In this special Thanksgiving sermon, Pastor Babij explains how, despite man’s apparent progress, man is actually in a state of continual spiritual ruin. Pastor Babij explains the reality of God’s judgment as well as God’s merciful provision of redemption and regeneration for all of those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
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okay if you have your Bibles you can turn to Luke chapter 17 that’s the main passage that we’re going to be looking at this morning and it’s all if you’re not familiar with your Bible and you’re visiting with us today you can look on the back of your boat and follow along around going this morning and but today I’m really looking at with another view of the gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures but looking at some observations about the text that I want to I actually focus in on this morning and looking at really the 3 r’s worth 3 r’s worth remembering and those three ours are pretty simple they are ruined redemption and regeneration those are the 3 r’s that are significant really to formulate believe it or not a biblical worldview let’s pray lord this morning i do ask you to help me to lay out the word of god i pray that you would be with those who are here listening that you would make them and prepare them make them ready to receive it and i pray lord that all of us would begin to adjust our thinking to the scriptures that our view of the world our view of life would be more in line with what the Bible teaches and I pray Lord through all that you may strengthen believers and maybe for the first time draw those who do not know you to yourself I pray that this morning in Christ’s name Amen now this week we will be celebrating the holiday of Thanksgiving it’s a favorite holiday of many people and most likely because it’s not filled with all the commercialism that Christmas and Easter is filled with these days but did you know you probably did not know this originally it was a day marked by the Pilgrim Fathers fundamentally for religious purposes it was actually a day to give thanks and too fast not to eat I think we got that little bit backwards today so it was essentially a solemn in a spiritual exercise it was commemorated precisely the opposite of what transpires today that most Americans gathered together to indulge over an extravagant meal and of course enjoy competitive sports different forms of entertainment and ultimately to shop all right now according to the pilgrims though the first actually they were Calvinistic Plymouth pilgrims their first this is how their service of the day kind of fell out first they would give thanks to God for every blessing that he had bestowed upon them for that year and they really wanted to register their sense of utter indebtedness to God on that day a second thing that they would do is that they were they would employ the day to give themselves to fasting to introspection to meditation on the word of God in prayer so they gave themselves to devotional exercises which inevitably issued in repentance and Reformation changing something in your life a last thing they did they employed this day to pray for the salvation of others including the American Indians their immediate neighbors and for those they left over in Europe they also pray for the new ministers that God would give them success in their ministry ministry and or missionary endeavors and that they would continue to preach the everlasting gospel of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ usually that’s how the day went without a lot of food so is prayer and fasting or the main things so Thanksgiving was designed as really a solemn public summoning of all people to adorn themselves in sackcloth and ashes to pray to give thanks to repent both personally and as a community that example really should spy r us to do the same not necessarily on Thanksgiving but during some time during the year to do that before the Lord as for now thanks giving days are related more to stuffed turkeys rich pies creamed potatoes and family reunion feast while some may give thanks and sanctify the food and invoke the name of Jesus Christ it is hard to imagine that it will lead to repentance revival and Reformation today because it’s usually a day of enjoyment now nothing wrong with that it’s the point that I’m making is that some were down along line we have lost it’s an original intention how did that happen and we’re doing something we think they’ve done from the beginning and that’s not how they did it and we’re not doing that see the ways Thanksgiving days are spent today is of course more like what the Lord warned us about in scriptures that it is he warned us the snare would come upon the face of the whole earth on the last days now if you look on in your bulletin or if you’re in the Bible Luke chapter 20 runt 1 verse 34 and 36 it says be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap or it will come upon all those who dwell upon the face of all the earth and then verse 36 it says be but keep on the alert at all times praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place you stand before the Son of man so if the original intention of Thanksgiving was lost and change into something else what else could be distorted what about our whole view of life what about how we look at life could that be distorted is the way people look at life today something that would line up with the way the Lord wants us to look at life so what about your worldview how exactly do you look at your life I think you’ll be surprised this morning some of the scriptures we’re going to look at as I was thinking upon how different the pure tin worldview was in comparison