September 12, 2021 | 11:00AM | Bellevue Baptist Church

[Music] all right let's thank the lord for these first graders they're receiving a bible today amen how are you guys doing everybody okay can you look this way just for a second i want to tell you what you're holding in your hand is a very special book it's the most wonderful book in the whole world and guess what it's one book that has 66 books in it all right and in that book you're gonna learn about jesus christ he's the hero of the bible there's something called the old testament and all of that is pointing to jesus there's something called the four gospels all that's about while jesus was on earth the book of acts is about jesus when he went back to heaven he sent the holy spirit and then all of those letters the epistles are about what he taught and then revelation is about the fact that jesus is going to come back so this whole book is about jesus so when you get home get your parents to help you read it and read it every day you know what i didn't read the bible when i was your age i didn't read the bible till i was three times your age i was 18 when i started reading the bible i'd never read the bible before hardly at all even though i went to church all the time but when i read the bible guess what i fell in love with jesus okay and so don't wait until you're 18. do it now get your parents to help you get your brothers and sisters to help you and they will okay thank the lord for you can i pray for you real quick is that okay okay lord thank you so much for these precious young people church family reach your hand out toward them let's lay hands on them all right lord just bless them touch them anoint them fill them with your spirit use them for your glory bless these sweet children lord have your hand upon them and dear god i pray that every one of them will be born again every one of them lord would be filled with your spirit every one of them would walk with you all the days of their lives lord i pray that during their lifetime they would live in a time of revival and restoration in the church dear god i pray for a movement of god like in the book of acts during their day do it for your glory now lord bless them and keep them make your face shine upon them be gracious unto them lift up your countenance upon them give them your peace call some of these young men to preach the gospel call some of these young women to teach the gospel have your hand upon all of them dear god and bless them in every way we pray it in jesus name if that's your prayer for these children say amen amen thank you for letting us give you a bible today okay how many of you are going to read it anybody going to get mom and dad to get to get read it out there you can get your parents to help you all right good deal thanks a lot let's thank the lord for them amen all right thank you yes sir help come right on amen it is good to be in the house of the lord this morning would you stand with us let's worship the lord let's put our hands together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Applause] [Music] he opened the prison doors he parted the raging sea my god he holds the victory come on there's joy in the house of the lord today [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] to the goddess we sing to the god who sings we sing to the god who always makes the way because he hung upon that cross then he rose [Music] there's joy in the house of the lord today and we won't be quiet [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we were the prisoners and now we're running free we are forgiving accepted redeemed by his grace let the house of the lord sing grace come [Music] [Music] there's joy in the [Music] there's joy in house house of the lord today and we won't be [Music] and quiet won't be quiet [Music] is [Music] [Applause] yes [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] praise the lord we're walking in the victory that jesus gave us on the cross and by his blood we are walking in that victory this morning let's praise him for that [Music] oh victory you have one victorious you have come what was [Music] oh victory you have one victorious you [Music] [Applause] [Music] a our champions [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we lift our voice join your song we were orphaned now forever [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you made [Music] us [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we will shout it out from the mountain that our god is [Music] [Music] he has overcome [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] he has over [Music] [Applause] our champions [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen isn't that good news this morning that our champion has paid the debt that we owed in blood amen we have a couple that are coming this morning to be baptized let's just remain standing let's worship and celebrate along with them well bellevue family it is a joy to be with you this morning as we get to celebrate those that have repented of their sin and believed jesus as savior and lord and received them into their lives and so today we have two that are getting baptized and i want to introduce you to jacob jacob claus i got to tell you a cool story though if groups are a big part of your life then this is one of those stories it'll inspire you maybe to jump into a group so we are part of a group his life group is actually here today and uh he came down out of the life group and said steve i need to have christ number one in my life i don't have him number one in my life and uh we had a great conversation and he prayed to receive christ right there and it was amazing cool moment for him and so um praise the lord and i know his family is here he's got aunts and cousins and grandparents and everybody here celebrating with him and so uh jacob it is my honor and my privilege to baptize you my brother in the name of the father of the son and the holy spirit buried with christ risen to walk in newness of life [Applause] this is my new friend joe carl and joe is coming today for yes he's a believer in christ and he is coming forward today saying i am joining with bellevue baptist church today he's been coming for the past couple weeks and he's saying this is my church and i love being here and being a part of this spirit family and so uh joe