Stop Working, Start Receiving- Grace by Francis Chan

you know yesterday I was at this speaking another pastors conference and and lately every conference I go to one of the things I talk about is is how much I love Cornerstone Church you know I I tell these guys and I and I and I realized this yesterday when I was doing this up in the Bay Area telling man you gotta understand my church and I'm telling about all the things that are going on and I realized when I come back here typically every weekend I look for what's wrong and try to fix it and I look at all these needs in the world and I tell you man we gotta change as we have changes you guys don't talk to each other what's wrong with you you know and all that stuff and yet when I'm away from here I'm telling everyone oh man I had a great Church in the world and everyone's jealous you know and I realize you know what I never tell you guys how thrilled I am about Cornerstone Church and all the great things that are going on and and and I was thinking about this this week a lot I mean a lot this week where God was just revealing to me man it's happening here you know remember last weekend when I talked about the the the human trafficking and everything that's going on with that and we're all bombed down well during the 11 o'clock service you know there was one girl in the eleven o'clock service and goes she goes that's what I do I live in Burma I've been there for the last six years and I'm just back on break for a few weeks I'm like no way she rescues those kids out of slavery then another girl 11 o'clock service goes yeah that's what I do too I'm in East Africa I'm just back here for a few weeks on break no way both you guys do that it was just such a cool thing to know like in our own congregation whatever need I bring up in fact right before service I was thinking to myself okay I can't go to Thailand and rescue kids or whatever else but what can I do here and I thought wow maybe I should actually go to Hollywood or something and walk the streets you know with the not now you know walk you know you know what I'm talking about but maybe that's what I need to do is actually be in Hollywood and in helping prostitutes and and whoever else is out there that just that down and out talking to them and and then sure enough after 11 o'clock service three guys come up and they were just talking about what they did the night before they go yeah every Saturday night after service we walked down in Hollywood and just just talk to people and try to help people there down in I'm like oh I'm just thinking about doing that and and they said yeah just last night they go we were talking to this guy who was selling CDs or whatever like I were not really interested but um can we buy you dinner my guys like sure you know and he's like where you guys taking me and they're like wherever you want and he goes all right let's go to Hooters and they're telling me the story about the three I'm walking with this guy to Hooters going are you okay with this you know and they're like man I don't want to go you know but we promised him anywhere no do we back off on our word or what do we do and they're just wrestling the whole way going oh man what do we do what do we do and they get there and there's a 45-minute wait and the guy goes out let's go somewhere else and like oh good you know but it was just I was so excited it's like man is every single need that I bring up everything I bring up there's always a group of people that jump on it and you know with the child trafficking and then people start looking into that this week and sending me links and we're trying to figure out how can we get involved even right over in the valley it's like every single thing man when I when someone from India comes and says hey we sponsor some kids hundreds of kids get sponsored we sponsors and pastors pastors get sponsor whatever is brought up when I said hey we need some people to move to Lima Peru and and help these people a sudden we had all these applications like don't all go we got a you know some of you stay here you know and we're having a Mexico trip in a couple weeks and again over 800 people signing up well yeah let's go to Mexico you know and you guys are going and you're doing in fact Friday morning Friday morning you know my wife's at home throwing up on the kids and I I just practice it and I and I take the two youngest like I let me get them out of here that's not fair and and I take them to the park you know what I'm just taking them over to the park and we're we're playing someone from cornerstones over there you noticed hey you want a sandwich I'm like sure as all these ice chests and everything else I'm like what are you doing having a party you guys now I come in Friday mornings and feed the homeless and have Bible study with them and and just talk to him about the word I used to be in drugs I used to be an addict didn't I know what it's like you know I just start well with tears because just seems like an everywhere I go there's coarse stone people just doing stuff and then then so many have left and gone to the ends of the earth just to go and tell people about Jesus and some don't even tell me about it I get emails later hey by the way I'm in Mexico you know and I'm I'm doing this now I'm doing this now and I just thought wow I I don't want to go on to another thing without first acknowledging that and this church is amazing and God is doing some great things right now I mean there are just a bunch of freaks in this room that will literally do whatever whatever for the kingdom of God and that's what I've been praying for for so long and it's just it's just so fun and as I talk to other pastors they just go no way no way and I just forget how strange things are here how unique things are here and just want a moment to just remember that and