Of leprosy especially someone who was Jewish or was an Israelite at no time in the history of Israel had anyone who was an Israelite been healed of leprosy and so there were laws in the scriptures in Leviticus that had never been performed in the history of Israel so the significance of that healing was at the fair seas believed that if leprosy was a divine judgment only the divine could set someone free of their leprosy and so on that basis they believed that if a man if a Jewish man was healed of leprosy then that would be the signal that would be an indication that the Messiah was present that the Messiah had arrived so they were investigating the circumstances of the healing of the Jewish leper Now there were some rules that they imposed upon themselves to govern their investigation and one of the most important rules that they had was that they would not go and ask any questions concerning the matter that they were investigating they could make the announcement that they were investigating the circumstances but they could not ask any leading questions or any questions of any kind in order to ensure that they did not influence the facts concerning the matter that they were investigating so in this stage in this stage of their investigation they would not be allowed to speak according to their own beliefs they would restrain themselves they would restrict themselves and they would not ask any questions they would not do anything that would potentially damage or influence the facts that they were trying to find out that they were trying to obtain information about and so that was a restriction that they put upon themselves and this is a very important situation now that these people the fairest season the teachers of the law they have come to Capernaum to investigate the circumstances and they are going to be confronted with the Lord Jesus in his messianic context now of course there was no prophecy that was given that explicitly. Stated that the Messiah would heal a Jewish leper there is no prophecy concerning that this is an exclusive belief of the fairest sees and so the Lord Jesus was under no obligation he was under no obligation to perform this miracle because there was no prophecy that he was fulfilling there was no foreshadowing in the law or in the writings that he was fulfilling that he was bringing out and showing the reality there was no foreshadowing involved here there is no prophecy here this was something that he did explicitly in order to reach out to the people on the basis of what they believed on the basis of their beliefs not according to the law or the prophets so this is the context this is the circumstance that brings all of these people together and Jesus is teaching inside of a house and all of these faires he's in teachers from all over Israel are observing him they are listening to him and at this time he has a captive audience at this time in his ministry he is able to speak freely without being interrupted this is a very important part of his ministry where he is now going to be able to speak without any interruptions he has a captive audience and audience who has put a restriction upon themselves that they are not going to speak or ask any questions and so he gets to speak to them directly openly freely without any concern about them complaining about what he's saying or rejecting what he is saying outright or openly confronting him because of what he says or what he does and so what does he do in this circumstance what does he do in order to take advantage of this stage of his ministry to be able to speak freely and openly without anyone rejecting or confronting him concerning what he says what he does is he heals a man who is paralyzed now in order to fully of. It is healing again it is very valuable it's very important to understand the beliefs of the Ferris sees because if you do not fully understand the beliefs of the fairest sees you can easily see this Miracle and say something like oh look he healed the man who was paralyzed wasn't that nice Well of course it was nice but that's not all that is described here that's not all that is contained here you need to understand the context and you need to understand the beliefs of the people in order to fully appreciate what Jesus does and what he conveys indirectly through this Miracle now in Luke Chapter 5 beginning in verse 18 it says and some men were carrying on a bad man who was paralyzed and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of him but not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus so here's the situation you have a man who is being lowered down from the roof they made a hole in the roof and lowered him down because they couldn't get him in any other way they probably asked people to move aside and they either would move aside or they didn't have the ability to move aside because there are too many people in this room or in this house listening to the Lord Jesus intently they're investigating him they're listening to him and seen what he does so because they were not able to get the man to Jesus they lowered him from the roof right in the middle of everyone right in front of the Lord Jesus now what are the fairest seas going to be thinking what are the teachers of the law going to be thinking when they see this man being lowered down from the roof who is paralyzed how would they see the man who was paralyzed Well they would see this man as a sinner that's how they would have seen this man they would see this man being lowered down and they would say to. Him selves look at this sinner who is being lowered down in front of Jesus why would they think of this man as a sinner they would think of this man as a sinner because he was paralyzed because he was not able to walk like they were because he was not able to do things like they could do things they would have perceived him as being under the divine judgment of God for his sins now we don't know the circumstances of him being paralyzed it could be that he was paralyzed for his whole life we don't know that we don't have enough information concerning that but we don't really need to know the circumstances of him being paralyzed in this case because the people would have perceived him as a center