The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
The Carnal Mind IS Enmity Against God (Romans 8:7)
Ever wondered why some cling to earthly desires while others seem to navigate life with a peace that surpasses understanding? Our latest episode takes you through the depths of Romans 8:5-8, exploring the stark differences between carnal and spiritual mindsets. As we dissect Apostle Paul's teachings, we reveal a hard-hitting truth: without the transformative embrace of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a life of opposition to God is inevitable. We don't just talk at you; we walk you through the necessity of faith and repentance for a rebirth that leads to eternal life.
Do you believe that grace is something we can work towards, or is it an unmerited gift from above? We tackle this head-on, challenging the misconceptions around human will and salvation. Our conversation takes a turn through the theological intricacies of Paul's letters, bringing into focus the concept of divine intervention and how our natural inclinations fall short of God's glory. With insights into the role of wise associations and the perils of denying God's sovereignty, this episode is a guidepost for anyone looking to deepen their spiritual journey and discernment.
The journey doesn't end with personal transformation; it's just the beginning. This episode rounds out with a powerful call to evangelize and endure in faith. We confront the all-too-common hesitation to share the gospel, urging believers to embrace their duty with the confidence of Christ's resurrection promise. As we dissect the challenging doctrine of election and the powerful force of God's grace, we encourage every listener to actively participate in God's redemptive plan. Join us for a thought-provoking session that's as much about understanding divine truths as it is about living them out with boldness and passion.
Christians.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be speaking to you about a passage in the book of Romans by the Apostle Paul, where he says in Romans, chapter 8, and he says in verse 7, he says Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God.
Speaker 1:Neither indeed can be Now preceding this in the prior two verses. I should have read first, but I will now. And Paul says they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So in verse seven I'll read once again he says because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be Romans 8, verse 7, when Paul says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. This is an indictment against mankind, the fact that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and it's difficult in some ways to really explain and try to convey to people what this actually means. But in verse 5 of Romans 8, paul says that those who are of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Those who are of the fleshly mindedness, they are only concerned about things in the flesh, and he says that. But those that are of the spirit, they mind the things of the spirit. So what does this mean In simple terms? Believers care about things that the word of God conveys to us. The spiritual mind is one who is concerned about spiritual matters. They look at things in the Word of God as that which is compelling to them in such a way that they believe it all. There is no room for adjudication. There's no room to decide or to calculate or to contemplate whether or not these things be true in God's word. Spiritual people care about spiritual things, and when I say spiritual people, we're not just talking about people who talk about submitting themselves to divine energies or or vibes or frequencies. We're talking about people who are led by the spirit of God. These are those people who are spiritually minded, who mind the things that be of the spirit. Simple as that, but fleshly minded people. Fleshly minded people are those people who do not have the spirit of God to teach them, to guide them, to direct them, because they have never embraced Christ as a savior, they've never submitted to him in belief, they have never laid upon him all of their trust and faithfulness to him, having relinquished and repented from all sin. And the carnal-minded person or the fleshly-minded person can't do it. They're incapable of having a spiritual mindset. And then Paul tells us why in verse 6. For to be carnally minded is death. And he says to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So looking at spiritual mindedness, let's look at it this way, that to be spiritually minded means to have an affection for God, it means to have a desire for God, it means to have a belief in him whereby he, as a result of your repentance and seeking to him in faith and coming to him by Christ now, can obtain reconciliation which affords the spiritually minded person life and peace. Now, for the carnal minded person, all there is is death. The carnal minded man or the carnal minded person. It only leads to death.
Speaker 1:And what is a carnal minded person? A carnally minded person is someone who has no interest in God, no interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, no interest in being led by the Holy Spirit of God, no interest in doing those things which do please him. So in verse 8, Paul says in Romans 8, verse 8, paul says so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They cannot please God. It is impossible for those who are in the flesh to please God. He makes this case in verse 7. He says because the carnal mind is enmity against God, the carnal minded person, the person who is in the flesh, cannot please God. Now notice what Paul says. Notice the word in verse 8 of Romans 8. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. They are incapable of pleasing God. It is an impossibility for the carnal minded person to please God.
Speaker 1:But in verse 7, one verse before, he tells you why. He tells you why and this is what I need to make sure that people really understand and lay hold of in order for this whole thing to make sense he says in verse seven the carnal mind is enmity against God. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Now here's what you need to understand, paul when he says that the carnal mind is enmity, is enmity. Enmity addressing the mind has nothing to do with a descriptive or description. In other words, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Enmity itself is not used in an adjective context. Is not used in an adjective context the carnal mind or the enmity, is not just a description of man's mind, but rather the word is used as a noun and not an adjective, meaning that the carnal mind, the carnal mind that it says is at enmity, is not at enmity, but it is enmity itself. Let me say this again In Romans, chapter 8, verse 7, paul says the carnal mind is enmity against God.