just be excited about it before we just move on to the next thing in fact I got a letter this week from Dave Phillips from children's Hunger Fund as we were here de sermon on the human trafficking and he just wanted to remind us because I just want to remind you and encourage you with the global touch that cornerstone is having even in the area of child trafficking through children's Hunger Fund in Cambodia they've been able to because of our support they've been able to help literally thousands of young girls in the garment factories of Phnom Penh and hundreds of these girls have come to know Christ and have been helped out of prostitution hundreds more have been provided these life skills so that they don't have to go into that lifestyle the same is true he says in Indonesia where more than 150 girls have been freed from prostitution and child pornography another 50 boys are more freed from the sex trade similar stories in Eastern Europe North Korea India China parts of Africa where they remove these children from prostitution and abuse and several times they've bought children out of slavery in Sedan Africa is that's all in addition to the other things that we've been able to do through children's Hunger Fund they just wired another 20 grand over to Uganda because the flooding over there in answer ot with another 10,000 how Tigana they just sent 1.2 million meals to sedan they're talking about how our support helped them because the orphanages and youth in the Ukraine are just terrible this is some of the worse he's ever seen and they have these mattresses they get soaked with urine and then in the wintertime as it's getting cold now all these diseases just grow in these mattresses and and he says through our support they've been able to send over 1,300 bed sets that are plastic covered mattresses you know to these 20 orphanages that are Christian run where they're teaching them the Word of God and now we're providing for them as well and he just he just said you know what I just we just want to make sure cornerstone knows how much is being done and yeah there's a world out there have hurt there's so much need and so much more it needs to be done but there need to be time so when we just stop and go you know what things are pretty good we're making a difference we're having an impact in that do you guys this this this gave me chills this week okay you guys didn't know this okay but well you know that we committed a million dollars to children's Hunger Fund this year it's a pretty lofty goal and so that means every three months we would write a check for a quarter million dollars um we wrote a check three months ago so another one was due this week I didn't announce it I didn't say anything I just thought okay let's just see what happens no one knows our typical offering is about ninety thousand dollars a week we've been averaging about ninety to a hundred thousand dollars per week that's a lot of money this week we were going to write this check for 250 and things have been down and let's take a wild guess at what the offering was last weekend two hundred and fifty one thousand dollars oh cool and no one knew no one knew it just it was just this crazy largest weekend ever 251 thousand dollars when we need 250 and so I took my wife out and and but it's just man it was like 250 1000 men I just I saw that no are you kidding me there's no way there's no way that just happened man and I love that because to me it was it's another affirmation from God going you know you're on the right track you know what I mean where it's like that doesn't make any sense that doesn't make any sense cuz we're really it's been one of those things where it's like okay we're gonna give half away but how are we gonna do this okay we're gonna give a million dollars but how we're gonna do this but we just did it and and and this is a this has been the way my life spin I've always seen in my own life but I wanted to see it in the church I went okay God you came through for me as an individual all of my life but how about for the church okay I know but um man just personally this year I'm we're in the beginning the year I said I just pray about what you think God may want you to give this year to this new vision of caring for the poor and the 50-50 thing and and even the new project you know a terracotta which pray for that because this is a big week we sent a letter and we're waiting to hear back but then when I was praying personally I wasn't you know I was telling you guys to pray for it and I gave you a moment of silence and I'm up here praying every service and every service I felt like I heard it number in my head now I don't know if it's the Holy Spirit you know you just don't know you don't know if that's really God or you're just making it up in your head but in my mind I felt like God wanted me me to give $50,000 and I'm going I don't know if I want to make 50,000 this year if 50,000 and I just put every service I thought that's the number it's coming to my head so I say gun okay I'd love to give $50,000 but you gotta give me $50,000 so I can give away the $50,000 you know and just I just said you know but if that's what you want that'd be that'd be great I'd love to give that much well anyways just recently I finished this book right and it was just it was just something I felt like I had to write I didn't think anyone would be interested in it but pretty soon all these publishers wanted this book Barney repents you know it's just uh it's just like who would want this you know and and so they start video anyways anyways long story short I end up with these two that I really like these two publishers and there's one this one they you know they're the best there they distribute more Christian books anyone else and they were there's that give me sixty thousand dollars for this book but then