- Back off REVEREND RELIGION! That stuff is just a Shadow! (Col 2:16-17)
- Back off MISTER MYSTIC! You can’t Grow apart from Jesus! (Col 2:18-19)
- Back off SERGEANT SELF-DENIAL! You can’t Stop Sin by punishing yourself! (Col 2:20-23)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:07-00:26
The title of today's message is "The Anti-Bullying Campaign." How many noticed when you came into the auditorium this morning that there were posters hanging by the doors back there about the rules against bullying?
00:26-00:28
Let's be honest, how many of you saw those posters?
00:28-00:33
They're kinda hard to miss, they're like fluorescent green, yellowish, but they're really great.
00:33-00:37
Anti-bullying, that's been the hot topic lately, have you noticed?
00:38-00:39
Have you noticed?
00:40-00:44
Bullying is more than just a plot for movies from the 1980s.
00:45-01:02
It's all over the news, and everybody from President Obama to Lady Gaga are part of this anti-bullying campaign that are going on, And it's getting to the point that it's really getting to be a tragic thing, it really is.
01:02-01:06
I mean, when I was in school, there was a season where I was bullied.
01:07-01:12
Maybe some of you have been through that, or some older kid was picking on you or belittling you, but...
01:13-01:22
The reason there's so much of a campaign against this now, because we're seeing so many children committing suicide as a result of bullying.
01:22-01:25
I was looking these up just this past week.
01:26-01:30
Read up, Phoebe Prince, age 15, committed suicide.
01:31-01:37
Jared Benjamin High, age 13, committed suicide because of bullying.
01:37-01:42
Brian Patrick Allegan, age 14.
01:43-01:50
15 year old Amanda Cummings from Staten Island actually walked in front of a bus holding a suicide note.
01:51-01:52
It's serious business.
01:54-01:55
It's serious business.
01:57-02:00
I hope that you're talking to your kids about that.
02:00-02:04
Whether they are being bullied or maybe they're the ones that are doing the bullying.
02:05-02:11
It's a serious business, but you know, the church isn't exempt from bullying either.
02:13-02:16
In fact, when you look down through history, the church has always had to deal with bullies.
02:19-02:21
So it might not be from where you think.
02:22-02:25
I know you might be thinking, "Yeah, yeah, you're talking about those atheists out there.
02:26-02:35
The people that deny God. Those are the people that really bully the church." And I'm not afraid of those people. Are you afraid of those people?
02:36-02:37
Are you afraid of those people, really?
02:38-02:40
That we're going to deny? Are you afraid of them?
02:40-02:44
I'm not afraid of them at all. I've never lost a bit of sleep over those people.
02:44-02:49
But typically where bullying comes from, oftentimes, is from within the church.
02:50-03:03
People under the guise of spirituality, or "I'm just looking out for your spiritual welfare." And there's bullying that takes place. And we're going to see that very clearly here in the text.
03:06-03:13
As we've said before, the reason that Paul wrote the book of Colossians is because of the danger of this heresy.
03:13-03:24
There were people coming saying, "You need Jesus." And we're like, "Amen." And they said, "But you also need, "you need to be worshiping angels.
03:24-03:27
"You need to be abusing your body.
03:27-03:29
"You need ritualism, you need ceremonialism.
03:30-03:49
"You need secret knowledge "that only God can give you directly." They started adding all this stuff to Jesus, saying, "If you wanna be a spiritual person, "it's Jesus plus all this other stuff." I'm sure you've seen Paul keep circling back in the sufficiency of Christ.
03:49-03:50
Have you noticed that?
03:50-03:54
It seems like every sermon so far has been about the sufficiency of Christ.
03:55-03:55
Correct.
03:56-03:56
Why?
03:57-04:01
Chapter 1, verses 15-20, Jesus is all God.
04:02-04:07
Chapter 2, verse 3, in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
04:10-04:19
"For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells moderately." You have been filled in Him.
04:20-04:22
You are complete in Christ.
04:24-04:34
If you hear last week, we looked at the total victory that Jesus Christ has won for our salvation.
04:36-04:49
So this is really the heart of the epistle. This is like Paul saying, "Here's why I write to you." You need to understand that Jesus Christ is everything.
04:51-04:59
He is God. He is the first place in the universe. He's the first place in the church. He was born from the dead. He went through all that stuff.
05:00-05:04
Why are you calling this a call? Because there are people that are going to try to get you to add stuff to Him.
05:05-05:16
If you want to get to heaven, if you want to be a good Christian, you have to believe in Jesus and you have to down the line.
05:18-05:22
People make you feel inferior because you don't play by their rules.