it is my honor and my privilege my friend to baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit bury with christ risen to walk in newness of life yes and all god's people said amen amen you can be seated don't you just wish steve spence will get a little excited when he baptizes that'd be great we love it and you guys are this is an encouraging group at 11 always when people are getting baptized hey thank you for being with us this morning it's great to see so many of you in the building with us and if you're a guest with us we're especially excited for you to be here maybe this is your first time thank you for being with us today and we would love to be able to connect with you also we have people that are watching online as well that are also maybe guests for the first time you know in the last service i mentioned we had people from different countries we actually had a marine base that was watching at the nine o'clock service uh so we gave a special shout out to them we have people this service that are watching from germany more from india we have people all across the united states that are watching us that can't be in the building with us so if you're a guest online with us or a guest in this room we would love for you to let us know by texting the word guest to 901 901 and when you do that somebody from here is going to reach out to you answer any questions you have help you get connected in your next step so take just a minute to do that if you don't mind if you're a guest with us in the room you know this week we started back our mid-weeks on wednesday nights and it was a great time children are back in the swing of things students and all their different areas and then also we had bellevue women that kicked off this wednesday night and bellevue men also had something that's we're doing new on wednesday nights and then this thursday morning men i want to make sure that you know that we have the men of memphis uh bible study that is starting back this thursday morning it does for all ages of men we would love for you to come i bring my 16 year old son 17 year old son now last week with me to this so dads bring your son with you as well you get breakfast at six o'clock five dollar breakfast and then we get into the word you're out of here at seven so we encourage you maybe you've never been this would be a good time for you to check that out that happens in the fellowship hall right over here on the west side of the building that and all kinds of other things are available for you to know more about at our website just go to bellevue.org and it's all there for you one other thing that i want to tell you about is today this weekend is a special weekend and that is because this is when we celebrate 16 years of having brother steve and miss donna be for both steve be our pastor and miss don is pastor's wife can we thank the lord for them 16 years [Music] so grateful for the leadership of brother steve and uh what that's meant and in my life and my family's life and i know a lot of you feel the same way you know in reading in philippians uh paul and timothy address the church at philippi and they start uh off chapter one by saying this i thank my god every time i remember you and that's them talking to the church and then it goes on a little bit later that they tell that saint the same people that they are confident that what the lord has begun in them that he will be faithful to complete it and i think that that fits perfectly when i think about brother steve and miss donna and i hope that you will join me in regularly thanking the lord for brother steve and miss donna and also praying that they would continue to be faithful to the call the lord has placed on their lives because we know that the lord will be faithful to complete it it's not every day in every church that you have a pastor that continues to follow after the lord that sounds crazy to say but it's just true and we have a pastor who faithfully preaches the word studies the word and gives us the word and allows us to be able to apply that in our lives and we have a lot to be grateful for can we thank the lord again for brother steve and miss donna i want to pray for us and as we pray we're going to thank the lord for them and then also i thank the lord for how he continues to bless this church through the faithful giving of tithes and offering we're not passing the plate but there's receptacles out in the hallways as well as ways you can give online we encourage you to do that let's pray together and then we'll continue to worship lord thank you for the opportunity that we have to worship you in spirit and in truth or that's the kind of worshipers that we want to be lord we thank you that we get to we get to worship you in the way that we sing and how we open up the word of god and lord and even how we give thank you for that where we also thank you for the gift that you have given us and brother steve is our pastor lord thank you for how you have used him in these last 16 years and we pray for him in the years to come we thank you for miss donna lord how faithful she is and what an example she is to so many lord thank you that you have put these choice servants at this place lord i pray that you are laid on our hearts regularly to lift them up to pray for them as they stay close to you and clean before you lord let that be our prayer lord we thank you again for the chance to worship you now we love you in jesus name amen there's no sweeter name in the name of jesus amen well let's stand let's continue worship i searched the world but it couldn't fill me man's empty praise and treasures that fame are never enough and you came along [Music] you put me back together and every desire is now satisfied here in your love i won't sing it if you believe it oh there's nothing come on [Music] and nothing is [Music] yes lord we believe i'm not afraid to show you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the god of the mountain he [Music] and is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're the [Music] [Applause] [Music] dancing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're the only [Music] you're the only one who cares [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the only one [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] there's nothing better than jesus amen