the Lord Jesus refers to him in the context of his sin and so considering the evidence that we do have I think we can say with great confidence that the circumstances concerning his parallelization are simply not important and so I just want to focus on the importance of recognizing that the fair is he's would see him as someone who was not being blessed he was experiencing a form of a curse because of the fact that he was paralyzed and so they would see him as a sinner under the divine judgment of God Now who is going to be able to set him free from this divine judgment if this is the case who is going to set him free from that while the only one who could set him free from a divine judgment of God would have to be God Himself because who is going to overrule the authority of God who is going to say that God was wrong or who is going to say that God has given enough punishment to this individual who is going to pass judgment on the judgment of God in that context only the divine would have the authority to set him free from being paralyzed this was the belief of the fairest see. Yes And so when this man was presented before them and the Lord Jesus they would see him as someone who was being judged for their sans Now they of course believed that they had found a way of life a lifestyle that they could live to ensure that they would never sin and so because of that they believed that they were going to be blessed by God and if they were not experiencing blessings from God right now they believed that those blessings were on their way that they would definitely be blessed by God or if they were already experiencing some blessings in their life then they could suggest that God delivered because of their obedience because of their repentance from their sins and their obedience to His commandments and so because of this added to that they would have they would believe that they did not have a need for forgiveness on the other hand this man who was paralyzed they would believe that he would definitely have a need for forgiveness from God So this belief further polarized them from this man they sincerely believed that they were not like this man that this man was not like them and they believe that it was very unlikely that they would ever find themselves in a circumstance like this because they believed that they had found a way of living that was satisfactory they believed that they had found a way of living a sinless life so that they would never experience the divine judgment of God And so because of that they believed that they had no need for forgiveness that they had no need for the forgiveness of their sins because they had succeeded in being obedient to God that they would have no need for forgiveness but this man here he definitely in their opinion would have a need for forgiveness. So what does Jesus do what does he say as we continue to read in Luke Chapter 5 Verse 20 it says seen their faith he said friend your sins are forgiven you now this is a very serious thing to say this is a very serious matter here for Jesus to declare that this man's sins are forgiven in the context in the circumstances in the midst of all these people who believe that only God can set someone free from a divine judgment through forgiveness of their sins when he says this is the real issue is not the issue of sins the real issue is that he is declaring that he is God manifested in the flesh he is declaring to the people using their vocabulary using their beliefs using their theology using a language that they understand he is declaring to them in a very direct way that he is the Messiah that he is God Many festered in the flesh and he has the authority of the Living God right then right there that there should be no confusion about this and any way whatsoever that he is declaring openly and publicly to the people who are representing the entire nation of Israel those from Galilee Judeo Jerusalem the entire country is covered by these locations he is taking the opportunity during their investigation of the healing of the Jewish leper to openly tell everyone that he is the Messiah but if you do not understand their beliefs concerning sin concerning infirmities such as this concerning these things if you don't understand this it can be very easy to miss the significance of what he is saying but do not underestimate the significance of what he is saying here he explains that he has. The authority to forgive this man sins now we certainly do not know if this was a divine judgment or if this was a natural consequence of the sins that he perhaps committed we don't know for certain if this was a divine judgment or not the what we do know is that regardless of whether this was a divine judgment in other words regardless of whether his paralyzation is the result of his sins before God or his sins before others whether it was a divine judgment or a natural consequence we don't know we don't have that much information but again this is not really the issue the issue is that Jesus is declaring that God will not hold his sins against Him any more so whether it was a divine judgment or a natural consequence he is making a declaration that it doesn't matter in this context he is not referring to the reason he is not referring to the specific sins the specific reasons why he may have been paralyzed he is just simply saying openly and directly that all of his sins are forgiven now from the Thursday's point of view they would say that it was a specific sin that caused this man to be paralyzed However when Jesus says in a general context that his sins are forgiven that is a statement that this is not just a matter of the man being paralyzed but this is a general matter to say that all of his sins are dealt with and so this man is being declared to be as righteous as holy as the fair is sees are even though the fairest sees would not have seen him that way that's what the Lord Jesus is declaring to these people openly and directly using their language using their beliefs in order to show them that he is God manifested in the flesh now describes in the fairest seas in verse $21.00 it says the. Scribes in the fairest seas began to reason saying Who is this man who speaks blasphemies who can forgive