05:25-05:48
You see in chapter 2 verse 8 we saw the Apostle Paul wrote, "See to it that no one thinks you captive." some time talking about false religion in a general sense, but the passage we're looking at today, he's getting real specific. I know some of you who've been through this series might be thinking, "Well, you've mentioned some of these things, like legalism and ceremonialism.
05:48-06:01
You've mentioned these things, but Jeff, you really haven't gotten specific." Well, the reason why is because he gets very specific right here. And what Paul is saying is, "Don't Don't be bullied by people pushing these things.
06:02-06:02
Okay?
06:02-06:03
Don't be bullied.
06:04-06:05
It's intimidation.
06:07-06:08
People trying to make you feel inferior.
06:12-06:17
The heresy, as I mentioned, would've dealt with these elements we're going to look at.
06:20-06:25
We're gonna look at some characters that you need to not let bully.
06:25-06:33
Okay, so let's read the text, I'm going to go back to three bullies that we're fighting against in our anti-bullying campaign here in Harlem.
06:35-06:41
Verse 16, "Therefore..." I'm going to pause for a second. Why did I say "therefore"?
06:41-06:45
What was the sermon last week? What was the sermon last week? Anybody?
06:46-06:51
Total victory, yes. Because Jesus Christ wanted total victory.
06:51-06:56
He defeated your guilt. He defeated death. He defeated sin. He defeated Satan.
06:57-07:03
One-sided victory lights out. Jesus Christ completely won a total victory.
07:03-07:14
Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath.
07:15-07:21
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
07:23-07:39
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in details about visions, puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind and not holding fast to the head.
07:47-08:04
"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?
08:05-08:07
Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.
08:08-08:11
Do not touch, do not touch, do not touch, do not touch, do not touch, do not touch, referring to things that all perish as they're used.
08:13-08:34
According to human precepts and teachings, these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
08:36-08:38
Okay, so this is why I call this letter.
08:40-08:41
Don't let people bully you.
08:42-08:44
First bully, if you're taking notes.
08:46-08:48
We're just telling bullies to back off, okay?
08:49-08:50
We're just saying back off.
08:50-08:54
The first bully you need to tell to back off, I call it reverend religion.
08:56-08:58
Reverend religion, back off reverend religion.
09:00-09:11
Reverend religion shows up and says, "Here's all these things you need to do to be..." Back off. Back it off. Why? That stuff is just a shabby.
09:13-09:15
Look at verses 16 and 17 with me again.
09:17-09:35
He says, "Let no one pass judgment on you." "Let no one condemn you." Regarding things likely to list here, food, drink, festival, new moon, Sabbath.
09:37-09:52
Well, Reverend, religion comes along and says, "Do you want to be spiritual? Do you want to be spiritual? Do you want to be spiritual? You've got to follow the rules. You've got to follow the rules." That's how you're spiritual. You're spiritual if you have a list of rules that, you know, are posted and you're keeping the rules. That's how you're spiritual.
09:53-09:56
If you're not following the rules, you're probably not a Christian.
09:57-09:59
In fact, you're probably heading straight to hell.
10:00-10:00
Today.
10:01-10:04
Because if you're really a Christian, you'd follow the rules.
10:04-10:05
That's what reverend religion says.
10:06-10:07
What do we say to reverend religion?
10:07-10:08
Back off.
10:08-10:08
Back off.
10:09-10:09
Okay?
10:09-10:10
Back off.
10:12-10:14
Only religious people are spiritual.
10:14-10:15
Back off.
10:15-10:16
Here's the danger.
10:16-10:29
You can be inwardly rebellious and disobedient, but outwardly, outwardly keeping the rules.
10:31-10:33
Did your mother ever do this?
10:34-10:35
I bet my mom doesn't listen to my sermons all that much.
10:36-10:40
But the phone rings, like right when she's in the middle of yelling at you.
10:41-10:50
She's like, "Here, kids! Turn around now! Are you still mad at me? I'm gonna..." Right? That's how a lot of people are in church.
10:52-10:58
There's something angry and rebellious going on in their heart.
10:58-11:04
"I'm going to put on a show. I'm going to put on a show." Reverend Religion.
11:06-11:11
Well, we get our eyes off Christ and we start worrying about what other people think.
11:12-11:13
That's why I don't think Reverend Religion.
11:14-11:42
Instead of focusing on, "I want to live for Christ, I want Christ living in me, I want to just please Him in everything I do, the way I think, the way I talk, I want to honor Jesus Christ." Well, Reverend Religion comes along, and all of a sudden we're concerned with, "Am I going to say things in a way that satisfy Him? Am I doing the things that are going to get His approval?" And when our eyes are on Christ, our eyes are looking to the Reverend Religion.
11:44-11:48
Because often, he has his own little list religious rules, but what does he do with them?
11:49-11:50
He forces them on you.
