Truth and Life Session 3 - Costi Hinn

well open up your bibles if you will for this second session to the book of galatians and there is probably nothing more i would rather preach on after singing that song with all of you than the worthiness of god and the glory of god and i feel a little bit like the introduction to the short letter of jude where he says i really would want to write to you about our common faith but i found it necessary to write to you urging you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints there's a joy in singing about the worthiness of god and the glory of god there's also a burden and a weight on us to assess the dangers the things that would threaten the glory of god or seek to undermine the glory of god and that is where we turn our attention to in this session deceptions that dam and there are many of them but what i've done here is tried to boil them all down to five categories and each one will be a statement that begins with the gospel is not the first session was the gospel is in this session we're going to talk about what the gospel is not and a good place to start is the apostle paul's words in galatians 1 6 to 12. galatians 1 6 to 12. paul writes i'm amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of christ for a different gospel the galatians deserting him who called you by this so deserting god and the true gospel for a different supposed gospel which in verse 7 paul says is really not another only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of christ but even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you already let him be accursed as we have said before so say again now if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received let him be accursed and paul says for am i now seeking the favor of men or of god or am i striving to please men in other words am i am i trying to people please now is this sound like an easy believism message or kind of me going soft on things who do you think i'm trying to please here if i were still trying to please men i would not be a bond servant a slave of christ then he says for i would have you know brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man for i neither received it from a man nor was i taught it but i received it through a revelation of jesus christ let me pray as we enter into a more challenging and edgy approach to what we're facing right now in terms of the gospel father we don't really need to defend your gospel i think of what spurgeon said it's really a lion we just need to let it out of its cage and it'll do the defending just fine and so here and now help us to hone in not so much on a a grand human effort in defending the gospel but on discernment that which you have given us through the holy spirit for every believer it is available it is not beyond our reach you have given us graciously that gift help us to discern bring conviction on the heart and mind of every single person in this room who is being sucked into or has entertained any of the sections we deal with and help us all to find joy a deep sense of contentment and bold courage and confidence knowing that jesus you are worthy and in the end all will bow their knee before you to declare just that teach us and guide us in your name lord jesus amen and amen now this session is necessary because there is a lot to be gained if you'll compromise on the gospel i'll say that again there's a lot to be gained i'm not painting a great picture of that to encourage you to go do it i'm just telling you in earthly terms you can make a lot of money you could have a lot of pleasure you can enjoy a great deal of power if you will compromise on the gospel remember when jesus was tempted and lucifer takes him around on a little tour and lets him know about all the things he could have if jesus would just worship lucifer satan there's some good to be had some acquisition of assets and power position feeling pretty proud of yourself if you will just trade the gospel and compromise it the only problem is you'll feel for a short time like the favor of heaven is pouring out upon your life but in the end it is the fires of hell that await you see that's the bait and switch that the devil majors in hey here take this take this apple it's real good you know god just doesn't want you to know what he knows the serpent whispering to eve in the genesis account right off the bat essentially saying you know did god really say that undermining the truth of what god has declared satan does the same thing oh sure the gospel repent and all that stuff sure but what you're really gonna get is a better life all the things you want you know trade that broken road for a better one and and you'll get the desires of your heart you just need to seek first the kingdom and then you'll get all that other stuff too what you're missing is just a little bit of jesus it's like the icing on your cake a little extra that is the way that i viewed god in the gospel years ago i call it gospel plus because i had the whole oh yeah believe in jesus he died for my sins okay and then what's beyond that the real treasure is i'm going to get a whole bunch of stuff i was caught up in the prosperity gospel most of you know maybe some of you don't that's a story i've told so much that i finally just put it in a book so i don't have to keep telling it over and over and over again but i'll indulge those of you for a moment who aren't sure why in the world i'm here i got saved out of the prosperity gospel because i was studying the bible one day and needed some help and i reached over for a commentary that somebody had given me by some guy named john mcarthur and i started reading his thoughts i'd already made observations of the biblical text i was studying and this guy said stuff that you know the stuffy baptist had said and the real uptight bible thumpers have said it turns out a lot of people have been saying the same thing about prosperity preachers for a long time meanwhile i had been caught up in flying on gulfstream jets and staying in the nicest hotels in the world and when i was your age i rolled in a hummer h2 with tvs in the back seats that i'd keep on even though no one was watching them because that's what all the rappers did in their cool videos i had some big old rims and was going to a baptist school in dallas parking in the no parking zone up on curbs no joke i i didn't go to the concert one night but some guys came to the locker room one morning and these guys named shane and shane or something had done a concert the night before they were all impacted i was like whatever i could care less about all the stuffiness of doctrine and bible and baptist stuff you know i got the real power is what i thought because i was rolling in an f-430 ferrari down pch we had two homes multi-million dollar homes everything's beamers and benzes and them wearing big you know expensive watches and like you guys shop at kohl's or target some of you college students you're broke and so you're in there the dollar store right and i'm cruising over to rodeo like its target that was life for me that was normal you guys all go on a trip and you bunk up in like a hostel right i i'm like yeah i'll take the presidential suite that was normal and i viewed all of that as available because the gospel jesus saves you if you believe in him and have enough faith and then he blesses your socks off you can be rich and get me going on sickness i'll tell you the same thing healing and salvation i would teach those are a package deal you believe and you get saved hey listen you just believe and have enough faith maybe maybe some of you rich people you give a little more in the offering bucket god will heal you too jesus paid for all that on the cross all you've got to do is access it just