there was this other company okay and they weren't as big and date but they had such a heart for the poor and they were showing me their vision where all the money that they make you know they're trying so hard to get resources they have like two hundred and eighty thousand pastors in India that they give resources to two hundred fifty thousand and in China that they give resources to and they're just saying America has too much well you know the money we make we want to use it to give resources to the pastors overseas who wouldn't learn anything you know and don't don't have the same knowledge we do wow that's that's so cool this Christian owned company and everything else and but they're only offering like 30 grand and I was wrestling cuz I'm thing well if I get more than I can give away more and everything else and I sat the kids down and and even told my two oldest kids I go so what at what decision do we make and do we go with the guys that are giving us more or the people that are giving to the poor and my old story goes duh and she goes you give to the people who are giving to the poor and and I can well that's kind of where mom and I we're leaning to what we're gonna do so you know in my heart I was like mom but I could give the fifty thousand three minutes like ah but this just feels right it seems right and so we call them up we call these guys up and they're just thrilled they're going no you know and then they go did you get our new offer and I'm like no I'm ok but what new offer they go it's in the mail and like no way they had sent second offer which they want to go with and they're offering me $100,000 no way I was just nuts hundred thousand dollars and they go and if you sign a deal for a second book will give you another 50 grand advance I'm like you know it was just like I'm in my wife's crying I'm gonna rich you know it's just it's just this crazy crazy like I can't believe what is going on me me I got six digits coming this year you know and it's like wow it's just what's this crazy thing and and and you know how cool it is to then a week later sit my kids down and go okay remember the choice that we made guess what they're giving daddy you know just their eyes light up and I can say you guys isn't that the way God always worked with us remember every time we bring these things up to you girls because when you get bigger and you get married I want you to think about the way mom and dad lived and I want you to remember how good god was so if you would never think about marrying someone that would lead you in any other direction than in the ways of God and to remember how good God always was when we live by faith and you always care for the poor you always care because he always does this to us you know how the Bible teaches you know where he says you know when I was a young man now I am old and one thing I've never seen is that the the children of the generous man begging for bread he says you know it just doesn't happen God takes care of those who are generous it says that he refreshes those those those who refresh others in will themselves be refreshed and these people will sit down with the kids and show them look this is the way God works it's just such a great way to live yeah I share this stuff I hope that I never come across like wow hey look what I do I really care for the poor I come up here and going man how else you want to live man I just think it's so stinkin boring to be selfish it's so boring to be selfish to try to hoard everything and and scrape by week to week along we're going to maked we can get everything we want and you never have enough that's a type of life you want to live man I'm gonna know the life to live and just go let's just kill it does it give I don't know I don't know if you know but we're doing it for the right reasons and let's just watch see if God comes through and I see how he's come through for us as a family and now as a church it's just there's no greater way to live man I thank God that he made me a giver I it's the grace of God because do you really want to be selfish do you really want to be greedy and see God's God is it's not about all these things we have to do it's about all these things we get to do I mean what I just can't imagine living life any other way God has been so good so good so good and it's just His grace that's why one thing I don't want to happen in this room is for us to go hey look at all the things we do it's it's don't you come alive when you do that man when I meet you can talk to you guys who are now just taking steps of faith there's this new life in you that I've never seen before you're more excited than ever some of you who just started giving and and you're seeing the results of that there's a new joy in your life and it's not this look at us look at how much we suffer for the Lord it's like wow I really feel sorry for the people or self-centered because they don't know how good life can be when you think about others first and you think about God first it's a great way to live and I bring that up because we're about to start this book of Galatians and and in the book of Galatians it's all about God it's all about God's grace see the Galatian churches they used to be when they started they were great churches they were great churches because all the focus was on God and all the focus was about how much God had done but what had happened was people came into the church and they started teaching this false doctrine they said well Jesus is good and yeah he kind of forgives your sins but you also have to do this the this this and this and these Galatians were believing it and they're gonna own so we have to do things in addition to what what Jesus did on the cross in order to really be Christians and on and on and on and pulsing no no no no you do things because you want to do them