he is the way he is the truth and he is the life [Music] who is the great king of glory seated [Music] jesus you alone you are the lord [Music] it's jesus [Music] but nothing compares [Music] all the angels are holy jesus jesus [Music] [Applause] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] to the wonderful oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus oh [Music] [Applause] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you shed your blood for salvation you broke the curse for a freedom [Music] [Applause] you come again [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] me [Music] [Applause] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i [Music] jesus you alone there is no other name you worthy i lift my voice and see worldly about my life too exaltly jesus you alone is jesus [Music] [Applause] thank you miss becca thank you jeff thank you all for leading today let's thank them again for leading us in worship thank you charles thank you so much it's good to be with you today don and i were in new england this week we were in vermont can i make a statement they think i talk funny up there all right i'm from the south amen and uh that's okay but we went up and what we did was we ministered to 125 pastors and their wives there were 250 of them and they are in very small churches there in new england we were in vermont and these people came in from all over and a friend of mine phil waldrop who's an evangelist gets these sponsorships he gets the money paid for so these people don't pay anything they just come and stay in a a hotel and during the week uh preachers like me come in and we just give them encouraging messages and try to pray with them we had a little group of about five couples that don and i prayed with it's just one of the most encouraging things that i've been a part of and it reminds me of what i'm talking to you about today every christian once you get saved it's not easy sometimes to be a christian it's just not the devil fights you the world fights you your own flesh your own sinful nature is fighting you and you wonder how in the world am i going to make it as a christian i want to ask you let's just be real honest now you don't have to raise your hand on every sin i'm going to bring up okay but uh i want to ask you can can a a born-again christian that's the only kind of real kind of christian there is can a genuine christian sin yes okay can they sin grievously can they is it possible for a christian to get so angry that he could even commit murder is it possible for a christian to be immoral tell a lie slander someone be divisive in the body of christ in the church embezzle money i'm not talking about that that's all they do that's their lifestyle i'm talking about is it possible for a christian to sin some say if people commit these kind of sins it's because they're not really saved they say that true christians they can't sin like this is that so well what about some of the people in the bible that god used mightily have you ever thought about this noah was the only righteous man at the time of his life and as soon as he got off of that boat wasn't long he got drunk it's in your bible i've heard people say you know what if i'd been on a boat with that many animals i don't know man all that time abraham the father of faith in the bible twice as he was traveling around with his wife said she's my sister and two different kings took her sarah who was a beautiful woman into their harems and one of them says that they didn't get together but it doesn't say about the other one we don't know but he lied about that and said she's not my wife she's my sister that's abraham father of the faith moses had such a bad temper he killed people he struggled with a bad temper some of you have a bad temper david lied told lies all the time every time you turn around he was telling life i read this morning he told a lie he trying to get away from king saul went over to the philistines and went into the philistine camp and he was going out and he was killing people that were canaanites he'd come back and tell the can the uh king there and uh philistine king he said where you been he said i just been out killing your enemies they weren't his enemies they were his allies he told a lot of lies and not only that what else did he do he committed adultery with bathsheba and then when she was expecting his baby he had her husband killed he murdered her husband who was one of his 30 best leaders can christians sin what about elijah you know there's a holy fear of god but we're not supposed to live in fear of man we're not supposed to live in fear of other things and he got so afraid of jezebel he hid in a cave he was sinning in doing so elijah the greatest prophet in the old testament peter denied that he even knew who jesus was and he's the one that said though everybody else deny you not me he denied jesus three times he said he didn't even know who he was paul in his pride and hardness of spirit shunned john mark because he had walked away from the mission trip he got lonesome and went back to his mom and when they got ready to go on another trip he said no he's not going paul was ready to throw this young man away if you will paul was in my opinion you know paul's not god okay he wrote a third of the new testament but he's way better christian than i am but paul was wrong turning away john mark and thank the lord for barnabas amen who picked him in and introduced him to peter and then what did john mark do he wrote the very first gospel we call it the gospel of mark it's the one that matthew used to write his book to get the outline for his book and luke as well and yet paul was ready to throw him away that's what we do a lot of times when a christian messes up let's just throw them away let's don't reconcile them let's don't bring them back into the fold let's don't give them grace oh we want grace we want forgiveness we want mercy jesus said blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy if you want mercy how many of you want mercy anybody out there want mercy i got i want mercy i got to give it if i want it we were just in as i told you vermont and we went over to massachusetts where dwight l moody the greatest evangelist the billy graham of the 1800s in america the latter part of the 1800s 19th century i stood on the hill