tap in by believing that was my version of the gospel jesus was sort of a means to an end the end that i wanted like the magic genie you rub him right do all the right things and then he gives you your three wishes that was the gospel to me and some of you already know and if you don't you just you can youtube my uncle benny hinn and type in you know lightsaber whatever else you'll find on youtube and you'll see some funny videos right some crazy stuff don't do it now stick with me you know benny hinn and he's old now and at the peak we were raking in somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 million dollars a year you know like living like lebron but he is he's old news and guys like kenneth copeland oral roberts is dead kenneth copeland's like 85 or 82 something around there these guys are old news right that stuff is just weird tbn late night there's a whole new generation of them well they don't have big crazy hair and sell holy water and they don't wave their jacket and end up with weird music videos on youtube that are timed to everybody falling no they look good they sound good their their style of presentation and even their messages they'll make you feel good and the coolest part of all is they're not really weird they look like guys like bieber celebrities a deep v with the skinny jeans they're trendy they got their little fade and their air jordan ones play great music they've got the pr and the marketing down looks good sounds good feels good they play the middle of the road on everything a watered-down gospel message that sounds almost too good to be true you think you're going to get to live your best life now because of what they're giving you and it's empty the fortune cookie one-liners they play real well on the instagram quote graphics but they ain't gonna get you to heaven that is what you're facing in today's culture it's almost going to be harder because growing up all you had to do was tell people just how crazy it was that god was behind some weird dude in a white suit throwing a jacket at people and they would go oh yeah you're right that's crazy but now they look like everything that this culture wants and so your task though is the same to go to god's word to use discernment and to understand that truth is timeless the game looks a little different in minor ways like for example the players have changed well but the rules are all the same still and your playbook hasn't changed god's word is timeless a lot of these ministries treat the gospel like a business product they're just selling people something that will keep them coming back but the gospel that they preach is empty i think of it like those espn highlights if you've ever seen them it's the guy who's almost to the goal line and he starts showboating you know the one and he spikes the football a little too quick while he's looking back jaw-jacking at the corner who's trying to catch him and he starts celebrating early turns out he didn't make it to the end zone and we all laugh that's a lot like the gospel that these type of preachers present to you it's all show no go in the end it's not going to get you where god has called believers to go i'd liken them to those mma fighters that talk a lot of trash in the pre-fight conferences only to get knocked out in the first round that's the way it ends for these guys and so let's just start right off the bat it doesn't matter how good it looks how cool it sounds how many followers on instagram how many videos are being shared how big the hype game is if the truth of the gospel is not in it it will be a lot like sodom and gomorrah it'll be a lot like vegas all the lights all the noise all the hype filled with hell i don't want that for you the leaders at the masters university don't want that for you your parents don't want that for you your friends don't want that for you and so i want to give you a list of things to take with you so you can discern the days you're living in and even test your own faithfulness against this list the first thing that you need to know is the gospel is not yours to change it's not yours to change we read already galatians 1 6 through 12 there were those preaching another gospel they had changed it what paul was preaching was way too easy for some of them you have different contextual backgrounds to many of the new testament letters but the underlying theme is often the same you've got gnostics teaching certain things you've got judaizers teaching certain things everybody is undercutting the gospel with their own version sprinkling a little bit of works here and a little bit of works there and altering things just enough and then paul comes in and goes hey it's grace believe he does the work you don't got to add all that other stuff it's not believe and then oh be circumcised as well and oh don't eat those foods as well and do a little this as well no it is by grace alone through faith alone well that's too easy there are some people they they like it to be a little more challenging than that pay some penance you know mormonism is a lot like that people have to pay the piper to really get in you feel like you really earned it well then there's cause for boasting which paul says we already read it in the first session that i talked to you in that it's all grace and so there is no boasting and paul sets the record straight you've got a church in galatia that's exploding acts 13 showcases the spiritual success of this church paul and barnabas missionary journey to the southern region of galatia you could picture it like this a horse in the gates at the kentucky derby and they are ready to run and then all of a sudden some false teachers come along and the stallion of truth starts veering out of the lane it had originally been in the gospel was being altered and deserting that word that paul uses is not like some minor theological difference like hey you sprinkle babies and we you know baptizo and we're going to immerse them and so you know and then dr sprole and macarthur sit on the stage and we're all friends and we golf together but you know we know who was right about baptism right not not some non-essential we're going to have good theological debate no deserting the word means you went from one location to another with the gospel you left the reservation you're not even in the same ballpark we're not golfing together you're a heretic that level is the desertion that was occurring it's the same word used in hebrews 11 5. here's a little picture for you when enoch gets taken by god one of the few characters in all the bible right moses they couldn't find his body you've got elijah taken up in a chariot of fire you've got enoch gone that's the same word used so you were here with the gospel you were in the lane you needed to be in and now you gone that is a failure to be faithful and and i love what paul says he says i don't care if i do that or if an angel comes down and gives you another gospel and he uses the word anathema he's got a curse laid on him that's strong you are walking around with a curse laid upon you not according to costi according to the holy spirit through paul god's word says you mess with the gospel you start to alter the message and you are in deadly territory this has never changed old testament new testament any way you slice this pie deuteronomy 4 2 says you shall not add to the word that i command you nor take from it that you may keep the commandments of the lord your god that i command you so god's commandments in the old testament the law you can't change that you can't alter that you can't mess with that and then you go all the way to the end of the bible in revelation chapter 22 and john records in verses 18 and 19. i warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book if anyone adds to