Speaker 1:And what I'm saying is that the term enmity is not used as an adjective. It's not simply describing the carnal mind, it is describing the nature of man's mind as being enmity against God. In other words, it is a noun. This is what man's mind is. It is enmity against God. Now let me put it another way. What he's saying is that the mind is not just in a dark place. It's not just in a dark place, the unbelieving mind, it is very darkness itself. It is not just in a dark place or dark state. It's not speaking about the condition of the mind in terms of how the mind is being utilized. It's telling you what the mind is. It is darkness. It's not just in a dark place, it is darkness itself. This is what he is saying.
Speaker 1:Man's mind is not just at enmity against God, man's mind is enmity against God. Let me say it another way. Let me say it another way Man's mind, the carnal mind, is not just corrupt. It is not just corrupt, it is corruption itself. It's not just flawed and corrupt, it is corruption itself. It's corruption itself, the very essence of corruption. That's what makes it impossible for him, for the man of a carnal mind, to please God. Also, he put it another way Man's mind, the carnal mind, is not just acting out rebelliously, it's not just rebellious, but man's mind is rebellion itself. It is the essence of rebellion itself. We're talking about the nature of man's carnal mind. Man's mind, the carnal mind, is not just wicked. It's not just wicked but it's wickedness itself. It's not just wicked, but it's wickedness itself. It's wickedness itself.
Speaker 1:And so the Bible tells us in Romans 8, 6, to be carnally minded is death. Is death Meaning that someone who remains in the carnal mind and who operates perpetually in the state of carnality, in a state of a carnal condition, that means that the end that they can expect is death itself. He says the carnal mind is enmity against God and he says to be carnally minded is death itself. He says the carnal mind is enmity against God and he says to be carnally minded is death. It is the equivalent of death. It is saying that a person who is carnally minded, meaning a non-believer, this carnally minded person, it says, is dead. To be carnally minded person, it says, is dead. To be carnally minded is dead, which means it makes sense when paul says that it is impossible for those who are in the flesh to please god.
Speaker 1:So what are we talking about here? And I've went around and around to try to strengthen the point. But what are we saying here? Those who are unbelievers, those who do not know Christ, those who have rejected God, who have rejected Christ, who have rejected the Holy Spirit, who have rejected the truth of God, who have given no regard to God's holy law, these people are in this condition of carnality. They are carnally minded and their minds are. Because they are carnally minded, they are at enmity against God. They are enmity against God, meaning they are at constant variance with God. There is no agreement between them and God. There is no affiliation, there's no relationship, there's no process of reconciliation that has begun, because they choose to remain in this condition that they can't help themselves to get out of, in spite of choices that may be presented to them. They cannot, they cannot and they desire not to see anything differently than the way they currently see it.
Speaker 1:It is impossible for men who are fleshly minded to please God. And if that is impossible, we need to understand what impossible means. Impossible means just what we all know that it means. It means that there is a feat. There is a feat that needs to be accomplished in order to have the establishment of a relationship between the sinner and God, and that feat is impossible for man to do. It is an absolute impossibility. Verse 8, so then, they that are in the flesh, they cannot please God. They cannot. It's impossible. And yet you have myriads of people filling pulpits that are constantly telling men that it's up to you, it's up to you to come to Christ, it's up to you exercising the freedom of will, and it is by your will. If you will just submit to God, you will be saved, if you exercise the freedom of will.
Speaker 1:Well, paul says here in verse eight in Romans eight, that those who are in the flesh cannot please God, cannot do it. It is an absolute impossibility. The idea of explaining impossibility, or the idea of having to explain that which cannot be done. It bewilders me that people still have to deal with this not so inflated notion. That is so far. That cannot be understood. We understand what, what it means when something cannot be done. When we say that something can't be done. When we say that something can't be done, it means it is an impossibility. Something that can't be done is rendered impossible. Whatever is rendered impossible, whatever is impossible to do, cannot be done. It's an impossibility. So when Paul says in verse 8, that those who are in the flesh, those who are of the carnal mind, he says they cannot please God. It is impossible. And I don't know anyway how the apostle could have made it any plainer and I really have no idea how it is.
