Find Salvation Experience Change

If you’ve ever wondered why your spiritual life feels stuck while your “faith” still sounds right on paper, we go straight at that tension. We talk about the uncomfortable idea that real salvation produces real change and why a life that looks just like the world should spark honest self-examination. The question that frames the heart of the message is blunt: if you’re living like hell, why do you think you have heaven living in you?

We open up Isaiah’s warning to God’s people as they flirt with judgment and hide behind false security, then follow the thread to the rest God actually offers. Jesus invites the weary to come to him, and we explore what that refreshment looks like in practice: digging into God’s Word, steady growth “precept upon precept,” and ongoing fellowship that keeps us awake to truth. Along the way, we contrast Spirit-filled steadiness with the rush of quick fixes, pressure decisions, and the kind of “refreshment” that fades fast.

A major focus is the “refuges of lies” we use to protect our pride or numb our pain. Drawing from Charles Spurgeon’s list, we unpack six lies that sound normal in modern culture: being “good enough,” blaming fate, chasing exciting false teaching, trusting religious profession, claiming a saved soul with an ungodly life, and leaning on an old spiritual experience instead of a living relationship with Jesus today. Isaiah also points us to the answer: Jesus as the precious cornerstone and sure foundation, the measuring line for truth, righteousness, and peace.

If you want a Bible-based message on sanctification, repentance, addiction, spiritual renewal, and building your life on Christ, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

If you're living like hell, why do you think you have heaven living in you? That's heavy, isn't it? I'm sorry. It's true though. If you've really come to faith in Jesus Christ, He's going to change you. Your attitudes, your heart, your desires are gonna be different. Are you gonna be a hundred percent perfect Christian? No. It takes a lifetime, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