them god will add to him the plagues described in this book and if anyone takes away the words of the book of this prophecy god will take away his share of the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book what's the principle there you alter god's message you're messing with the wrong guy you guys ever used the phrase in college like don't be that guy anybody yeah don't be that guy dude walks in late to class with his hoodie on his air pods or whatever he's got professor looks over knows that he's on silent mode so he can't even hear the class got a little attitude don't know how he got into tmu and and the prophets looking at all of you going yeah i i'll deal with that after don't be that guy okay now where were we and gets back to it don't be that guy when it comes to the gospel don't be that guy don't be that gal there is so much out there that is middle of the road christian business it's not church they're just building empires little many kingdoms and with one single divine they're all going to blow over one day and the true and lasting kingdom of god will come and all that will remain is that which was done for the true king according to the true gospel you want to please god don't mess with his message you're an ambassador logical questions based on the first session in the text we studied with pastor john our ambassadors the origin of the message or the carrier the carrier do ambassadors reserve the right to change the message they must deliver absolutely not would god entreat someone through a false version of his original message no the ambassador carries the message from the king god is not in a message that is not faithful to his original message how in the world can you beg anyone on behalf of christ if you've abandoned the message of christ you can't and so we come to the immediate realization that to alter the gospel message is not some mere secondary issue if you are giving people an altered gospel they cannot be saved a false jesus cannot save he does not save it's not even jesus the mormons have a jesus islam has a jesus the catholics have a jesus there's a whole lot of jesus is around and so squash the notion of this sort of american christianese i don't even know what you would call it people do this just to kind of go along to get along go well god can use it he's in it somewhere he'll work it all out in the end that's universalism no there is one way one christ one message one gospel if you don't have that one you don't have the one you don't reserve the right to alter the gospel i get about five emails a week of people wondering why i'm so angry at bethel first of all i'm not angry in a hateful way okay i got family caught up in this movement i love them i text them we talk we don't see eye to eye in some of those talks okay i'm in it i'm in it with you there are people caught up in that movement and people think leave them alone hin right you got on the macarthur train because his commentary helped save you and god used that so now you're mad at all the charismatics is that what it is so you're just firing stones back adam no in fact i'm not going after a label charismatic pentecostal whatever it's about the doctrine of christ and so if a movement as large as bethel and bethel music and jesus culture and all the spin-offs have grown to global influence and they teach as their apostle bill johnson does that jesus did his miracles as just a man in right relationship with god not as god and that he laid aside his divinity and i came out of your world and i was in that world and i see the damage of it now meet with parents and their kids go certain places and come back slithering on the ground and foaming at the mouth and doing crazy stuff that you're like that actually exists oh yeah you go mess around in the devil's playground and you're to get you some devils that's what happens you drink the kool-aid long enough and pretty soon it starts coming out i was in that world but let's take experience out of it for a moment and let's just say we stick to theology we say where did he say that page 29 of his book when in heaven invades earth and then page 79 he says that jesus laid aside his divinity this is something for those of you in your systematic theology classes that stephen j welland calls ontological canonic christology basically you can't say that jesus stopped being god at any point you have stopped preaching faithfully about christology you've now taken jesus and turned him into some mormon version you've demeaned him you've elevated his humanity the council of calcidone specifically dealt with this type of heresy and all you've done is clothed it in v-necks and skinny jeans and so no one can tell that's what we're facing so it's not hatred towards bethel it's not anger at charismatics we're not railing on every pentecostal somebody raises a hand in the front row and they're like oh here they come they're invading our conference now just because you get a little excited about jesus no this is a christological issue it's a gospel issue and then here is the play if jesus did all his signs and wonders as just a man in right relationship with god and he laid aside his divinity he was just a model he was just showing you how you could live too so now pay the thousands of dollars in tuition and just like kids go to tmu come to the bethel supernatural school of ministry and we'll teach you how to be apostles and prophets and prophetesses we'll use the passion translation which brian simmons says basically god downloaded to him never mind the greek scholarship over the hundreds of years we'll make a new version of the bible a new version of jesus will infiltrate evangelicalism everywhere and they won't even know it you know funny question i always like to ask people that they kind of love the music they're like kosty come on man you know let's let's that's legalism just to kind of go that far and and i get it i understand every leader's got to make his own convictions i've settled on mine and you go well the music though what if it's sound in doctrine well even a broken clock is right twice a day and we don't quote heretics in our sermons so why would we sing their songs and when the people of god give their hard-earned money to the work of god and then we got to pay them royalties to use their music because we like the people of god getting pumped because they heard it on the radio and then we got to put their names on the screens because we got to give them copyright credit i think we're on a slippery slope at the very least and my question to a lot of people is well why weren't you using my uncle benny's cds then for 40 years we would have made a lot more money off you people the mormons have some really good renditions of music let's use those but even well beyond that methodologically is there not a generation of talented gifted passionate creatives who can give us music rooted in truth to reach the lost that sounds amazing that is presented with excellence can we not do it ourselves why do we have to borrow from beelzebub why do i need a heretic to help make me feel it i'll feel it just fine sing in jesus and so here's my exhortation to some of you i'm not saying this prophetically or getting weird on you i'm just saying bottom line this moment right now could be for some of you that conviction the little knot in your stomach and your brains going now and you're ready to go write some music go do it go and use your creativity and your preaching gifts and use all the theology you learn and give a generation something more than just here's some great music but if you follow the logical trail of breadcrumbs you're going to end up in reading sucking in the doctrine of demons like you're drinking it from a straw tie all that back why is that a big deal because