sins but God alone according to the definition of blasphemy blasphemy means that you are declaring yourself to be equal with God that you are declaring yourself to be the same as God and I did do a program on the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit I would definitely like to encourage you to listen to that one but here they say very clearly that only God can forgive sins and so if Jesus is saying that his sins are forgiven he is saying that he is God and that he is God alone that he is God manifest did in the flesh now they were reasoning but it does not say that they were reasoning openly that they were discussing the matter openly that they were asking questions openly It doesn't say that if you keep reading into verse 22 but Jesus aware of their reasonings answered and said to them Why are you reasoning in your hearts that's a very important thing to ask and is very revealing concerning these circumstances because that would be consistent with their rules concerning their stage of investigation they would not be permitted according to their own beliefs they would not allow themselves to reason openly to ask questions about as openly they would not discuss this matter they would only reason in their own hearts in other words Jesus proclaimed that this man's sins were forgiven and there was dead silence in this room dead silence in this house in this area were all of these people were at Jesus was able to speak freely openly and perform this miracle without any interruptions whatsoever and then he speaks to the people there and tells them that he knows exactly what is going on in their hearts he knows exact. What they are thinking about and what they are reasoning about in their hearts he tells them exactly what they are thinking and he says which is easier to say your sins have been forgiven you or to say get up and walk now is asking this question but who's going to answer it no one is going to answer it because a again they have put this restriction upon themselves during this phase of their investigation they are not going to answer his question so he answers the question in verse 24 but so that you may know that the Son of Man which is a reference to the Messiah the living God manifest in the flesh has authority on earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic I say to you get up and pick up your stretcher and go home immediately he got up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorifying God Now what are they going to do with this or are they going to declare that God was in their midst now they were going to do that they have not had an adequate amount of time to resolve the matter at hand they have not completed the investigation of the healing of the Jewish leper this Miracle is going to require another investigation of a different type but they're going to have to examine this as well they're going to have to reason about this all they could do was observe what was happening witnessed this and just watch the Lord Jesus work watch him perform his ministry in verse 26 it says they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God and they were filled with fear saying we have seen remarkable things today Ok so they were filled with astonishment they can glorify God they can say that they have seen remarkable things but they will not pass judgment on the matter and say the Jew. This is the Messiah they can't do that yet they haven't finished their investigative process yet so they can glorify God they can be astonished they can say that things are remarkable but you know what that doesn't matter it doesn't matter it doesn't matter if someone is astonished it doesn't matter if somebody says that something is remarkable or not it doesn't matter if they glorify God that does not matter what matters is that God is right there in their midst he is right there and they are not willing to acknowledge him they are not willing to believe in him they're not going to do it they're not going to do that because they have not followed through they have not completed what they believe they need to do what they need to accomplish in order to validate and verify in order to give their approval of him that's the issue they cannot stand on his approval they cannot rest on what he has done to openly declare his divinity they cannot do that according to their own beliefs they are unable to do that they have restricted themselves so the Lord Jesus is not recognized as being the Messiah by the people at this point he is not recognized by them as the Messiah not by the Thera sees the teachers of the law the representatives of all the people throughout the entire land of Israel they are not able to do that yet and this is a very serious thing to notice is a very important thing that I really wanted to mention and that is that a person's beliefs a person's attitudes what people believe is a very serious matter and this is an example of how serious this is and how a person's beliefs can prevent them from acknowledging the living God when he's right there in their presence now concerning this issue of forgiveness there is a concern with regards to forgiveness because he says that the man's sins are forgiven. Now there are many people who believe that forgiveness is salvation and that's why this can be a very important issue for Jesus to say that his sins are forgiven some people would say that this man has been saved and I personally do not believe that I personally do not believe that a person is saved by being forgiven I do believe that forgiveness is what makes salvation possible but to me it is not salvation salvation is the restoration of the Holy Spirit and forgiveness makes this restoration possible because once you receive the Holy Spirit of God and dwelling within you that he gives freely once you receive the restoration of the Holy Spirit then if you have the complete forgiveness of sins there is no sin that will cause the Holy Spirit to depart from within you but if there is any sand left Unforgiven Well then you've got a serious problem that has to be addressed and that is how are you going to get the Holy Spirit back once he leaves you how is that going to be resolved and so I personally believe that the forgiveness