The Oasis Church Sermons

So That You May Know (1 John 2:18-25)

July 04, 2021 The Oasis Church
The Oasis Church Sermons
So That You May Know (1 John 2:18-25)
Transcript

right i want us to see this is the work of god what is our rule here's our rule you ready abide cling to christ run to christ cling to him do not let him go james and the whole old testament promises if you seek christ he will cling to you

so if you are new to the oasis church i want to explain to you how we as a church understand the preaching and teaching of god's word how we understand sunday morning what we teach at this church is the best way to preach and in my humble opinion the only way to preach is what we call exegetically uh what that means is we are going to pull out of the text what the text says in its context and so so we believe that that is what you're supposed to do so we don't take the world and shove it into the bible we take a few verses and just kind of give you a few verses and say let me tell you some stories about my life and then get you all pep talked up and send you out into the world um so we believe that we are supposed to pull out what the bible already says but what we also believe and probably one of our greatest pride and joys at this church is that when you go onto our website and you go to the sermons page which you see is not a whole bunch of topics but a whole bunch of books of the bible we believe that the best way that we may teach the people the word of god is book by book chapter by chapter verse by verse and this is a protection for you and as a protection for me against going into what we call crazy land and and here's why let me explain to you why right so here's why this is a protection for you and for me it's a protection for me so that way i do not have the opportunity to avoid tough and difficult passages it makes sure that we don't kind of play theological buffet and pick and choose the desserts and never get to the meat and vegetables amen and so so what it also does is a protection for you so so that way let's say if we have to preach on something you know no one wants to hear about like i don't know money right you don't get to like look at him say man all he wants is my money but when we go chapter by chapter verse by verse you're stuck that that obstacle is removed from you because like what's the next part in the book now let me say to you we hold very dear to our reading plan we hold very dear to our preaching plan look 40 weeks in mark is just not enough i've said that several times but as a shepherd as a pastor i have to also listen to what the people are asking if there's some confusion on things i mean i i as a pastor have a responsibility by god to clarify some things and so um one of those things i felt i needed to clarify and i just had to do it and here's why because i've had that question from not only many people in this church but also as i've been preaching the gospel and evangelizing to people that kind of me you know what i mean and just the everyday part of life this is the one question that i get asked so often