we're talking christology we're talking about who jesus was and the gospel that we are to preach i don't care how nice they are there are lots of people that are nice we should be nicer i get it ephesians 4 15 says speak the truth in love so let's do that ephesians 5 11 says do not participate in the deeds of darkness rather expose them we have no fellowship no use of that which has been borne out of movements that are rooted in the doctrines of demons it is at best just lazy at worst it's a trojan horse and the last point on that is do you not think since lucifer doesn't have an expiration date until jesus handles him that he's been alive a lot longer than you and i don't you think that he and his demonic minions have mastered the art of human behavior and human thinking it is so arrogant to think that suddenly in the 2000s we have figured this out we got it now we have the best strategy you know he won't get in this time trust me we'll dabble here dabble there but you know we'll keep going no satan is very smart he knows how to put a trojan horse in the church warren weirsby said it best truth without love is brutality we don't want to be brutal but love without truth is hypocrisy don't you talk about loving people unless you are telling them the full truth that is real love through tears with a soft heart but yet with a steel spine because their soul matters we're not trying to win arguments we want to win people the apostle paul said that i might win some and save more that's the effort you mess with the gospel you're down the wrong road number two the gospel is not remorse it is not remorse it's not feeling bad because you got busted give you a picture of two particular characters in the new testament judas and peter very familiar to a lot of us if you're not familiar with them i'll point you to two passages matthew 27 3-5 the gospel of matthew records then when judas who had betrayed him saw that he had been condemned he felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying i've sinned by betraying innocent blood interesting the admission of sin but they said what is that to see that yourself and he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed and he went away and hanged himself you know matthew doesn't use the word repentant to describe what he was feeling uses a completely different word that means regret basically he got busted and he was sorry because he realized he just put the king of the world on a cross because he betrayed him it was more of an oops than oh that gut punch of conviction and actually repenting getting caught made him sorry he wasn't actually going to change he didn't really want to change he didn't experience a hatred for his sin and the sin that was entangling him so he tried to throw the bloody bribe money back at the feet of the priests didn't work maybe that would atone for his sin it didn't and so he went and hung himself peter also sinful also bails on jesus when he needed him the most in matthew 26 75 and peter remembered the statement that jesus had made this is right when peter denies that he knows jesus great friend before a rooster crows you will deny me three times and he went out and wept bitterly so jesus predicts that peter will deny him peter denies him and peter remembers those words it allowed satan to sift peter like wheat but had prayed for his faith not to fail and then we see this beautiful moment in john 21 where jesus and peter they meet on the beach and peter sees him from afar and instead of just kind of rowing the boat on in real calm hey jesus how are you you know this guy jumps out of the boat like a crazy man and just starts swimming i gotta get to him it's him it's the lord i always picture peter frantically swimming maybe sinking a bit i don't know if he got his sandals off i don't know if his his under tunic what was going on there i maybe i don't even know mit i assume he was a really good swimmer but even then when you're breathing heavy and your beard's going under the water and you're freaking out because it's jesus i just picture him flailing his arms he just wants to get to the lord all these men are such a beautiful and perfect picture from god's word of the difference between remorse trying to get rid of my sin by tucking it under the rug and give the bribe money back and then peter in this frantic brokenness they're sorry i got busted and then there's genuinely i'm sorry for my sin there's a hatred for sin versus a hatred for the consequences there's a sadness over lost opportunity from judas and then there's a flat out brokenness over the loss of fellowship that peter experienced is not remorse and remorse is not repentance repentance is i confess i was going south now i'm going north i don't want my way anymore lord i'm not just sorry that i got busted or that my sin is hurting people i actually want to change please change me it's like the picture jesus gives of the pharisee and the publican or the tax collector as they walk into the temple to pray and the pharisees wrote pompous and cocky he's real arrogant you know i'm real spiritual hey here we go it's my prayer and everyone's listening and then the public and he won't even look up he's so distraught he beats his chest calls himself a sinner i'm not even worthy i'm not even worthy that's repentance it's been well said that when someone is truly repentant you don't really have to look hard for it we all know those situations where you feel like you're arm-twisting to help somebody become aware of their sin it's not repentance we're not there yet if that's where we still are but people don't want to submit to this they want the external benefit of remorse a pat on the back sent on their way without the internal brokenness of repentance but that is not the gospel false teachers do this all the time you will hear false teachers come out and they repent right anybody ever heard them or seen them do that on tv i repent i'm never going to do this again i'm going to preach the true gospel i'm done with that but one recently said the holy spirit is sick of it oh is he now finally it's been 40 plus years i guess he wasn't sick of it before maybe he was busy and so now that god's really done and i'm losing donors and people are youtubing about me a lot i'm sorry and then they do what peter writes in second peter 2 verse 22 like a dog they go back to their vomit that's what peter actually says he quotes a proverb he says like a sow like a big cow after washing nice and clean they go right back into the mud and start rolling around in it that's remorse not repentance and so understand the difference even in your own life but be discerning the most damning movements will have pockets of that kind of repentance and what it does is it sucks a whole bunch of donors back in and it sucks people in that were kind of on the fence and they weren't sure and they were upset but now always repentant and everybody loves a good underdog story right we all love when the bad guy says hey i was bad and he starts playing for the good guys that's movies 101 right so we love when people do that and we want to be careful right we want to have grace for people we don't want to be cynical and hard-line and so if somebody repents i'm sure glad nobody did that to me well they did but nobody here there were people though that would come to our church so it's really you huh yep just a normal guy how you doing well i wanted to kill you for a little while i thought you're trying to infiltrate the church it's like that's a really bad strategy i'm broke now would have stayed on the other side to avoid you if i was a phony jesus saves us right and then we are in the body and then we walk in that true faith and then fruit is born that's how it works for all of us right but false teachers and deceptions