issue here is not a big issue as other people do believe it is an issue because other people believe that it is salvation I don't think that Jesus is telling this man that he is saved I don't believe that but others discuss this statement in that context in this program however I'm going to refer to this notion of forgiveness just by saying a couple of things the 1st thing is is that he may have said that his sins were forgiven up to that point but of course he's going to sin again and so it doesn't matter the other thing that I want to mention is that everyone there had a need for forgiveness even though the majority of people there did not believe that they had a need for forgiveness everybody there had a need for forgiveness there was no one there who was holy and righteous before God because of what they did or what they didn't do everyone there had a need for for. Ignace and so for Jesus to declare that he was not going to hold this man's sins against Him to me indirectly he was also declaring that he wasn't going to hold anybody else's sins against them either to me that was an indirect way of saying that he was not there to hold anyone's sins against them now if a person would like to discuss this with the living God I'm sure the conversation would be very simple if a person did not believe that they had a need for forgiveness then God could show them all of their sands and show them that they had a need for forgiveness if a person recognized that they had a need for forgiveness then the Lord would have no need to show them all the sins that they have committed in order to demonstrate to them that sure enough they did have a need for forgiveness there would be no need for that the Lord could just simply exercise forgiveness on the basis of a person's desire for grace and mercy so the forgiveness issue is not that big of an issue to me in this context because regardless of the forgiveness that Jesus was presenting even if it was a matter of divine judgment that he was setting the man free from by declaring that his sins were no longer held against him that he was forgiven so he could be set free from being paralyzed even if that was the case it still wouldn't matter because these issues are related to the flesh they are related to this life they are not related to gradually to the real issue of the spiritual condition of humanity and that once you leave this life you are either going to heaven or hell that those are your only 2 options the Lord Jesus would not address that issue until later when he died on the cross for the sins of the entire world and when he did that he accomplished forgiveness in this sense that he forgave this sins of the entire world regardless of whether people wanted to be forgiven or not it didn't matter the living. God didn't ask anyone for permission to forgive them he just simply said I am no longer going to relate to mankind I am no longer going to relate to the world on the basis of their sin because if I did then everyone would be condemned everyone would be condemned no one would escape and so to me the real issue here is not forgiveness to me the real issue is that Jesus has used forgiveness the subject of forgiveness to reveal to the people that he is the Messiah. You've been listening to the broadcast outreach of Living God ministries you can hear all of our programs for free through our radio archive at Living God Ministries dot net that is living God Ministries dot net do help us develop new radio programs and continue broadcasting on this and other radio stations send your contributions to living God ministries p.o. Box 38353 Colorado Springs Colorado 80937 or use the donation link on our website living God Ministries dot net that is living God Ministries dot net. The preceding program is sponsored by living God ministries. The good news of Jesus for you in high definition radio and streaming at 670 calle t.v. Dot com This is calle t t commerce. The Word of God Well when you ritually that's the key sharing biblical principles expounding Grace living preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ all are hallmarks of the radio ministry hope is alive hope is alive features the. Senior. Church to be heard Monday through Friday evenings at 6 30 pm right here for k l t t. Weeknights at $630.00. The nation's most powerful Christian. Jerry and Edna recently contacted. Through our Facebook page to share the one Christian who has most impacted their lives Frank Furedi Here's a quotation from the wounded spirit written by Frank in 2000. Years. Thank you for reaching out to this station through our Facebook page. Visit Facebook dot com and search for. 6 am so that you too may join the conversation. Welcome to fit. The purpose of this research base program is to help you improve. You can Join us weekdays on 6. Am and. Listen to. The fit. On Twitter and now let's join pastor attic. Thank you for being here with us today this is Pastor Gordon coming to you from our humble studio. There. 7 they had the shirts. My buddy Gary Beasley here Pastor Gary Beasley and he's a pastor of Christ St Fellowship Church that also meets here on this campus on Sunday mornings you know Gary we have at least 11 attendee that the things both churches yours and Sunday and mine on sat through that well I just think that is pretty amazing and they might be moonlighting to another one on how much we don't know but it's really an indication that they want the things of God and can't get enough of them so I think that's pretty cool it's pretty cool with right to do things together and yes we did in the ministry and the working with the homeless people this week we had 2 homeless guys one young guy that showed up and he needed help and. He told us openly that he was on drugs and using drugs and quit and was clean for a few weeks and he says I'm on the street he came church in shorts. T. Shirt a pair of gym shoes without socks and he went through hell living out there on the streets Well 2 weeks later we the help of the Church of family we got the clothes on his back somebody took him in for a few days we got him into a motel for a few days and by time he lived here to vist out to be on a construction job a good paying construction job he had everything