Latest / HBCWestminster / 1.10.21 Luke 11:24-28 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

1.10.21 Luke 11:24-28 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you have your Bibles, you can open to Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter 11, and we're going to bounce right into God's word. Luke chapter 11, our text this morning is verses 24 to 28. As you'll recall from last week, I mentioned George Mueller's quote, the word of God is the bread of life and the prayer of faith is the breath of life. And so as you're turning in your Bibles to Luke 11, just prepare yourselves, church, again.
• 0:21
  To eat and to breathe together. That is what we do when we say that we are a church. When we say that we're a spiritual family, that's what we mean. We eat together just like families do. We pray together. We breathe together. We breathe the same air just like families do. And so I would encourage you to continue in God's word and to continue in prayer. Allow me to read our text. And if you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. Luke 11 and beginning in verse 24.
• 0:49
  Jesus is speaking and he says,
• 1:17
  But he said, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for the presence of your spirit in our lives. We rejoice, Lord, that your Holy Spirit, he illuminates the scriptures so that we can understand the mind of Christ. And we rejoice in your forgiveness, Lord. We feel at times as though we are drowning in an ocean of our own failures. But in you, we have freedom.
• 1:48
  In you we have victory. May our mouths be filled with praise and may our lips give testimony to your goodness and to your grace. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. How many gospels are there? Consider carefully before you respond. We think of John 3.16, for God so loved the world, right, that he gave his only son. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• 2:21
  We think of 2 Corinthians 5.21. He made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. We think of Romans 8.3. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. We think of Titus 3.5. He saved us.
• 2:48
  Not by righteous works that we had done, but because of his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. We think of 1 Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. How many gospels are there? There's only one gospel, right? I recall a time that I was meeting with a young man.
• 3:18
  regularly every week he and I would get together for an hour or so we'd take a walk around the block and then we'd be going through God's Word together and he aspired to ministry one day and I believe he's even in ministry now 10 years later but we'd meet once a week for Bible study and devotion and he told me that he was going to interview for a youth position at a church and I said well good for you I hope it goes well he was a very intelligent young man he was very quirky as well he had a great sense of humor I thought he was hilarious but his humor was missed on many
• 3:48
  He told me the interview went well after I called him and asked him, you know, just how did it go? He said it went well until the pastor of the church asked him at some point during the interview a very simple question He just said how many ways are there to heaven?
• 4:01
  And now the answer to that question may seem very obvious right to those who grew up in the church How many ways are there to heaven? Well, there's one right? I mean John 14 6 says I am the way the truth and life No one comes to the Father, but through me Jesus said he is the only way to heaven How many ways are to heaven one Jesus, but this young man said well, there are two pastor two ways to heaven The pastor kind of looked at him quizzically confused and he said well one is Jesus That's one way to heaven having your sin forgiven in his name the other way
• 4:30
  is to live a sinless and perfect life. If you live a sinless and perfect life, you'll go to heaven. Now, there's obviously a problem of original sin. And for all of you guys who are about to email me saying, oh, what about depravity? And what about original sin? And what about all of this? I understand. I know, not entirely accurate. If you can have, you know, if there's no original sin, then yes, live a sinless and perfect life. But that is what he said. You live sinless. If you're sinless, you'll go to heaven. And what he said is true. It is true. If you are sinless, you will go to heaven.
• 4:58
  But as he relayed that story to me, he said, you know, Danny, it's funny. The rest of the interview was actually relatively short, even abrupt. After he answered that way, the pastor just said, yeah, this kid is not for me. He did not get the job. The question, how many ways are there to heaven, might actually be different from asking how many gospels are there. Turn with me, if you would, in your Bibles to the right, to Galatians. Galatians in chapter 1. And notice in verse 6, Galatians chapter 1.
• 5:28
  In verse 6, the Apostle Paul writing to the churches in the region of Galatia says this in verse 6, I am astonished. He says, I am blown away. I am blown away, shocked beyond belief. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning, what does it say? Are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort.
• 5:58
  the gospel of Christ. You are turning, he says, to a different gospel. The NIV translates it this way. You are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. There is no other gospel. Our title this morning is the saving gospel versus the social gospel. And before we get to our text, let's take a moment to define some terms. First, what is the gospel? What is the saving gospel? The saving gospel.