to the world view most people have today it’s quite alarming we not be we may not be able to recover your original design of the first thanks living days but we surely can be challenged to adjust our worldview to be to have a more biblical worldview at least the puritans worldview could be summed up in by the 3 R’s I gave you ruin redemption and regeneration these 3 r’s rightly understood will not only help us adjust our worldview but will inform our understanding of what is really important in world history now just consider for a moment history according to the Bible is not what man has done world history or really is doing world history is what God has done what God has done to an about mankind that is the most important thing that we ought to look at when we consider history the three big things in God’s view of history is really simple Jesus coming all the Old Testament office I Jesus coming the second thing is Jesus dying everything in the Old Testament point to the cross and the last thing is jesus is coming again that’s world history right there and that’s the way God looks that world history it’s pretty simple we don’t we make things off wait to complicate it we try to think about things that’s simple and it should be simple for us as believers to think in those terms because Jesus coming happened Jesus dying happened Jesus coming again will happen so how do we live in light of Jesus coming again so then if these are what God deems most significant then that is the only history that should really matter to us now just think of it for a moment a non biblical worldview if I can narrow it down to some very simple terms a non biblical worldview would be a worldview that can be summed up really in one word and it’s the word progress a non biblical worldview believes that humanity is gradually and inevitably making forward and upward progress with its ultimate destiny of perfection in other words given enough time man can accomplish perfection that’s pretty much so that word progress is really very much in the mindset in the world view of people of most people in the world a biblical worldview is opposed to this worldview the Bible teaches that human history is marked by crisis by ruin and by judgment that is the world is heading in a downward direction it is not necessarily progressing in the way that we all think it should we think it is but when we look at the news and see what’s happening in the world and would took place in Paris we say wait a min something’s drastically wrong we are not moving forward we’re moving downward that’s what the Bible says but you know what that’s honest the Scriptures honest about reality I am so thankful about the reality of the Bible doesn’t pull any punches it tells us just the way it is and you know what I’m glad for that because when I see it just way it is then i can adjust things then I can throw things out that don’t belong in my life things that are not expedient or helpful or cause causes growth I can throw those things out and I can take on things that I’m not doing I can pursue godliness with a greater intensity when I have a view of biblical worldview so let me ask you some questions when you look at the world presently does it make you feel optimistic about the future does it make you or does it make you feel pessimistic you know I would say that it would probably make most people today pessimistic if you look at the world scene are you shocked by what you see or have you anticipated that happening and taking place like that by the events of our day with all its technological advancements things are not getting better and better I mean you just think of what Isis is doing in the Middle East and how they’re taking care of all their actually they’re living by their worldview their worldview is to someday head to Jerusalem and put their black flag on the Temple Mount that’s what their worldviews it and there and they’re carrying that out there looking for their Savior the Mahdi that’s coming they’re looking for him and what precedes him according to their profits is that black flags armies army of black flags will start taking over things in causing warfare all over the world until they reach their goal and their goal like I just said was to conquer pretty much conquer the world and take over and put Sharia law in and have Islam being the one world religion so they’re they’re carrying out their worldview would great gusto and conviction if Christians can be the same when it comes to the gospel man we can get a lot of work done we have to be very much motivated to have a mindset that the law that’s given by the Lord so we’re not entrapped by a non biblical worldview see man is in a state of ruin and has been for the past six thousand years and will remain so right up until Christ comes back there will be no change so men are going to do what they think they need to do but the emphasis in Scripture is what God does in what God said would take place at the end now let’s see what the scriptures say about the consistent state of humanity since the beginning and that state has been a state of ruined and then of course it should want us to be alert in our own life about what’s happening so we’re ready we’re ready for whatever comes we’re ready whatever happens we’re ready why because we know god’s plan we know what God is going to do in the end we have been given the Word of God to do that so let’s look at the first thing and it’s this and I want to look at Luke chapter 17 verse 26 and 27 and I want to make some observations from these scriptures this morning because the first thing is that man is in a state of ruin in other words man’s essential nature has remained the same since Adam sinned and of course fell