11:52-11:53
He forces them on you.
11:55-11:57
Let's get a couple definitions on the table here.
11:57-11:58
We're talking about religion.
12:00-12:01
You can also use the word legalism.
12:04-12:12
It's just so we're clear. Religion/legalism is following external rules, thinking that they make you more spiritual.
12:12-12:15
But listen, it's not following the Bible.
12:16-12:23
So you're like, "If I follow the Bible, that makes me a legalist." No. No.
12:23-12:28
It's adding stuff to the Bible. That's legalism.
12:29-12:31
Are there commands in the Bible that we follow?
12:32-12:41
Well, sure there are. Like what? How about, like, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Is that a commandment? Do we follow that? Yeah, absolutely.
12:42-12:48
What about "Prayer without ceasing"? There's a command, and we follow it. This is a commandment of the Word of God.
12:51-12:54
When you follow the Bible, that's called obedience. That's not called legalism.
12:55-13:03
Here's another one. "Religion/legalism is not personal conviction." Okay?
13:04-13:10
If you have a personal conviction about something, that itself is not legalism.
13:11-13:13
When it becomes legalism, listen, this is really important.
13:14-13:19
When a personal conviction becomes legalism, is when you start enforcing that upon other people.
13:22-13:26
You know, somebody comes along and says, "I don't believe you should do any work on a Sunday.
13:26-13:28
I believe that they should be dedicated to the Lord.
13:28-13:35
Therefore, I don't do any work on a Sunday, if that's your thing, okay, so my thing, if that's your thing, whatever.
13:36-13:45
The danger is when that guy starts going after you, saying, "You're washing your car on a Sunday? In January?
13:49-13:57
You went to that restaurant on a Sunday and made those other people work, and they start forcing their convictions on you.
13:57-13:58
That's legal.
13:59-14:00
What do we tell whoever is religious?
14:02-14:03
Back off.
14:04-14:05
Back off.
14:07-14:11
See, these false teachers were telling the Colossians they needed Jesus plus the Jewish law.
14:13-14:15
That's what this list is about.
14:15-14:17
Food and drink confirm the dietary laws.
14:18-14:21
Festival, new moon, Sabbath, those are Jewish celebrations.
14:23-14:29
And these people were coming to Colossians saying, "Well, if you want to be a Christian, salvation isn't produced.
14:29-14:32
If you want to be a Christian, the first thing you have to do is become a Jew.
14:32-14:38
In order to become a Jew, you need to be circumcised, you need to keep the festivals, you need to keep the dietary regulations.
14:39-14:45
That's how you become spiritual." He mentions the Sabbath in here.
14:46-14:48
A lot of questions about the Sabbath.
14:48-14:50
Can we keep the Sabbath? When is the Sabbath?
14:50-14:51
Is it Sunday? Is it Saturday?
14:51-14:53
Can we not do anything with the Sabbath?
14:53-14:55
Can we ignore it? Can we...
14:56-15:02
Well, I'm going to give you a couple of things here for your thought, wherever you are conviction-wise.
15:03-15:04
It's great to take a day off.
15:05-15:09
I think that's just a good policy in the first place.
15:09-15:14
To take a day off, that you rest, and enjoy your family.
15:15-15:18
I think it's great to take a day off a week.
15:21-15:23
What about Sabbath and New Testament times?
15:23-15:24
That's a whole other sermon.
15:25-15:27
I want to give you a couple of things to think about.
15:27-15:31
First of all, you've never seen a kikin, a sabbath, commanded to Gentiles in the Old Testament.
15:32-15:34
Or to anyone in the New.
15:37-15:40
In fact, if you read through the New Testament, many sins are warned against.
15:40-15:40
Did you notice that?
15:41-15:43
You're warned against many different types of sins.
15:43-15:47
You don't see breaking the Sabbath as a sin, it's warned against in the New Testament.
15:48-15:48
You don't see it.
15:52-15:54
So what do we see in the New Testament?
15:54-15:56
Well, John Tyler Brooks 14 and 5.
15:56-16:00
The Apostle Paul says keeping the Sabbath is a matter of religious liberty.
16:04-16:30
The Bible says that the Old Testament is a shadow of what is to come.
16:32-16:36
But the substance belongs to Christ.
16:37-16:42
What he's saying is, everything in the Old Testament was to point to whom?
16:43-16:44
To Jesus Christ.
16:45-16:51
The biblical sacrificial system, and the high priest, the construction of the temple.
16:52-16:55
All of those things were to point to Jesus Christ.
16:56-16:59
What Paul is saying is, those things are just a shadow.
17:00-17:03
We don't cling to those things anymore because the reality is here.
17:06-17:07
Think of it this way.
17:08-17:10
Are you going to lunch after church?