• 6:27
  is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here's how I've written it. This is my definition of the saving gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The saving gospel is the truth as communicated by scripture that mankind is sinful and that the payment of that sin is eternal destruction, eternal separation from God and hell, eternal death, and that the only hope for mankind is faith in the sinless life, death,
• 6:57
  burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is almighty God and who for a period of time humbled himself, took on human flesh and became our substitute, absorbing the punishment for sin that we deserved and passing onto us his righteousness. There it is. There's kind of my definition. What is the saving gospel? Okay, that's term number one. What about term number two? What is the social gospel? The social gospel is very different.
• 7:26
  Although many, even in the church, maybe even in our church, many have trouble distinguishing between the two. The social gospel says that by performing certain tasks, by supporting certain social, moral, or political platforms or agendas, one can, in essence, declare oneself to be righteous by their own standard.
• 7:50
  It is what our culture means when they say they are a good person. If you were to walk up to somebody and ask, are you going to heaven or hell? And they say, well, I'm going to heaven. And you say, why? If their answer doesn't include forgiveness in Jesus' name, most of them will say something like, because I'm a good person. That's what they mean. They are believers in the social gospel. Or you'll oftentimes hear it worded this way, and I've noticed it's worded this way a lot in Colorado. Colorado will say,
• 8:18
  Well, I was raised right. I was raised right. It is the social gospel is the expectation that by saying the right things and behaving the right way, one can earn the favor of God and be declared free from sin. Another word for the social gospel might be formalism. Yet another word, moralism. If you're a moral person, behave the right way and you'll go to heaven. Good people go to heaven. Bad people go to hell.
• 8:46
  Another perhaps more pointed term would be legalism. People will say, I'm a good person because I serve at the homeless shelter. I'm a good person because I give to charity. I'm a good person because I mow my lawn. My house is not an eyesore. I'm a good person because I voted the right way. I'm a good person because I attended a rally. I'm a good person because I attend church. I'm a good person. And I remember, I can actually recall people when I was just a kid, a little, little kid saying it this way. I don't drink.
• 9:16
  I don't smoke, I don't chew, and I don't go with girls who do. I don't smoke, drink, or chew, and I don't go with girls who do, and therefore I'm a good person. Well, the social gospel is actually preached to us all the time. Church, from infancy, behavioral expectations are placed on each of us. We figure out very quickly, our babies figure out very quickly that certain actions receive rewards and certain actions receive...
• 9:41
  punishment and as we grow we discover that those expectations come not only from our parents but from society as well now let me be clear in saying and especially for your parents with young kids like are you saying that it's not good to try to change my child's behavior
• 9:57
  Let me be very clear in saying that there is nothing wrong with behavior modification in your kids, okay? Feel free to put the rails up so that your kids stay on the road. That is the primary function of parents, to raise obedient children. In fact, if you love your children, you will tell them that certain things are okay and certain things are not okay.
• 10:23
  It astounds me how many parents today refuse to tell their children no, that there are some things which are just wrong, which there are some ways of thinking which are not okay and will actually be hurtful in the end.
• 10:39
  We see kids as we're out and about and in the city walking through the aisles at King Super, walking through the aisles at Costco or Walmart. You see kids sometimes and you walk by them and you're like, man, that kid could use some behavior modification, right? My own kids included, my sons were unfortunately inheritors of my sin nature. I absolutely pass that down to them. I apologize to them for it, but they are sinners. Absolutely.
• 11:09
  And I can recall my oldest son, Pearson, when he was just a few months old, Hallie and I hadn't even really been out of the house yet. We decided we were going to try to go to dinner together. And so we had little tiny Pearson, you know, he was never actually a little tiny, but.
• 11:23
  We had tiny baby Pearson in his little car seat, a stroller deal, you know, parked next to the booth. We went to an Outback Steakhouse. We were trying to enjoy dinner. He was just, I don't know, six or so months old. And he, all of a sudden, he was normally pretty easygoing, but all of a sudden just broke into a fit.
• 11:40
  crying screaming everybody in the restaurant was looking at us we were in that moment that couple you know the one i'm talking about with the screaming kids and we just thought oh man we finally get to go out and now pearson is not letting us just enjoy the evening he's so mad so mad and church i didn't allow my son to grow up thinking that he can continue in that behavior
• 12:08
  It's not okay, right? And when they're babies, I don't know that they can necessarily help it, but as they grow, we say, you know what, Pearson? Now you're two. This is not okay. Now you're five. Now you're 10. Now you're 18. There are some things, Pearson, which are just not okay. Behavior modification, even that certain amount of social expectation is, of course, a good thing. The problem comes.
