even changed the way we describe it because in our culture today the unpardonable sin is almost hey don't ever tell some money that's wrong and besides it's none of your business what I'm doing I can do whatever I want as long as I don't hurt anyone now well we need to recognize is that sin is very real and sin has dramatic earthly consequences and potentially damning eternal consequences and so today I want to talk about three cultural miss beliefs about sin and look at what God really did say if you're taking notes the first thing is this it's very common in our world today for people to believe number one that I'm not a bad person I'm not a bad person you're not a bad person all over the world that we're not bad people I mean I'm not a bad person and you know well I make some mistakes but I'm not a bad person and the reality is this is simply not true in fact John said this in first John 1:8 that if we claim to be without sin in other words if we say we're not a bad person what do we do let's all say it aloud what do we do we deceive ourselves and the one and the truth is not in us now if we compare ourselves to other people we may be tempted to say I'm not really bad because we can always find someone much worse chances are on one side of the other you may be sitting to one of those people right now ok I am better than them so I'm not a bad person but other people are not the standard to which we are compared when we compare ourselves to a holy and a perfect God we are horrible filthy sinners we are all bad people and I've used this illustration probably every year since the church started if you're tired of it I'm sorry I'll probably use it every year going for it because it's so valuable there's an evangelist named Ray Comfort who does this to people on the street but I just want to ask you some questions right now how many of you have ever told a lie raise your hand all of our churches raise your hand okay look at the people whose hands are not up in the air right now just point out and call them fly or liar pants on fire put it down how many of you have ever stolen something I have raised up you've stolen something very good put it down how many of you ever looked lustfully at somebody look Leslie you're a little slower there weren't you you're sitting by your spouse maybe when I was 14 I can't remember probably right you've got to be careful all right so let's just go ahead and unpack this a bit if you've told a lie somebody help me what are you you are a liar if you stolen something what are you you are a what a thief if you look lustful in someone Jesus actually said you've committed adultery in your heart so let's say if you look Leslie what are you you are an adulterer so what are you you're a lying thief adulterer welcome to Life Church where we're here to make you feel better about yourself okay we're not good people we are sinful at our core in fact Scripture teaches us this Romans 3:10 there is no one righteous not even one you're not I'm not last week I talked in one of the services I said yeah I got in a fight with Amy and had to go teach at a marriage conference one time a guy the gym came up to I can't believe you got in a fight with Amy like you're a regular dude like oh I mean I don't put me on a pedestal I get I I sin I'm most vulnerable in a car for whatever reason he's put me in a car run me five minutes late I mean a couple of weeks ago I was driving so angrily that Amy was like trying to get out the door while I'm driving okay that's how a regular dude I am that's like Jerry Springer stuff okay there is no one righteous not even one I'm not a bad person that's simply not true we are all sinful in the eyes of God the second cultural miss belief about sin is this and this is very dangerous all sin is the same all sin is the same you're gonna hear this all the time many of you probably believe this who are you to judge me what I'm doing is no no no worse than what you're doing all sin is the same god never said that but we need to understand and please hear me clearly the Bible doesn't teach that all sin is the same now don't miss this all Unforgiven sin does lead to eternal death period all Unforgiven sin does lead to eternal death but not all sin is the same all Unforgiven sin does lead to eternal death in fact Paul said this he said Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is what it's death any type of sin little sin big sin whatever kind of sin any type of Unforgiven sin leads to death the good news is but the gift of God is eternal why in Christ Jesus our Lord all sin though all Unforgiven sin does lead to eternal death but all sin is not the same for example I was driving to work one morning and I had to turn onto a four-lane highway two lanes on one side two lanes on the other and I misjudged the speed of an approaching car and so I turned into his lane when I should have let him go by and so he had to actually turn into the left lane and go around me and so being the man of God that I am I just gave him the universal signal for my bad you know what it does head down hand up my bad okay I shouldn't done that my bad okay unfortunately he gave me the universal signal for your bad peel the banana and there's something about that that I don't like I cannot lie and so my foot hit the accelerator when he did that to me what made it worse was in the left-hand corner of the back of his car was a life search bumper sticker I just got flipped off by one of you being a loving pastor than I am I cannot let you live in sin and so I pursued you at rather aggressive speeds and we came up to a stoplight not pulled up right by whichever one of you did that and the guy rolled down his window as I was rolling mine down and I looked at him he looked at me and he just got white as a ghost and I said God is good and he said all the time true stories now he shot me the finger that's a sin if he shot me with a gun it's a different type of sin okay both will keep you out of heaven if they are not forgiven both are not equal in terms of consequences all sin is not the same Unforgiven sin separates you from God but all sin is not the same in fact if you're taking notes we need to recognize that how we live influences at least three things how we live first of all it influences consequences on earth right if you're a blessing to other people they're more likely to be a blessing to you if you are sinful there are consequences but again on earth all the consequences are not the same for example if you're one of our