that he needed to start over again and we received several pictures from him over the last week of building these airplane hangers down at the airports over there and just having a blast and just thinking everybody for but you know the reason why it's all happened is because he wanted it to happen and he got tired of his life in streets and drugs and all that stuff yes. Yes that is partly partly why it happened but the other reason why it happened was the church was be in the church the church was doing what the church is supposed to be doing the hands in the feet of Christ extended so we had that other guy he was. With this ability in his fifties came comes to our church on a regular basis and he lost the place where he was living in the public street he was on the street for a month before he reached out to us and me alone got the role of several of the people you know in the church then he's from the in the newsroom church and before I actually had to let him sleep. Here on our property which I really should shouldn't do you know because of all the policies in the surance and everything but just to get him out of the cold but finally you know after about 10 days. We were able to get him into an assisted living in a proper medical care and all of this stuff and it's a lot of work you know yeah and I thought to myself well to down to half a 1000000 is what they say he's how many homeless are even United States do you remember the famous story and I don't know where it came from but the story of the man walking along the beach and there's all these starfish that for some reason the top I change whatever they were all washed up and and we're going to all die because they're being desiccated by the by the wind and he was picking them up and throwing them back in the ocean they were like thousands of them and he was just you know able to do a few and somebody Solomon said you know do you think you're doing any good I mean there's so many he said well I did good for that one yeah. I guess he said I did good for that one and if we all did good for a vacuum one. Whoever that one is in our life we all did that then they'd be a whole lot of good you gather together right the Bible says yes as a matter of fact that is where we're going to head today. We're working through the book of James the cry St fellowship a verse by verse it's called expose atory teaching I do this sometimes 1st by verse it's it's fun it's helpful it's good so we're working through James and we've come to some of the most misunderstood passages in the in the entire book and so we're breaking them down and digging into them but here's where James to verse 14 says what good is it my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith. But has no d. Now one translation says works about works and church can such faith the kind of faith that doesn't have any fruit deeds work attached to it can such faith say to them of course the obvious answer the James is getting through is No Now the reason it's tough to to work through these verses is the Bible clearly says we are saved by faith by grace through faith the chanst to aid in NY maybe the most classic verse For by grace are you saved through faith not of yourselves it is the gift of God Not of works so it's you give me more clean that not of works lest any man should boast pure mercy pure mercy but yet vis verse seems to say. Wait a minute he's talking about deeds and works the other verses it's not a work so what's it all about. Here's what it's about James is not discussing whether or not we are saved by faith you know there was a recent post to be girly in order for God to approve and we're not and he's not saying that he's not saying that we're not saved by faith he's talking about the kind of faith that saves us and that's the key what kind of faith saves us so there has to be more than one kind of faith it's really 2 different topics as 2 different topics altogether be saved by works really means that I'm going to keep score to keep track of my behavior and I want to try to please God by enough lauding by not stealing by not cheating you know about the problem with it is that no no if he's really good enough because the sin has permeated the whole planet you know and I mean you can't just do few good deeds and earn your way back into God's grace you know other words God has decided to love you for her. You are respond to who you are and he did that through sun through sending His Son to die on a cross because it's not the god overlooks those things it's that the penalty for those things has been paid has been paid right so you can't really do anything about it it's your to the god it's a gift you have to believe but there is a faith that doesn't save and there's a faith that does say James says So what's interesting is what kind of faith can't save he goes on to say this. You believe there is one God good. The devils believe that and shatter they believe that. They actually believe that they're not only monotheist they believe that Jesus is the Son of God the story in the gospels Jesus casting out a devil what is the devil say on his way out. Give away from me so he has I memorized in the King King James what what have we to do with the valves Son of God come hither to torment us before thought I pray that he has no other words I know that you are the Son of God So devils believe correctly but they're not devils in heaven so there's a different thing that faith is it's not just believing in that that since it's something more. I've heard one preacher say one time that salvation is really sometimes a matter of 18 inches that's the distance from your head to your heart your head I believe in your case probably 20 inches I'm a little taller. Your head I believe but your heart on my belief has has changed something it's created something it's produced with James calls good works good deeds I will stray should I often use about a subject this subject I bring a book up with me I hope you don't use it too often because you want to know it's good people love it bring a book up with me and I say let's imagine this book is a book of all the things I believe. All the things I give what we call mental assent to I say yeah I believe that one and I believe