• 12:35
  The problem comes when we fail to communicate that no amount of behavior modification will ever save us from our sin.
• 12:45
  That's the problem with the social gospel. The social gospel says that in behavior modification, we can overcome the punishment, the failures of our own sin. And that is not true. The failure comes, the problem comes when we fail to communicate that no amount of behavior modification will ever save us. You can try to act as good as you want. You can never save yourself from the punishment of your own sin.
• 13:11
  Romans 3 in verse 20 says, For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. No amount of law obedience, behavior modification, no amount will ever save you in God's sight. J.C. Ryle has said this, When one is a Christian by name only and not in reality,
• 13:29
  In outward things only and not in inward feelings, in profession only and not in practice, when one's Christianity is a mere matter of form or fashion or custom, without any influence on his heart or life, that man has a formal religion. Then listen to how he words this. He possesses the form or the shell or the surface, but he does not possess its substance or its power.
• 13:56
  Now, most believe that as long as they avoid scandal, their little white lies are not that big a deal and will surely be overlooked on Judgment Day. If they can just live clean enough or act good enough or be thought of by their friends and family highly enough, they will find themselves securely on heaven's shores. Most believe that to be true. The tragic reality is that hell will be populated heavily.
• 14:25
  with those who were raised right but never came to christ the enemy in fact loves dragging to their own destruction those who claimed to be good people and for many of the reasons that we just mentioned people think they're good apart from the grace and forgiveness of jesus christ and hell unfortunately will be populated heavily with those types of people
• 14:55
  Al Mohler, in a 2009 article, which I would commend to you, entitled, Why Moralism is Not the Gospel and Why Many Christians Think It Is, said it succinctly. And I quote, One of the most insidious false gospels is a moralism that promises the favor of God and the satisfaction of God's righteousness to sinners if they will only behave and commit themselves to moral improvement.
• 15:21
  We sin against Christ. Listen to what he says. We sin against Christ and we misrepresent the gospel when we suggest that what God demands of them is moral improvement in accordance with the law. In other words, we are in sin and we are misrepresenting Christ to people if we tell them that what they need to do is clean themselves up, live right, live clean, but never talk about how to do that in Jesus.
• 15:49
  Now clearly, and I go back to Al Mohler, clearly millions of our neighbors believe that that moralism is our message. That's what Christians want. Christians want us all to act like them. That's what they believe is our message. Nothing less than the bold preaching of the gospel will suffice to correct this impression of the lead sinners to salvation in Christ. In other words, church, here's what he says. Christ did not come so that we would become moral.
• 16:15
  That's not why he came he didn't come so that we would live better so that we would live moral lives That's not why Jesus came. He didn't come to make Christian homes. He didn't come to make Christian schools He didn't even come to make Christian nations. That's not why he came He came to transform individual sinners from the inside out not church from the outside in I'm a Christian
• 16:41
  Because of what I believe about Jesus Christ, because of his presence in my life, I am not a Christian because I act like a Christian. That's not how it works. For us to preach or to practice anything else is a false gospel. In fact, Christ's most scathing rebukes were reserved for those who practice their religion outwardly. Do you remember this? The Pharisees, the scribes, the lawyers, the experts in the law, his most scathing rebukes were for them.
• 17:09
  But inwardly, he said they were dead men's bones. Hallie and I and Tom and Linda Miller had the privilege of spending an hour with John and Patsy Villalpando.
• 17:20
  last Tuesday. And as I record this, it's Thursday. I know you're watching this on Sunday, but I'm recording on Thursday. And I would just ask you to be in prayer for the Villalpando family. She is continuing to fight against stomach cancer. And we just pray. We continue to pray for her healing.
• 17:40
  Patsy at the time on Tuesday was just a mere 70 pounds. And you can just imagine if you know the VL Pondos and just how strong and healthy and funny and smart and passionate about the kingdom of Christ that Patsy is. She is now just 70 pounds in weight. She is just skin and bones. But when we walked into her bedroom, she was lying there in bed. She sat up immediately and began to preach.