There are moments in our lives that change us. It could be your wedding day, getting to hold your child after seeing him come into this world, or having a meaningful conversation with a friend. These types of experiences can drastically change and improve your life. So, what is that moment for you? In today's message, Pastor Carl explains that when you come into a relationship with Jesus, acknowledging that he is Savior and Lord of your life, your life will be forever changed. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Assyria came and they were used by God to judge the northern kingdom and some of the southern kingdom as well. Come to the gates of Jerusalem, in fact. These were people who, when you listen to them talk and they sound like they're stammering in their speech, they're foreigners. But they wouldn't listen. And now they realize, oh, God was warning us, and God is bringing judgment against us. The message that Isaiah is bringing is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest. Jesus said, Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. Right? He is the answer to our weariness. He is the refreshing. Do we need refreshment? We don't need it from the bottle. Refreshment comes from the Lord. Refreshment comes from digging into his word. Refreshment comes by fellowshipping with him and with his people. Amen. Verse 13. But the word of the Lord was to them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. It was given to them. They were taught. And this is a very good way to learn and grow in the ways of the Lord. I mean, that's why Calvary Chapel teaches the way we do. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. We don't give you a fire hydrant of theology so you can get it all in one sitting. I don't think God designed it that way. But we spend our whole lives learning and growing and going over it again and again. How many times can he go through the Gospel of John and be done with it? You're never done with it because there's always more. There's another layer to the onion that God wants to reveal to you about his nature, about who he is, and about his relationship with you and his purpose for your life. And he's saying this was presented to them. And the word of the Lord goes out to convict souls and to bring them into fellowship with the Lord, or to bring them into condemnation. And he said, For these whose hearts are so hard that have gone after strange drink, that mock the teaching of God's word, the teaching that they were given was given to them that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and caught. And again, the heart of the Lord is when you get broken and snared and caught, repent. Break your heart before the Lord, admit your sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask for help to be changed. Don't just go back to it again and again and again. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men who rule this place who are in Jerusalem. See, he's moved from the north and now he's directed it to the south, to Jerusalem specifically. Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death and with Sheol, we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves. Now I would tend to think that they didn't purposely say these things, but their actions said this. How often in our lives do we go and we believe something that we've come up with in our own heads that's not from the Lord, and we believe that to be gospel truth and we walk in it. But it's a lie. It's a lie, it's not from the Lord, it's what we've made up, or it's something that the enemy through the world is implanted in our hearts and in our minds, because there's so many messages that the world is sending to us that are not in line with God's word, that we believe it and we put our confidence in that, and it's all a lie. And he says, You've made a covenant with death. But you're so pridefully think, well, we've done this, we've built this. It's this Babylonian attitude again, where together we've built this and we'll show God, we'll build our tower all the way to the heavens, and he won't judge us, and even if we do, we'll withstand it because we're strong. Do you really believe this, guys? Do you really believe this? That's what Isaiah is asking. And hopefully, when you stop and you think about our actions and what we do and what they are really saying, is this really what we're believing? And if we get that and we get convicted, maybe we'll turn. Maybe we'll go back to the Lord. Maybe you say, Lord, my ways were not your ways, my thoughts were not your thoughts. I was walking in lies. I was convincing myself this was truth, but it's not. Forgive me. Charles Spurgeon had an interesting sermon along the lines of believing lies. The sermon was titled Refuges of Lies and What Will Become of Them. There are six lies that men try to take refuge in. Six things that we believe as mankind that are not right, that are not biblical, yet we cling to them. Let's see if some of these uh sound like something you may have believed, or at least you know that people in the world believe this. Okay. The first one is the lie that we are or can be good enough. How are you gonna make it to heaven? Well, I haven't shot anybody, right? I haven't stolen anything. Well, at least nothing big. I'm a lot better than this guy over here. We don't recognize our wretchedness. We think we're good enough in ourselves. We think God should let us in just because of who we are and what we do, and we're good people. It's not true, is it? We're wretched and we're born into sin, so we need a savior to save us. Lie number two, that fate or predestination determines all, so there's nothing for us to do. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. So I might as well just live it up. No, decisions have consequences. Now, God is sovereign, and yet He's given us a free will, He's sovereign over our free will, and yet we still have free will. And the things that we do every day, every choice we make is a choice between my way or God's way. My way or God's way. If you're living like the world, what makes you think that you're right with God? When you're right with God, you have a relationship with God, and He's changed you, and He is changing you, and He's making you ready for heaven. If you love the things of this world so much, you're not gonna love heaven. So, what we do matters, right? Lie number three: the lie that places confidence in new false teachings. Have you ever considered that? Why are false teachers so exciting to listen to? Why do they suck people in? Well, usually it's because they're tickling people's ears, they tell them things they want to hear. Be careful of false teachings that stir up your flesh. Be careful. Lie number four the lie that religious profession is enough. You know that one. I'm saved, I'm good, I can do whatever I want to do. I came forward, I prayed the prayer, and I was baptized, and now I can do whatever I want because I'm sealed for heaven, praise God. Or just, I believe in God. Does that save you? What is salvation? Salvation is a changed life. Are you more and more like Jesus? Is Jesus changing you from the inside out? Have you surrendered to Him fully? Have you said, Not my will, but thy will be done? Have you denied yourself, picked up your cross, and followed after Jesus? That's not works. It's a result of the faith and the grace that God has given to you. But is that grace having its full work in you when you're still drinking? Or is there something that's still holding you down? This is heavy. But it's not just about having a religious profession. Lie number five is related. The lie that one can have a saved soul and an ungodly life. If you're saved, it'll show in your life. If you're living a life like the world, I urge you to question your salvation. If you're living like the world, can I be a little harder? If you're living like hell, why do you think you have heaven living in you? That's heavy, isn't it? I'm sorry. It's true though. If you've really come to faith in Jesus Christ, he's going to change you. Your attitudes, your heart, your desires are going to be different. Are you going to be a hundred percent perfect Christian? No. It takes a lifetime, doesn't it? But positionally, you're made right before God, and practically he's sanctifying you, he's making you more and more like Jesus. But if you don't see more and more Jesus in your heart, you better question whether you really got saved in the first place. And you know what? He's waiting for you to come back. He wants you to really come and really get saved and really be changed. And does that mean Christians who are saved should never struggle with things? No, that doesn't mean that at all. But is your heart saying, ah, it's not a big deal? Or is your heart, Lord, I did it again? Would you change me? Do you have a contrite heart? That's evidence of salvation. That says, Lord, I messed up again. I need your help. Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you. Every day I need you. That's evidence of salvation. But if you're saying, Oh, it's okay, I'm saved. I could do whatever I want. He'll forgive me. I say, be careful. Check it. Check your heart. Go back to the Lord. Ask him to search you and know you and convict you of your sin. And lie number six, the lie that trusts an old experience instead of an ongoing relationship. That's interesting, isn't it? I prayed and something happened, and way back in 1978, my life changed. Is anything happening now? No, but I remember 1978. Jesus saved us then, and he's saving us now. Do we have experiences with the Lord now? Is he changing us now? Do we have hearts seeking after him now? Do we have a relationship? Is he talking to you now? I could guarantee he's talking to you, but are we listening? So that brings us back to our study in verse 16. Because of all these things, because of falling into the ways of the world, because of falling into addiction, because of believing lies, God has done this. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. Are you built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone? Has he changed you? Have you become part of the body of Christ? Part of this building of Christ. Are you a stone in this new temple that he's building? And it says, Whoever believes will not act hastily. There's something about being filled with the Spirit rather than being drunk with wine that gives you a peace, that helps you to slow down, that helps you to stop and listen, to be still and know that He is God, and to listen for His direction, not to jump quickly. So when it's you got to call now in the next 10 minutes, otherwise, this deal is gone. Well, I don't want that deal then. I want God's deal for me. It's better than anything you can offer me. So we're not worried about things. We're not believing things that messages that come at us or messages that we come up with in our own minds, but we trust fully in him and the things we don't understand about him. We know that he knows that we're fully at peace, trusting and waiting for him to direct us in his way. In addition to that, he will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet. Hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it goes out, it will take you, for morning by morning will pass over, and day by night it will be a terror just to understand the report. Now there are two sides to this coin, right? The Lord is coming, he's a sure foundation, he is solid, he is true. His word is like a measuring line. He's the one that we measure things by because he is truth. Everything else is false. And that it's good if we want righteousness, if we want holiness, if we want wholeness, we get it through his truth. And he will show us his truth. And yet, if we fight against it and we say, our contract with the liar is something that we can have confidence in, Jesus saying it's going to be destroyed. One way or another, it's going to be destroyed. If we come to faith in him and put our total trust in him and rely on him to show us the way, the truth, and the life, how to live it, the power to do it, then it will remove that contract that we have with the liar in our own hearts. Or he'll do it by judgment. And for most of the northern kingdom of Israel and later the southern kingdom as well, it was taken away from them. They no longer had that. This didn't exist anymore in Israel because Israel didn't exist there anymore at that time. And they will understand the report. They will finally understand. Boy, what Isaiah was saying was right. But what these other prophets were saying was right, and we didn't listen, we didn't obey, we weren't changed, and now we're suffering the judgment. Then he goes on in verse 20, it says, For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. This