17:10-17:11
Who's going to lunch after church?
17:13-17:20
You're like, "I don't want to raise my hands and feel invited, so..." Come on, who's going to lunch after church? Come on. Don't be shy.
17:21-17:22
It's an invited society.
17:23-17:24
Who's going to lunch after church?
17:25-17:27
Alright, Jake, where are you going for lunch?
17:30-17:32
Same as Steve. Tom, where are you going for lunch?
17:32-17:33
Pizza.
17:33-17:34
What's that?
17:34-17:35
Someplace Pizza.
17:36-17:36
Someplace Pizza.
17:39-17:40
Alright, so...
17:40-17:44
How stupid would this be? Tom goes to Someplace Pizza. I've never heard of that. It must be a cranberry.
17:46-17:48
Tom goes and...
17:49-17:50
He ordered... What kind of pizza did you get?
17:52-17:53
Everything.
17:53-18:03
Everything. He's like, "I want a pizza with everything on it." And maybe Tom says, "Darling, pull up the menu." And there's a picture of a pizza with everything on it.
18:03-18:18
And Tom's like, "I want that. That's what I want." And they're like, "All right." And several minutes pass, and they come out with the pizza and set it down on the table.
18:19-18:22
And what's Tom doing? He's still staring at the menu.
18:23-18:34
"Oh, this looks great. Do you see the picture of this pizza? Do you see the picture of this pizza? This pizza looks great. This pizza looks great. Oh, I bet you that tastes great." And the pizza's sitting on the table. Is that stupid? Is that stupid?
18:35-18:39
Dude, why are you looking at the picture? The pizza's on the table!
18:39-18:41
And that's what Paul's saying in Colossians.
18:41-18:46
You're holding on to these images and these pictures, putting...
18:46-18:50
We have the real thing. Jesus Christ came and He accomplished our salvation.
18:51-18:53
We're not clinging to the pictures anymore.
18:54-18:58
You see, that's why we don't do these new moves and these festivals and the dietary law.
18:59-19:00
They would appoint to Jesus.
19:02-19:03
But Jesus has come.
19:05-19:12
He says, "Let no one pass judgment." "Should you take advice from other Christians?" "Sure." That's not what he's saying.
19:14-19:16
The Christians use that a lot, by the way.
19:16-19:27
Anytime you say something, you might not like, "Oh, you're judging me." He said, "Don't let people assess your spiritual life based on their rules." Okay?
19:28-19:50
"You must not be a Christian because you don't keep the rules that I made up for me to be a Christian." "Don't let anyone form an assessment of your spiritual life by their religious standards." Things like, "Oh, you smoke. Then you must not be a Christian." "Only pegs smoke." Is that true?
19:52-19:54
Now, would I encourage people to smoke?
19:54-19:56
I wouldn't encourage people to smoke for health reasons.
19:58-20:01
But can I tell somebody that they're not a Christian because they smoke?
20:03-20:08
It's funny, I run into somebody, you know, at Walmart or, you know, out somewhere.
20:09-20:11
I run into people that I know from church that are smoking.
20:12-20:14
And, uh, Aaron just walked in.
20:14-20:19
How many times have you stopped and talked to somebody that's smoking?
20:19-20:23
They come through the hiding it behind my back thing, like I don't see it.
20:24-20:28
And they're like, "Hey, Mr. Jeff, how are you doing?" And the whole time they're talking to you, they're standing there talking like this.
20:29-20:32
And I just want to say, look, I'm not judging your spirituality.
20:33-20:38
I don't think you should smoke for health reasons, but I don't think you're a pagan because you smoke.
20:39-20:43
That's not the basis, that's not the line of whether you're a Christian or not.
20:46-20:50
Please don't anybody give up and say "Pastor Jeff says it's okay to smoke." Okay? Please?
20:52-20:54
I'm just saying it's not a deal breaker for your spirituality.
20:57-21:06
Here's another one, "But you must not be a Christian because you're a pro-Russell." I've heard that being said.
21:06-21:34
Or, "Oh, you have a glass of wine. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm." "Do you drink your glass of wine on the first of King Koala?" "Do you drink the blood of innocents on that glass of wine sometimes?" Because a real Christian, a real Christian wouldn't drink a glass of wine.
21:36-21:38
What do we say to the Red River religion?
21:39-21:43
Back off! Back off! Alright? Back off.
21:44-21:46
I was the best rejections, no split, but I could have won.
21:46-21:48
That's not what I'm saying either.
21:49-21:49
Alright?
21:51-21:53
You have to come to a conviction about that yourself.
21:54-21:54
Right?
21:55-21:57
I can make your conviction for you on that.
21:57-21:58
You gotta make your conviction on that.
21:59-22:01
I can tell you what mine is.