you don't have to do them you do it out of joy and in fact it's out of grace that you get to do these things and then he just brings them back to grace grace grace grace grace and I just just as a church I hope that we never I pray we never get arrogant look at what we've done is because here's the thing at first glance you know the majority of the people in the world think to themselves I want to do a bunch of good things because it makes me feel better about myself and I think God will think more highly of me and most people think that by doing good works they're going to get to heaven and at first glance that seems somewhat noble what's wrong with that he wants to do a bunch of good works so at the end of his life he can say look God look at all that I've done he wants to earn he doesn't want to just take this stuff from God he wants to earn it what is wrong with that what is wrong with a nice person trying to do good works and earning their way to heaven see first glance of the world looks at then goes that is very noble and yet you guys know no it's not that is very arrogant and it and it puts all the focus on you see because then suddenly at the end of your life you go hey look what I did I earned this and God's has given you what you earned and so it's all about you look at what you did you did you did and Paul says that's not the gospel the gospel is about look at what God did for you you didn't earn a thing and at the end it's about his amazing grace that he gave you something you didn't deserve and now suddenly he gets all of the glory and that's why Paul says you this is this is an evil doctrine it's not Noble it's not beautiful for you to think you're doing all these good things and earn God's favor that just puts all the attention on you and it gives you all the glory when this isn't about you this is about a God who has given you so much so much that you don't deserve so Paul writes in Galatians 1 1 he says Paul an apostle sent not from men nor by man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers with me to the churches in Galatia so paul starts off saying hi this is paul you know back then right right in the way they wrote their letters is they would put their name first it just makes sense right because you know why when we get a letter we look at the bottom who wrote it well well why not put your name first that's what they did I don't know who changed that I was dumb but so he says Paul he is from Paul and he calls himself an apostle an apostle literally is the word a sent one they used to have talked about this before they used to have those ships back then called apostolic ships an apostolic ship had one function it was to take cargo from one place to another and so in the same way Paul says look that's what I am I'm an apostle that means I take the goods I take the gospel from one place to another in the early church it was a literal position of an apostle these were people who who had gifts of miracles that authenticated what they were saying these were people that had this gift of going from place to place and really starting churches and and pioneering things and Paul says I am a sent one but then he makes a comment that he says I'm not sent from men I'm not sent from man or by man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead pulsing listen to what I do I do because God told me to do it because I was sent from God to do this and that's such a beautiful thing to say easy I don't know if you feel this way at all but I I look at that and go you know what I believe I was sent from God why am i standing up here on the stage is it because I was looking for a job and went through that classifieds and say maybe pastor no and it wasn't it wasn't like a bunch of people said hey you know what you'd be really good at no it's just at the core of my being I really believed that I was created for this I thank God you made me to teach people about your word you made me to go to these different places and tell them about you I like I believe I'm created for that and I was sent by God to say these things and it's an awesome feeling I think wow that's my that's the point of my existence and I love knowing that I was sent by God to say things by God himself what an absolute honor my question is is do you feel that way about your life are you just doing stuff or are you doing things that you believe that you were created for that God sent you put you on this earth to do those things because later on and in verse 14 we'll look at it next week but he says he goes I was set apart from birth even all that time I rebelled against Jesus it was just all a part of this plan and I got to this point and I know this is something God wants me to do see but but we all need to have a sense in which there's a purpose for my life I'm not just some random accident I was made for this and I'm sent from God to do this very tasks that I'm doing that's why I love the way some of you you you feel called you go no God wants me here in CA valor God wants me in Moorpark God wants me at Thousand Oaks he wants me in this area you know and and because he called me here now some people that live out here you guys are out preaching in the prisons on Sunday mornings you know some of you guys are here and yet you feel like no my ministry is in corporate America I'm starting Bible studies right there some of your saying no I'm here to make an absolute fortune to give that away to other people some of you are pastoring people in your own neighborhoods but you know you go you know what this is what I am supposed to do this is what I was sent by God to do I'm not just living life and getting by day to day there are things I was do on this earth you guys it's the only way to live the only way to live and and then so he says he writes this to the the churches in Galatia but in verse