youth pastors and you commit the sin of gluttony you might still be able to be a youth pastor if you smoked dope with a teenager you can't be the youth pastor unless you live in Colorado I don't know what they do there but they'll figure that out you know and so there are different earthly consequences to our behavior do we agree if we agree say I agree there are also different consequences in heaven how we live influences rewards in heaven we have to that God rewards certain godly behaviors in heaven and there are rewards in heaven eternally for how we live and what we do or don't do on earth and the third thing that scripture heavily implies is that how we live influences punishment and hell how we live to some degree or another and obviously we do not know the details but it influences punishment in hell let me show you a couple of different verses Luke's Gospel chapter 20 verse 47 it says the Pharisees devour widows houses in other words they're taking advantage of those whom the church is called to serve in to love and to help the Pharisees devour widows houses and for a show they make lengthy prayers God evidently hates that type of hypocrisy and scripture says these men will be punished what everybody's saying loud they will be punished most severely in other words this implies there might be a less severe punishment for some people and action and there might be a more severe punishment for others jesus said to Pontius Pilate in John 1911 he said therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of what of a greater sin implying there is a lesser sin and there is a greater sin and then when you look at the category of sexual sin Paul pulls this off to the side and here's what he says about sexual sin 1st Corinthians 6:18 he says run from it run from sexual sin why he says because no other sin so clearly affects the body as this one in other words there's different consequences to this sin that there would be two other ones he says for sexual immorality is a sin against your own body and he's just begging you don't you know your body was purchased by the shed blood of Jesus so flee sexual sin all the other sins he says fight resist but not this one don't even try to fight run Forrest run because this one impacts you in a very very deep personal and significant way doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't hurt anyone god never said that how we live what we do it matters on earth and it matters in eternity misperception number one I'm not a bad person yes you are I'm a bad person you're a bad person we are sinful in the eyes of a holy God number two all sin is the same actually it's not the same all Unforgiven sin does separate us from God and have eternal consequences but there are certain sins on earth that will have a bigger impact on our lives on earth and evidently eternally that is true as well the third big cultural lie that so many people believe in quite honestly in a church this size there are many of you who are believing this right now and that is since I've already done it I might as well keep on doing it since I've already done this I might as well just keep on doing it and the list of when we fall into this lie it could be so long I wouldn't even know where to start well the teenager or the young adult well I'm not a virgin anymore so I might as well keep on doing it well I already done drugs and you know so well I might as well do it again you know I I cheated and you know I didn't get caught and it seemed to help me so I might as well do it again well I already looked at something that well I probably shouldn't looked at but you know I did it and so I was my manage to race my track so might as well do it again I've already done it once so I might as well do it again evidently a couple thousand years ago that problem was just as real as it is today because the Apostle Paul the very pressing and relevant question in Romans 6:1 he said should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace in other words if God's gonna forgive us anyway why should I even stop should we keep on sinning that grace may abound should we keep on sinning because God will forgive us anyway and he says of course not you're smarter than that you're better than that of course not he says since we have died to sin how can we live in it in other words since Jesus died for us and we came to him and because of our faith in Him our sin nature no longer has power over us we now have the power of Christ so why would we continue to go back into that which hurts the heart of God hurts our own lives and that's the potential to hurt so many people around us shall we keep on sinning because God's gonna forgive us anyway of course not you know better than that God has something so much better for you since I've already done it I might as well keep on doing it anyway here's what's so interesting to me I hear this sometimes at our church but I just wanna I just want to go deeper let's let's learn some deeper stuff okay can we just get a little bit a deeper study get a little a little bit deeper and quite honestly I am all for deeper take it deep take it deep take it deep take it deep take it deep take it deep but listen to me spiritual maturity is not about how much we know it's about how much we obey spiritual maturity isn't just having more knowledge but it's having more fruits with spiritual maturity isn't just learning more the original language or studying deep earthy Alone's and spiritual maturity it's letting the Holy Spirit take over and live through you if you love Jesus you will obey Him spiritual maturity is not just knowledge it's being transformed by the grace of God so go deep go deep go deep to let the fruit of the Spirit but the Holy Spirit lives through you and never ever think spiritual maturity is just more knowledge spiritual maturity is more fruit letting the Holy Spirit reign and rule through you the problem is most Christians in our culture today are educated way beyond their level of obedience hmm let that sink in let that sink in let that sink in let that sink in most of us don't need to know more we need to apply what we already know we need to let God take the truth that he has shown us and let it settle into our lives and to be set free from the sin that continues to entangle the sin that continues to hold us back well already done that might as well keep on doing it I mean it should it's a tragedy today how many people call themselves followers of Jesus and just consistently walk back into the