that damn will cycle in that pattern paul says always learning never coming to a full knowledge of the truth it's like reading the same book over and over and over but you never really know what the book is about you want to watch out for that you want to be aware of it you want to judge rightly like we are to inside the church is this bearing fruit is this remorse or repentance do they preach remorse or repentance and if they do in fact preach repentance well then buckle up because people are going to change and then the next reality that we need to understand is number three the gospel is not easy the real gospel is not easy if you're hearing an easy gospel run run it's not worth your time there's no such thing as easy when it comes to the gospel if you want to bookmark this in your bible just go to luke 14 25 to 35. this is the pinnacle for me this is my favorite passage about the cost of following christ you could memorize it file it in your mind every time you hear someone talk about the amazing things of god yes and amen right you want to roll down the road with them on that amen he's good and then if over and over and over you start to hear that he's always good well amen he's always good well what does his goodness look like how does he define goodness oh he give me my promotion he blessed me with a good husband okay we're still there i was in the gutter and now i'm living large all right my ears are perking up i prayed and he answered and now i got more money than i even know what to do with and i got a big house and things are going well and and i was healed and i'm i'm living it look at look at what the gospel did he can do it for you too and now we're into easy street or this one hey some of you right now i know the holy spirit is working in your heart you feel that some of you are going yeah i think i do all right shane's hit the pad something soft underneath they're not even here so we would find someone else to do it i need that background music and i i i know it's you i just want you to raise your hand i just want you to come on forward and there's nothing wrong with invitation by the way oh harry did it just the last session if god is working in your heart let's go what are you waiting for love that but that extra layer of manipulation where it's so easy you just need to come on down the aisle you raise that hand you pray that prayer and i'm going to come out from behind the pulpit and i'm going to look you in the eye and i'm going to walk you through it and then i'm going to say welcome to the family of god give them a hand and everyone gives them a hand and you're good i don't even know if you're sleeping with somebody who's not your spouse if you're not even married and you're doing that if you're going to go clubbing this weekend if you're an alcoholic i don't know if you are cussing like a sailor i don't know how you live but it's okay you prayed that prayer god loves you you're good now guys put it on the annual report 89 more salvations too easy too easy in the sense that it's not even the real gospel that's just human metrics you're just adding people into the social club jesus says in luke 14 25-35 when large crowds were going along with him this is luke now recording it he turns and says to them okay operation crowd control here from jesus if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father mother wife children brothers sisters yes even his own life he cannot be my disciple whoever doesn't carry his own cross and come after me cannot might be my disciple which one of you when he wants to build a tower does not sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish all who are watching will begin to ridicule saying this person began to build and wasn't even able to finish what king when he sets out to meet another king in battle will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand otherwise while the other is still far away he sends a delegation and he requests terms of peace so then none of you can be my disciple if you will not give up all of your possessions this is crowd control this is jesus saying essentially salvation is free but discipleship is costly you don't just come and pray a prayer and you're good put you on the member rolls are you really saved do you really want to follow jesus it's not easy to follow him the good news is that he saves you the good news is that he'll also sustain you because things are going to get hard if you really live for the gospel you know everybody before this point in luke 14 was showing up for the free food he was turning just a few loaves and some fish into you know food trucks galore he was doing miracles casting out demons he was giving you the better life this would be likened to you know today someone going hey mary hey joe your kid he went viral on youtube he's hitting the big time he's really made it let's go check him out let's go see all that he's doing you know he went platinum let's get in his entourage life's gonna be a lot easier it's the same thing jesus was about doing good works and while they're all there to see all that he's going to do he tells them what it will cost to actually follow him and so you want to be listening for that you end up in one of these churches where you know following jesus is always like gum drops and buttercups and balloons run because it's not it's not at all in fact we're going to watch it get harder and harder and harder as the culture turns on you it's very difficult to follow jesus that's why jesus made it clear that the gate that leads to life is very narrow few will find it how is it that so few will find it if it's so easy it's a hard road to be a christian yeah you hear people say that the gospel will give you the good life and you just tell that to paul who was shipwrecked beaten beaten some more eventually killed tell it to stephen who was martyred tell it to our lord jesus tell it to 11 of the 12 original apostles who lost their lives for preaching the gospel faithfully tell it to church history martyrs tell it to some of you who are missionary kids to your parents tell it to my chinese pastor friends who are ushered away secretly to re-education camps to go get fixed tell it to the people disappearing internationally we're on borrowed time in america if we think that the gospel is easy street it's only a matter of time first corinthians 1 18 says that the cross is foolishness to the perishing so how in the world is the cross so attractive to so many people we must not be giving them the actual cross but something entirely different it's foolishness to the perishing because their eyes and minds have been darkened still they need the illuminating power of the holy spirit but also many are turned off by the difficulty of following jesus a word called obedience even the concept can sometimes be a little beyond our american middle class minds if you are cruising through american church life and you are very very comfortable i want you tonight in the privacy of your own room to pray and i want you to ask god for james 1 5 wisdom in this regard god things are so comfortable for me it's so easy am i even saved i want you to talk to him that way and then i want you to ask him another question and ask that he give you wisdom and through divine providence order your steps and make it so clear through the affirmation of others and opportunities that he brings i want you to ask him is there something uncomfortable you want me to do i'll do it just make it clear show me the way use godly qualified leaders in my life make it so clear that i can't deny you're answering my prayer this night at this time i'm not uncomfortable enough am i disobeying you have you called me to the mission field have you called me to something more am i looking at your word but still