and and i'm going to tell you what that is but i want you to hold kind of hold on weighted breath because you're probably wondering and looking out to your left and going i thought we were doing baptism sunday the pastor forgot to get out the baptismal and i want to explain to you church we will not be having a baptism today and this is bittersweet but here's why this is bitter and here's why it's sweet it's bitter because we're looking to party and celebrate this baptism but here's why it's sweet to the pastor to the preachers because it tells us that we're actually preaching the full counsel of god and so what the bible says is every time someone believed in the gospel they were immediately baptized and so as soon as we hear a belief a confession of faith man we get people ready and we dunk them um the person that was gonna get baptized just had some struggle in some doctrines of belief and we all decided we're just not ready the belief is not there and this is good and this is really good do you know why and this is what it's great is because my measure of success is not based on baptism bucks and butts right and this is why this is good because we want people as soon as they believe let's dunk them but we don't want to dunk them unless they truly believe in who god is and so by god's grace we will be having another party for this baptism and so i just ask that you pray on this because here's what seth and i are just convicted by and and you cannot show me any other way but according to luke 15 jesus says man as soon as a sinner repents there's a party in heaven and it drove me crazy that i sat in churches saw professions of faith and this was people in the seats and i'm like that's not what the bible does the bible they throw parties and man y'all i want to throw a party 52 sundays of the year don't you and so this is the whole point and i want you to hear this the whole glory and the greatness and the joy of the church is found in one thing and that is the church going and seeking and saving the lost and that's our joy but we also do not want to be responsible to where someone stands before god and says i was not told the true gospel and so i don't want to be responsible for false conversions and apostasy based on our preaching and so by god's grace we'll have another one and i'll give you an opportunity to bring food we'll have a potluck alice and kathy will make it beautiful but i just ask that you pray so what's the question i get asked so often um and and and let me just share with you i want to prepare you i want to show you my cards at the beginning this is not going to be an easy sermon for me to preach someone's like oh you're dipping out on the transfiguration i'll take care of that next week don't worry don't worry this is not something i'm actually going to enjoy preaching um and the question is about assurance of salvation and perseverance of the same how do i know i'm saved and so if you have your bibles go ahead grab them we're gonna be in first john first john chapter two is going to be our text this morning first john chapter two is where we're going to see this in real time and i have a heart it is it is as jeremiah said my bones quaked and i had to preach on this i tried to avoid it i tried to i've avoided it for months and i just could not any longer be silent on this topic so here we are and by god's grace he will help us through this time here's why here's a question i get asked so often you saying all i got to do is pray a prayer and i'm in the club because i've met so many people that have prayed the prayer and are worse than imaginable and so this is what we have seen in our culture especially our kind of seeker sensitive american church culture is this idea pray this prayer and if you sincerely meant it congratulations you're in the club in church i i want to tell you that kind of teaching has led to much apostasy in our world that kind of teaching has led to people walking around in this country especially identifying as christians yet they are true apostates and so like i said this is going to be a little uncomfortable for you this morning it's uncomfortable for me but here's what i want to put before you we must not let our feelings and our emotions guide and direct us we must let the bible speak and we must submit to what the bible says not what our feelings are we must let the bible mess with our boxes amen and so here's let me tell you i said this last week look if if the bible never disagrees with you i guarantee you're not reading the bible right and so look this is going to be hard but yet i want us to see how glorious of a truth this is and let me just say this about first john because i don't want to put us in the middle of a book without introducing him i think first john is probably one of the most important books in the new testament it is like the building blocks for the christian life about once a year i take the first john challenge it's where i read first john every day for 30 days and every time i do i am so excited and invigorated and just i mean just set on fire by this book and too many people are like man i want to go through romans you know i want to hit chapter 9 and get all smart and first john just so clearly lays out the call of you and me in this life and so here's how first john starts first john john starts in chapter one he says these things we have heard these things we have seen these things we have touched these things we have smelled all these things john saying i walked with the son of god i walked with god in flesh i ate with him i i hugged him i was with him i saw the empty tomb i experienced jesus i walked with him for three years he was not a figment of my imagination and then he goes on to say this as about the god in flesh that god is light and in him there is no darkness at all and those who believe in christ walk in the light as christ is in the light so here's what john from the beginning right off the bat reminds us if you are in christ you walk as christ and you walk in the light as christ is in the light hallelujah but then he gives a stark warning before he walks into the meat of his whole book and he says this if you say you have no sin you are a liar and the truth is not in you so recognize that's not my words i'm just quoting god's word here right and so what does that mean this side of heaven you and i will never be perfect if you have any time with the lord especially those of you who have been walking with god for decades know that there are times in your life where you still stumble and fall and do stupid things amen tell me come on my old people like tell me those of you been walking with decades tell me i'm right i know i'm right don't lie this ain't true come on now be honest and so this is what john realizes this is what he wants you and i to get across realize this side of heaven you will not be perfect and god knows it because he planned for it and god did not send his son right and he didn't send his son say all right as soon as you get clean you can walk with me no he sent his son while we were yet sinners and then john continues on and he said listen um those of you when you do sin you have an advocate and that's jesus christ and he walks from there on what it means to walk with christ the rest of first john is about that text and so this is the role of the christian in life is we are being constantly conformed into the image of christ this is what happens is you and i become more like christ today than we were yesterday and we'll be more like christ tomorrow than we are today and this is the role of the holy spirit in your life and in my life now here's why this is a discussion we must have because there has been a lot of false teaching on what conversion actually looks like because at some point success was measured by how many hands we can get raised in a worship service and so we're going to see what john has to say about that so the good news is is all the problems we have today they've experienced it and some more than that in the in the bible and it answers those questions so we're going to allow the bible to speak this morning but before we do that would you pray with me