Speaker 1:People who claim to be christian read these words and still read into the word of god and still read into the word of god that coming to faith is a matter of the exercising of a of the will that men believe they have. Now am I going to argue Against man having a will? No, I'm not. Man does have a will, but his will is corrupt and tainted. His will only Only causes him to rebel. Men do not love God, nor do men seek after God Because they are carnally minded. They can't do it Because they are carnally minded. They can't do it.
Speaker 1:No-transcript. No man can repent. Men have to be. In order for them to believe, they must be given the grace, the gift of God. To even come to him in repentance, it is impossible. So you might ask me well then, what is the whole point of sharing the gospel? What is the whole point of sharing the gospel? What is the whole point of preaching, what is the whole point of reading the bible and the word of god if it's impossible for the carnal mind to to come to faith? And the reason is this. The reason is this.
Speaker 1:Somebody asked, asked the question well, what is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is God giving those who believe the ability to believe. God, by his grace, transforms the mind. God, by his grace, renews the mind. And it is God's moving, it is God moving upon you as the first cause in your new birth. You are not the first cause of your new birth. He is and it is a new birth which gives you a new mind. A new mind which is not enmity against God, which is not in rebellion against God, which is not corrupt but is being made perfect, but is being built up and raised in the newness of life. God, by grace, transforms you and gives you a renewed mind, and it is with that mind that you are able to choose Christ.
Speaker 1:So we need to understand the Ordo Salutis, the order of salvation, the order of how these things go. Just as God Was the prime and first cause Of creation, he was the first cause of all creation. There was no Creation as we know it today Until God said let there be light. It says that the earth in Genesis was without form and void. The earth was without form and void, empty, and God said. God said let there be light. And then the spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep and there was life and creation began. But it all began with God speaking it into existence. The earth was without form and void. The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said let there be light, but notice what was first, notice what was first. There was a formless earth, had no form, it was void, it was empty. There was no life in it. There was no life. And then the spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep. And then God said let there be light. The order of creation is the same order of us as human souls in our new creation.
Speaker 1:Until the Spirit of God came to us and aroused us from our dead condition, we too, like the earth, were without form and void. We did not exist. We were empty. We were dead in sin and trespasses. We had no ability to bring ourself to life. We had nothing animate in us or intelligent within us in a sense that we have been able to assess what we need. We were incapable because we were and we were before we came to faith.
Speaker 1:Enmity against god. We were the very, we were very. Enmity against god. We oppose him at every turn. We despise his word, we despise his law, we despise the savior that he sent, in spite of having sent all the prophets and the apostles.
Speaker 1:Christ came in order to fix this situation. This is what he came to fix. If man had the ability on his own to believe in God, given the choices we would not have need, there would have been no need for Christ to come. He's the same God that was in heaven before he came. So if man has always had the freedom of will that will enable him to embrace God. Why did Christ have to come? He could have remained in his regular role as the son of God before taking on human flesh.
Speaker 1:This whole idea of rectifying and fixing the carnal mind in man. This is the reason why the Lord Jesus came, the fact that those of us outside of Christ are still buried under the weight of a carnal mind, a carnal mind which is at enmity against God. This is indicative of our human nature. By nature, we are carnal. By nature, we are fleshly minded. By nature, it is impossible for us to seek and desire God. It is our nature which is carnal. It is our nature which opposes God. We cannot please him in any kind of way.
Speaker 1:And all these people that are telling you or maybe you're telling other people as well is just an act of your will. If it is just your will that brings you to salvation in Christ, then why should not that be the gospel message? Why not make that the gospel message? The gospel message should be this All you that burden, all you that labor and are heavy burdened, exercise your will to come to Christ and he will give you rest. You don't need to ask him to change your will. You don't need to ask him to make sure that your thoughts are aligned with his will. If it is all about the will, why should God go through all of this message, all of this planning to send his son to put on human flesh, to go in our stead to represent man before God, so that we can get, so that we can be reconciled to him? Why go through all of this, all these machinations, if all it comes down to is men intellectually reasoning and through the exercise of the will, making a right choice? That would not be the gospel of good news. That would be a different gospel, a gospel that appeals to man's will.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that God chose the foolishness of preaching to confound the wise. He chose the foolishness of preaching to convert the wicked. Preaching is foolishness because it doesn't actually. It doesn't itself. The preaching in and of itself does not convert or change the heart, but the preaching is the means through which God communicates to those whom he has elected to be saved by faith in him. It is the way he imparts his grace. It is the means through which he does it. It is the vein through which spiritual life is carried to the dead heart of a soul and gives him life. It is the gospel that acts as the, it is the preaching of the gospel that acts as the capillary Inside the heart of men that enables, as it carries blood away from the heart, to give them life and enables them to live unto God. You have to understand there is no part of a man who doesn't know Christ that has the will to choose Christ. Paul tells us it's impossible.
