WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.719 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.320 Helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:14.080 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit Grantparkway.org. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.239 Lord Jesus, I pray that you would instill in us beliefs today. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:20.079 Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:21.839 That's what Jesus said you would do. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.199 And so we ask you to do what is in your nature to do. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:32.640 So instill in us belief today so that we can unleash on the world and on our culture the consequence of belief. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:34.000 That's not a hate crime. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.240 That's a delicious invitation that flows hot out of the heart of God. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.359 You said, if anyone's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.719 And out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:46.799 And by that you meant the Holy Spirit. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:48.719 Well, we've received the Holy Spirit. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:50.240 And so we want to understand. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.719 We don't want to be a bunch of religious know-it-alls, but we want to live from an informed perspective. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:59.600 So when we open our mouth, the people around us are shaped and formed by what we say. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.039 They're wooed and won. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:07.040 They're invited to think about spiritual things and they find themselves having a desire for God. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.519 Not religion, but relationship. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.519 Lord, rescue us from religion. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.159 Thank you that Jesus, you came to rescue us from just empty religion where we do things we don't even believe in anymore. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.799 And you made possible a relationship. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:22.719 That relationship. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:31.439 Christianity, the faith, as the Bible refers to it, is today and will always be bigger than we are, bigger than our experience. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:33.599 So there's room for us to grow up into that. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:35.599 We aim to do that today, Lord. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.159 So make that our experience, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.079 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:40.879 You can have a seat. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.159 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open to Colossians chapter 2. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:45.519 I want to talk to you this morning. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:49.359 If you're our guest today, we're in a series entitled Questions That Christians Ask. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:51.120 Questions Christians Ask. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.359 And we've been looking at different things in today. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:01.920 Probably one of the most often asked questions that I get asked by other believers, and they don't like the answer because the answer is not as easy. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:02.959 I don't know why they don't like it. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:03.599 They just don't like it. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:05.040 They kind of look at me like, mm-hmm. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.280 And so I just thought I would preach on this publicly in case this was a question you have. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:10.960 You will have it at some point in your life. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.680 And the question is simply this: how do I grow? 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:15.840 How do I grow as a Christian? 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 How do I kind of mature and kind of get beyond where I am right now? 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:21.919 And let me get at it like this. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.159 If you're not careful, the people you asked that question to, I don't know if you know today, there's a football game later this afternoon. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:29.199 Kind of a big deal. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.639 Matter of fact, it's such a big deal that the pregame is on right now. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:33.520 I don't know if you knew that. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:39.120 The pregame started at 9 o'clock and it will go until 5:30 when they kick off, which is just, are you kidding me? 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.360 Can you not run out, run out of things to talk about? 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:43.280 But here's some of the questions that they'll be asked. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:48.159 And if you're not careful, being around asking people like, hey, how do I grow as a Christian? 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.800 Okay, I know I'm going to heaven, got that check. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:52.800 But in the meantime, what do I do? 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:58.879 Because if you're not careful, you can become so dissatisfied with who you are and where you are spiritually. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:00.000 You just give up. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:01.039 You just quit. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:10.719 You're just like, I man, this doesn't I and but if you're not careful, you ask some people, it's like when they interview football players, like you'll hear this in the pregame today. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.159 They say, What are the keys to victory? 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.000 Well, we've got to win the turnover battle. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:15.680 Each person's got to give 110%. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:21.199 We've got to win three phases of the game, which are offense, defense, and there you go. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.400 You've heard it before. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:23.120 Yeah. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.240 So if you're not careful, you come to somebody and you say, How do I grow spiritually? 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:28.719 And they go, Oh, well, you've got to trust the promises of God. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:29.840 You've got to believe God. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.479 You got and you're like, okay, offense, defense, special teams, think die, blah blah blah, blah, blah. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.439 I mean, can you imagine anybody saying, hey, what's the key to victory? 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.639 I think if I do half my job, somebody else will cover the rest. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:46.000 But yet, when it comes to the question spiritual, about how do I grow spiritually? 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.080 That's kind of what the answers that we get. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.319 We kind of put all of the responsibility for our spiritual growth on God. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:58.560 It's kind of like, hey, I became a Christian, and now I'm just sitting here waiting for the current of Christianity to carry me along. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.960 And beloved, the Bible doesn't teach that. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.159 Let's look at what the Bible says. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.520 Colossians chapter 2. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.199 I'll start reading in verse 6. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.639 I'm just going to read two verses today and just drill down on these. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:19.839 Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:20.959 That was so short. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:22.000 Let me read it again. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:25.680 Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:31.680 Now he says, therefore, it's because he's kind of uh unpacked some things in the first five verses of chapter two. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.800 And he he's never, Paul's never seen these people face to face. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:41.199 And he says, I want you to know how I'm struggling for you, how I'm interceding for you, how I'm praying for you, that these things would happen. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:52.560 And he kind of wants to remind them, hey, by the way, you keep on keeping on, keep growing, don't just quit because people were entering in and they were kind of teaching things that weren't, didn't line up with the Bible. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:05:04.480 And he says, Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:12.639 In these two short verses, there's three things that kind of shape the way I want to use to shape the way you think about the question, how do I grow? 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.720 The first thing that the Bible tells us is number one, start with regeneration. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:18.160 Start with regeneration. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:18.959 What do you mean? 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.439 Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:36.560 But he starts with, hey, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, regeneration, I taught a class, I teach a class on Wednesday nights here on what's called the order of salvation, which is kind of a 10-step process in how God brings people to faith. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.519 And this past week, we talked about the doctrine of regeneration. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.639 So I'll just give you the definition so you'll know what I'm talking about. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.399 Regeneration is this it's an act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:52.959 And it's an act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.920 Man is passive in regeneration, and God is active. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.839 In other words, God does it. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.040 God creates new life in your dead heart. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.920 The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.519 But God, who's rich in mercy, you know he's rich in mercy, right? 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.480 That means he's got more mercy than you have sinned. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:18.639 So if you're gonna think you're gonna outsend the mercy of God, you're just gonna exclude yourself from that which you were created for. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:20.639 He's rich in mercy. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.879 But God, who's rich in mercy, made you alive. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.480 That's regeneration, okay? 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.199 If you're not careful, you say, well, why do you make a big deal of that? 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.560 I think we assume salvation just because people come to church. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:40.000 I don't assume that you you've been converted or saved or whatever phrase you use for it, just because you come to church. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.680 As a matter of fact, there's a good chance that there's many of you here this morning that your heart has never been regenerated. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:47.839 You say, Well, how do you know? 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:48.720 I I don't know. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.199 Because remember, he said, What's it got to do with the growth? 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:52.079 It's all predicated. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:07:01.759 Paul says, therefore, just as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, if you haven't received Christ Jesus the Lord, then you have no frame of reference for it just as you receive. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.879 There's nothing for you to say, okay, check, got that. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.959 So now what do I do in response to that? 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.079 If you don't have that, he said, Well, how do I know I've been regenerated? 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.279 Let me uh use this example I used in my class on Wednesday night. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:20.800 When I was in college, there was a friend of mine, he had a Toyota MR2, kind of a sexy-looking, sporty little car, and it was a piece of junk, okay? 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:21.680 It looked good. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:23.680 He kept it all waxed and washed. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.560 But remember when you were in college and you were dead broke, and like you couldn't even like like like you just broke, broke. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.519 Like I had 67 cents in the ashtray of my car. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:32.480 That's all I had. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.720 And we were all sitting around, a bunch of guys in the dorm, talking about, oh man, did you see that girl? 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:37.439 Did you see that girl? 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:38.319 Did you see that girl? 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.399 This is before I was in ministry, by the way. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:44.800 Uh and and they mentioned this girl, and they said, Man, she's like the most beautiful girl on this campus. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:45.920 I said, Why don't y'all ask her out? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:46.720 And won't you, Mr. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:47.519 Big Talking? 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:48.879 I said, Man, I'm dead broke. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:49.680 What am I gonna do? 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:51.040 Well, man, man up. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.839 So I walked over to the dorm phone, picked it up, rang over to Lionberry Hall, and asked for her by name. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:56.480 She got on the phone. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:58.480 I said, Hey, I don't know if you, this is Neil McClinnon. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.120 We have computer science. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:07:59.920 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.120 You sat across the aisle from me. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:01.759 Yeah, yeah. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:03.839 Listen, I'm broke as broke can be. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.360 I got 67 cents to my name, and it's in the ashtray of my car. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.759 I don't smoke, but one of my buddies borrowed it, and I think it probably smells like cigarettes. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:17.199 I want to come pick you up, go to the 7-Eleven and get a 49 cent big gulp and go to the park and just get to know you. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.199 She said, I'll be in the lobby in 10 minutes. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.160 I hung the phone up and said, Holler at a player when you see him on the street. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.279 They were like, No, why? 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:28.959 Are you serious? 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:34.960 And I said, Fellas, I'd love to sit and talk to you, but I gotta go take this fine woman out for a big gulp. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:37.759 And I did. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.399 And we I said, Hey, listen, I didn't bring you to a park because I want to make out, I want to kiss you, try to put a move on you. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:45.600 I just want to get to know you. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:51.120 I think you're a beautiful woman, but I think there's also better stuff inside this beautiful exterior. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:58.080 Oh my gosh! I better dial it back. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.080 I'm gonna have to marry this woman right here. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.720 I done got her all just came back. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:04.480 All my friends like, What hell was that? 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:08.480 Listen, you're insulting if all you do is oogle at a beautiful woman. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:09.919 There's a person inside of there. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:11.519 Shut up, McClendon. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.120 All right, I tell you what, I got 20 cents left, so I only spent 49 on a big goat. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.360 Oh, whatever, dude. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:23.919 See, but but my buddy that had the car, it was always, it never would start. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:31.440 And he always was in the in the lot in the parking lot with his hood up, he'd have jumper cables hooked up to it, and we would come down out of our dorm, he'd go, hey man, how about a jump? 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:32.399 How about a jump? 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:33.279 How about a jump? 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.600 And we were like, How about get a new battery, dude? 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.360 I can't, I'm broke, okay? 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:40.080 I mean, it went on for months, and it became a joke. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.759 Who's gonna jump him off today? 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.600 He would ask girls out on dates. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:53.679 It was kind of a pity thing, and he would get his car jumped and go pick them up, park in front of the dorm with the thing running, pick him up, and they're like, Oh, okay, and go to the restaurant, and he would come out of the restaurant and he'd have it hooked up. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:55.679 Hey, this takes just a minute, I gotta jump off my car. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.159 I'm like, dude, buy a battery. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.639 Finally, the guy lived on the second floor. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.600 He was kind of a kind of a redneck, fix-it-all, MacGyver guy. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:09.279 He just walked by one day, and just in passing, he said, The issue ain't your battery, the issue is your alternator. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.360 How many of you know what that means? 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:19.519 Some of y'all are kind of like Super Bowl today, man. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.120 I'm I'm in mind neutral. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.279 The alternator is a part is a part on your car that keeps your battery charged. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.679 Regeneration is not getting a new battery. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.840 Regeneration is like getting an alternator. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.519 You have this capacity. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.840 The commands of the Lord are not burdensome. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:38.000 So when I say start with regeneration, what I'm saying is not it's not just praying the prayer. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.840 It's not just, oh, well, I, you know, I said something, somebody told me I gotta say this and I said this. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:48.639 And praying the prayer is not a verbal contract by which you obligate God to take you to heaven regardless of how you live in the meantime. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.480 You've got to ask yourself, has my heart been regenerated? 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:57.919 I would go as far as to tell you there's gonna be a lot of people who pray the prayer who go to hell when they die. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.200 Because we don't teach a doctrine of regeneration. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:06.960 See, in the American church, we teach for, well, we preach for a response instead of preaching for understanding. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:19.600 And so you need to be a part of a church that loves you enough to teach the doctrines of the Bible, one of them being regeneration, because there's no sense talking about growth unless you start with that, because Paul says in verse 6, therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:27.440 So as you say, hey, let's let's start there, because that's that that that's what he's gonna compare it to, because he says, so walk in him. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:29.840 See, number one, start with a regeneration. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.480 Ask yourself, has my heart ever been brought to life by the Spirit of God? 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:36.480 Secondly, he says, continue. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:37.200 Continue. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:42.480 If you have an NIV, it says, and I read from the ESV, it says, so walk in him. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.480 The NIV says, so continue in him. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:46.320 It's parapeteo, the Greek word. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.279 Same thing. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.039 Just keep on, keeping on. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.639 So walk in him. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:58.399 And the truth is that you need to, we need to acknowledge this morning is that spiritual growth requires exertion on your part. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:02.480 You have to put forth, get ready, brace yourself. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:04.960 I'm gonna say something that sounds crazy. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.399 Spiritual growth means you have to put forth some effort. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:17.679 You can't just become a Christian and just kind of sit there and go, Well, I prayed the prayer and now I'm just waiting for the current to come along and just kind of take me where I want to be. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:21.919 You, it's just a matter of time, if that's you, before you get frustrated and give up. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.960 And you say, What do you mean? 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:25.759 Let me just read different verses in the Bible. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:26.960 They'll come up on the screen. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:33.759 But I want you to hear, all through the Bible, the Bible puts the onus of the impetus on you and I to do these things. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:40.559 That one of the things I love about our church and about Clyde, our worship pastor and the worship ministry, is that we don't sing God a job description. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:42.000 I don't know if you've noticed that or not. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:46.480 We don't sing songs because we have a we have a theological filter and songs have to get through. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:51.679 Like we don't sing songs where we say to God, wash me and feel me and cleanse me and blah, blah, blah. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.120 You say, Well, why is that? 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:54.879 Because that's not in the Bible. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:00.480 After conversion, I don't get to do nothing and make God responsible for my Christian life. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.240 I have to exert myself. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:03.759 I have to put forth some effort. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:06.240 Effort is a four-letter word in most churches. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:07.120 But what do you mean? 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:08.159 Let me just read the Bible. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:08.799 How about that? 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.799 Colossians chapter 3, verse 5. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:19.679 Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.159 And by the way, this doesn't go over. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:27.600 This past week, uh I talked to a 22-year-old who came and I was like awesome. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:28.799 He said, I said, Why are you here? 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.559 He said, I just kind of live in immorality. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.639 Does that mean you're hooking up with your girlfriend? 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:33.360 Yeah, yeah. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.799 And I've kind of been that way ever since I was about 16, and blah, blah, blah. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:38.960 And I just came around from my desk, sat down beside him. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:40.879 I said, I appreciate your openness and your honesty. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:41.679 And we kind of talked. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:43.519 And he said, Well, I just kind of wanted to get some advice. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.000 And uh, and I was like, hmm, you want to get some advice? 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.799 How much advice do you need about immorality? 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.279 And I was like, Oh, what are we? 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:00.320 And I saw I just kind of let him talk and kind of spool it out there, and I said, you know, here's the reality. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:04.320 If you came to get advice or to, you know, because I was talking and he didn't like what I was saying. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:04.799 You ever talk? 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:10.879 Somebody asked you a question, you start answering it, and they're kind of looking at you like, nah, this is not what I'm looking for. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.159 Remember that remember that cat food commercial about Morris the cat? 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:16.960 Morris was finicky, only ate certain things? 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.320 This cat was finicky. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.240 Let me tell you something, and this is from a heart of love. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.080 If you're living in immorality, you forfeit the right to be finicky, okay? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.279 And so I just sat there and he's like, ah, well, you know, uh. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:33.440 And I said, here, the Bible says, like in Colossians chapter 3, and I reference it, it says, put to death therefore what is earthly in you. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:39.840 It lists off these things sexual morality, impurity, evil desire, passion, covetousness, which is idolatry. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.960 I just think you're guilty of all these in relation to your girlfriend. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.480 Well, that's not helping me. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.919 Well, what would help you? 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:47.279 I just need to be encouraged. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:48.480 And I said, Here's the deal. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:49.679 You want me to fix this. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:50.960 This is your responsibility. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:52.320 It's your immorality. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:53.519 You kill it. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.399 He looked at me like, how did you get this job? 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:03.679 And so I just thought, we need to go to the next level. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:09.759 And so I said, You're kind of talking, and I said, This is a you want me to like read the point footprints to you. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:12.080 And he goes, Yeah, I'm familiar with that. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.840 You know, where the man had a dream and he looked back, and there's two footprints in the sand at the lowest points of his life. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.960 There was only one set of footprints, and he asked God why. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.720 Just for the record, you're not gonna ask God anything. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:32.720 So if you've got a list of, hey, God, you're gonna have to explain this, you might want to put your big boy pants on because that's not gonna go like you think. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.240 Hey, I've I've I've been wondering. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:50.320 Uh oh, okay, but uh, and I said, So you look back, he goes, Yeah, I just I just think right now God's carrying me, and I just need you to, and I'm like, Well, you you you think Jesus, you think you're like getting a piggyback ride from Jesus to the valley of immorality? 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:51.120 You know what I think? 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:53.440 What I hear God saying, he goes, No, go ahead. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.559 And I said, I think I hear God saying, get off my back. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:00.879 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:08.559 Jesus is saying to your crooked self, hey, hey, you got to ignore, you gotta put to death immorality. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:09.360 Here's why. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:15.360 Because if you don't put this to death, you marry her, or this ends bad, and you marry somebody, and by the way, I ain't shaming the guy. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.960 I'm not, I'm not pointing the finger at him, I'm not telling him you're a bad person. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:26.000 I'm saying the way you think about spiritual growth is unbiblical and flawed, and will not make a hilla beans difference in your life. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:36.480 You want to make the preacher responsible, you want to make God responsible, but yet if you read through the Bible, like 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 11, but as for you, O man of God, flee these things. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:38.320 Hello? 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:46.080 Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, steadfastness, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:51.600 Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.840 Luke chapter 13, verse 24. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:59.440 This is Jesus in response to somebody in the crowd called out, Hey Jesus, are there many being saved? 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:02.240 Jesus says, Strive to enter in through the narrow door. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.759 For many I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.119 Hot out of the heart of God. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:10.880 It doesn't stop there, it only gets better. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.599 This is 2 Peter chapter 1, for this very reason. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.000 Make every effort to supplement your faith. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:17.279 Hello. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:25.200 I actually read this because sometimes I say stuff, I'll quote something out of the Bible, and people will look at me kind of like, are you making this up? 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.720 And I'll just, hey, let me let me just show you. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.960 So this is one of the passages I showed the cat. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.519 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.680 And by the way, when it says supplement or add to your faith, it's not that your faith is deficient. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:44.079 It's just that once you become a Christian, once I become a man of faith, I have the responsibility to grow as a believer. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:59.359 For this very reason, make every effort, there's that word again, to supplement your faith with virtue, and your virtue with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control, and your self-control with steadfastness, and your steadfastness with godliness, and your godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:08.400 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:15.599 Well, I mean, I came in here wanting to be encouraged, and I mean this is just heavy, bro. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:20.559 Bro, that's the best you got, bro. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.920 And I said, Well, let me encourage you with these words. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:31.680 If you don't learn to put to death immorality, it'll plague you the rest of your life. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:34.079 It just will. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:37.920 And I said, I'm just talking to you as a man, not as a pastor. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.240 I'm talking to you man to man here, okay? 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:47.200 So, since we talked about exertion and effort, let me give you five things you need to exert yourself in. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:49.279 Number one, your marriage. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:50.160 Your marriage. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.079 Here's why I say this. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:53.359 I I know marriage is hard. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.200 I did a wedding last night, by the way. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:56.079 Loved it. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.400 Wedding, nice little outdoor, cool, kind of hip, artsy fartsy wedding. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:06.799 We had lights and everything, and they had a free bar, they had a big decanter of margaritas on the rocks, and the wedding started late. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.359 By the time the wedding started, that baby was half empty. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.039 And somebody said, Does this bother you? 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:11.599 Not at all. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.160 Not at all. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.400 The Bible's sitting there and says, Don't drink, says, don't get drunk. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.160 Well, I think it's too late for some of these cats. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:16.799 That's okay. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:20.000 Because when this thing starts, I got a captive audience. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.680 And I'm about to set the kingdom down up in Hera. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:29.039 And the guy's like, Well, uh, I've never seen a Baptist pastor that wasn't bothered by this. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:30.480 And I went, it doesn't bother me. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.079 I'm not the general manager of the universe. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.519 I want to help these people get married. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.720 So they come down the aisle, got the gazebo and everything, and they stand there. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.759 First thing I said to them was, Today is the easiest day of your married life. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.640 Everybody in the crowd was like, Whoa! Oh yeah. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.799 And the guy looked like, is it too late? 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:52.720 Can we get somebody else? 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:56.640 I said, Today, you can guarantee the outcome of what's gonna happen. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.039 After this, good luck. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.519 Let's pray. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:07.200 Don't show up 30 minutes late for the wedding and you're gonna get a little something, something. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.559 Here's the thing marriage is the crucible of transformation, okay? 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:11.359 Here's why. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:18.079 Because on at 10 o'clock on Friday night, your wife can look at you and say, Gosh, I hate you. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.240 You make me so frustrated. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:24.160 And the next morning she wakes up and says, Hey hon, what you want for breakfast? 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.559 You gonna poison me? 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:30.960 What? 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.599 Like this week, some of you don't know this, some of you do. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.440 My wife is totally deaf in her right ear. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:36.000 She cannot hear. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.480 So if you stand on her right side and you say something, she can't hear you. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.480 She's doing this to point her good ear at you. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.920 I said something to my wife, hey, would you grab me something out of the refrigerator? 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:45.680 She's right there going into our kitchen. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:46.640 My house is not that big. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:47.599 She had to hear that. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.279 So 20 minutes go by, and I'm like, hey, and I say, hey, did you forget about it? 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:52.559 And she goes, Did you say something? 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.440 And I said, Yeah, I asked you to grab me something out of the refrigerator. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:56.400 She goes, I didn't hear you. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:57.680 You know, I'm deaf in one ear. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.319 I said, okay, so listen twice as hard. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.480 That was about 4:30 yesterday. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.559 We ain't spoken since. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:16.960 So if you have an opening at your Super Bowl party, I'm available. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:20.079 But let me tell you something. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.680 Hey, is it hard? 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:22.319 Yeah. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:23.680 Yeah, it's hard. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:24.079 Why? 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.480 Because you're both redeemed sinners. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.680 If you're Christians. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.200 And if you're not, if you're married to an unbeliever, he's just a sinner. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:33.279 Good luck. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:36.720 You don't share the same belief. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:39.599 You're not coming at it from the same perspective. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:41.440 But you gotta exert yourself. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:43.359 You gotta put in some effort. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:43.759 Why? 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.160 Because just because it's hard doesn't mean it's wrong. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.319 Second thing you need to exert yourself in is the word, the Bible. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:52.480 You say, what do you mean? 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:54.240 Most of us read for reinforcement. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:55.759 We don't read for understanding. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:00.640 And the church has taught you that because we we preach for a Response. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.079 We don't preach and teach for you to understand stuff. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.519 You say, What do you mean the word? 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.839 A couple weeks ago, remember we read Romans 12 every day, starting Sunday to the next Sunday? 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.759 I got a new chapter for us that I want us to read. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:12.559 It's real short. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.880 This week I want you to read every day the 119th Psalm. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:21.519 Some of y'all are wondering why they're laughing, aren't you? 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:22.640