same sinfulness walk back in and back in and rationalize it and justify and say it's not that big a deal and who are you to judge me shall we go on sinning the grace may increase by no means of course not since we died to sin how can we live in it any longer and here's what's so scary is when you're continuing in it and you don't even realize it so scary I'm gonna argue all day long I'm gonna argue til the day I die the most miserable person is not a non-christian the most miserable people in the world are not non-christians the most miserable people in the world are Christians who continue to live in sin the most miserable people in the world are Christians who know the freedom that is available to them who know the standard and intentionally disobey God the most miserable people in the world are not those who are not Christians I mean it can be fun to Sam when you don't need anything in the wrong just let however you want to the most visual people are those who know there is something better and continue to reject the will the way and the purpose of God now the last thing I want to do is stand up here and act like I've got it all together in fact I wanted to tell you right now if if you're not aware of sin chances are that is a sign of spiritual immaturity because the closer I get to Jesus the closer I get to Jesus the more he reveals the impurity in my own life the closer I get to them the more I realized how much is wrong with me and I'm always at a state of confessing sin I'm not because I need to do it so he'll love me he already loves me I do it because I love him and because I don't want to do things displeasing to him I don't want to do anything dishonorable to my wife I don't want to do anything to hurt the name of Christ I don't wanna do anything to let people down and yet because of my bent towards sin I continue to struggle but guess what God's grace is more powerful his spirit I have dwelling within me the same spirit that raised Christ from the grave and therefore therefore what is in me is more powerful than the pull toward the world the closer you get to Jesus but the closer you get to the light the more you recognize just how much darkness there is and your life so I always go around feeling guilty horrible horrible horrible but here's what you need to recognize sin is progressive sin is progressive sin grows sin grows best in the dark when you keep it quiet it grows sin grows best in the dark it's when you confess it when you bring it to the light that's when the light of Jesus sets you free some of you right now all I did before coming up here is I just pray because I can't get into your mind I can't get any life I just pray that the Holy Spirit would convict in a loving way those who need this message that you would sense there is something better there is something better because sin is progressive you cheat one time and you want to cheat again okay you look at pornography and guess what happens you get sucked in you want more you want more you want more it's progressive you lie a little bit and suddenly you start to lie more and more and more how do I know that was my life 25 years ago it was based on a lie I lied so much I couldn't even remember what the truth was sin is progressive sin is progressive it'll take you farther than you want to go it'll cost you more than you want to pay and some of you right now you're gonna say well not that it's not that big a deal it's not that big it is a big big deal it is a big deal and the moment you think it's not I want to tell you it is because it is costing you right now how is it costing you if you are a follower of Jesus and you continue to live in it you will lose intimacy with God because sin and the holiness of God do not stay in that you will lose intimacy with God suddenly you will not be as sensitive to his voice as you once were and when your heart starts to harden this is when it gets so dangerous when your heart starts to harden suddenly the distance between hearing from God and the distance between sinning and repenting grows listen to me you're gonna mess up but you want to see spiritual maturity there's a short distance between up I sin and oh I repent it there's a short distance because they're sensitive to it Oh God forgive me give me the power not to do that next time and when that distance becomes shorter and shorter shorter suddenly you're starting to be sanctified and your mind is being conformed to the mind of Christ and suddenly you're starting to look like Christ and you're starting to live like Christ and it's not that you're trying to but it's that the Spirit is doing it through you that may even be deep for those of you that want deeper that may be just kind of flirting with deep don't let it fool you I'll go back to shallow just to keep up my reputation but that almost was deep so still a mess you up mess you up that's the bad news the good news is Jesus is a friend of sinners Jesus is a friend of sinners Jesus is a friend of sinners and I'm guessing the few of you that gave me a polite clap you pry the biggest sinners because you know how good as grace is and you just have to worship Him because you recognize see when you see yourself as a sinner you'll see your need for a savior and suddenly you recognize Jesus didn't come for the the healthy he came for the sick and that's the best news ever in fact first Corinthians 10:13 we looked at this first last week just for briefly this is what scripture says God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but when you were tempted he will also provide a one somebody help me out he will provide a way out so you can endure it here's what I want you understand it doesn't matter what you're trapped in doesn't matter how long you've been there it doesn't matter if you think you never could overcome it God always gives you a way out he always gives you a way out there's always a way out Jesus is the way he is the truth and he is the life Jesus is the way out he is the truth that sets you free and he is the life that endures forever Jesus is the way some of you you need to recognize you're strapped in it you step out of your sin and you step into Jesus you step into his grace and out of the bondage you step into his power and out of the snares you step in through the love the power the transforming goodness of Jesus and when you do you step out because there is always a way out there is always a way I'm talking to someone right now who you've rasterize and you thought you can't get out