22:02-22:06
I have to abstain. For a lot of reasons.
22:08-22:19
But when I start going around saying, "Well, if you don't abstain from wine, you're not a Christian." That's what we're talking about here.
22:20-22:22
Back off. Here's another one.
22:23-22:24
Oh, he has a tattoo.
22:28-22:32
Did you see so-and-so's wife came to church?
22:33-22:36
She got a little tattoo on her calf.
22:37-22:38
I thought she was saved.
22:41-22:43
I really think we should pray for her.
22:56-23:19
I'm not going to Please tell me the right answer for what you're supposed to do on Halloween.
23:20-23:21
Anybody?
23:22-23:23
I'm just going to be honest with you, I have no idea.
23:24-23:30
I've been a pastor and ministering on Halloween for 14 years or something like that.
23:30-23:33
Every time Halloween comes around I just panic.
23:34-23:37
"Oh, it's Halloween, what do we do?" I have no idea what to do.
23:37-23:40
Because when Halloween comes you have two camps of people.
23:41-23:55
You have the people that say, "You know this is the middle of Halloween. You can't do anything for Halloween." "You should just completely ignore it!" And I'm like, "Yes we will!" So we don't have anything.
23:56-24:11
So then the other kid comes and says, "You need to tell me as a church, we're not offering an alternative for the kids for Halloween." "Are we telling them they should go out trick-or-treating? Is that what you're saying by not having an alternative?" So like the next year we have the alternative.
24:12-24:21
Like, "Don't go trick-or-treating, come to church and do the same thing indoors." And what do the other people say?
24:22-24:31
"You mean to tell me as a church you're giving people an alternative to trick-or-treating? You're celebrating Halloween?" And I have no idea what to do. I just have no idea.
24:33-24:46
So, I said, you know, next September you come up to me and you're like, "Pastor, do you have time to do it for Halloween?" I'm just going to be like, "Oh, whatever you want." Right? Whatever. Whatever.
24:48-24:53
We deal with some more of these people. All if I could have time, I would just rancid.
24:54-24:55
That's the Christian way of saying it.
24:56-25:03
The King James Only people, you know, if you're in a lesser spiritual play, if you don't use the King James.
25:06-25:14
The Baptismal Regeneration people, you know, if you're a Christian and you're not baptized, you're still heading to hell, you're gonna get done too quick.
25:16-25:23
But my favorite creature person is the person that has their favorite creature, and he becomes as imitative as the Bible.
25:24-25:30
It's like, "Well, John Piper said this, John Piper said that, John Piper said this." I know what the Bible says. Do you know what John Piper said about that?
25:31-25:32
I don't know about John Piper.
25:33-25:40
But for some people, it's like, if John Piper didn't say that it's in serious question, okay?
25:41-25:42
Back off, African religion.
25:43-25:44
One more quick story.
25:46-25:53
When I was in Bible college, it was before I was married, I was working at Walmart, and part of my job was loading heavy things in people's cars.
25:54-26:25
Well, this lady came in and bought a large item, and I was taking it to her car, and she had very long hair, like in a bun, and she had one of the four-legged skirts on, dressed very modestly, an old lady, So I'm letting her get the car again, I'm like 21 at the time, and she's like, "Are you married?" And I'm like, "No, I'm not asking." But, uh, she wasn't.
26:26-26:55
But, uh, she said, "Let me ask you a question. If you were married, would you let your wife work as the church?" And at the time I was thinking, "Do you mean like as opposed to nothing?" And she's like, "No! If you're a man, your wife should never wear pants!" Because that's looking like a man.
26:56-26:58
And the Bible says men should look like women and women should look like men.
26:59-27:01
I've seen my wife in pants several times.
27:03-27:09
The thought has not once ever entered my mind, "Aaron, you look really butch." In the face.
27:09-27:10
Never entered my mind.
27:12-27:13
Okay? But...
27:13-27:17
She was just reading me the riot act, and all these things I shouldn't, should not be doing.
27:18-27:19
Reverend Religion, back off.
27:21-27:25
Romans 14 and 15, 1 Corinthians 8 through 10, discuss Christian liberty.
27:25-27:27
That's like a whole other series of the Zachry Monastery.
27:27-27:29
Christian liberty, Christian liberty.
27:29-27:31
There's only one reason...
27:31-27:32
Let me tell you this, though.
27:32-27:38
There's only one reason you should restrain from an activity in the name of Christian Liberty.
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Do you know what it is?
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It's for the sake of the weaker brother.
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It's for the sake of the weaker brother.
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Like I mentioned drinking, you get a couple of convictions about that.
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I hope the weaker brother isn't mine when you're thinking about your conviction on drinking.
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Because it's an issue.
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Okay?