going what's your will for me and i already know you've made your will so plain oh god make me uncomfortable one of those two prayers i guarantee you will see answers because both of those would be in line with praying god's will to test yourselves and examine your heart to see if you are truly of the faith and also to ask god to help you to what to walk in obedience the gospel is not easy a man was once getting a red carpet tour of a church the other minister was filled with such pride and joy as he showed him around and there were imported pews and there was fine crafted wood there was luxurious decorations and as they stepped outside the surrounding area was getting dark and it was evening and the pastor giving the tour looked up and very excitedly and proudly said look at that cross shimmering in the night that cost us ten thousand dollars you know it looked great and the gentleman that was getting the tour said oh sure but you got cheated there used to be a time when christians could get across for free you want one it's waiting for you just pick it up and start following christ salvation is free discipleship is costly number four feeding right out of that vein and there's just two more including this one the gospel is not living the american dream and do not tune me out right now because i'm not going to go after the prosperity gospel i'm just not going to do it pretty much none of you are living that no i want to go somewhere else i want to pull the the layers back on our hearts a little more and i want to look deep into our middle upper class suburbia our little comforts and our dreams you know the ones i'm talking about like you're going to go to tmu and you're going to marry one of the dudes that stood up earlier yeah and he's going to provide and he'll hit you know 60 70 80 k a year because he'll have a great degree and we're all entitled to that right and so we'll be okay and we'll buy a little condo in the valley and we'll drink our pour overs and we'll just have a great time because we went to grace and we grew up watching ranger joe and we've done all the right things and we've followed all the rules and john mcarthur was our pastor and so it's gonna be a great road and then eventually he'll peak into six figures because the valley's real expensive and so i'll be a stay-at-home mommy if you're a woman or if you're a guy you'll be like i'll have finally made it and i'll go to church and we'll support the missionaries we want to be sending right i mean we you're either going or sending or disobeying i like kind of the middle i like to send because i ain't trying to go because i've got a really cute yard and we'd like to go to the park and we've got a lot of skiing to do at big bear and we won't have a good time now because it's the blessings of god and here's the deal first timothy 6 paul says to timothy to instruct the rich to be rich in good works generous ready to share for god has given us all things to enjoy so don't hear what i'm not saying i'm not saying you can't enjoy your life i'm not saying don't ski big bear hey i'll come with you right enjoy life yes enjoy the goodness and the kindness of god but understand you are not entitled to the american middle upper class dream because of the gospel you want to work hard and common grace and make more money god bless you you want to build a business go for it you want to ski the alps on spring break go but the gospel is not the key to a better american life for you not at all the gospel is a message it's not a means to getting what you want jesus says in luke 12 34 where your treasure is your heart is so your treasure which is money he's talking about money don't let people tell you all my time no no no he's talking about money he's very clear that the heart and your money are inextricably attached forever and ever until glory your wallet and your heart may seem far apart they're very much one where you put your hope your dreams your hard-earned money where you put your treasure that says everything about your heart if you view the gospel and jesus and obedience as the key to living your best life now in whatever level that would be in your mind your heart is attached to that and that is what deceptive movements will draw you into i'm going to go maybe one step back even from damning deception to like a ship off one or two degrees in that area and eventually it will lead you so far off course you don't even know how to get back again some of it's like that where it's not outright heretical it's really cool it's just a great church it's just a cool vibe everybody seems really happy the guy throws in a tough sermon every once in a while you're like yeah that one kind of conviction yeah good i think we're in the right place america is so in for it i watch with a unique outsider's perspective in denominations like the sbc i went to one of their seminaries i'm finishing another degree in one of their seminaries and i love my friends in in conventions like the southern baptist convention but i watch in horror because they look like what i used to be in and all of it's subtle you know what it is it's prosperity gospel light and it can go after any one of us even conservative evangelicals can start drinking the diet version of the prosperity gospel and we like our big fanfare and our big buildings some guys like their big muscles you end up on preachers and sneakers eventually that way with your latest shoes and wearing your yeezys and acting like you're just part of just normal man just living my life christian liberty leaders do not try to push the lines of christian liberty we don't try to look like all these other movements to draw people in leaders true faithful christian leaders are always looking for another way to give up more liberty for the sake of the gospel because my life is not my own your life is not your own we're not here to look cool we are here to be faithful people think all the raw raws about fog machines and laser lights and loud music it's about a slow fade not into excellence not into passion for truth and for reaching a generation no but for looking just like the culture as to blend in with the culture and not offend the culture you just preach the gospel you'll be offensive enough you preach it with a smile and a nice high tone like this and you'll still be offensive you'd be the nicest girl or guy in the room you preach the gospel they'll call you a hater you don't need to worry about impressing the culture just preach the gospel they're not going to like you anyway i don't care how nice the music is and how cool you look and what shoes you wear watch out for prosperity gospel light where god is always good when things are good and when things are bad your blessing is just around the corner hang in there nope it might not be in fact more trial more sanctification through suffering might be around the next corner and then we read philippians 1 29 and go oh that's what paul was saying to lydia and the jailer in their whole household when he said it has been granted to you the privilege of suffering ooh the privilege of suffering interesting how un-american how unlike so much of the church today do not buy it no thanks to the american dream i love the apostle paul's life in so many regards because he had it all going for him and then he calls it all rubbish in philippians 3. don't you love that a bunch of garbage compared to the surpassing value of knowing christ jesus if i've got jesus oh i don't really care if i have the true gospel and i've got my mandate from him and i'm living out my purpose for his glory and the good of his people i don't care how many letters are behind my name or what status i had reached paul says i was a hebrew of the hebrews i knew it all i got more zeal than all of you oh but compared to