where he's buried where he used to pray every time he was there at that place i took my shoes off and got down on my knees because i knew i was on holy ground i wasn't doing it to be melodramatic and i'm not telling you that to say that i'm some holy person i'm just saying i feel like i was on holy ground you know when you pray where somebody's prayed for years that's to me sacred ground and so i was thinking about him and i was thinking about one of his best friends charles head and spurgeon they were both five nine and they were both obese they both weighed over 300 pounds now we you know in baptist churches oh don't drink but what about overeating you didn't want to say amen on that somebody way over here too late for the rest of you all right overeating is a sin not an amen again i get it the founder of the seminary that i attended was divorced b.h carroll so what do we do when christians mess up do we just throw them away or do we pull them in and reconcile them okay you say why are you talking to us about this because that's what the bible talks about today we're finishing 20th sermon last one on the book of james a lot of you have gone all the way through since we started back in february two verses today would you look at them james 5 19-20 my brethren does that mean it means brothers and sisters in christ brethren includes sisterin you didn't get that okay all right sister is not a word if any among you strays from the truth that's christians that stray away from the truth they backslide and one turns the backslider turns the strayer turns him back let him let the one let the one know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his way will save his soul from death what does that mean i'll tell you in a minute and we'll cover everybody say cover cover a multitude of sins how many of you want your sins covered by the blood of jesus anybody out there i do so what do we do when the people we go to church with mess up even if nobody knows about it but god they lie they steal they cheat they are immoral what do we do okay let's talk about it let's talk about reclaiming a backslider and by the way the christian life is not okay everybody look at me i got saved now i'm just going to walk steadily toward jesus and never make a mistake i'm just going to walk toward jesus until i get home i don't know about you i do know about you i've been doing this 40 plus years all right that's not my experience and that's not your experience here's the christian life let's start over i get saved praise god i'm forgiven but i don't walk like this it's more like that watch now watch finally praise god to get home can i get a witness out there you know sometimes you just mess up like your wife says what do you want to eat and i say a hamburger well i don't want that does it matter no i don't care where we go just what do you want to eat well you do care where we want to go well i want to be healthy well you didn't say that and all of a sudden we're getting into it don't look at me so holy all right i mean she won't salad i want meat i'm a carnivore you know i i want some sustenance and some potatoes how many of you are hungry right now amen you can get into it it's just anything so how do we how do we pull out of that all right let me give you the outline number one the backslider's problem is rebellion there's an old song we used to sing we don't sing anymore prone that is i'm always wanting to wander wander away prone to wander lord i feel it prone to leave the god i love here's my heart lord take and seal it seal it for thy courts above what he's saying is lord i want to live for you but this world is so full of temptation i just kind of go like this sometimes how many of you know what i'm talking about the world pulls you away your sinful nature pulls you away other people it's rebellion my brethren verse 19 if anyone among you strays from the truth my brethren if a christian any one of you any one of you now what he's saying there is we are all capable of straying that's what he's saying my brethren if any among you i don't know how more blatant can he get i mean how much more specific can he get any one of you anybody among you if you stray from the truth if you stray play not o to wander away it's the the word used in matthew 18. do you remember when jesus talked about there were a hundred sheep and one of them straight away how many of you ever heard that before in your life anybody that's the word he uses that's the same word play not o it's also used when jesus answered and said to them matthew 24 4 see to it that no one misleads you he's talking about the second coming don't let them lead you astray when they talk about the coming of christ it's also a word used in revelation chapter 2 verse 20 the church at thyatira had left this woman that john nicknamed jezebel who's one of the most wicked people in the bible a woman in the old testament who was married to ahab and he said you've got a jezebel there in your church that is leading people astray spiritually that's what he said same word so when james uses this word it's a very familiar word to all the christians they know that it means a sheep going astray a person that loves the lord going off into sin they get it they know it it's it's just like a regular word for them he's got their attention if any among you strays wanders away from the truth now what truth do people wander away from let me give you three three things here sub points when people stray as christians first of all they rebel against the truth of the son of god they don't think biblically about jesus that's the first error you can make if you're going to stray away from god because i want to tell you something there is only one way to god and that is jesus christ so now who is jesus and and how do they stray maybe they stray from the fact that jesus is the eternal son of god jesus is god in the flesh he's just as much god as god the father just as much god as god the holy spirit that's where the mormons to be frank with you really mess up they say that jesus was a man who became god no jesus was god who became a man the mormons have turned it around exactly opposite and no offense but mormons are not christians i'm not saying that they're another denomination they believe if you if you understand mormon theology they believe that the devil and