three he says a very important word grace grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory for ever and ever he says grace and peace grace make sure you understand the word grace because we're gonna be talking about it a lot in the next few weeks the word grace is unmerited favor the word grace is someone just gives you something you didn't earn you don't deserve grace grace grace grace is I'll show you grace I'll show you grace I'll show someone grace grace is what's your name $200 yeah I'm rich I'm okay suit okay so so grace is is just going oh why did you pick her I don't know she's in the aisle is easy I just Grace is well what did she do she just sat down why don't you cut Grace's just doesn't make any sense you don't just walk up to someone and give someone something that they didn't earn they didn't deserve that's grace you just give it to the person and you have to understand this you gotta get this you are not here because you're these great people you're not gonna be in heaven because you did all of this stuff you're gonna be in heaven because of grace because God just looks at you and goes I'm gonna save you all the junk that you've ever done that you could never make up I'm just gonna erase it all okay you don't have to pay for anything it says that I'm gonna have my son my son he'll pay for all of it so you just get forgiveness just for believing in him you get it I'm just gonna give it to you and you're stuck there going oh wait a second you're telling me right now everything I've ever done I've done some pretty bad things you're just gonna forgive all of that and then you're gonna let me inherit heaven you're just gonna let me walk right through Heaven's doors without doing a thing just just just walk in and receive this inheritance as a child of God you're just gonna hand it to me yeah that's what grace means and we go nuts thinking about that and people rebel against and go no no you're not doing that for me I'm gonna earn it I'm gonna do it and why because we want it we want it to be about us rather than at the end going no way you did all of this and all eyes being on God all eyes being on Jesus whom the word says who gave himself for our sins he gave himself for our sins we and ernia that he just gave gave himself for our sins to rescue us he came to rescue us it says from this present evil age now I know also a lot of people in this present evil age believe that we're in a good age and that people are inherently good I'm saying wow have you read the news lately and you guys were sending me links this week when I talked about human trafficking and you guys sent me these links from these different places and you just want to kill yourself at some point oh are you kidding me this is what's going on in the world and you think about all these millions of little kids I'm either sending me links from China where they can only have one kid and so you know they wait for the boy and the things that they'll just do with the girls and sell them and throw them all it's just these are people and you start looking at all of the different Holocaust that have taken place throughout history and you're going wow I didn't know when you look at all the things are going on in different places right now this very moment and you're gonna say oh no these are all good people no he says it's just this evil age that we live in and in God looking down saying well look at the evil they're involved in I'll send my son and I'll rescue them from from all of that it says he'll rescue us from this present evil age when it says that he rescues us the idea of rescuing us and taking us from his path of danger is he's talking about all evil you see he evil it was not a good thing evil lands you inhale evil that it's not just the but it's not just the punishment for evil that he's rescuing us from he's rescuing us from evil itself because we not only do we not want to be punished for our sin but in our hearts do we really even want to be sinners in other words when I was praying this week and I'm praying for these kids and my heart's just broken for what's going on in the world a cool thing happened to me this week I began to get sad not just for the victims but also for the culprits because I started thinking do you really want to be a molester they really grow up thinking that's what I want to be that's not you these people must come go to bed at night thinking look at me what a loser I am and and I mean some of you some of the things that you've gone through and some of you that are stuck in some things right now was it really your life's goal to be an addict you don't want that for yourself you look at yourself and you're just as mad about it as everyone around you it's like I don't want to be an addict but this is just what I became whether it's drugs or alcohol I I haven't met any kids that go Monday I'm gonna be an alcoholic it's not like you aspire to that you don't like it in the same way there's some of you that are addicted to pornography and you're looking at yourself going man look at me 30 40 50 year-old man staring at a computer screen at naked images you just think to yourself what a loser I am some of you that have been unfaithful to your spouses is that really what you want it to be unfaithful that's the example you want it for your kids or didn't in your heart you wanted to be faithful and you don't want to be known as an adulterer some of you girls that you know all the way through high school you've already slept with different guys and kind of known as a that's what you wanted for yourself you really wanted that yeah I want that something you guys are beating up on your wives physically I mean don't you just sit at home at Nikon what a loser I hit a girl I'm a loser see these aren't things that you're after you you know some are so materialistic and you just