knowing christ and having him as my possession and me being his possession all the best things all the next level blessings of this world they are garbage compared to having him and so i ask you is jesus your greatest treasure is he the sole affection of your life is your mind fixed on him are you constantly thinking lord jesus will this please you is my next decision going to bring you honor and glory does this look like you how would you have me please you serve you not how might you give me what i want how might i live how you want the greatest value in this life is having the one who is life in deed i'll have a dear brother his name is brooks buesser i don't know maybe some of you have heard of him he's a warrior this guy was living down the coast and he's living an accountant's dream right he hits it big with an international company and his wife and his son are living down the coast and he buys a benz and he's gonna buy a nice big house in la jolla like this blonde hair blue eyed surfer vibe family perfect for socal i mean he's got it made he's a missionary kid he's spiritual he loves god how many of us i would just hit cruise control right there right in in the flesh thinking like you're good you're you're really spiritual man you're you're awesome you're part of a lineage ride that thing to heaven and then one day god gets a hold of his heart and mind and starts changing things he was saved already he loved jesus and the way he described it is all the things that he and his family had a tight grip on god just started to pull things back and loosen their grip on the things of this world and before you know it my crazy friend brooks and his wife and their son are training to go reach an unreached language group and they're going to take their son and they're going to go to this place and they're going to reach the yemi yembi tribe and it's going to take years to figure out even what in the world these people are saying and then they're going to try to translate the language because the yemi yemi didn't really have their own alphabet and so they're listening to the sounds then translating them into english words that are still written like the sound the yami yembi are making and so english alphabet with yemi yembi words to try to come up with some way to communicate learn the language they get married in separate tribes the yemi yemi didn't even honor their marriage no you're not really married what tribe is she from what tribe are you from so they put him in the ostrich tribe because he's real tall they put her in the eagle tribe gave him a yum bmb marriage talk about culture shock and then they they said have you ever killed a pig at night with a spear all these guys look like no it's america we come from he goes then you're not men you're boys so they call them you know big overgrown big overgrown boys with beards and he gives up his american dream and gives up his life and yeah the way i describe that it sounds like a great adventure but you try watching your son almost die from malaria and you watch day after day people struggle to understand what you're even saying and you watch people you went to reach with the gospel dying and they can't understand you so you can't even give them the gospel and you have to wait and bide your time when meanwhile you could have been sipping a pour over on the coast of la jolla now that's not going to be everybody's call i get it but that mentality the willingness to give up anything for what god would call you to do next is antithetical to the cultural versions of the gospel if you sense that temptation to comfort the mentality i just described for you is like kryptonite it'll just kill it and so fill your mind and fill your heart and fill your air pods if you have them with stories of great missionaries read church history you don't stand alone you stand on the shoulders of faithful men and women throughout the ages who gave up everything to serve christ in any context mind you so for some of you that's going to mean wealth and enjoyment and you are on the coast of la jolla serving jesus you do it with reckless abandon there you forsake all in that context and some of you are going to be called to give it all up and to go reach people who have never heard the gospel you train you focus and you discipline your body you make it your slave and you go do the job god has called you to do let the culture pontificate about all the blessings of god they're gonna get let the culture wander aimlessly let them try to solve everything through their little racial reparations and their big words and angry political fights let them throw all the stones they want you be busy about gospel work let them argue with vain wrangling on twitter and everywhere else spewing their thoughts as though they're going to change the world in 240 characters or whatever it is now you be focused you be faithful you're not here for the american dream you are here to prepare this world for a coming king and a coming kingdom that's your call the final element that i want you to take away from this session will help you understand another damning element of deception i want you to understand that the gospel is not good works so what i've just described to you sounds like some good works you're going to go out and help people you're going to go out and reach people but don't forget one of the key anchor passages that we've continued to point back to is ephesians 2 8 through 10 for by grace you've been saved through faith not as a result of works but you were created in christ jesus for good works you could say it this way you were not saved by your good works but in being saved you are called to do good works it's the difference between the root and the fruit the root of your life is the gospel and being saved by grace that root grows the tree expands and suddenly there's fruit in your life and you do good yet mormons and catholics and many other spin-off cults that lean into various christian principles or ones that are completely off the reservation like scientology make a business out of forcing you to do good works to feel like you are good enough now to get saved it's like yeah the grace of god is for you but do these things and you'll really be set it's a twisted version of james 1 22 where james challenges believers saying i faith without works is dead yeah you can't just live this antinomian life doing what you want sinning out you want go i need a good good works man that's legalism no it's not that it's also not hey look at all i do surely god's gonna let me in i'm a good person that might be one of the most damning deceptions that doesn't get enough press that being a good person will somehow cause god to just let you in he doesn't need to see your good works he needs to see his son the lord jesus christ and his righteousness upon you this is how so many people treat the gospel it's prevalent in in your generation it's just in a conversation not long ago with a young student and she was doing stm after stm short-term missions with organizations that were digging wells and they were helping refugees and they were helping the poor and all of that is awesome in fact you look through history and most of the time the hospitals that start were from christians christians should be out doing good loving god and loving neighbor but the motive she said was you know i just really want to give a cup in jesus name a cup of water in jesus name that's that's really what i'm doing it's what he said to do the problem was when i asked her if they were actually sharing the gospel she explained to me in her own words that giving people clean water was the gospel that people not having access to clean water was a gospel issue kosty i mean what would jesus do so now we're into the wristband he would