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Thinking of the weaker brother.
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So God's Word defines what a follower of Christ is.
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And I'm not going to go into that.
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I'm not going to Jesus, going through this text quickly, he says, "Let no one disqualify you." That's actually a word like a referee.
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"Oh, you're not sharing my religious experience?
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Steering one!
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Oh, you haven't had a direct revelation from God?
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Steering two!" And they're like an outlier, right?
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That's what Mr. Mystic is like.
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Look again at the text with me.
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"Insisting on asceticism." You see that letter up again.
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That can be translated "false humility." I'm looking to the humble on the outside, but on the inside, what I'm saying is, "I hope everybody notices how humble I am." And what do you call that?
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That's pride. You see that?
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"Hey, everybody, look how humble I am!" "Hey, everybody, I'm fasting!" "Hey, everybody, come on, pray!" "Everybody needs me, don't just be fasting and praying." Probably give it, because it's normal.
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It's a show. And when you're looking for those kind of accolades, that's pride.
29:42-30:01
Okay? Well, Mr. Mystic says, "You can't grow up apart from Jesus." "By God, and details about visions puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind." What this is, is seeking spiritual reality, apart from truth.
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It's a person that says, "I have a new revelation from God that you need to know." God tells me new things.
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I'm spiritually elite.
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Would anyone like to read the book of the Bible that comes after Revelation?
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Because I wrote that. Because God told me to.
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Or, "Is this really an issue?" That was like a Colossians Day issue, right?
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Actually, no, he's talking about angels and visions.
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Mary Baker Eddy, who slept on the sidewalk, has this mystical experience, which is really a whole belief system she ripped off of a man named Phineas Quimby, that's a different story.
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She founded the Christian Science Church.
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because she was privy to extra stuff that God was giving her.
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Joseph Smith had this angel show up named Moroni.
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We're talking about these old tablets, these old plates that have extra writing on them.
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And he found that he lost them.
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Angels, visions, the Mormon church, that stuff being promoted.
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Muhammad rolls around in a cave getting revelation from God.
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Allah writes the Quran.
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Some of these charlatans on TV.
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All the Holy Spirit is telling them something.
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I'm one guy who just wanted to jump through the TV and get stuff that guy was through.
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He just sits there on TV going, "Oh, the Holy Spirit is telling me there's a guy who's The man watching this program, his son sitting beside him.
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I'm not talking to anybody else right now.
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I'm talking to you.
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You need to send a thousand alms to this church.
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And you know some poor dying guy is watching this one.
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He's definitely talking about me and my son sitting right there.
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I'm the only person who probably has the TV on when the kids are there.
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It's sad.
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Does God speak to us?
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Just because? He absolutely does.
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It's always aligned with His Word.
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It's always aligned with His Word.
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Don't go looking for the extra stuff.
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"Come on, God, you need to give me a vision.
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You need to give me some information. I need some revelation." You know God wrote it all down for you.
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Did you know that?
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That's why we make a big deal out of this book at Harvest Bible Chapel.
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God wrote this book.
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So if you're looking for a Word from God, if you're looking for a message from God, I would encourage you, the first place you should turn is in His Word.
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Get on your knees and pray and get in His Word.
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You'll get a Word from God.
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You'll get a Word from God.
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He always agrees with His Word.
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We just need to be careful.
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I've been ministering to a couple of people who have said things like, "You know, God very clearly told me last night that I should get a divorce from my husband.
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That's what He told me." Listen, scripture makes allowances for divorce, again, that's a whole other subject.
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But God's not going to show up and say, "You, get a divorce." But His word clearly teaches so many things differently.
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Right?
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So you gotta watch the God's only person.
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What's the problem here is verse 19, in your Bible circle, the word God's.
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What's the problem?
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They're not moving fast in the head.
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Not holding fast to the head.
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God has a method of growing you. Do you know that?
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He has a method. What's the method?
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Christ is the head.
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I am a member of the body attached to the head.
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That's His method of growing you.
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Holding fast to the head.
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The whole body nourished and knit together through his joints and ligaments.
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I have this underlined in my Bible.
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Grown with the growth that is from God.
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God does want to grow you, but it's through Christ.
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It's through Christ.
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Not, "I'm going to go around Christ and give you some direct feeding thing." No.
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Are you looking for more?
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I've been reading the Bible, but...
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Listen, growth comes from knowing Christ.
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And knowing Christ comes from knowing His Word.
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And if you're looking for more, then my challenge to you is maybe you haven't fully come to grips with who Jesus Christ is and what he's about.
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Or it's like this story I read this week.
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William Randolph Hearst.
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Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California.
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He was this art collector.
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And he had this catalog of famous pieces of art.
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And he said to his men, "I want these pieces of art.