• 18:05
  The Millers and Hallie and I were there, the four of us. John was there as well, standing around her bed. She sat straight up and she preached. And I'm not kidding, Church. She did not stop preaching for over an hour. She was talking about how she was just living in the heavenly. She said, I just can't wait to go to heaven. She is so excited to discard this body, to leave this earth behind, and to go to be with her Savior. And Church, I wish I could have recorded it. I really do. I wish that you could hear her words. But as she talked, I did write a few of them down.
• 18:34
  which will no doubt come out in the next several weeks. Here were some. In describing her own testimony as a little girl and then growing up into a young woman, she said, I was very religious. She actually said that. She grew up Catholic. She said, I was very religious, but I was utterly lost.
• 18:55
  It was very religious. It wasn't a problem of religiosity. It wasn't a problem of belief. She was certainly a believer. The problem was a genuine faith and trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin. She said, I was very religious, but I was utterly lost. And then as she continued to preach, every now and again she would slip into prayer. And she said, Lord, hide me behind the cross.
• 19:19
  Let others see Jesus. Do you understand what she means by that? Let the cross be out here. And when other people see me, they can't see me because the cross is hiding me. Let me hide behind the cross. Let others see Jesus, she said, because there is no good in me apart from you. We come to our passage. Jesus is giving a lesson on what seems to be demons, right? The demon goes out of a person. He wanders around a waterless, arid lands. He comes back to the person or whatever. But in actuality, Jesus' lesson is a warning.
• 19:48
  against formal dead religion. We see this morning the danger of cleaning yourself up without committing yourself to Christ. We see that the difference between the saving gospel and the social gospel is the difference between outward reformation and inward transformation. It's trying to get saved from the outward in instead of getting saved from the inward and then going out. We see this morning the grave danger of moral reformation without spiritual regeneration. And so notice first the problem.
• 20:19
  with outward reformation, or you could call this the problem with the social gospel. The problem with the social gospel. And look at verse 24. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. When it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits.
• 20:47
  more evil than itself and they enter and dwell there and the last state of that person is worse than the first this man this person probably considered himself spiritual his entire adult life he probably would have said that he was on a spiritual journey that's how people word it here in north denver this man probably dabbled in religion and had studied the world's religious books
• 21:13
  He attended probably Christian camps growing up, and so knew about good and evil, and he knew about, had heard about the supernatural forces behind each. This man would have probably paid lip service on occasion through generic prayers before family meals. He could probably recite the words to some popular Christian songs. He no doubt attended church occasionally, parroting its importance to his mother, to his grandmother on Mother's Day, right? As his mom wants him to come to church, probably went.
• 21:41
  all the while putting it very lowly on his own priority list. He very much enjoyed the atmosphere of special church services. This man probably would have even said that the Christmas Eve candlelight service was his favorite. Now the demon in Christ's parable had found a suitable host. That's what we see. This unclean spirit at some point in this man's life has come into his life and is not only oppressing him from the outside, but actually
• 22:10
  possessed him from the inside out. Says that he lived in him. Living there is not just visiting, right? It is intent to stay permanently. He had found a suitable host. Christian, but not too Christian. A phony believer, probably, who could be used to cast doubt in those who would listen. A self-professed Christian, but who lived in the world, the real world.
• 22:37
  This man willing to become all things for all men. These are the types of phrases that we hear among those who are kind of lukewarm, carnal Christians in the church. Kind of dabbled in the church with one foot, but left one foot in the world. And then somehow this man had what we would call a religious experience. Something changed in the man's heart that led him to live a more moral life.
• 23:03
  The cleaner he lived, the less suitable he was for demonic habitation. In fact, when the demon leaves, and notice it does not say the demon was cast out, it just said he had gone out. Perhaps he even went of his own volition, had left the man. The man, now having had this religious experience, no longer had this oppression possession, begins to clean up his life. In fact, when the demon comes back to the house from which he came, he found it swept and put in order. The man had gotten his life.
• 23:33
  right, straightened out. As the demon has left the man, we find that he wandered around in an arid or waterless place seeking rest. Now this is not to be taken literally. Demons are spirit beings, therefore do not depend upon water for life the way that we do. But this type of language is actually frequent in both Old and New Testaments to depict a spiritual landscape which is devoid.