be out doing good giving water to people digging wells he wouldn't be behind a big wooden pulpit preaching he would be doing good so we need to go and dig wells for people she's not alone that mentality is everywhere you take a survey on a college campus across our country christian colleges and and you'll be shocked i've talked to a lot of different students from different states and different places you hear their stories and i get it digging a well is likable you can take your selfies post them on instagram come home and you look awesome you look real christian and then you feel really good about yourself and then your parents pump a little more money into your college account because you've learned your lesson about stewardship and loving others you really you really can be trusted with more and so you view that thing as the key to get more things you selfie your trip with the african orphans not realizing that you you can give a cup of water in jesus name but if you do not give jesus's message people are still going to hell they're just more hydrated you go out do the same thing with the poor and the hungry and you go feed them but if you don't give them the bread of life they are going to hell still on a full stomach give them christ and i know what so many people start thinking whoa so extreme man let's give them both that certainly would be the aim but if given the choice so often today's cultural christian choose easy street giving you a cup of water selfie click move on i'm doing gospel work no you're not if people are on their last breath they don't need your well they need your witness give them jesus give them the one who will give them eternal life give them the one whose kingdom is going to come and they won't be sitting in the gutter and they won't be a refugee they are a child of god give them the gospel that's what they need your good works aren't the gospel yeah you you go ahead and solve racism go for it i'm with you right ethnic prejudice is sin we don't treat people different we don't look down on them because the color of their skin that's awesome but you could solve all the racial issues in the world today and you can get real cute and throw out big words and you can be real smart and you can be real charismatic on a stage and real eloquent with your oratory ability and you could virtue signal and everyone's like man that's what i'm talking about yes but if you do not lean on the gospel we're just going to hell holding hands now it's the gospel that saves deceptions that damn put the stock of salvation in other things outside of christ and his single message of salvation although come in different forms they'll come in different clothes and different styles in different times in different areas but guys it'll always be the same something other than the gospel becomes the focus and the minute it does you are on that ship going one two three degrees off and i'm not trying to guilt and shame you into being scared of wasting your life but just read first and second timothy and read the book of titus this is what paul does to prepare these young proteges in the faith tell them essentially in a 2021 paraphrase get your head on straight get focused on the gospel serve the bride the king is coming watch your life and your doctrine closely do not get pulled into the vain wrangling of the culture do not get sucked in to all these winds that are blowing around you you be faithful you preach the word you do the work of an evangelist after the the first session i met a girl named katie who came down to the front and she's just beaming you know how college gals are you know all excited and bouncing up and down you're holding on to your bible like you're never going to let it go i love that passionate we got to go to lunch and they're they're pulling me out and they're like we got to go and you know the big man's waiting they call him pastor mcarthur and we gotta go to lunch and there's katie and she's standing there and so we just were able to stop for one more minute and she's telling me the story and my ears are just perked up and she's got my attention because she started the story by telling me how she got expelled from oral roberts university and now she's at tmu and i'm like hey i can relate to that that's good you too how's it going and she began to unpack how she's in a class and things just didn't square with the bible and they're saying you got to speak in tongues to be saved and so they start telling them all to speak in tongues and so imagine in one of your classes it would never happen at tmu but just imagine for a moment in your creative intuitive brain that it happens and you all stand up and everyone's blah blah whatever and they're just going and yeah you're gonna get it and this is the key to salvation and she just goes against the grain it just doesn't click the lord through the power of the holy spirit given her discernment his word makes sense and so she gets the boot but not before being called into a meeting and told to recant is that not reformation style right there rick can't and who talks like that i asked you they told you to recant she was yeah they said like you have to recant that that's awesome that didn't even happen to me and she refused and so the scholarships are gone the opportunities are gone relationships gone her enrollment there done tmu here we come you know what that tells me stories like that there's many of them there's a generation that's rising that is growing and learning they've rooted their life in the true gospel they are nourishing their souls on sound doctrine and you guys might look a little different than the faith heroes of old but you carry the same message and the same power that was in paul is in you if you carry the same message that paul preached you don't gotta wonder about your future you don't gotta go around insecure you carry the sword of the spirit you walk into spiritual war and you wield it with the delegated authority and the confidence of god almighty behind you that is what this world needs that is what will change the culture you are here for a short time to do a job that the king has given you as an ambassador so have some gospel guts and look forward to that day when you see him at his judgment seat and you get the joy of saying lord jesus it was all for you it was imperfect i didn't always nail it oh i was fleshly inhuman i wrestled through things at times but i left it all there for you and he looks back at you and says well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master what else would you live for the king is coming so let's be busy about his work let me pray for you father your son will one day come on the clouds and he will establish his kingdom forever and he will rule the nations and he is the wonderful counselor will counsel the kings of the earth with wisdom beyond anything they could ever comprehend and we your church will rule and reign with you help us to have perspective on what is coming through the conviction and power of your holy spirit and the mighty work through your word all help us to remember like peter encouraged the early church that we are aliens we are foreigners this is not our home we are heading home come quickly lord jesus ruin our plans squash our american dreams bring conviction upon us if for a second we would hope you wait so we could enjoy the good life right now we long for you to come establish your kingdom judge the wicked uphold the righteous and use us for your glory however you please we ask all this in your matchless name and all of god's people said amen

Channel: The Master's University

Views: 18,360

Rating: 4.8929768 out of 5

Keywords: California

Id: Cknlen-Obvw

Length: 82min 27sec (4947 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 19 2021