Luke 17: How Do I Grow in My Faith?

thank you thank you man it's so good to be back and I want to welcome everybody today let's open our Bibles if you have them with you to Luke 17 we're going to talk about faith today faith is something that is essential to your relationship with God without faith the Bible says it is impossible to please God you cannot please God you cannot make God happy in your relationship with him a backing to four says that the righteous shall live by their faith our faith is our internal compass it guides us regardless of what the world says about what's right or wrong or what we should think or feel our faith is this internal compass that guides us and the reality is that without faith we cannot call ourselves Christians it is by faith that we become Christians it is by faith that we live out Christians it is by faith that we believe in the second coming of Christ you see faith is not a belief in something we can see it's not a belief in something that we can touch but it is a belief in something that we've experienced and so for many of you you've had this internal compass from the time you know as soon as you can remember you just knew there was a God there was something in you that says there's a God and for some of you you came to faith as adults and you didn't know there was a God and and suddenly got awakened you to faith and your life has been dramatically and radically changed but some of you have not come to faith you do not know that there's a God or you may know maybe cognitively or mentally that there's a God but you don't know intrinsically you don't know relationally that there's a God who not only you know it love zyou but it's pursuing you that it's actively trying to recruit you to his team and the way that we switch sides is by faith then faith is an important thing it's essential to salvation but not only is it essential to salvation but it's powerful faith is what gets you through your most difficult times it is faith the Bible says that we can call upon God and we ask her things and we know that it hears us and he answers our prayers you see it's by faith that people are healed it's by faith that lives are changed it's by faith that marriages are brought back together it's by faith that people can work their way out of depression it's by faith that lives can be changed faith is what you need but many people find themselves they believe lacking in faith needing to grow in faith so let's just start off with a quick survey this is a softball it's not a setup softball is what I mean right I'm gonna pitch it to you you can hit it out of the park okay how many of you guys would say by a show of hands you would like to grow in your faith raise your hands okay all right most of you look around I mean you're not alone all of us need to grow in faith you need to grow in faith I need to grow in faith no matter where we are as Christians we must continue to grow in faith and this is why because this is how faith works faith is like your marriage you're either growing together or you're growing apart you don't idle well and that's the way it works with God we're either growing closer to him or we grow up growing further apart from him but we don't idle well we don't take breaks from God and so we need to ask God to increase our faith so let's do that today let's bow our heads and close your eyes and ask God to increase our faith today heavenly father God thank you for today lord I know that every single person in this room matters to you you love every person Lord you know every person here you know their names you know the hairs or lack thereof on their heads God you love everyone father there are no strangers to you we are all your children Lord and you are gonna call some of us back today to saving faith father increase our faith grow us in our faith we pray this in your name Amen let's take a look at Luke 17 5 through 6 this is a conversation between Jesus disciples these are his most intimate relationships on earth the most important relationships he has these are the 12 guys the Apostles said to the Lord show us how to increase our faith what does that mean number one it means they needed to grow in their faith number two they didn't know how to grow in their faith so I want you to see the authenticity here the vision of sandals church is to be real notice the disciples are real we need to grow in our faith and listen to this we need to know how to grow in our faith so like in every area of your life every relationship in your marriage first step is figure out there's a problem we need to grow in our marriage or maybe just want to make it better then you got to figure out how to make it better you got to grow in your friendships okay you got to figure out how to grow in your friendships these are the steps that we take and so they asked Lord we need we need to increase our but we know that you know what this looks like now this is what's amazing there's two guys James and John in the group of the twelfth James and John the Bible says heard Jesus preaching now they were fishermen by trade and so they're in the boat with their father they hear Jesus preaching and he says come and follow me and the Bible says they dropped their nets they quit work in the middle of the day left their dad left the family business left everything and followed Jesus I want you to notice here these guys are saying I need to grow in my faith so you're never going to be at a place in your life ever ever ever where you don't need to grow in your faith this isn't something that you do and you're done right we grow as human beings and then we stop growing at least vertically right we stop growing vertically then we start growing horizontally this way so you first this way then this way okay so as human beings we grow for a time and then we