jesus are brothers you can't get more foreign and more non-scriptural than mormon theology i'm not trying to knock anybody but i'm just telling you that's where they believe and so you've got to believe that jesus is the eternal son of god who is the divine son of god he has always existed with the father and the son he's not becoming god he already has been god and always has been god that's all i'm saying to you if it bothers you that i mentioned the actual group that said that go read their theology for yourself i'm not trying to put anybody down but i am trying to be as wise as we can be and be as biblical as we can be and not only is he the eternal divine son of god but he also is the virgin born son of god he had to be born of a virgin because you and i have a sinful nature we got it at conception from adam and eve because we are sons of adam and eve who sinned and that seed goes all the way through us and we have this propensity and this inclination to sin from the moment of conception when we get old enough to sin it's there we don't have to look for the sinful nature it's in us we got it from adam and eve but jesus was born of a virgin free from a sinful nature and then jesus was tempted in all ways like us and he never sinned because he was born of a virgin and because he was the son of god and he resisted temptation and because he resisted temptation he was the son of son of god he's the only one ever capable of going to a cross and burying the sins of other people like you and me that's why all that's important and the bible says when you start drifting away from god you reject all of that stuff you reject the virgin birth i'll guarantee you over half the preachers in memphis don't believe in the virgin birth of jesus christ i'm talking about all the churches it's unbelievable am i putting people down no i'm just trying to tell you facts just reality you go to some seminars not southern baptist seminaries because in our seminaries if you don't believe in the virgin birth you don't get to teach there you have to sign a document that says we believe in the virgin birth of jesus christ we believe in his atoning sacrifice we believe in his bodily resurrection we believe that jesus christ is coming again if you don't believe that you don't get to teach in any of our six seminaries in the southern baptist convention but there are seminaries all over the place that teach and deny everything i just said so you believe all these things about jesus that he is the son of god that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins that he rose bodily from the grave that he's ascended to heaven that he's interceding for us now and he's getting ready to come back when you stray from jesus you start doubting those things and once you start doubting jesus you're on the downhill slope downhill slow jesus said john 14 6 i am the way the truth the life no one comes to the father but by me when you get jesus wrong when you get the son of god wrong everything else is wrong and then also when you start straying you rebel not only against the truth of the son of god but the truth of the word of god because it's not far if you can reject jesus it's not hard then to reject the bible again not trying to be ugly but you can go to churches all over memphis they don't walk through the scriptures when they preach they may read a verse and then tell a story if they don't walk through the scriptures they don't honor the word of god or the son of god but once you become a christian and you start straying from the word of god you're in trouble the longer no longer is the bible god's holy word to you you reject its inspiration you reject the fact that it's inerrant without error that it's infallible all of a sudden you say i'm not going to listen to the bible the bible says i shouldn't lie but i want to tell a little lie once in a while get away with something i'll do it the bible says don't commit fornication if i want to live with somebody and be immoral i'll do it you start straying away from scripture if i want to hurt somebody if i want to sue somebody if i want to i'll do whatever i want to when you start talking like that you say i don't care what god's word says i don't care and then thirdly you start straying as a christian you rebel against the truth of the gospel of jesus christ you no longer believe he's the only way to god you no longer believe the truth of the gospel that jesus can save you that jesus is enough i love ephesians 1 13. in him i love that you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit look here's how you get saved leave it on the screen just to say you listen to the gospel message that's what you're doing right now so you listen to it the message of truth truth the gospel of your salvation having also what believe now if you listen to the gospel today and you believe on jesus you receive him as your lord and savior then that third part you're sealed in him with the holy spirit of promise isn't that beautiful you listen to the gospel you believe the gospel you're sealed by jesus because it's the truth it's the truth oh how we need not to rebel against jesus the bible says in first samuel 15 23 rebellion is like the sin of divination you know what that is witchcraft it is satanic not to believe the devil is the great non-believer and when we don't believe in jesus we follow him not the lord my brethren if any among you strays from the truth when we reclaim a back slider we have to remember the backslider's problem is rebellion against god secondly the church's responsibility is rescued that's what it's our job to go after the people that have rebelled okay we don't just invite them to come to church that's great but that's not enough we go after them we go out of these doors after them look at verses 19 and 20. my brethren if any among you strays from the truth now look and one turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins verse 19 he's referring to obedient christians who turn back straying christians that's what i call backsliders james also said that if you do that if you help restore a backslider you literally turn him back from the error of his way don't malign them don't castigate them don't beat them up rescue them i'm going to show you a picture where i learned how to swim okina pool dyersburg tennessee now this is not exactly