is kind of like the idea of these cisterns that we build for ourselves that Jeremiah talks about. These cisterns that we build to emulate the cisterns that God wants to give us, to fill us with his Holy Spirit, to fill us with truth, to fill us with his word, but we fill it with junk from the world and it has holes in it and all leaks out. Same sort of thing. We have this contract with Sheol. We trust lies and we convince ourselves that these things are good, that these things are right, and we're short-seated in our beds. We built our beds, we designed our beds, and there's too short, and we think it's okay. And then when we discover it's short, we blame somebody else for it, right? These things that we do to fill our need, to fill our void in our hearts, to bring peace to our weary souls. It doesn't work, God is saying. It doesn't work, and you could be fooled again and again, drink some more of that wine, and it might feel good for a second, but it's destroying you more and more. Don't you get it? Don't you understand? Don't you remember? For the Lord will rise up as in Mount Perizim, and he will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon. There have been times in the history of Israel where God was strong. He was strong with David, he was strong with Joshua. Do you remember those times? He wants to do the same thing with you. He was strong that he may do his work, his awesome work, and bring it to pass. And to bring to pass his act, his unusual act. What's unusual about this God? He keeps coming back to the people he loves. He keeps coming back and bringing them out from their troubles. He brings them safety from their enemies. And yet they go right back to their enemies. What's even more unusual is that God became a man. He loved the world so much. God the Father gave the Son to live the perfect life, to identify with us as mankind. Instead of destroying us, He paid for our sin and He rose again to new life. And He has forgiveness to anyone who will ask for it, anyone who will accept it. That's an unusual act, isn't it? If you were God, would you do it that way? I'm glad I'm not God. I'm glad He's God. And I'm glad in His grace He's done the unusual act that He's done. And He continues to do that. He continues to pursue us. He continues to point out sin and He continues to give us an answer to that sin. Now therefore, do not be mockers, lest your bonds will be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth. Give ear and hear my voice. Listen and hear my speech. Please listen. I've heard from God. I'm a messenger of God. I'm not telling you a lie, I'm telling you the truth. Don't be part of the destruction that's determined upon the whole world. Listen. Hear me. He says, Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin? Plant the wheat and rows and the barley in the appointed place and the spelt in its place? For he instructs him in the right judgment. His God teaches him. He's kind of bringing this analogy of a farmer. God understands farmers, right? And God teaches farmers how to farm that land to get the good results. You don't keep getting the soil ready for seed, you plow it up, and then you start preparing the Dirt and then you start making the rows, and then you start putting in the seed, and then you fertilize, or you water, or you make canals for when it rains, or the water comes. All these things that the farmers do that I don't have any idea about because I'm not a farmer. You can't keep doing the same thing and expect this result. You can't keep drinking and expect to have a spirit-filled life. Well, you might have a spirit-filled life with the wrong spirit. For the black cumin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cumin. But the black cumin is beaten out with a stick and the cumin with a rod. Bread flour must be ground, therefore he does not thrash it forever. Break it with his cartwheel or crush it with his horsemen. This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. They knew what he was talking about, even if I don't. But the idea here is there are tools for certain jobs, and there's certain ways to use these tools, and certain places and times to use these tools. If you're drunk with wine, you're gonna miss everything. You're not gonna use the right tools at the right time. In fact, if you even pick something up because you're so lazy, you'll use it to destroy something rather than to build something for good. Run to the Lord! He is the wonderful counselor, he is excellent in his guidance. If you have a trouble with drink, if it's got a hold on you, the Lord wants to free you of it. If you have another addiction to something, and there's plenty of things to be addicted to in this world, God wants to save you from that. God wants to heal you. God wants to give you purpose and hope and give you tools to be productive in building the kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

You're listening to Pastor Carl teach through Isaiah on Come On Up. As you may know, the book of Isaiah was written by a prophet who was telling of the coming exile of the people of Israel. They had strayed far from God and they were about to face consequences for their sinful behavior. However, this exile isn't the end of the story for God's chosen people. Isaiah also shares a message of hope, reminding his readers that God can use even the darkest of circumstances for the good of all humanity. The Israelites may be away from their homeland for a while, but one day they will return. Pastor Carl wants us to learn that we are spiritual exiles, living in a world unlike the one we were made for. We were meant to be in communion with God, but we were separated from his presence by the curse of sin. But just as the Israelites came back to their homeland, we will one day be restored into the presence of our Creator, thanks to the blood of Jesus. Would you like to hear more from Pastor Carl? If so, go to themountaincross.com. There you'll find links to our Bible studies and our podcast feed, where you'll be able to listen to more of Pastor Carl's lessons. But you'll also find information about our in-person services at the Mountain Cross. If you're in Waynesville, North Carolina, you're invited to join us for our Sunday services at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. Thanks for listening today. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.