that and in this book I have Abraham Lincoln I believe in Abraham Lincoln don't you I believe he lived sure I do I believe he died I believe he was a good man that's in my book and in my book I believe America was founded by I have all these things I believe suppose Jesus dies on a cross rises again from the from the grave and we open up our little book there of all things we believe we add that I believe Jesus died and we close the book and say well I've added that to all of my other belief systems. Do you really think Jesus died. A horrible death on a cross loved us so much so that we would write that in our book of beliefs and leave it there he didn't die for our head he died for a heart yes we're supposed to believe but that belief is supposed to then produce something I believe Abraham Lincoln lived and died I don't think about Abraham Lincoln every day his words I don't memorize the fact that he lived and died doesn't change how I live but Jesus I memorize his words his life has changed my life. He is the one I fall in love with because of what he did so mental assent just believing Devil's Due that it's got to go to a real faith that's down inside of us to be saving faith. James then does something really interesting in these passages he tells us what saving faith isn't it isn't just believing in your head it isn't the faith that doesn't produce works he says that kind of faith is dead it's not real but then instead of telling us what saving faith is he gives 2 illustrations and it's interesting the Bible is written in a whole bunch of stories God chose to write stories so in these stories we kind of see what real faith saving faith is and one was the story of Abraham he said was not Abraham our father declared righteous because of what he did. Not just what he believed so I went back and looked at that story and from it you can learn so much about what saving faith is. Abraham is called to go by God to leave his land which he was a polytheist and a idolater to go from where he lived in to a place called Canaan and how do we know he had a real faith how do we know it wasn't just mental assent because he went. To the last of his family he did the mother he went. That's making anything wasn't like you're going to like nowadays if you're going somewhere you already know we're going when you have been through it you can look at the pictures you know I mean he was going through a really old unknown and his faith was more than just in the mind because he did it he did it he did it but as I kept reading I realized that even this saving faith is not a perfect faith and that's one of things you learn in the story he starts on his way to Canaan but he only gets halfway to a place called her ran and he stays there for a long time till his dad dies then finally goes to came it so yes it was real faith but it was faith that was maybe not perfect faith he gets to Canaan and there's a famine. He's not supposed to leave there but he's worried Gaza not going to take care of him he goes to Egypt he gets to Egypt and he's worried because wife is so pretty someone's going to kill him marry his wife she must have looked like my wife but anyway you know you're going to get good for you for this that was for you he. Is true by the way so he's there and God has to rescue him from there he so faith even though it's saving faith even though it's faith it's in our hearts needs to be encouraged can grow weak maybe that's why we need each other and faith is always attacked by fear it's always attack by fear even real faith and that's the part that's what I get out of the story so I just preached about the other day about Jesus walking on that just saw him feed 20000 people and perform miracles and he walks on water and they start screaming in fear and he has to tell them Hey relax it's his eye here so. Even even sometimes when you see the hand of God in your life fear can still overcome you you know let's add a little bit to that story if we can there's where you can get well there are 2 people who walked on water right in the gospels we say Jesus walked on water will somebody else walked on water too that's right and he wasn't the son of God He was a regular human being like you and I who wanted to push the limits his name was Peter and Peter who was just a regular man walked on water he said if that's you Jesus bid me come to you and he got out of the boat and Peter walked on water for a while. Then this here just as he took his eyes off Jesus He looked around in the circumstances what am I doing and then he started to sink so faith even real faith even saving faith grows weak sometimes has to be strengthened sometimes and it doesn't make a senseless that's for sure human nature is weak human nature is weak and that's why we desperately need one another that are believers. You know somebody asked me about do I need to go to church all man. I guess one of my favorite stories about that is a preacher I was Charles Spurgeon the famous preacher was in a man's house one time and the man said I don't think you need to go to church you can believe in God and live that belief system out on your own what matters is you have saving faith the church thing doesn't matter and Spurgeon never answered him the story goes instead it was during winter there in England he went over to the fireplace he pulled out one of the red hot coals and he set it on the hearth and he went back in his seat and continue the conversation. Then after about an hour he got up to leave and he took the man over to the one coal that had been taken out separated placed by itself on the hearth you could touch it you could pick it up this coal that a one time had been hot it was now for all practical purposes out but all the ones huddled in the fireplace you couldn't get near them they were so hot and the man had his answer didn't take a long dissertation on why you need church because our faith grows weak our faith even if it's saving faith needs to be encouraged often and God uses other people to do it then that's an excellent point that's Persian guy was pretty smart and he was . Yes he was he had the 1st mega church by the way really interesting he was in London he had a mega church he never set out to do that there