have to have the nice things and everything else they're going late I want to be this way I don't want to be greedy I'd love to be a person that actually loved other people and cared about others more than myself you see it's like I don't want to be angry some of you the way you talk to your kids you know sometimes they can just kind of nerves and you say things you're like I've become a Yeller I'm screaming at my kids I'm I don't wanna be this you don't you understand this sin this is we agree with God these aren't good things and so we're saying God rescue me from the penalty of all these things but Oscar rescue me from these things themselves see and Jesus says that he came to rescue us from all of this so that yeah we're in this world but we're not of it we don't live that way you don't think that way and God really can come into your life he says man when you were saved that's what that whole series about the Holy Spirit was about he says I will rescue you I'll rescue from the coming wrath but I'll also rescue you from yourself from this person that you've become that you don't want to be you're seeing me you're seeing Jesus you're saying no I want to be like him because well I'll put my spirit inside of you then and then you can start putting to death these things that you and I both hate and I'll rescue you from this present evil age and you just sit there angle you're kidding me so not only are you not gonna punish me for all those things I've done but now you're gonna empower me so that I don't have to do those things anymore and like the Bible says now I will become the slave to righteousness you're just gonna you're gonna hand that to me that's my grace grace and peace to you and then you have peace that's a gift of God how many people in this earth do not have peace and are stressed out striving for something never have enough rather than just going things are good I've got peace you see because if you don't have grace you don't have peace because if you don't understand the grace of God then you're gonna spend your whole life going on man am I good enough am I good enough am I good enough now can I go to heaven now did I make up for everything I did there's no peace in that sea peace is the result of salvation and grace is the cause of it because of the grace of God that you're saved and because you're saved you have this peace where you go around Jesus or I did everything this is a pretty good deal now he's put his spirit in me and I can spend the rest of my life becoming the person that he wants me to be see what did I do for that nothing he just handed it to me and he says that he did that he rescued us according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory for ever and ever like I said who gets the glory for ever and ever God this way at the end we go and god I can't believe you did all that for me you're an awesome God you're amazing amazing grace and we just spent eternity saying god I can't believe you did this for me I can't believe you did this for me I can't believe you did this for me and all eyes are on God the giver they gave her the giver not on us see it's not Noble to have a work salvation it's arrogant it's because you want to feel like you did it and God says why are you taking my glory away I'm a giver I just wanted to give you that I don't want you to say well yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna make I'm gonna make up for that hundred dollars you gave me I'm gonna I'll show you just take it go away just take it just enjoy it and then just thank me say well that was cool that was really cool God just gave me grace and that's why Paul says six because I'm blown away Paul says I am astonished the word is because it is like a miracle this is unbelievable because I am astonished and what he started by because I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and you're turning to another gospel he goes so God gives you all of that and then you decide well I want to try something different I'm gonna try working with he's like why would you do that to him he goes I'm completely confused here I'm a major I'm astonished that you would so quickly desert and when he uses word you quickly desert the one who called you it's not just leaving him it butts the idea of switching sides saying now you're gonna turn against the God who gave you all that grace and go no you will not do that I'm gonna do another system I don't like your system I'm gonna work for my salvation because you're just gonna desert him like that and you're gonna go to this other system of works he goes verse seven which is really no gospel at all that word gospel is a word good news he goes he goes this isn't good news you left the good news to go to your works type lack of peace no grace type religion because what kind of gospel is that that's not good news because evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ and then he says this but if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you let him be eternally condemned as we've already said so now I say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let him be eternally condemned well those are pretty strong words Paul says look I don't care if I come back to you and say something different than what I told you I said well now you got to do this and this and this he goes if that's the case he goes then let me be eternally condemned eternally condemned I was looking at that words I'm like man what is that it cannot really mean that eternally damn that I looked at this word anathema and it's this idea of handing something over to God without the blessing of God for him to curse and for him to have his way in a judgment type of way and this is ultimate excommunication as what this word is about it says his ultimate getting out of my presence it's the idea of Hell and Paul says I