Speaker 1:Let me bring up a verse in Psalms, chapter 14, the 14th Psalm, to a familiar passage In Psalm 14. It says in verse one the fool has said in his heart there is no God. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good, none who's done good. They have done nothing but abominable works. But I want you to notice something because for those of you who are listening, who are really paying attention, if you hear nothing else that I have said, if you've understood nothing else that I've said, let me explain to you what this passage means. It says here the fool has said in his heart there is no God.
Speaker 1:Now, most Christians, the majority of Christianity, all agree that this verse is speaking of atheism Atheism on the part of the fool believing that there is no God. But as I have always taught in the past. The Bible knows of no such thing or no such creature as an atheist. There is no such thing as an atheist. The Bible says that all men know that he is God, all men know that the earth has a creator and that all created things were created by a God, but in this passage, when it says that the fool has said in his heart there is no god.
Speaker 1:This is a passage that has been often misunderstood and probably because, generally speaking, in many of the translations it is not expressed properly what the hebrew actually is saying, and I'm not one to like throw in hebrew and greek, because I always feel that you know people have enough problems understanding english, how they're going to understand hebrew and greek, and what's going to make me quoting greek or quoting hebrew or reading something in greek or hebrew make you any wiser? No, it's not going to, but it's important to understand that in this passage, the fool knows there is a God. So in this passage, this is not saying that the fool is saying that there is no God. I know it reads like that, but that's not what is really conveyed in Hebrew. What he is saying is.
Speaker 1:What he is saying is this because the fool, as I said, knows that there is a God, but what he's saying is no to God. You see the difference. He is the fool that says there is no God. What he is really saying is that I know there's a God, but I'm saying no to God, I'm not having it. I'm not having it, I'm not having it, I'm not down with you. I know what you're saying, but I don't want any. I know what you're selling, but I don't want any. I'm good. And what he's saying is that I wish there were no God.
Speaker 1:Now I know, for those of you who are students of the word of God, you'll look this up and you'll figure out what it's saying. But when the passage is saying the fool has said in his heart there is no God, that's not what's's saying. But when the passage is saying the fool has said in his heart there is no God, that's not what's being conveyed. And I challenge you to study this and find this out on your own. For those of you who are real students of the word of God, ask your pastors, whoever you may want to ask.
Speaker 1:But what's conveyed in Hebrew is that the fool, the reason why he's a fool, is because he knows there is a God, but he chooses to say no to God. That's what he's saying. I'm saying no to God. He says I know you exist, but I'm saying no. I know you're selling me this Jesus Christ. I know you're you're, I know you're sending me this fella to die for me, but I want no part of it. I want no part of it.
Speaker 1:He's not saying there's no God.
Speaker 1:He's saying no to God. He's telling God I'm saying no to you. I've heard the overtures. I've seen your creation. I know seen your creation. I know you're out there, but I have no interest in you. I'm okay with using your creation, I'm okay with enjoying what your creation has provided for me, but I say no to you. I say yes to all your handouts, but I say no to you.
Speaker 1:Why? Why Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, is enmity against God. Carnal mind is enmity against God and the carnal mind operates from the fleshly standpoint only and solely. There is no man. Let me make this certain for you, everybody when you encounter somebody who says they're an atheist, you should feel, you should feel totally at liberty to remind them that they're lying to themselves. There is no person that I won't tell who claims to be an atheist that they're lying to themselves. Every man believes that there is a God, just like Satan believes there is God. Every man also believes, but it is not a saving belief, it is not a salvific belief. It is understanding that all of this didn't just happen.
Speaker 1:Paul says in Romans chapter one, I believe it is that men suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. They know what the truth is, they've heard it, but they want to stifle it. They want to suppress it and they use their unrighteousness to do it. They turn off the lights, they turn off the spiritual lights so that they can live in darkness and not be seen for what they really are Wicked, vile, wretched, desperately wicked souls who are incapable souls, who are incapable of trusting in God and have made their bed amongst the devils. They choose to grift amongst the wicked. They choose to have affiliations with those who hate God and despise God. They choose to flatter those who despise God and who say I want no part of God.