stop physically spiritually you can never ever choose to stop growing because it will be detrimental to your relationship with God so let's take a look at this Lord show us how to increase our faith Jesus he's not he's not always the best coach okay right he's not always you know super encouraging so they say Lord increase our faith Jesus said I would love to do that but you don't have any faith right this is what he says he says if you had faith right and then he gets kind of demeaning if you had faith even the size of a mustard seed okay now I'm not a farmer but a mustard seed is really small and I know you're not either so think significantly smaller than a kernel of corn if you just you just had faith so a corn a kernel of corn is much larger than a mustard seed if you just had faith the size of a kernel of corn Jesus says then we could do something with that so what is he saying you guys don't have any faith here are the followers of Jesus who've left everything to follow him why we all must grow in faith and what's interesting here is I want you to write this down that whatsits what Jesus is teaching us here here's the principle it's not the quantity of faith it's in question it's the quality it's the quality and so a lot of us say God I need more faith and God says no no you need real faith God I want more food no no no no the faith that you have it has to be real and so even if it's just a little bit as long as that little bit a little cur little nugget that little seed as long as it's real here's the teaching it's enough it's enough he said if you had faith even as small as this mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree you may be uprooted and thrown into the sea and it would obey you that's what real faith can do real faith can speak to the elements and things change do you understand that okay another place in the Gospels Jesus says you can tell the mountain to jump into the ocean and it will that's how powerful faith is and not only can faith tell a tree to do something or a mountain can do something but it can tell your dead soul to awaken when you come to faith in Jesus Christ that's the power of faith faith is a powerful thing so let's talk about how to grow in faith number one to grow in faith I must grow in my understanding of God's hatred of sin what I know you didn't see that coming neither did I but it's my sermon so welcome okay I must grow in my hatred of sin and this is what I've seen people fall from God as they fall in love with sin they fought they fall away from God because they've fallen in love with sin and this is what we say in our culture well God would want me to be happy so I get to do what I want to do so we fall in love with sin and we fall out of love with God so listen to the teaching of Jesus Jesus talks about faith like seed that's thrown onto the ground and some faith falls on a good soil some faith falls on a rocky soil some faith you know it's taken away by the birds of the air but one of the soils the Bible says it grows initially but then it's choked out by the love of this life and the treasures of this life other things become more important than God and that's you know what is the most dangerous thing to your faith in God the truth is everything everything in Our Lives is competing with God God wants to be first everything else wants to be first everything else is vying to be first and as Christians the only way to grow in our faith is to make sure that God stays number one and everything else doesn't matter so I have to grow in my understanding of God's hatred of said God hates sin hates sin now a lot of us think of hatred is always a bad thing but but you know the idea of hatred is a good thing in that it provides contrast so Jesus says this unless you hate your mother and father in comparison to how you feel about you have no part of my kingdom what does Jesus saying I have to be so far in a way number one in your life that everything else has to look like you hate them so hatred provides contrast and so the Bible says God wants to show us what he hates so that we can understand what he loves you see if I'm gonna grow in my relationship with God I have to understand what he loves but in order for that to happen I got to see what he hates so listen to this conversation that takes place with the disciples in Luke 17 he says one day Jesus said to his disciples he's just rambling off truth right I mean can you imagine you hang out with somebody all day every day and whatever they say is God it's worth it's he just he's just talking he says there will always be temptations to sin why is that you're a sinner you're all gonna be tempted to sin from the time that you were little right your kid your parents told you don't put your finger in the socket as soon as you heard don't what did you want to do hmm I wonder what happens in that socket I bet it's sheer joy you know it's a two-year-old you're in the corner plotting how to figure out how to stick your finger in that socket I'm gonna do this I remember when I told my kids first right the stoves hot don't touch hot hot don't know what hot means you know then they got burned isn't it amazing isn't it amazing the power of the word don't like if I said don't look up what do you want to do right this way so so don't like because we're sinners whenever something is off-limits we're like oh right I said well yes we defined chocolate cake how good was it sinfully good I sinned when I ate this there's something about the word don't that we're in we are drawn to now here's the thing we are drawn every single one of us we are drawn to what God hates a couple a couple years ago we took a spiritual retreat you know I was with all the pastor's of our church we were down at the beach and we had lunch on the beach and so we went out on the pier we had lunch on