father god this is a holy moment got a moment when we preach your word we teach your word where we declare your word i mean so god i just ask that you work through me in a mighty way god is this is a difficult topic would you give me the strength to be courageous i mean god would you just cause your words to flow out of me now church says you pray for me pray that i'll be helpful this morning pray that god will use me in a mighty way that will hide me behind and beneath his cross now church says just pray for yourself pray that god open up your ears your heart your mind to hear from him this

morning

father god this time is yours we ask that your words speak in our hearts and our mind we pray these things in your son's holy name through spirit that's alive and active within us we pray amen first john chapter 2 starting in verses 18 and 19 this is the word of the lord children it is the last hour and as you have heard the antichrist is coming so now many antichrists have come therefore we knew that it is the last hour they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have continued with us but they went out that it might become plain to plain that they all were not of us first thing we notice in 1st john chapter 2 verse 18 is john's incredible humility and how he humbles you and i from the offset because what does he call us children toddlers infants i love this because this is a reminder that you and i no matter what point we arrive in our maturity in christ always need spiritual teaching and spiritual care amen okay good so look let me just share with you and i love you enough to tell you this and this is why i'm telling you this because i do love you if you do not see yourself as a toddler in the kingdom of god your pride will keep you from maturing in the goodness of god and so let me just share with you friends i have spent a lot of time and i mean a lot of time with men who have phds around their name in the bible i've spent a lot of time with men who have walked with the lord for decades who have pastored a church for decades and you know what i've realized about them the more mature they become the kingdom the more they real they more real the word children is to them the more mature they become the more they realize what toddlers and infants they are in the kingdom of god see yourself as a toddler or an infant who needs to learn from the word of god and allow the word of god to do the transforming work in your heart and then the question is asked the question that john wants to get around the church is saying listen john we've had these people they came in they were part of home groups maybe even some of them led home groups we saw their confession we saw their little hand raised we saw them fill out the card we saw them get dunked and they left the faith they took off but before john answers that before he gets to that what does he put before that he talks about the word antichrist do you notice how he says the antichrist is coming and we know this because many antichrists have come so here's what i've learned in the past like year and a half it seems that you have all the youtube prophets and i'm going to put quote-unquote unquote with these prophets who'll get on the youtube and they'll stand in front and they'll be like you know their hair looks crazy and they're like this is the end times and they're going to give all this evidence look to those guys i say one phrase um duh right like thanks for joining the conversation first john chapter two this is the last hour john says in second timothy chapter three in chapter four paul tells timothy this is the last hour this has been the last hour since when since jesus ascended seated at the right hand of god all the new testament believers said this is it this is the last hour now here's the thing you and i don't know if we're in minute 59 or minute one we let god sort that out but john's concern is with what not the antichrist he'll deal with that in revelation but even in revelation he's not concerned with that he's talking about the many antichrists who have come in amidst the people this is highly important almost every single book in the new testament speaks highly against false teachers that many false teachers will sneak their way into the midst of the church trying to deceive the people away from the true faith so this is why this is why when you see the qualifications of elders what is the one qualification that has to do with a skill apt to teach which tells us what that the main purpose of the teacher the preacher the elder the pastor the main purpose of them is to know the word of god so that they can combat the heresy that can so easily sneak in amongst the church this is why in acts what the apostles say we cannot quit preaching and praying to go 10 tables you church go deal with that our responsibility is to teach and preach why because false teachers can so easily slip in jesus says they will be wolves disguised as sheep and so john is telling us we must be able to recognize when these guys sneak in so what's the difference between a wolf and a shepherd let me give you a few examples a wolf will use feelings to lean into feelings i feel like god dot dot dot well a shepherd will say god's word says a wolf will build a theology off one or two verses or maybe a chapter while a shepherd will exalt their theology based on the full counsel of god unchecked wolves will tear apart the sheep a shepherd is willing to be wrong while a wolf will never be wrong they'll refuse correction in teaching a wolf will get defensive if challenged in their teaching while a shepherd will always gently lead people back to what god's word says