the way it was when i was there we came in those doors over there on the left i can remember it right now but there were three diving boards there are two of them there and they're both little ones right back then no not us the little one was over there by that guy who's the lifeguard i'm assuming that he's got a really tall chair all right and so the little one like that one over there was over there on the far end was the medium size and on this end where there is nothing there was the big diving board and so i had had one week of swim lessons and i was ready to go off the big diving board right wrong but i did it anyway because everybody was daring me oh steve especially my brother he was egging it on oh you want to jump off the bed i said i can do it it's about seven years old you know and so i climb up there and they're saying jump jump jump jump i mean i'd had one week of swim lessons i was a real swimmer i finally jumped i hit that water and thought now what i didn't know what to do so i started kicking and came up for air and went back down came up for air went back down and stayed down i know what to do now i what did i need at that time i didn't need a lecture i didn't need to make a message you know you really you've had one week what is your problem you've had one week of swim lessons why in the world first of all did you get on the big diving board why did you jump off and why are you drowning now what is your problem is that what i needed i didn't need a lecture i needed a lifeguard hello i didn't need reprimanding i needed somebody to rescue me and do you know what happened before i drowned i'm still here how did you get here a lifeguard jumped in and rescued me or i would have drowned i couldn't save myself i needed somebody to help me it was a little embarrassing because it was a girl i'll just tell you even back then i was i'm telling you what i was not even five foot tall but i was already macho amen and so but i was so glad in my heart i was so glad i didn't care who it was i needed rescuing and i remember when i was 18 rescued me he pulled me out of a mary clay and he saved my soul i needed help i couldn't save myself but i didn't have to jesus is my lifesaver amen amen let's thank the lord for jesus amen thank god for jesus amen remember the old song i was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore very deeply stained within sinking to rise no more but the master of the sea heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me now safe am i love lifted me so how do we help people we don't treat them like people who need to be lectured we treat them like people who need to be they're drowning and we need to save them they're not rebellious people that need to be beaten and imprisoned they are drowning people that need to be rescued so how do we rescue them first of all you have to pray for backsliders you have to i i've got a list of people that i pray for every day that are sick but i also have a list of people that struggle and i pray for them every day backsliders because god can touch their hearts when i can't they need touching on the inside they need help and sooner or later they'll get going in the right way they still won't be perfect but they'll be doing a lot better than they are so i'm going to pray for them to get god in on it and then i'm going to lovingly confront backsliders and you don't do that by talking about them on the internet you don't use social media to beat them up i've even heard some people beat people up in a prayer request they've got 10 people in the room well let's pray for so and so here's all he did can i make a statement you don't need to do that that's not helpful if you know something on somebody keep your mouth shut in a prayer meeting and just say so and so needs prayer that's all you need to say but you need to one on one go to them like the bible says like jesus said in matthew 18 if your brother offends you go to him go to him don't talk about everybody to everybody else about him go to him or her and lovingly talk to them about it and then treat backsliders with gentleness approach them with humility hey let me remind you whatever they have done you are potentially capable of doing okay let's get off our high horse and come down to reality and realize if it's not but for only but the grace of god can hold us away from sin and then lovingly speak truth to them lovingly speak truth to them speak the truth but do it in love show them scripture that shows that they've strayed and where they've gone wrong but do it in a way that is loving now listen do not condone the sin of backsliders this is important sometimes people want to love them so much that they don't want to say hey what you're doing is against the word of god there's a way to say that you can't condone their sin a lot of churches today you come as you are you leave as you came amen we need to be changed in here amen and that's the only way that is is the scripture giving us truth that's why we preach the bible here at bellevue i'm not trying to grandstand i'm just saying you come to bellevue bellevue is synonymous with jesus and the bible that's what we're going to give you we're not going to sugarcoat it but we're not going to be mean either okay we're going to lovingly tell you the truth from what the word of god says that's what you do you don't condone sin of backsliders and another thing is you you confront them say you know what you don't need to do this anymore you need to stop this and we want to help you okay you got to do that and then don't give up on backsliders don't do it how many of you glad that somebody didn't give up on you anybody out there amen amen the church's responsibility is rescued finally the ultimate goal is restoration the ultimate goal is restoration now look at verses 19 and 20. this is now this gonna be you know james is stout all right james speaks strong words so he's about to give you one some of y'all it's going to be hard for you to receive but listen my brethren if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death say that part with me will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins what in the world does it mean save his soul from death everybody look this way i want to explain something to you i don't have time to give you all the verses i'm not look i could just don't have