the beach and we're walking back to the shore as I'm walking back to the shore there's a model on the beach doing a photo shoot and she's doing a bikini photo shoot so she's like this okay and all I see is nothing but buns and string oof right and so to warn all of the pastor's behind me because I'm the lead pastor I'm out front first right I turn to all the pastor's all of your spiritual leaders these are the people who tell you how to you know listen to God follow here from God these are your spiritual leaders I turned to all of them and I go don't look right what do you think they all did even Pastor Dan Crowley was like right even our spiritual Yoda yeah he heard don't and he was like I got to do it you want to do it there's just something about us as soon as something's off flips we're all drawn to that okay so listen you're a sinner Jesus says I understand that you're all gonna be tempted to sin because that's who you are that's what you go through but listen to what he says he says there will always be temptations to sin but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting hmm Jesus is warning you listen it's one thing to be drawn into sin it's another thing to draw others into sin and this is where our culture is this is where America is not only our individual sinning but we are encouraging other people to sin join us come with us and Jesus is saying listen to me listen to me there is nothing that awaits you but judgment Circle that word sorrow there is eternal sorrow awaiting you so it's one thing to stumble into sin it's one thing to go out and get drunk and you regret it it's another thing to get somebody drunk so you can do things to them that they wouldn't normally do do you understand the difference it's another thing to encourage someone to sin to be the person that is the temptation listen what Jesus says verse 2 it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin now let me tell you about the Jews the Jews are not swimmers okay they're not now maybe they aren't nowadays and there's an Israeli that's gonna be all offended okay 2000 years ago not swimmers you were Hillbillies that's the reality that's where it is the Israel Israelis lift up in the hills Philistines lived down by the beach for the Jews scary's thing was the ocean you know what came for the ocean Goliath Leviathan lives in the ocean scary things not sailors that's not who they are okay they're hillbillies they hang out with sheep safe up there Jesus says to his audience it would be better for you to throw yourself into the sea they're like that's scary he gets worse he just throw yourself into the sea and tie a big hundred and forty pound weight around your neck it would be better for you to do that then he looks at a child and he says then to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin now I want to stop and pause here because so many of you were abused as children and wounded as children and hurt by children and the people that should have protected and provided for you harmed you and here's the thing this is a disruption to your faith you can't believe in a loving caring God who would allow these things to happen now let me just say this I don't know why the terrible awful things happen to you as a child I do know this Jesus says those people who did those things to you will be dealt with and they will be dealt with severely because Jesus loves kids he loves kids and the reality is all of our children aren't ours there he is on loan from him to us and one day we will stand before the Father for how those children were treated so I hope that can help you and provide some healing for you as you continue to grow in your relationship and your faith with God so listen he says it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around your neck then to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin okay so right what we're gonna do is we're gonna start up you know sin police and we're gonna go around you're a sinner you're a sinner you're a sinner okay there's a name for that it's called Saudi Arabia doesn't work okay doesn't work right into you from Saudi Arabia we're glad you're here but it doesn't work notice what he says what does Jesus say so watch him yourself yourself you are a full-time job and if you don't think you are it's because you've not been paying attention to your life okay because here's the truth right after I tell the seven pastors not to look what do I want to do or look even though I said to look oh right watch yourself watch yourself then he says if another believer sins rebuke that person now this is hard for us why would we do this right that's such scary language we're like well Who am I to judge and and that you know it's their choice they listen people's souls are at stake people's souls are at stake right if you saw a three-year-old getting ready to jump off to a pier and there's a great white shark in the bottom are you back Who am I to judge Who am I to judge you know I'm not their parents okay you better are you morally obligated to go not don't jump but look at the shark right cuz if you say don't once again gonna do yes I will you can't tell me what to do I will jump into the mouth okay right we are morally obligated to warn people about their sin if you're truly a friend guys if you're truly a friend and you're your guy friend at work is getting too close with a woman who's not his wife you are morally obligated to warn him to warn him because he's gonna mess up his marriage and he's going to harm his kids for the rest of their lives you know yeah but he could destroy our friendship it might but a real friend is willing to join to destroy the friendship for the sake of the friend you need to ask yourself what do you love more your friendship or the friend because when we say I don't want to lose the