friends i want you to understand we at the oasis church care about one question only what does god's word say and as long as i am here in this pulpit that is what the question will be and so then the answer is a question they went from us because they were not one of us so what do we do with the people we saw their profession of faith we saw them raise their hand we saw them get dunked we saw them join a home group and then they took off and never ever came back into the faith and by the way i'm not talking about the church okay we're not a cult here okay it's not like it's this is the only church right because we just had someone they moved to california and i love it they said how do i find a bible-based church because i realize there's not a lot of them and so what is the question we are seeing here how do we how do we understand these people and we understand it in this way and this is going to be harsh but please allow me to walk through the text with you there if there is no evidence of a transformed life they're not believers if they left us they weren't one of us that's what the text says and here's where we get so much confusion because you have things saying like this pray this prayer and if you sincerely meant it congratulations you're part of the family is that what the bible says my dear friends that's apostasy this is what i mean about building your theology off of one or two verses how do i know because where did that person that that's a direct quote by the way where did that person get it they got it from romans chapter 10 that says this those who call in the name of the lord and believe in their heart that god raised him from the dead will be saved friends i love that verse that is one of the most encouraging empowering verses in evangelism that is out there but i cannot read chapter 10 of roman and neglect chapters one through nine let me give you an example in romans chapter six paul says there's two types of people in this world that there are those that are slaves to sin and there are those are slaves to righteousness in romans 8 he reminds us that those who live in the flesh cannot please god and so what is happening is roman 10 is summarizing the fact that when we actually call upon the lord when we believe in our heart that christ raised him from the dead we are radically transformed and we walk in newness of life how do i know that all right cool i didn't think you believed me here we go get ready pens better be going in john chapter 3 jesus having a conversation with nicodemus says this truly truly i tell you by the way truly truly in the greek means what truly right truly truly i tell you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god well that's just one verse he said don't build the whole theology off of one verse cool all right we'll keep going unless you're born again heaven does not await you paul second corinthians chapter five therefore if anyone is in christ he is a new creation the old has passed away and behold the new has come two verses romans 6 4 we were therefore buried with him through baptism and death in order that just as christ was raged from the dead so the glory of the father we may to walk in newness of life christ died so that we may be made new so here's what we realize that salvation is it's when the holy spirit comes and invades our heart and makes us into a new creation it is not based on a prayer a walking of the aisle a dunking but based on the holy spirit invading our hearts changing our hearts where did you get that glad you asked ephesians 1 13 in him you also when you heard the word of truth that's the bible that's the gospel the gospel of your salvation and believed in him you were sealed with the promised holy spirit so the holy spirit seals you for salvation it keeps you in salvation still don't believe you okay cool here we go writer of hebrews in hebrews chapter 8 quoting ezekiel in jeremiah so now we've got new testament now we've got old testament so i'm building a case for you that the holy spirit will come it will give you a new heart where obedience will not be external written on tablets of stone but it will be internal because of the new creation the new nature the who the new nature of god that makes you desire the things of god and this new nature will produce godly fruit jesus john 15 8 does he always give this much scripture i hope so john 15 8 by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples the world will know you're a disciple of jesus by you bearing the fruit of god and i love how perfect that analogy is don't you because here's the deal the fruit does not make the tree what it is the tree makes the fruit see how that works apple seeds make apple trees that grow apple fruits therefore those who are saved by god produce the fruit of god matthew 7 17 so every healthy tree bears good fruit but the diseased tree bears bad fruit matthew 12 33 make a tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad for a tree is known by its fruit so when you romans 10 when you confess jesus as lord and believe in your heart the christ god raised christ from the grave you'll be saved what is going on there is when that happens there is a transformation that happens that produces fruit so it does not make sense for people to have conversion without transformation there is no true decision that happens without transformation so john says why they leave because they were not one of us their fruit was not godly fruit their fruit was like that fruit that people have on their like you know i guess in their living room that it looks really clean but all it is is plastic you know what i'm talking about that's the fruit they have now here's the good news about all this for those who are truly in christ god keeps them so there is no loss of salvation because it was not your salvation to have philippians 1 6 he who began a good work and you will see it to completion first corinthians 1 8 he god will surely sustain you to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our lord jesus christ so why do people leave the faith because they never actually had faith to begin with their faith was built on an emotional decision it was based on their parents faith it was anything and everything else but it was not god because god's the one who sustains them god is the one who keeps them because god is the one who saves them he is the one who sanctifies and he is the one who will glorify and this is the whole point of salvation not that god would only just save you from the sins and give you a room up in heaven for eternity but that you would glorify god in all things why because you were made by god for god's glory and so rebellion in rebellion is this thinking that god is here to serve you that god's purpose is to build your wants and your desires when in actuality you are created to glorify god in all things far too often far too often we want what we want but we want god to deliver it for us when the gospel is about us wanting what god wants in every aspect of our lives and so what ultimately happens in our prayer time we tell god what we want and and let me tell you what god sometimes does and and i love you enough to tell you this god sometimes says no do you know how i know that because we started off this whole prick pee how children um y'all ever hung out with mom's little kids do you know what they say a lot no and guess what there's still joy in the room when they say no and so god actually does say no to his people and it's a good thing because it bears fruit john 15 he is the vine dresser and he prunes us i don't know about you but i've never seen prune be really easy on the vines it's cutting away the saying no and then then we could walk through this logically and and again i hope i hope i hope you understand my heart is what the bible says and so if you're mad at me please have a meeting with me i'll cancel all my meetings to make sure this doctrine is really clearly seen to you um but but i want you to understand god did not send the second person of the trinity the holy spotless christ son of god the lamb of god and crush him on that cross and then resurrect him three days later so that you and i would be the same person right i mean that just makes sense and this is what john's getting at if you are in christ you walk in newness of life god sent his son to die not so that we would be the same but that so we would be radically transformed because you and i at the moment of conversion we call jesus lord we say my old life didn't work and i want god's way no matter how much it costs me