time i've already preached 36 minutes and to be frank with you after about 40 y'all are hungry and ready to go to the house all right so stick with me just a minute i don't have time to unpack the whole thing but god is a parent but god is also god god knows that you're going to sin as a christian but and and listen god is very patient especially at the beginning but if you keep on and on and on kind of like the book of judges they're going through a cycle well we'll repent okay god's blessed us now now we'll go back to our sin the bible says don't be like a fool who repeats his folly don't be like a dog that returns to his vomit that's a gross thing you ever seen a dog eat vomit that's nasty amen you know what else is nasty when we return to our sins that we've repented of it's like a dog-eating vomit that's out of the bible and so we say okay god's forgiven me praise god then we go back to our spiritual vomit and we keep sinning and we keep on we repent and then we go back and we repent and we go back there are some people in the body this is what's going to be hard for you but i got to tell you there are some people in the bible that god said you know what i love them but they just are not going to get it right so i'm going to bring them home early there are people that god took their lives christians because he didn't want them to continue to slander his name you say who you could write a book on it there's so many i'll just give you two one of the old one of the new remember aaron's sons remember these guys named nadab and abihu you think you struggle with your name don't you know nate what's your name nadab what's yours abide who don't you know they got laughed at amen just for their name but these two sons of aaron literally offered up a strange sacrifice that god did not command and god said you've crossed the line and god took their lives there's a couple in the new testament now in the book of acts chapter five ananias and sapphira they sold some land they got the money back they gave a portion of it to the church and they said to peter this is all the money we got for lamb and but they kept some of it back to themselves they lied and god was moving in such a holy let me tell you when god moves in a holy revival you better be real careful if you sin to try to snuff that out and god took both of their lives you read about it in acts chapter 5 and the bible said the church feared they had holy reverence for god that's what he's talking about he was saying this if you don't repent you might be like nadab and abide who you might be like ananias first you might be putting your own life on the line if you keep on returning to your sin i don't know when the line is when you cross it i don't know but i want to tell you something god god has a line i've seen it i've seen it i've seen people come right up to it and pull back but that's what he's talking about but what happens when god forgives a backslinger he covers a multitude of sin it covers it it covers they're not publicly dragging the name of jesus through the muddy before anymore and four good things happen write this down and we'll be through i'm going to let you listen to a song before we sing when god restores us four things happen he removes our sin as far as the east is from the west i love that comes out of psalm 103. could we read the verse off the screen verse 12 read it with me out loud good and strong here we go as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us that's the bible saying it's gone it's gone you confessed it you repented of it it's gone amen belongs there too late he cast our sin behind his back is another thing that happens i love this psalm or isaiah 38 17 lo or behold for my own welfare i had great bitterness i didn't think i was going to make it it is you who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness for you have cast all my sins behind your back aren't you glad that when jesus saves you all your sins are forgiven and they're behind god's back he doesn't look at him anymore he no longer remembers our sin as a third thing he no longer remembers our sins hold them against us isaiah 43 25 god says i even i am the one who wipes out your transgression for my own sake and i will not remember your sin and then he cast our sin into the depths of the sea oh i love this out of the book of micah this is why you need to read the whole bible there's so many good verses in the bible micah chapter 7 verses 18 and 19 who is a god like you who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in unchanging love he will again have compassion on us he will tread our iniquities under foot yes oh lord you will cast all their sin into the depths of the sea or no preachers say yeah when you get saved and when you confess sin and you repent god throws all of your sea and your sin into the sea and then puts up a sign on the shore says no fishing no fishing look at me nobody in here has it all together including right here nobody but there's mercy and grace for all of us but we have to repent and repent means to admit it to god and then ask him to help you to quit it admit it and then quit it let's say that admit it and then quit it you may not quit it in a day it may take four or five years to quit it but get on the quitting part amen do whatever you have to do take whatever measures you have to do to quit that sin that is so hurtful to you and others can be anger it can be greed it can be slander it can be immorality it can be telling lies it can be a lot of things but if you're a christian let's ask the lord to help us to help us could we just bow our heads just for a moment lord speak to us through this song o lord jesus show us even now that when we confess our sins and repent of them they're as far away from us as the east is to the west in jesus name amen this song came out about 15 years ago it's one of my favorites you don't hear it much anymore but every once in a while i turn it on and play it and every time i do almost every time no knowing about almost every time i cry so if you'd like to i'll tell you we can sing together on parts of it okay listen to this old song and think about how good god is to you when you ask him to forgive your sin [Music] it happened so long ago i cried out for mercy back then begged him to forgive my sin but i still can't forget it just won't