don't care and he's using hyperbole he goes I don't care if this beautiful angel you know flies down with his halo on his head and everything else and goes hey we got to work for some things too because I don't care if an angel tells you that then that angel should go to hell that's literally what he's saying here because if I come and teach you anything different other than the grace of God if anyone tells you anything different than the grace of God he should go to hell that those are strong words because that's not the way we typically think we think well but if he's a nice guy and it just seems to be doing a bunch of good works and spreading his love everywhere and he's just saying that we got to do some things also an addition is that so bad Paul says yeah he says you don't judge a person by their appearance you have to judge them by their message that's why he goes I don't care if it's an angel from heaven I don't care how beautiful the person is if they tell you you've got to earn your way and they take the focus off the grace of Christ to help with them those are just words now does that mean that if someone starts telling you you know some other doctrine go go to hell you know that no no because we love those people and we care for them but do you understand Paul's point though because he makes it even clearer in the verse in verse 10 he says am I trying to win the approval of men or of God am I trying to please men if I were trying to please men I would not be a servant of Christ now close with that because he says look I know that's offensive he but I'm not here to please people I'm not here to have everyone like me see some of you guys will write me notes this week you'll call me and say hey that was offensive I'm like I know I know it's not like I don't know I know that's a that's very offensive to you because you thought your whole life you're such a good person you've done these good things you're gonna earn your way to heaven and here's a guy up front town you know you're not good and you're not gonna earn your way it's not good enough and you're actually being arrogant and self-centered and this is about God and not about you and you don't like that you want it to be about you that's offensive but like Paul says he goes if I were trying to please man I would not be a servant of Christ you got to make a choice in life see our first allegiance has to be to God over mom dad brother sister wife kids friends whoever your first allegiance has to be God that's why Paul says I don't care how nice that guy is I don't care how nice that angel looked I don't care about if you're taking away from the grace of God my first priority is to defend my god am I supposed to love you as I love myself yes but the number one commandment is love the Lord your God with all of your heart all your soul all your mind all your strength he is my first priority because I'm not on this earth trying to please a bunch of people trying to make everyone like me I am here winning the approval of God he's what matters to me and so if you were gonna take the focus off of him and on to yourself to hell with you you you be eternally condemned then cuz this isn't about you this is about my god and this isn't even about me cuz if I tell you something that it's about me then you know what to hell with me this is about God God is so good God rescued you you were a mess and you were headed for destruction and he goes let me just hand you some grace here let me just have my son pay for everything you did on that cross let me have him rise again and let me give you some resurrection power so that you can now get rid of all these things that you you want to be rescued from that's the how are the holy spirit and some people have asked me they've said well you know you have such emphasis on baptism and I'm going well that's biblical they're like well then aren't you turning baptism into a work aren't you saying well you got to work then because you got to do this baptism I'm like I don't get that really like is that really a work like when I asked my wife to marry me she didn't go are we gonna have to publicly do have to publicly acknowledge you in a wedding ceremony and I got a walk down an aisle was that her response like oh so you're telling okay if I marry you you're saying I have to have a wedding no that wasn't her response thank god no is this idea that that's not a work that's like why are you kidding me you're gonna we're gonna get married and and she was strutting down that aisle them yeah I am marrying the sexiest man on earth you know it was just it was a rush it was just this public confession look at me I'm with Francis I'm embellishing a little bit it's that idea it's that idea of man that's baptism it's like are you kidding me I'm gonna be joined into an eternal relationship with God he's gonna forgive everything he says I can live with him forever and ever I want to publicly stand before you and say I am married to Jesus Christ that he is coming into this life he's changing me I'm spinning he's accepting me he's that accepting me with all of my trash he's accepting me and rescuing me from this life I want to jump in that water and his proclaim to the world that baptism so please don't reduce it to a work that where you're earning your salvation by getting wet okay it's it's it's not a work it's never been a work it was something where the believers just says yeah I want to associate myself with Jesus Christ if that means everyone hates me everyone hates me so be it but I love this Jesus he saved me by His grace by His grace by His grace it's all about him you

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Keywords: Francis, Chan, Revival, Repent, God, Sermons, Jesus, SermonIndex

Id: TOb4pwACcBQ

Length: 44min 14sec (2654 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 29 2012