friendship you know who you really love yourself and you need to be willing to warn people now you don't have to go up to somebody go I rebuke you don't do that I did it once and it didn't go well they go to harvest now it's like it's like see right you know it didn't go well I really literally literally you know neat couple it was a bad moment I I got too much coffee and I you know rebuked you and they left so it doesn't it doesn't work well but say this man share your heart say hey man I'm really concerned I love you I'm worried about you you know I'm concerned about you don't gossip about people confront him confront him and that's what we do as Christians we feel like we've done a good deed when we talked about him no no no that's another sin and now you have to confess and God's gonna deal with you what you need to do is go up to him and say hey man I'm concerned I think you drink too much I think you're getting carried away with this lifestyle I mean I hear what you say about your relationship with Jesus but your lifestyle says you have no relationship with Jesus what's going on rebuke that person then if there is repentance listen if they repent what is repentance here's repentance sorrow with a change in behavior sorrow with a changing behavior that's what repentance means so people can't just say I'm sorry and keep doing what they're doing they have to be sorry and it East try to change their behavior and then what do you got to do you got to forgive him you got to forgive him why because it's what God has called us to do every single one of us has to forgive even if that person wrongs you how many times seven times a day and each times turns again and ask for forgiveness you must forgive them why because if you don't forgive here's your sin when I don't forgive someone who asks for forgiveness and repent of their sins when I say no I'm putting myself in the position of God when I refuse to forgive I'm putting myself in God's seat and guess what that means I am now on I Daleks are guilty of the worst sin I'm not only not worshiping God but I'm worshiping myself the Bible says we have to forgive and for those of us who cannot forgive a repentant sinner we are sick with the same disease we're condemning God hates sin anybody in your ever seen the t-shirts or the hats or the bumper stickers it says this it says F uck cancer anybody seen that like no I've got a church I don't see things like that or stay at home reading my Bible can't believe he just spelled the F word in church is it is there any honest people here has anybody seen this thank you thank you honest people no I don't know she's okay I'm gonna get us a shirt this is hypocrites are us all right listen the first time the first time I saw it it was a little jarring right because because I didn't know what it said I just saw the F word that was kind of offended knows like what you know don't make me go pastor on you you know and say but then I read it okay and so then I read the story of the guy who invented the t-shirt he lost one of his best friends to cancer how many of you guys have lost someone to cancer is here's the thing about cancer it doesn't care if you're a man or a woman cancer doesn't care if you're black right cancer is not racist cancer would kill anybody does he ever your man or woman is give you're black or white just give me Hispanic doesn't care if you're rich or you're poor cancer kills and people who've lost loved ones to cancer they hate it that disease took everything here's why God hates sin because sin is a spiritual cancer and not only will it kill you in this life but it will kill you in the next life you sin can do what cancer cannot do cancer cannot separate you from God but sin can and God hates sin because of what it does and it's important for us to understand how serious that is next point I got to grow in my desire excuse me I got to grow my attitude I'll skip the head I got to grow in my attitude about serving Jesus and survey after survey Americans are demonstrating that we have lost an attitude of service nobody wants to serve anymore as why we have to we have to find immigrants from all over the world to work in our fields nobody wants to serve anymore nobody's a servant everybody in America wants to be the master everybody right I'm not the servant I'm the master and survey after survey Americans see themselves as better than and and and in those same surveys we see ourselves as more and more unhappy I know why that is because as long as you as an American think that you're the master you're going to be miserable you were not made to be the master you were made to be the servant listen to what Jesus says I've got to grow in my attitude about serving Jesus Jesus I mean this is gonna make you want to root for Bernie Sanders listen what he says Luke 17 7 he says when a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep does the master say come in and eat with me right you've been working hard all day you've been working hard all day you deserve your pay it's time for you to relax this is Jesus talking come in sit down with me listen to what Jesus says no he says the master will say prepare my meal put on your apron and serve me while I eat you're like Oh Bernie Sanders then you can eat later and does the master think the certain is the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do underline these three words of course not in the same way when you obey me you should say we are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty let me tell you why so many of us lose our faith because we've confused Jesus with Santa Claus and we think Jesus is supposed to give us everything we want everything we need and when we don't get it and when life's not good we're mad because we forgot that he's the master and we're the servant and the problem is we