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"Go find it." And the men went out looking everywhere, couldn't find it.
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Traveled all over, trying to get pieces.
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Pieces of art, couldn't find it.
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Come back, he goes, "I want them! Get them!" So they go out, they look at this art, they're scouring, asking people.
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"Tell me." "You've looked everywhere." "I want that art! Get it for me." A very long story, very short.
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Do you know where the art was?
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It was in his warehouse.
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He already had it.
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And Christians, so it is with Jesus Christ.
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Are you looking for more? Are you looking for growth? Are you looking for deeper?
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Everything that you need is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
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Some of us just need to get back into the warehouse and sedate.
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Bring those promises back out.
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And God blessed and christened.
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So don't be intimidated by someone who thinks they have the direct line.
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Don't be intimidated by that person.
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They are intimidating.
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You know, if I go up to you and say, "Tom, the Holy Spirit told me to tell you something." That's a little intimidating, isn't it?
36:25-36:30
Like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Don't be intimidated by Mr. Mystic.
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What do we say to Mr. Mystic?
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Back off.
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Back off, Mr. Mystic.
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Anyone else want to tell them? You can't grow apart from Jesus.
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One more.
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Number three.
36:45-36:47
We have Reverend Religion, we have Mr. Mystic.
36:48-36:51
Back off, Sergeant Self-Denial.
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He's a military guy.
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Did you see him in the text?
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"You no touch! You no handle!" "Kid, why are you holding that?" When I first read this, I thought it was Russian when I called him "Carb-Rab-Handsome." But this is the extreme self-denial guy.
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Listen, you can't stop sin by punishing yourself.
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You can't stop sin by punishing yourself.
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That's what we need to tell this guy.
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This is extreme self-denial.
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Now listen, don't misunderstand.
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Are we to deny ourselves?
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Actually, Jesus said, "If anyone will be my disciple, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me." That is a completely different thing. Completely different.
37:45-38:01
This is the guy that says, "If you want to grow in your spiritual walk, you need to treat yourself harshly in some manner." The 19th century Sundance, or what they called the film festival.
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No, actually, the native plain Indians of North America had this ritual called the Sundance.
38:09-38:11
They would call it the sun's powers of regeneration.
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It was a time of personal renewal. It was a time of dedication and spiritual rebirth.
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It happened through something called a vision quest, which included three or four days of seclusion, fasting purification and other trials involving pain and suffering.
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There have been a lot of religions that teach you need to hurt yourself in some manner to grow deeper spiritually.
38:43-38:47
You have to deny yourself something to grow deeper spiritually.
38:47-38:50
Or there's these Indians with this vision quest thing.
38:51-38:54
Or did you ever see these guys on TV with the whips, they're whipping their backs.
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Did you ever see these guys?
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They're doing that in the name of getting closer to God.
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And this will get constant tension.
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When you think of monks who, I'm going to live in extreme poverty, self-denial, I'm going to live apart from society, up in the middle of nothing, because that will make me more spiritual.
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And we're like, "Oh yeah, we looked at stuff like that." Some of us might.
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You know what the thing was when we were kids?
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It was Lent.
39:30-39:31
Anybody ever do Lent?
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I don't want to offend anybody by this, but do you understand how silly the concept of Lent is?
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It's the idea of because Jesus came and was nailed to the cross bearing the wrath of God, I'm going to suffer with Him.
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And I'm going to suffer with Him by not drinking hot for a few weeks.
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Except on Sundays.
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It's, I have to suffer because He suffered.
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And, look, if you have a conviction about lead, whatever.
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But that's not something that's going to make you more spiritual.
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Look what he says.
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He says, "With Christ you have died." Why did he say that?
40:21-40:31
Because, listen to this, there's something in us that says, "I know that I'm guilty before God.
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I know I deserve punishment." Jesus Christ accomplishes eternal victory.
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Instead of embracing that, some of us still walk away from that saying, "Yes, Jesus died on the cross, but I still have something coming to me too." That is blasphemous.
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You died with Christ.
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When Jesus was on the cross, God was punishing Him for your sin.
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The audacity to think that now God needs to turn around and punish you.
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God says, "Yeah, I punished my son, but you're going to get some too." It's blasphemous.
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It's blasphemous.
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We are free from rules of self-denial designed upon our spirituality.
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Don't touch this, don't go near that, don't do this.
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They're man-made rules.
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Listen, this is a spiritual walk, and you can't grow a spiritual walk from earthly and physical means.
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These things themselves are perishing as they are used.
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Did you see that?
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They are perishing as they are used.
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And you think swearing off these things is going to make you more spiritual.
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Why are you submitting to regulations?
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You know, it has been an issue for centuries.
41:55-41:56
Poverty leads to spirituality.