and this is a great key this is the great truth of the bible that god keeps you friends let me just share with you this morning if you could lose your salvation you would just like if you could choose god you win it right got a whole history of that being true and so this is what god is because salvation belongs to the lord so what god calls god keeps because it's not ours and this is the whole purpose of salvation that god would be glorified that we would make less of ourselves and much of god ephesians 5 as paul instructs husbands on how to love your wives husbands love your wife and listen to this as christ loved the church christ gave himself up for his church that he might make his church holy so that he will present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or blemish jesus christ on the cross produced a miracle that cannot happen through our flesh

and so you were created for something so much greater than yourself and so much greater than your life you were created for the glory and the praise of god and this is this gives you life on purpose that you are no longer living for yourself but you are living to make much of christ and in him there is no shame just great glory verse 20 but you have been anointed by the holy one and you all have knowledge so what is this anointing what this anointing is is it's just a fancy way of saying the holy spirit has come and been poured upon you had been dumped upon you and as ephesians says has sealed you for the day of salvation for the day of redemption and so what the main role of the holy spirit is is to teach you all things check out john 14 that's where i got that it's to teach you about what christ has said and to lead you into newness of life right so if you remember back in genesis chapter one the holy spirit was there in creation hovering over the water so the holy spirit is creating in you that newness of life and what i love one of my favorite verses first thessalonians chapter 5 verses 23 24 connects all these verses together listen to first thessalonians 5 23-24 now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ listen to this he who calls you is faithful he will surely do it so you can take it to the bank if you are being sanctified he will complete that sanctification and so the spirit sanctifies you and so sanctification works in two ways and again i'm going to use a million dollar word but we love it vivification and mortification so mortification put to death vivification allow to live so the spirit puts to death the deeds of the flesh romans chapter 8 and it creates the newness of life in you romans chapter 5. and so so so many so often we kind of meet people that have a sin habit and they're like man i just can't kick this sin habit and what's the answer to them let me tell you what the answer is not well have you tried throwing your phone out the window have you tried doing this have you tried doing this no the answer is what man tell me about your worship tell me about your time with god tell me about your time in the word