• 23:58
  aimless for this demon who had used this man for his own purpose now suddenly not to have a human host would be like the equivalent of wandering around in a dry and waterless land and so he says I can't find any place to rest and so I'm gonna go back to the house and after wandering around and searching for a time the demon found no better host and so determined to return to the man from which he had left the man's house his life was set straight he really did clean up his life
• 24:26
  He no doubt began attending church, getting involved, probably even made some friends. He attended worship and prayer nights. He enjoyed the music, found the pastor's sermons funny and engaging, but he never genuinely gave his life to Christ. He never confessed the gospel, never professed Christ's lordship over his life. And so although he was sanctified to a degree, right, he was living among Christians and so began acting like a Christian.
• 24:53
  Sanctified to a degree, that sanctification came by his own effort and not by the sanctifying and enduring presence of the Holy Spirit of God in his life. He was a fruitless tree. And he tried to fake it by stapling plastic fruit to his branches. But this wasn't the man's greatest problem. His greatest problem was that his house, his life, remained unoccupied.
• 25:22
  He found certain freedom. After the demon had gone out, he found a freedom. He found a liberty to live clean. The problem was that the Holy Spirit of God was never invited to come into the man's life and so to indwell him and so to fill him and so to overpower the powers of darkness. Not only did the demon return to the man, but he brought all of his buddies. The man in the parable ended up far worse.
• 25:54
  You know, there's only one problem with the social gospel, and that is the social gospel, an effort to clean ourselves up in order to become righteous, in order to find favor with God. And there's only one problem with the social gospel, but it is a big problem. The one problem with the social gospel is that it doesn't save. It may be useful for the temporary kind of cleaning up of a messy life, but it ends ultimately in the destruction of a soul apart from the saving work.
• 26:22
  of christ that's first the danger of the social gospel the problem with the social gospel notice second verses 27 and 28 the value of inward transformation the value of inward transformation or you could call it the blessing of the saving gospel look at verse 27 as he said these things a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed blessed is the womb that bore you and this was a common hebrew proverb
• 26:50
  Daryl Bach has actually noted in his commentary that the value of women in ancient times was very much tied to the accomplishments of her children, the accomplishments of her sons. And so her use of this proverb certainly shows her understanding of who Christ was, but Christ's response filled in the holes in her theology.
• 27:13
  Rather, blessed rather. He says in verse 28, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. New American Standard says, translate this same phrase as on the contrary. So this woman says, certainly your mother is blessed. Jesus says on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and do it. The one who is blessed, he would say, is not merely the hearer of the word, but the doer, James 1.22. The one who is a new creation.
• 27:40
  is the one who is in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, 17. The one who is filled with joy is the one who has Christ in his word abiding in them, John 15. The one who will be saved on judgment day is the one who not only speaks the name of Jesus, but actually knows Jesus, Matthew 7 and verse 23. Now, as an aside here, if I can just touch on this for a moment, because she does say, blessed is the womb that bore you, and that is indeed true.
• 28:08
  The Virgin Mary is blessed among women, and that is in fact the proclamation that the angel made over her. Blessed are you among women, you will be the mother of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Veneration of Mary and even idolization of Mary has existed for centuries. The Catholic Church prays to Mary, perhaps even worships Mary to some degree, idolizes Mary.
• 28:38
  If Mary was indeed worthy of worship, the way that she is thought of by so many in Christian churches, if she was indeed worthy of worship, then Christ would have defended this woman's statement. Do you notice that? Blessed is the womb that bore you, right? She is giving praise to Christ's mother.
• 29:01
  Christ would have, if his mother were worthy of worship, Christ would have in that moment said, yeah, indeed. Indeed, she is worthy of praise. But that's not what he says. In fact, he says, on the contrary. Rather, on the contrary, the one who is blessed is not the one who bore me, but rather the one who hears God's word and does it. And Christ's response is interesting and points out that rather than being full of grace, hail Mary,
• 29:29
  full of grace. Mary was actually in need of grace. I would turn your attention to Luke chapter 1 and verse 47 in Mary's Magnificat, her response to the Lord after hearing that she would bear the Messiah. She says, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. She recognizes her need for salvation. Well, what do we do?
• 29:57
  church with a message like this what do we do with this the saving gospel versus the social gospel let me give a couple of recommendations for how to apply this specifically to our lives and in our families first take time around your dinner table this week with your spouse with your kids to clearly define and articulate the saving gospel
• 30:19
  Take some time this week when you guys sit down for dinner, whatever day of the week that is, maybe it's every night, maybe it's once a week, when you sit down at your dinner table, turn off the TV, set phones in the other room, and while you're eating, and perhaps even for a few minutes after, take time to articulate, to define the saving gospel. What is it? What are its most important points?