were no mega churches back in that day but he was such a amazing preacher that people would just come from all around to hear him and his sermons have been kept and produced and if you want to preach on a Sunday sabbath day and don't have any good material to. Preach your service I'm not the same to say very good you have to change the language of it's pretty old language but I was in the seminary you know and we were taking a class on preaching that the teacher told us professor said look if you will learn how to preach. Go and take some by these sermons like Persians and other guys who are come before you and who knew what they were doing and preach those sermons until you get the hang of it you know and I I did I preached a lot of good sermons not just Persian but modern day people like John Maxwell back in the day was very. Firm in the sermons Rick Warren I mean a lot of people well if you're not too proud you can learn a whole lot from old all know you you just. I was not too proud I want to learn how the other guys think you know and and I always look to that is I'm going to improve on those sermons a little bit. Least you're going to make them your own. I was at a conference one time Rick Warren was speaking and he said you know my father was a Bible cation a pastor he worked all week Rick Warren said 40 hours and it had to come on Sunday and how hard it was for him to have the time to put together messages he said you know I got all day to put together some part of a big church he said So you know what why don't you take mine he said I don't care how copyright the things take him and there's something good in there you can use use it adapt it change I thought what a godly man to do something like that sure there are a lot of preachers who have nice big churches and they can devote literally 40 hours to a sermon you know and that's going to be a lot better than somebody who doesn't have that kind of time you know well that is true that is true as your super talented unless you're Michael Jordan of preachers but he when he had to practice he practiced a lot this saving faith concept. I'm nervous talking about why well I'm nervous because there are people who have tender consciences and when you start suggesting that there's a faith that saves in a faith that doesn't say which you would James to say they start to doubt their salvation they start to go Maybe mine's not the one that saves them explain a thrill Leslie Well I will explain and I sleep it's almost a kind of thing that you do better one on one it's your job to clarify it so quick so that it's all clear that that nobody has any misunderstanding will Thank you Pastor Gordon I will certainly see. You think the Lord and do my very best at that. But I won't got to move into how I'm going to in my time on Sunday is going to talk about this I'm going to preach and that I'm going to let him know that James insists sections on true faith false faith mental assent versus saving faith and then he doesn't tell us what to do he changes the subject starts talking about what your tongue after they start talking about words and so he doesn't give us a solution isn't Tell us how do I get it from my head to my heart for that we have to go elsewhere and as I started going elsewhere in Scripture it's all the Holy Spirit when he comes he will reveal Christ it's the Holy Spirit who brings regeneration it's the Holy Spirit who can fix of sand is the Holy Spirit who brings new birth unless you're born of the water and of the spirit you'll not see the kingdom of God So what I'm going to do at the end I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit . Just to come in the room and and reveal to people where they are is it mental assent or heart faith and then to do it only he can do he did it to you he did it to me I was walking out of a concert when I was 21 years of age I had known about Jesus all my life I had mental assent you'd asked me when I was 18 Do I believe the Apostles Creed actually knew the Apostles Creed I was raised in a church I said every Sunday I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker You know the whole thing so I believed correctly it was all in my mind good deeds Oh my goodness. Many of those you were to follow me around all day you would see it was strictly this kind of mental belief that doesn't say but as I walked out of a concert when I was 21 years of age and I said God I want the real thing something happened the Holy Spirit did something so profound in my heart took that belief from the head to the heart it was 18 inches there when I woke up the next day at my 1st thought was I love God I never thoughts like that I love God and I thought I want to live my life for God I mean it was it was transformative in a way that that I can't really explain it was like the face of a ram didn't make me perfect didn't make me sound less grew weak at times and always needs encourage you but it was real because it changed me so own encourage our listeners if you have a faith that is never changed you didn't change your faith change from just believing in your mind that some a story things happened about Jesus to allow in the Holy Spirit to take that and bring it down into the soul of the the heart of who you are as a person asked Jesus asked the Holy Spirit to take the Gospel and transform you with it I think you will. Right and I just want to add to all of that. This thought. That you are not going to be doing the good works for God and for others until you really they just and understand how much you owe God because a person who feels that. Who doesn't understand it they've got no motivation to pay back they've got them what situation to do anything you know but once you understand how much God has forgiven you once you understand how much from where you were when the where God brought you from you know once you understand that he just pulled you up from from the Mudhens from the pit and from your life and just change the you then it's when you start actually doing what James says to do I thank you for sharing that because I think that's that's what the Holy Spirit does with the gospel why don't we in with this I have a story we'll end with and that I think goes right along those