Speaker 1:And listen, christians. The Bible tells us that evil communications corrupt good conduct. So what he's saying is what Paul is saying is that be careful who your affiliates in life are. Don't make excuses for keeping up affiliations with the most wicked people. Be careful that you are not making Friends Of those who hate your father, who, those who despise your father. For those who laugh and scorn and mock at Christ, and you laugh along Thinking that it's cute Because you refuse to say anything, because you don't want to be to be an offense.
Speaker 1:Imagine trying to imagine not wanting to offend the devil. So I don't want to offend Satan, I don't want to offend his evil hordes whose sole mission is to undermine and circumvent the glory of God in the eyes of mankind. You see, so the carnal mind is more than just you know. The carnal aspect of the carnal mind is more than just an adjective. It is not a carnality, it's not just a description of man's mind. It is the condition of man's mind. It is who he is. He is carnal, desperately wicked, depraved, incapable of seeking God, incapable of seeking God's favor. He is the fool that says to God no, I'm not having this, I don't need your involvement, I don't need your law. I do what I want to do. I have a free will. I don't need to embrace your will. I choose to have my free will. My will is free.
Speaker 1:Now, how is it that the person who says no to God believes they have a free will if they're incapable of saying yes to God? The whole idea of a free will is mentally chaotic, because there are so many things that we are incapable of doing. But it has to be God, like creation, that was without form and void, and it wasn't until he spoke and said let there be light. And then what happened? There was light. That same mercy, that same grace, that same divine fiat, that same divine power that spoke the world into existence when it was nothing, is the same power, the same God who spoke light into your life and caused you to see that God, to see who God is and to see your need of him and to see your need of of reconciliation to him because of your sins that were an an affront to his throne, in an offense to his law.
Speaker 1:So my sister says so we are only capable by God's grace in him choosing us. Yes, that's exactly right. God chooses those who are saved and those whom he has chosen. He has enabled to come to him, because the Bible tells us in Rome, in Psalm 110, that we shall be made willing in the day of his power, and when it says that we will be made willing is not made willing in the sense that we were forced. It's not made willing in the sense that we were forced I made you willing. But what he's saying is I made you willing in the sense that you were dead. You, as a being, were dead in your sin and trespasses, while you yet live in the flesh, even though you were alive. Everyone who's a Christian knows that before you came to faith you were alive. Everyone who's a christian knows that, before you came to faith, you were alive physically and in the fleshly sense, but you were dead. And in that condition which is that which is enmity against god, that being your nature, sinful nature you cannot come to him on your own. You must be drawn.
Speaker 1:Go read john 6, 44. Let me read that. My brother brought it up to me. Let me go to the verse john 6, 44. It is it. It is bewildering me. It bewilders me how so many christians just can't deal with this verse and got so many things to say about this.
Speaker 1:Now, in verse 44, jesus himself says these very words. He says no man can come to me except the father which has sent me. Draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, notice, let me, let me take a sip of my tea for a second. Notice what Jesus says. He says no man can come to me and he gives an exception.
Speaker 1:But the first is important for us to understand no man can come to me. No man can come to me. He says no man can come to me. So what I want to know is then what man can exercise his will and come to Christ? What did Jesus mean when he says no man can come to me? What does he mean? No man, it's crazy. It's crazy, but Christianity has a difficulty with this understanding. No man can come to me, the Lord Jesus Christ says. If he says no man can come to him, he is making a statement of fact that is an impossibility, that it is an impossibility for any man to come to him. It's an impossibility If you have a different interpretation of what Jesus means when he says no man can come to me, because to me this is one of these simple passages, a simple statement that doesn't really require interpretation.
Speaker 1:He says no man can come to me, but then he says except, except. He says there's one exception, there's only one way, there's only one way that a man who can't come to Christ can. There's only one way he tells you in verse 44, except the Father which has sent me draws him, you, believer, came to Christ not because of your free will, but because you were drawn by the Father who sent Christ. You, unbeliever, you can never come to Christ. You will never come to Christ. You will never desire him. You will never see the blessedness of coming to him. You will never understand. It will always be funny to you what me and other Christians are saying. You will laugh at us heartily. But it's because you don't have the capacity to believe what we, as believers, understand, because you weren't drawn Not yet. But it is my hope and sincere desire, which is why I do this to see people drawn to reach those whom God has ordained to save by his gospel, by his preached word.