• 30:43
  Why? What must one believe in order to be saved? Church, make sure that your kids know the gospel. Billy Graham one time talked about a time that he was new to town. Early in his ministry, he shows up at the small town as he was a traveling evangelist to preach a sermon, right? He was supposed to be the guest speaker.
• 31:07
  at this church and wanting to mail a letter before he did, on the way to the post office, he asked a young boy where the post office was.
• 31:15
  A boy told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, if you'll come to the Baptist Church this evening, you can hear me tell everyone how to get to heaven. And so he goes to this young boy and he says, can you tell me how to get to the post office? The boy says, well, yeah, you know, you head down the street and you hang right here and whatever, it's on your left-hand side. Billy Graham said, well, thank you. If you come to the Baptist Church this evening, you can hear me tell everyone how to get to heaven. But the boy replied this way, and I thought it was funny. He said, sir, I don't think I'll be there. You don't even know how to get to the post office.
• 31:43
  Right? How do you know the way to heaven? You don't even know the way to the post office. And church, make sure this week, this week, sit down with your kids and make sure they know the way to heaven. You can even begin with the words, the saving gospel is this.
• 32:01
  perhaps bring a small whiteboard to the table with you so that you can write down answers erase and replace words you can elaborate change your answer as needed consider even what scriptures you can find to support your answer and church i would even encourage you to do this over the next several months choose two three four scriptures that have to do with the gospels specifically and take time to memorize those as a family one scripture per week it's not hard to do
• 32:29
  one scripture per week just to make sure that you your spouse your kids your grandkids know the saving gospel let's make sure we understand the way to heaven second here's another way to apply this reassure your kids reassure your spouse reassure your grandkids that it is not their behavior that you praise but rather their character it is very easy to get into the habit of
• 32:58
  reinforcing with positive affirmation the behaviors of our kids so that they will eventually believe that the only way to please us is to act the right way and rather than praising only their behavior let's be careful to praise their character as well behavior as we know is often a byproduct of strong character but it must begin with a contrite heart if you want your kids to exhibit the fruits of the spirit
• 33:25
  Rather than forcing those fruits artificially upon them, make sure that they have the Spirit who will sanctify them from the inside out and grow their character. And as their character grows, so will their conduct. Third, what do we do with a message like this? Church, do not become confused about your calling. We as believers and followers of Christ, above all else,
• 33:53
  are called to preach the saving gospel. That is our call. We are only called secondarily to sanctify the culture in which we live. First, preach the gospel. Only secondarily are we meant to be a sanctifying influence on our culture. We are not called by God to defend the Constitution. That is not our job.
• 34:17
  That's not our job as the church and as believers and followers of Christ to defend the Constitution. We are not called by God to defend the historically Christian morals of our nation. You may be very passionate about those things. I am too. But it is not my job first and foremost to defend those morals. Rather, my job is to defend the gospel, to preach the gospel where it has not been preached.
• 34:47
  preached and to prioritize those other things above the preaching of the saving gospel is to misrepresent ourselves and we'll misrepresent our lord our lord did not come to create a christian nation to create a christian school to create christian homes our church our lord did not come to make moralists people whose behavior was acceptable that's not what he came to do and
• 35:16
  And not to mention that to try to produce morality in people who don't know the Lord is a tremendous waste of time and resources. Because that cannot be accomplished apart from Christ anyway. The only way for people to live the right way, to live with genuine joy and satisfaction, fulfilled lives, is in Christ. And so let's give them what they are after.
• 35:44
  Let's give them the opportunity to live in joy and fulfillment and happiness. God, thank you for your word and thank you for this message. God, I pray that we would not be so concerned about living the right way that we forget.
• 35:59
  the Holy Spirit of God in us who sanctifies us and who produces that same fruit. And so God, I pray that you would make us a people who are loving and joyful and peaceful and patient and kind and gentle and self-controlled and faithful and all. I do pray for the fruits of the Spirit over us, but God, I pray that we would rely on your Holy Spirit to bring them about. I pray that we would yield ourselves to you. Lord, we love you. We love you and are thankful for the saving gospel. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.