go away so i wept again lord washed my sins [Music] what's in [Music] what's [Music] buried in the sea [Music] of forgetfulness the heaviest thing you'll carry is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] don't bring them up against [Music] that's as far away as the east is [Music] the very minute you confess [Music] forgetfulness [Music] god please deliver me for my accusing memory nothing makes me [Music] from the west [Music] [Applause] [Music] you confessed [Music] is that he forgives our sin amen let's thank the lord [Music] amen good way to end the book amen whatever sin you've committed jesus is greater than that if you've never been saved if you've never become a christian he can forgive all your sins come today and give your heart to christ we're going to sing in just a moment and while we do our pastors guys would you come on he'll be down here in the front you can pray to receive christ you can repent of your sins and put christ first in your life and he'll forgive you today if you'll call on his name come and take somebody by the hand and say man i want to be saved or give him a fist bump if you don't want to take him by the hand all right all you in the balcony on this side you'll go right over here where his hand is raised all you on this side you'll go right over here where his hand is right all you on the main floor you'll come here and if you're a christian and you've got sin in your life man repent today turn from that don't don't live in that don't keep going back to your sin like a dog returns to its vomit don't do that stop it don't just admit it ask god to help you quit it i've done it before do it again do it again it may take a few more months but god will pull you out of that but you got to you gotta want it you gotta want it so much that you just keep coming back to the lord and saying lord i'm not giving up i'm not letting go until you bless me and he will he's a good god he's a good god we're going to sing one of my i ask them to sing this song it's one of my favorite songs on grace and mercy which we all need but you got to repent and so i want you to sing this let just live this song as you sing it okay if you need to give your heart to christ if you need to come and pray with somebody if you need to come for baptism you've been saved you've never gone public man it's time for christians to go public too amen everybody else is going public lets us go public for jesus just don't be ashamed of him you need to be baptized come that's you do that because you are saved you make a statement i belong to jesus and then you want to join this church you say i want to be part of a church that's going to preach the word of god even when it's tough amen it's going to preach what the bible says let the chips fall where they may not try to be mean but we are going to be biblical amen i'm gonna pray we're gonna sing if you need to come you come father bless this time that your will be done in our hearts in jesus name amen [Music] earth has no sorrow earth has no source [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] lift up your face [Music] so lay down your heart and lay down your heart [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] lay down [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] come as you were come on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] still earth has no sun and heaven [Music] so lay down your birds [Applause] [Music] [Applause] lift up your face [Music] [Applause] [Music] as you are [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] come as you are [Music] [Applause] let me pray for you father i thank you so much for these precious people lord some of them have been beat up by the enemy they've been told that they're no good that they can't be forgiven expose to them even now what a liar the devil is and let them know that they are not beyond hope and they are not beyond your grace and your mercy it doesn't matter how many times they've fallen if they'll look to you you will pull them up brush them off fill them up and lead them forward do that lord encourage people today put courage back into people encourage them our world is so discouraging even some churches are discouraging and lord we don't want to talk negatively about them but lord if all the churches in america preach the gospel we'd have revival god help us help us lord send an awakening in our day lord we just had our 20th anniversary of 9 11. that's got to be the biggest wake-up call the church has ever had at least one of them you said if my people called by my name that's christians in our state if my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from our wicked ways then you'll hear from heaven forgive our sin heal our land lord the only way the land of america is going to get healed is if christians get right with you god help us help us lord it's too late help us lord be merciful oh god in wrath remember mercy the lord there's some people out here today that struggle all of us struggle at some level but there are some people that are in the throes of it dear god i don't know how else to ask you but let them feel your presence and let them know that you have not abandoned them that you love them that's why this sermon was preached today because you love them and you plan to restore them give them hope for their future dear god in heaven and let them cry out to you and receive your mercy and your grace let us consecrate ourselves to you lord cast our sins as far as the east is from the west we need you lord bless these sweet people in jesus name all god's people said amen look at me have an awesome week living for jesus christ amen amen [Applause] you

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 1,080

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: reclaiming a backslider, book of James, Bellevue Baptist Church, Pastor Steve Gaines, Memphis churches, Tennessee churches, online church, digital ministry, church service, Sunday worship, echurch, Bellvue, Steve Gains, Bellevue livestream, Bellevue live stream, live worship service, worship service, baptist church service, bible teaching, Sunday sermon, church live stream, pastor gaines sermons, Bellevue sermons, Steve Gaines sermons, gains sermons

Id: SfmWib8qo5I

Length: 91min 23sec (5483 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021