you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength and there is a way out through Jesus the reality is sin does cost us but Jesus is bigger than our sin looked at this verse early in first John 1:8 that if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in it and the very next verse says if we confess our sins God is faithful and just and he will forgive our sins and what will he do he will purify us from all unrighteousness that's how good Jesus is he is the way he is the truth he is the life he is the way out of sin he is the truth that will set you free and he is the only kind of life that will satisfy and when you are tempted remember God is faithful our God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear he will always give you a way out so when culture says hey don't matter what you do as long as you don't hurt anyone recognize that as a satanic life from the pit of hell that sin is the greatest enemy to intimacy with God and Jesus is the best friend of sinners and that's why you're here today because we're all sinners and we all need His grace so we run to Jesus the friend of sinners who came to set the captives free father I pray that by your power your Holy Spirit would speak to your church and God I thank you in advance today that there are those who maybe for months or years have been trapped that God I thank you you're faithful and you always give a way out and father I thank you in advance for those who are just even getting closer to Jesus and you're revealing the impurities in their life and God by your power you're conforming us to the image of your son all of our churches right now as you reflect in prayer I just want to ask very simply is the Holy Spirit speaking to you those of you who are followers of Jesus is the Holy Spirit speaking to you and showing you some area of your life that you want to confess before God and find a way out that you could better glorify him not to win his love but out of a reflection of his love do you recognize the sin of which you want to be forgiven healed and set free if that's you would you lift up your hands right now just all over the place just lift up your hand I'm gonna ask you to put them down for a minute I'm gonna I'm gonna just put them down for a minute I'm gonna ask her again I give you another chance listen to me listen to me the closer you get to Jesus the more you recognize your sinfulness this is not a sign of weakness this is a sign of strength I'm gonna ask you again don't be all perfect on me I recognize I need help listen to me you don't recognize your need for help chances are you're not hearing from God right now because we all need we're trapped in a body of sin and there's power and grace through Jesus all of our churches you recognize or something in my life displeasing to God I want his forgiveness and I want his help to overcome it I want to find the way out through Jesus would you lift up your hand right now all of our churches God thank you for a church full of people desiring to know you intimately and reflect you passionately in this world god I pray that your Holy Spirit would set people free god I thank you that your love is not based on our performance but your love is based on your goodness you love us no matter what but God you love us so much you don't want us to be trapped in that which hurts us breaks your heart or has the potential to hurt other people so god we thank you that you are faithful and you always give us a way out so god I ask in the name of Jesus that the power of sin would be broken that we would not continue in it because he who the Sun is set free is free indeed and God we thank you because of the death of resurrection of your son Jesus we are free the power of sin does not hold us back but the power of the Spirit leads us into life and righteousness as you keep praying today at all of our different churches there are those of you and this is just gonna be a thing that God does and this is it you're simply gonna recognize you have a need you have a need for a savior and all I can tell you is there's a time in my life and the reality hit me that I am NOT a good person until you see yourself as a sinner you won't know you have a need for a savior and there are those of you you're gonna recognize right now you need forgiveness and please hear every word I say you can't earn it and you don't deserve it none of us do that's why the gospel is good news because God came to us through Jesus a friend of sinners who hung out with the lowest of the low and the dirtiest of the dirty and the biggest sinners of all but he didn't leave him there he became sin for us on the cross died and on the third day he rose again so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved and quite honestly that's why many of you are here today you recognize is not about religion it's not about works it's all about his love and His grace and you want it and you need it what do you do you turn from your sins and say Jesus I trust you today by faith I surrender my life to you I recognize I need a Savior and Jesus I ask you to forgive and save me and make me new when you call out to him all of your sins will be forgiven and you'll be brand new that's why you're here today all of our churches you'd say that's my prayer by faith I surrender I need his forgiveness I need His grace by faith I give my life to him today that she lifts her hands high right now all over the place and say yes that's brought to her lift your hands and say yes I surrender to him right back over here others of you who say me right here in this middle section god bless you guys others right over here say yes I surrender others have you lift up your hands and say Jesus saved me right back over here on this side over here god bless you as well Jesus transformed my life tricks online you click right below me and we're gonna pray together all of our churches allowed for a heavenly father I recognize I am a sinner and I need a Savior Jesus forgive me make me brand new fill me with your spirit so I could know you so I could serve you so I could follow you I confess my life is not my own today I give it to you thank you for new life now you have mine in Jesus name I pray with your worship dig once the blood welcome those born into God's family today you you

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 26,795

Rating: 4.8518519 out of 5

Keywords: Craig, Groeschel

Id: neN-6mrw8uo

Length: 37min 6sec (2226 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 23 2015