flipped it and we've ourselves the Masters and Jesus is the servant and we're miserable because we've mistaken our identity okay in our household there's five people in one dog that's our household right I don't know what your households like five people one dog we have three teenagers anybody here have teenagers let's just pray too good right we need a moment okay teenagers love you front ciders one day you'll have them and you'll join us in our prayer okay in our household but you know we got a kid in college kid in high school kid in high school we're working we're going all over the place trying to make these kids lives happen I've had to take some writing and I've been doing some traveling to try to make some extra money to get my kid through college right come home see my kids walk in the door I'm tired just traveled been across the country come to the door come in the house this is what I get from my teenagers so hey dad while you're up can you grab me soda then I walk past the dog we have a dog dogs in a cage lives in prison all day long don't aw she's a mask if she's massive okay when she gets excited things die we love her but she's got to be in the case she supervisor she's in prison supervised in prison that's her life she loves the cage she does sometimes she just goes in it no one tells her she loves it I'll walk in the house the dog sees me the kids like what's up dogs I guess dog dog lives in a cage eats dog food everyday it's a say she I feed her the same thing every day why is the dog so happy in my kids you like her life sucks here's why the dog knows who she is she's the servant I'm the master life is good life is good and let me tell you something as soon as you figure this out listen to Jesus listen to Jesus come follow me come follow me foxes have holes birds have nests let's be homeless together he doesn't say I'm gonna give you your dream house he says you're gonna have no house but it's gonna be awesome if you hundred 25 years old raise your hands under 25 years old listen me here's this is scary I'm gonna talking about you okay young people listen to me under 25 years old here's the scariest thing people your age over 25% of you people your age believe beyond a shadow of a doubt listen to me under 25 years old people your age believe that beyond a shadow of a doubt you are destined to be rich and famous do you hear all that laughing that's old people that's old people right listen you're probably gonna work at Walmart now you will be famous to your customers but we have a whole generation of misery in America today because everybody thinks it's God's will that they be famous I got 17 likes look at this and they're miserable okay people 25 years and under are more miserable than any American generation ever surveyed why because they have these expectations life I'm going to be famous no you're gonna flip burgers and the Bible says if you flip burgers loving Jesus you're gonna be happy but if you own a thousand burger restaurants but you don't know Jesus you're gonna be miserable because you were not made to be served but made to serve and when you realize that you're gonna be happy and it's gonna be awesome you're gonna be the dog it's gonna be good life is good all right so I gotta grow I gotta grow my attitude of serving Jesus next I got to grow I got to grow in my desire to celebrate what Jesus has done for me so we have unhealthy expectations which leads us to a lack of gratitude we're not we're not thankful now let's get back there I watched service five times five times a watch service and every time I'm just like oh my gosh that songs so incredible it's so powerful I'm watching you guys are watching worship live I'm watching it on a TV back there and I'm kind of like gosh it's so incredible and then it's amazing to me all the things that we have to do to motivate you to say thank you to Jesus that's what worship is that's why we sing as we say thank you and people are like I don't like this song hey this song hey this is the lights in my face why is there smoke I hate smoke what am i in a casino right we're all judgmental we're all upset you know why that is because you forgot what Jesus did listen to the story so I gotta grow in my desire to celebrate what Jesus has done for me as Jesus continued on towards Jerusalem he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria as he entered the village ten lepers stood at a distance why ten because in the ancient world when you were diagnosed with leprosy you had to leave your family and your friends who think can you imagine a disease in America today where literally you have to leave your home and you can never come back husbands your wife's gone wives your husband's gone your kids gone grandmas gone gone and they have to go live in the wilderness so what this is is a little leper colony so so they don't have relationships with anybody so they have a relationship with each other they are doomed they are corpses walking and so according to Roman law you had to announce yourself unclean unclean if someone saw you so they don't bump into you and maybe get the disease so lepers stood at a distance right because there they don't get killed crying out Jesus master have mercy on us they are corpses walking Jesus looked at them and said go show yourself to the priest now why would he say that because in the Old Testament the Hebrew Bible the only way that you could be have clearance to go back home is you got to get a certificate from the priest saying you're healed you're healed so priests weren't just religious leaders they were kind of doctors he says go show yourself to the priest and as they went they were cleansed of leprosy so they got healed on the way one of them when he saw that he was healed came back to Jesus shouting praise God he fell on the ground of Jesus feet