Speaker 1:People don't like this. They don't like God being God. They don't like God being Holding his office as God. If you want to put it that way, you need to understand it has nothing to do with you, your salvation, if you would have it, or if you already have it. You need to understand that the first cause of it is God. If I ask you, what do you think you need to do to be saved? If your first word out of your mouth is I, I, I, I, I, I, your salvation will not be legitimate. What needs to happen is that God needs to draw you. The Father draws those who believe in Him through Jesus Christ. He draws them.
Speaker 1:And here's I'm going to tell you something else. Let me tell you what the word draw means. If you have your Bible, you look at the word. You look at John 6, 44. And Jesus says that no man can come to him except the father which sent him draws them. The word draw you go look it up. Ask your pastor. You go look it up. Ask your pastor, ask whoever it is that you would want to go, ask people, who you want to ask to discredit what I'm saying. You look, in the Greek this word draw means drag. It means to drag. So this is what Jesus is actually saying no man can come to me except my father which sent me drags him.
Speaker 1:Why do you think that Christ would say drag? You know why? Because we are rebellious and we love darkness rather than light. We prefer to stay in our sin and transgressions. We are dragged to salvation because we would not come otherwise. God is saving the lives of those whom he has ordained to live, but in order for him to do this, he has to drag you kicking and screaming, like my brother says. He needs to drag you kicking and screaming the same way your parent would. You have to be motivated spiritually on a level that you are not capable of tapping into.
Speaker 1:Salvation is a requirement for life and salvation, but salvation is not an obligation on the part of God to impart. He does not have to save anyone, does not have to save anyone. In fact, if God were to be completely and properly and foundationally just, if he were to exact perfect justice which he could have done all of us would perish in our sins. All of us will be turned into hell, and our sins, all of us, will be turned into hell, every one of us, and that is what all of us deserve. And all of those who are not and only Christians, can say that hell is what they deserve, because they know what they've been saved from.
Speaker 1:But those who are outside of Christ? We are told in the scriptures, in John, chapter three, in Jesus's words, that those who believe not are condemned. Already Paul tells us that to be carnally minded is death. So those who don't know Christ, they abide in death. Death is their destiny. Hell awaits them. But I ask and appeal to you all why die For those of you who don't know Christ, why die? Stop pretending that you don't recognize God, that you don't recognize God, stop deluding yourselves into believing that you will not have to confront him one day.
Speaker 1:But, christians, I want to say something to you as well. How many people in your life do you walk by every day and I'm talking about people that are close to you, people that you see on the regular? How many times do you walk by these people? How many times do you have encounters with these people, and yet you don't take the time to reveal to them what's in the gospel, what the gospel message is? How many people are going to die because you refuse to open your mouth? Yet you are thankful that someone did it for you, thankful that someone did it for you.
Speaker 1:What is it going to take for you to have a fire and a spark lit under you, to see that you can bring as many people with you to heaven as humanly possible? Never mind if they laugh, never mind if they mock, never mind if they scoff, never mind if they tease you or embarrass you or humiliate you in front of others, let them do this. In so doing, they heap more and more coals upon their own heads. But we seek their salvation and sometimes people have to see. They have to see just a flicker of the flame that comes out of hell in order for them to seek out Christ to save their souls. If we understand that the carnal mind is enmity against God, then we need to understand that the only way the lost can be saved is if we say something, because our preaching to them, our sharing the gospel with them, is the only way that salvation is going to be channeled through the preached word. That's what God has chosen to bring faith to the lost.
Speaker 1:Jesus says no man can come to me, but yet all that is required for salvation is to look unto him and be saved. Just look unto him. That's all it takes. But the ability to look comes from him. The ability to look comes from him. The ability to look unto Christ comes from God, who is drawing you to him.
Speaker 1:If you are hearing this, you are being drawn. If you are hearing any other Christian talk to you about coming to Christ and salvation. You are being drawn, christ and salvation. You are being drawn, and we, as believers, need to constantly be in the process of being drawn to our Lord Not, though, but with the cords of divine love.
Speaker 1:It's different when you become Christian. We need to cling to him, and we need to cling to him, and we need to cling to him with an everlasting endurance. We must endure, and endurance implies that there's going to be all manner of devices in the wiles of Satan leveled against you. His arrows are being formed every day and aimed and targeting every single heart of every Christian, but he will fail. He will fail because God's people can never fail. Why? Because we are more than conquerors in Christ. He has vowed to take us home. Let me close it this way John 6, 44 again no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draws him. And then he closes it up by saying and I will raise him up the last day, be provoked and be persuaded. God bless you all on this Lord's day.