are you worshiping are you falling at the feet of our crucified and resurrected lord are you finding great joy in him and and this is what the spirit does it makes our obedience not be grudging but joyful our obedience is no longer i have to but it is now i get to man i gotta go watch those kids after this it's i get to go hang out with kids and teach them about the glories of christ that's what the spirit does and this is what we've been talking about that we have been made you and i have been created for worship so what you realize is when you look at the trinkets of this world you realize that the trinkets of the world cannot satisfy you and me you realize that this world if you had all you wanted in this world you and i both know we would not be satisfied why because we were not made for this world we were made to be satisfied in one place only and that is at the feet of our lord and savior jesus christ that's the glory of god that's what it means to be satisfied is if i have christ take away the world as long as i have him i'm satisfied in him and the holy spirit does this it makes you see the glories and the riches of christ as great rather than as disgusting you see the cross as victory not as defeat and this is where it is found when we see christ when we understand right if you remember revelation chapter four sorry four five five um look the line of judah king of kings and behold i looked and what did i see a lamb that looked as though it had been slain because john reminds us in revelation that what you cannot separate the victory of god outside of the cross we've been dealing with that we're going to deal with that for the all the rest of the year in the book of mark and so this is what we realized that christ came to purchase us on that cross friends listen to me the cross if you don't hear anything else hear this the cross did not give us a potential of salvation it gave us an actual salvation the cross the cross of jesus christ was not that you may have a chance to hang out him it's that you may be assured that you have all of christ and so this is why it's important to know that salvation is not dependent upon you and i and our white-knuckled discipline it's dependent on the riches and the glory of god's holy work through the cross putting the death the deeds of the flesh that the spirit may reign and rule in our hearts and this brings about great transformation and so this is why the holy spirit comes it teaches you and i what christ did and what christ command and we run in the freedom of knowing the glorious riches of christ and what it means to have christ is to mean as long as i have christ i am satisfied in him that's the anointing that's talking about here verse 24 through 25 we're going to skip down 24 to 25. sorry i just ran out of time i love you verses 24 and 25 let what you heard from the beginning abide in you if what you heard from the beginning abides in you then you too will abide in the son and in the father and this is the promise he made to us eternal life so so we've been talking a lot about the work of god right i want us to see this is the work of god what is our rule here's our rule you ready abide cling to christ run to christ cling to him do not let him go james in the whole old testament promises if you seek christ he will cling to you

far too often people ask the question in their salvation what am i supposed to do

and too often too many people want to go make an impact in this world and neglect the clinging to christ they want to neglect this part of abiding in him and this is what we saw last week in in mark chapter 8 what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul and i love how he starts 24 let what you heard first john book about destroying your sin walking in newness of life loving your brother the whole book talks about this do you want to walk with christ and he says what we have heard what does that mean man that means that the process of sanctification the process of being conformed into the image of god does not happen by yourself alone it happens amidst the covenant body of the church that christ went and purchased his church so that he make me make you and i into the newness of life sanctification does not happen on our own it happens amongst the body of believers who in their in their joy are seeking christ in all things for all things when you get around the people that are totally sold out to the glory and the majesty of god what will follow is a community that does the same let me remind you church and this hurts i love you when you walk in holiness you'll realize that an immature christian is hard to please and easy to offend a mature christian will welcome the call to be what they've heard from the beginning righteous the reason for this is because we are justified by the righteousness of christ we are declared right not by our works not by our confession but by his work if you remember revelation chapter 12 it says that because of christ's atoning work on the cross satan has no argument he has nothing to hold god's people with because the blood of the lamb silences the accuser he has nothing to say to the church because christ has declared us righteous and so when temptation comes when sin comes we can look down in the eye and say you have no power here for my place is with the crucified and risen savior of the world and that's my king and this is our fight church that we abide in christ and how do we abide in christ we abide in his word when the word of god dwells with you in you when it dwells in you you will find yourself dwelling and abiding in christ and abiding in this word this is why this is why abiding in christ this is why abiding in his word is so important because you must realize what the bible unanimously teaches from genesis to revelation that life is hard but god is good and if you you have to see everything going on in this world everything going on in your life every struggle you have you have to see through the lens of god is good that no matter what happens you can say fine let it be but i know god is good and that's where i stand because i stand with christ