thanking him for what he had done and this man was a Samaritan Jesus asked didn't I heal ten men where are the other nine has no one returned to give glory to God except for this foreigner and Jesus said to the man stand up and go your faith has healed you I want you to see here ten people get healed how many people are grateful how many people say thanks 1 and guess who it is the person who was furthest from God listen to me if you're a person who grew up Catholic Lutheran Baptist Methodist whatever Calvary Chapel do you know how hard it is for you to get to a position where you appreciate God because you've grown up your whole life with expectations some of you though man you've come from school of hard knocks you're far away from God and you're just so thankful that God would have mercy on you and you can't believe that he saved you because you have no expectations and you're just like things so the one who returns is the one who couldn't believe he was included in the group he's a Samaritan he's the social outcast the only reason those nine Jews were hanging out with him is cuz they couldn't hang out with anybody else he can't believe that God saw him and God noticed him let me tell you this some of you don't worship God because you're not married yet or your marriage isn't healed or your kids going crazy or your finances are a mess and you come to God all bitter because of all the things he hasn't done and you forget what he has done let me tell you what he's done you're a rebel you reject God every day all day almost completely you do your own thing you think about yourself your wants your needs and you reject God even those of you believe in God you reject him on a daily basis you reject God but here's the thing God in His infinite wisdom love and mercy has pursued us has saved us your sins and your rebellion are worthy of death but God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for you on the cross and he punished Jesus instead of you Jesus died in your place and all you have to do is believe well what kind of deal is that we are saved by faith we believe in Jesus and he saves us and what that means is every single Sunday for the rest of your life when it's time for worship you want to sing like something happened because it did because it did and we need to have an attitude of gratitude and we need to thank God I need to grow in my desire to celebrate what Jesus has done for me when's the last time in your prayer time you just said this thanks thank you Jesus thank you thank you last point I got to grow in my relationship with Jesus this is what it's all about Jesus Jesus Jesus one day the Pharisee said to Jesus when will the kingdom of God come and jesus replied the kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs he says you won't be able to say here it is or it's over there so what Jesus is talking about here this is kind of tricky he's talking about both the here and now and the yet to come he's talking about two things the kingdom of God is two things the king God has come amongst us because Jesus came but the kingdom of God is not yet established and so what this is talking about is the great day in human history all of human history is moving to this point of an end even scientists even atheists who look out into space will agree that our universe our world is incredibly in a precarious situation it simply takes one little active movement somewhere in the universe and the earth doesn't even exist anymore it is a miracle that we are even here today the Bible says before scientists ever figure this out thousands of years ago all human history is moving towards Armageddon the last battle the end when God will conquer his enemies and he will redeem his church all of human history is moving towards this but I want you to look what Jesus says he says it can't be detected by visible signs listen you won't be able to say here it is or it's over there for the kingdom of God is already here amongst you and then he said to his disciples the time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns but you won't see it what's he saying I'm gonna be gone a long time people will tell you look there's the son of man here he is he says but don't go and underline these words and follow them this has happened time and time again where religious leaders get all impassioned and they figured out the exact exact price precise moment when Jesus Christ is going to return and let me tell you this whenever somebody tells you the precise moment the Jesus Christ can return I know one thing they're wrong they're wrong they've been wrong over and over and over again multiple Pope's multiple popes have gotten this wrong a thousand years ago Pope Sylvester when the MOE first millennium ended told everybody all Christians to sell everything go to Jerusalem and wait for Jesus that's a bummer right can you imagine you tell your kids eat whatever you want doesn't matter Christ is coming tomorrow sell the house sell the car sell the horses sell it all we don't need the money then you're in Jerusalem hmm right how do we get back Joe of witnesses 1941 declared that Jesus Christ is going to return he's going to return its eminent it's gonna happen the whole world is gonna be destroyed it's all gonna be over bummer we've got I think we've had a couple years since 1941 it's not just cult leaders I mean church leaders get inspired get get pumped up and say this Jesus is saying look don't get so caught up in in times that you forget me stay focused on him don't follow people that are telling you they know and they figured it out and they got some chart and some graph that Jesus can't even read right don't do it he says this for as lightning flashes and lights at the sky from one end to the other so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes but first