lines true story I don't remember the man's name but he was walking down the beach in a beach in North Carolina and he heard some people drowning. He jumped into the water swam out and got one of the teenage boys who was too far out brought him back to shore there was another boy still out in the water and this man was exhausted. He went back in the water got out far enough to get the boy bring him back close enough to shore for some other people to help and he sank and he died. He died to save these 2 young men now the question I often asked people is were you Troung and God saved you at the cost of his son's life or were you just a good person and Jesus loves you and you think that's great and you write that in a book and go on living the way you do I was drowning. And I I can assure you if it was me and I was a boy rescued and got rescued I got out of the water I do more than to go to that man's wife and say thank you for your husband died how I'm going to go and live the way I was living before but right you so much I'll write it down and it was good when I got out of the water rights a man I don't know what to say your husband died that I had left is there enough money for the kids can I start a trust fund for the kids I want to I want to start a whole life of helping in the way I never have before because I have a 2nd chance in life it's all a matter of were you drowning or were you just a nice person before you follow the law just floating along you heard Jesus die all great and you yawned a big yawn and went about your life and that certainly was Holder's period those That's what the Holy Spirit he reveals to you send. That you are worthy of judgment the gravity the gravity of your sin and he reveals to you the sacrifice of Jesus and that that changes your heart thank you Gary. Your church is Christ or it's fellowship and that's also the website Yes it is Christ org And we meet right here on your campus every Sunday at 10 o'clock thank you sounds good and I hear you really have pretty good sermons I hear you have the best sermon so. Long to come on the Saturday and come on Sunday and and see my do in your life right then the website for a church is a church. And then also our phone number is 888-278-5082 in case you need prayer or any kind of a spiritual Hill 888-278-5082 governments your folks talk to you next week. Thank you for joining us big positive confident with Dr Gordon and our mission for this program is to help you improve your whole person health physical mental and spiritual if this program has been beneficial to you it can also benefit your family and friends to tell them apart and. Check out. Positive confident. Twitter join each weekday at 5 30 pm fit positive company right here on the nation's most powerful Christian Voice $67.00. The preceding program is sponsored by Inner Peace ministries this is calle t.t. Commerce City Denver broadcasting in h.d. Digital radio and online at 670 calle t.t. Dot com. If you suffer from abdominal bloating relief is here introducing. Developed by a board certified gastroenterologist it relieves bloating where it starts in the small bell that's why on straw on. Works while other remedies doat in clinical trials 80 percent of bloating sufferers who use prescription medications with no relief found on. Relieve their symptoms and it's available without a prescription because on it's run. Is made from a patent intellectual or combination of botanical extracts it's not a probiotic Plus it's natural to get gluten free and non g.m.o. 18 are. On. Even the name is proven to make you feel better find at Amazon dot com walmart dot com your local retailer or for a special limited time offer go to bloat free dot com. Do you really have to bother with minutes in church business meetings to. Alert Here's attorney David Gibbs June yes the answer is absolutely unequivocally yes it is vital that your ministry assign someone usually the church secretary to take thorough notes at every church business meeting most states actually required by law I repeat by law that nonprofit corporations take proper minutes Additionally Solich note taking minutes can be an incredible aid in avoiding wrongful accusations and proving that the church business was done by the rules done correctly for instance if the church effectuate States a plan and removes a wayward member Unfortunately it is all too common that the ex member will sue consistent minutes can be admissible in court to show that your ministry properly followed your. By law require most regarding church discipline every ministry every church should be careful to take accurate minutes and be sure you keep them where they can be found when they're needed why not get the answers you need for the little question that's nagging you visit Christian long Doc Oh aren't you that's person lost. Body mind and soul good to am 6 of. Pale t.v. H.d. Come are sitting empty and know that 951 and streaming world one at 670 k. L.t.g. Dot com. Your children's lives reflect a household of wisdom or foolishness listen to Adrian rush when the Bible speaks of a the Bible does not speak of someone who is mentally deficient in the Bible. Or someone who isn't Marlay to face the problem is not in his pay it the problem is in his heart and many parents are literally in co-creating prohibitionist into the hearts and minds of the children many of them are doing it on a waiting Lay And so therefore I want to teach you how not to raise. Today on love worth finding will discuss the importance of wives parenting know the Bible tells us that foolishness is in our children's very nature they are born to be foolish and will be if not guided toward the path of understanding you as a parent have a great opportunity and responsibility to impart wisdom to their hearts that will help them grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ if you have a Bible handy turn to Proverbs Chapter One look at verse 22 as we continue with Adrian Rogers series God's way to health wealth and wisdom once again here's pastor Rogers with how not to raise a fool now many of you are parents and many of you are grandparents and so you need to pay attention Proverbs Chapter $1.00 and verse $22.00 how long the simple ones we love simply.