if you do not see god as good then when suffering comes when troubles comes when difficulties come you will see those as an enemy to your joy rather than god's sanctifying work in your joy

and this is what you realize when you see god is good then even when the most difficult storms in your life come even when the most hardest and most troubling times come you realize one glorious fact that it is not about you clinging to christ it's about christ christ who's clinging to you and he says i will not let you go i'm not going to let you go and the promise is this eternal life and this is i think the final point i want to make this morning is this not wanting hell is not evidence of salvation preaching the gospel is not saying do you want to go to hell well then no well then pray this prayer great you're in you're in the club good that's not the gospel so paul in 1st timothy calls those irreverent and silly myths that's not leading to godliness the death of christ is not about saving us so that we can go on continuing and treasuring the things of this world the death of christ the gospel is not even about getting us into heaven it's about getting us god into the center of our hearts so we can worship in spirit and in truth that's what the gospel is all about is this is eternal life that when christ seals us with himself we have him forever regardless of what happens in the world and this is the question you must ask is jesus your greatest treasure or is he an add-on onto your life is he something you do or is he everything you do is jesus king or is he useful as king you will see him as your greatest joy take what you've got to take god move what you got to move for as long as i have christ i'm satisfied john 11 40. did i not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of god do not miss how god's glory is going out even amidst us in this little church in this little city of the world so what do we do with this how do we live on purpose with great assurance first i want to remind you that the gospel proclaimers must be biblical we must preach what the bible preaches and allow god to deal with the responses our job is not to get responses our job is to declare thus says the lord let me tell you jesus was not a seeker sensitive preacher you didn't believe me i didn't think you would he said look narrow is a path that leads to righteousness you don't want to be one you want to be one of mine you must pick up your cross die to self and follow me daily we live in a world where the gospel is so vague so that it would not be harmful and it makes it a hopelessly accommodating we must be specific in our gospel preaching that the point of the perfect spotless lamb christ himself being crushed on that cross was to remove the power of sin from all who believe in christ and when the gospel impacts its heart it's not about making us feel good it's about making us holy conformed into the image of god next know that the gospel does not go with the world but rather moves the world a message that does not call us to holiness will be attractive to the world but will have no power over sin and death a gospel that is not fully preached will lead to apostasy and people will appear saying i did this in your name i did that in your name and he's gonna say to you what away from me i never knew you do not boil down to the gospel to such a state that it does not call us to come and die finally note we preach we beg we plead we wrap around arms around those who desire to perish we allow god to do what he's going to do god calls god justifies god will glorify romans chapter eight our job is to preach the truth of the glorious riches of christ on that cross to the preaching of the cross will be folly to those who are perishing and sweet savoring aroma to those who are being saved let me tell you god is not looking to you and i to make people make decisions he is looking to you and i declare thus says the lord and trust that his word will make dead hearts come alive our little call to prayers and isle walking and decision making will do nothing but the word of god will do everything let us pray father god we thank you for this word we thank you that we are counted righteous before you not by what we do but what you have done on our behalf god we thank you for your truth your gospel that you did not find us and keep us as we are but that you are conforming us you're making us into a whole new person god we thank you that those who cry out as those do in romans chapter 10 jesus is lord and they're radically changed and god help us to be preachers proclaimers declares christ is enough and everything so father god we pray these things and your sons atoning work on the cross through a spirit that's alive and active within us amen

hi i'm pastor scott pastor of the oasis church listen we are so excited that you decide to join us for the preaching and teaching of god's word we just pray that this will stir your affections towards christ but we have one encouragement we want to leave you with please do not allow this to take the place of the local body of believers we pray that you will be involved in a local congregation a local church that you can find yourself submitting under the eldership and the leadership of a local church we pray that you will find yourself stirred towards christ and that your joy in christ will be ever

increasing