the Son of man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation when the Son of Man returns it will be like in the days of Noah if you don't know the story of Noah Noah built an ark because God said he was going to judge the earth and flood the earth and kill everybody on the earth they didn't repent so Noah preached for about a hundred years nobody listened he built this boat everybody thought he was crazy then the flood came and people want to get on the boat but it was what too late too late so this time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all and the world will be as it was in the days of lot when people went about their daily business eating drinking buying and selling farming and building until the morning lot left Sodom then fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all yes it will be business as usual right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed listen we don't know when he's gonna come it's gonna it's gonna surprise us it's gonna catch many of us off guard he says on that day a person will be out on the deck on the roof and must not go down into the house to pack you're not gonna when Jesus Christ returns listen this where you think there's no time to get ready when he comes it's too late a person will be out in the field and they cannot return home he said remember what happened to Lot's wife what happened or she turned back was turned to salt Jesus says if you cling to your life you will lose it but if you let it go you will save it that night two people will be asleep in one bed one will be taken in the other will be left husbands wives you even though you're married on earth you're going to be separated because one of you has faith and the other doesn't brothers and sisters are going to be separated families are going to be forever torn apart why because they only those who place their faith and trust Jesus Christ will be taking up with him everyone who rejects Jesus Jesus honors your decision he honors your decision there is a season of grace there is a season of grace where we all get to choose God has given us a season of grace I believe he's been abundantly generous he has waited 2,000 years for you to repent but there's a season of grace and when he returns it's over the Bible says that Jesus Christ came as the lamb but he will return as a lion he says two people will be asleep in one bed one will be taken any other is left two women will be grinding flour together at a mill two women will be at work one will be taken and the other is left so Jesus where's this gonna happen how's this gonna happen he says wherever the vultures gather there you'll find the corpse what he's saying is there will be signs for those of you who pay attention listen every single one of you you need to hear me you can only be saved by faith you can only be saved by faith and this is serious business serious business and we need to understand this Mandy your choices in this life will matter in the next life this next Saturday I'm gonna get to go and go to my grandmother's funeral she passed away she lived to be almost 91 years old we loved her she was great great life I was talking with my mom and she was telling me you know the last couple days of my grandmother's life she didn't talk when she couldn't she couldn't drink she couldn't move she had to be turned like people had to do everything for her and one of my relatives who's not right with God their relationship is not right with God came to visit my grandmother and my grandmother just out of nowhere as she's lying in bed basically looks like a corpse rises up eyes open and points a my relative and says I want to see you in heaven and laid back down and that was it let me ask you what is it going to take for Jesus to save you what is it gonna take are you gonna have to be lying beside one of your loved ones who you think is already dead and they're gonna rise up stare at you in the face and point at you what's it gonna take for you to get your life right with God what's so sad is some of you heart your hearts are so hardened not even your own grandmother pointing her finger in your face can help you because you're not willing to have saving faith what a saving faith look like saving faith is not just believing that Jesus is God it's believing you're a sinner and you need to be saved it's saying I'm sorry Jesus and I'm ready to change my life if you're ready to do that today we have ministers that would love to pray with you and talk with you about how to come to saving faith because what you believe about Jesus will determine where you spend eternity and for those of you who are Christians hold on hold on we either grow in faith or we lose faith we don't idle well let's pray Heavenly Father God thank you for today thank you for this amazing church and these amazing people Lord I know it's your will that not one person in this room would die and go to hell but you want everyone in this place to be saved but in order for that to happen they need their come-to-jesus moment and I pray that they would have it now and I pray that they would get their life right with you now because the reality is you could return right now right here and we may never have another moment another minute and when you come Jesus it's too late so father if there's anybody in here who knows they're not right with Jesus I pray that they would get right with you today by talking with a minister and confessing their sins and placing their faith and trust in you I love you Lord Jesus and we thank you that we are saved by your grace through faith amen love you guys

Channel: Sandals Church

Views: 11,856

Rating: 4.9033818 out of 5

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Id: OYiCJvz10xI

Length: 40min 34sec (2434 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 25 2016