41:57-42:00
You know, that pastor must be very spiritual.
42:00-42:02
You see that car he drives?
42:03-42:04
You see that suit he's wearing?
42:05-42:09
If that pastor was really spiritual, he'd be wearing like a burlap sack.
42:11-42:13
And he wouldn't even have shoes. His feet would just be tucked in.
42:15-42:17
That would be a spiritual guy, right?
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No.
42:19-42:22
Money is not the root of all evil.
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What is?
42:26-42:27
The love of money.
42:28-42:29
So there again, it's a heart issue.
42:30-42:30
It's a heart issue.
42:32-42:34
Does God call some people to poverty?
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Yeah.
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There are some people who, for the sake of mission, work in advancing the kingdom, God called them to another place in the world to live in poverty.
42:44-42:46
But money doesn't indicate how spiritual you are.
42:47-42:56
I have money so God must not love me. Or the new wave is, I know where my money is. I know where my money is because I do have money.
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Listen.
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Poverty does not lead to spirituality. Okay?
43:06-43:09
So what's his point of all this? Massaging self-denial?
43:10-43:13
He says you can't... you can't fend off sin now.
43:14-43:15
Did you see that? It was the last thing he said.
43:16-43:20
He says that if the appearance of wisdom... look at that last phrase.
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There is no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
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I don't want to sit. I don't want to sit. Therefore, I'm going to become a model.
43:31-43:35
Will that stop you from sitting? It won't.
43:38-43:44
What that will do is, I mean, that just means that you're going to be a guy sitting in seclusion somewhere.
43:45-43:46
What does sin for?
43:47-43:50
The Son of God is sitting right here, what does sin for?
43:52-43:55
Who can do the real surgery that needs done to remove sin?
43:55-43:56
Who can do that?
43:56-43:57
Jesus Christ.
44:00-44:13
And while we live before we go and rejoin, before we leave this earth, our spirits are going to be in a fleshly body and we're going to battle the presence of sin.
44:15-44:15
And we're going to battle the presence of sin.
44:16-44:20
But I understand that swearing things off doesn't mean that it's not a way for you to stop sinning.
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It won't.
44:22-44:25
Only if you're grown through Jesus Christ.
44:27-44:34
Like a good friend of mine said, he says, "Christians aren't sinless, but they should sin less." Right? As you grow.
44:36-44:39
So as I close, let me ask you, what's your plan to get more spiritual?
44:41-44:43
What's your plan to get more spiritual?
44:43-44:46
January, some of you may be making New Year's resolution.
44:47-44:49
I'm going to get closer to the Lord this year.
44:50-44:51
Let me ask you what your plan is for that.
44:54-45:00
If your plan includes, I'm gonna start doing more religious things.
45:00-45:03
I'm going to seek a direct life of God.
45:03-45:05
I'm going to swear off all these things.
45:07-45:08
That's not gonna do it.
45:09-45:11
And I will just refer you back to verse 18.
45:12-45:16
The growth comes from one place and one place only.
45:17-45:19
That's being attached to Jesus Christ.
45:21-45:25
Letting Him be the one who grows us.
45:25-45:32
So the question really is, what are you doing to growing Him and only Him?
45:36-45:37
You need to get this book yourself.
45:41-45:47
And as you do, as you prayerfully study God's Word, you're going to learn more about who Jesus Christ is.
45:49-45:50
You're going to learn more about what he's done.
45:51-45:53
You're going to learn more about your identity in the world.
45:55-45:59
If you commit yourself to that, you're going to see amazing things.
46:02-46:05
So when the bullies come, what are we going to tell them?
46:06-46:07
Back off.
46:08-46:09
Back off.
46:10-46:15
For every religion, Mr. Mystic, soaring to self-denial, back off.
46:17-46:18
I'm with Christ.
46:19-46:19
Be brave.
46:23-46:34
Our Father in Heaven, I'm blasphemous to try to add to the completed work of Christ.
46:39-46:55
When Christ was on the cross, he cried out with a loud voice, "It is finished." And how blasphemous of us to turn around and say, "It's not finished.
46:56-47:23
I have to do my part. I have to keep the rules." Or, "Maybe there's more to this than Jesus Christ." I am not a Christian.
47:34-47:38
Our prayer this morning simply is help us to hold fast to the day.
47:44-47:45
Jesus Christ is everything.
47:49-47:54
Bring us to that place more and more every day when we go out on that date.
47:58-48:06
Let us not be intimidated by people, I'm sure there are going to be times, people who come through these doors and insist that we need to keep their rules.
48:07-48:11
Or that we're not following you because there's something we're missing.
48:13-48:15
Let us not be intimidated.
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Again, just to hold fast to that.
48:21-48:23
In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Colossians 2:16-23
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.