from God and of course because Adam sinned that sin has been transmitted imputed to us and so we send to so we too are in a state of ruin now the Lord is speaking in this passage of Scripture and he’s giving some interesting instruction to his disciples about the last days but he says it and he does it with some and I think sometimes we may miss what’s a being said here in the scripture and I want you to notice in verse number 26 and this is what he says to them he says this now the first thing is he’s talking about the days of Noah and the destruction of a worldwide flood and he says in verse number 26 and just as it happened in the days of Noah so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man verse 27 they were eating they were drinking they were marrying they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and the flood came and destroyed them all now what we see here is God’s judgment upon man in ruin the man can’t get better because he’s a sinner he can’t go forward and upward he has to go downward because of his rebellion against God of cause of his separation from God so what we see here is God’s judgment just like in Genesis 65 remember what it says there then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually but we also see something else in this passage we see two groups of people we see those who are rescued from judgment and we see those who suffer the full wrath of God’s judgment and you know what there are no other groups these are the two groups so way back in amongst the ancient people of Noah when Noah was there and he was building the are and he was telling them that God is going to send judgment if you don’t repent of and of course he preached and preached and preached and preached and preached and preached and well judgment came right up until the last day but then I want you to notice in verse number 28 he doesn’t just say the days of Noah he goes forward in history a little bit and he talks about the days of lot alright and of course the destruction of Sodom Gomorrah and verse number 28 it was the same as happened in the days of lot they were eating they were drinking they were buying they were selling they were planting they were building verse 29 but on the day that lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all so again what we have we have man and ruin and God’s judgment upon sin again two groups of people those who are rescued from God’s judgment very few very few in Noah’s time and those who suffer the full wrath of God’s judgment so in a sense we’re looking at man in room alright that’s our worldview that’s how we see in Scripture that’s reality so in each historical event man’s nature produces the same manifestations and results no matter where on the historical grid they may live that man’s demeanor is sinful and his mind is at enmity with God in fact James tells us you adulteresses do you not know James for for that friendship with the world is hostility towards God therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God so right in Scripture it’s saying listen if you want to be friendly with the world if you want to take on the world’s view of things and how the world looks at things then you are actually putting yourself up against God because that’s the only thing you can do is because there is a sense of ruin that has come upon man it is man’s wicked defection from God that brought about such desolation and this just destruction of the soul it’s because man has moved away from God and continues to move away from God and therefore what happens is they’re just left to themselves they’re left to their own thinking they’re left to their own devices to their own passions and and and will and all those things that drives their life now if you notice in your bulletin there’s another passage I want you to look at if you don’t have your Bibles and says in Romans chapter 1 verse 26 now of course this is a familiar passage but it informs us in these passages about man’s mind that man’s mind is reprobate or another way of saying that is depraved it says in verse number 26 of Romans 1 for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way also men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in the desires toward one another men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error verse 28 and just as they did not see fit here is the key they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer in their thinking God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper so in other words the Lord is saying listen if you want to live that way if you want your worldview to be that if you want to just follow the passions and desires of your heart and do these wicked things then I’m giving you over to those things so mankind as a depraved mind that generates unlawful rebellious selfish irrational unjust and downright weird behavior that’s the result of sin so we are experiencing today some very bizarre twisted and unnatural behavior in our day are we not right and what was 10 a few years ago sin is today accept it and it is even accepted by our colleges and universities and our own government comes behind them making it very difficult for anyone to stand and keep the line keep the standard right and if you do say something then you are the marked person you are the evil person you are the person who and myself are going to be in trouble but you know what that’s the way it really is isn’t it and it’s always been like that that sin was right there in Sodom and Gomorrah so see right there with those ancient people of old still stuff same stuff going on today that the worldly mindset reaps the waves of God’s judgment over and over again sinful man wallows in the cesspool of immorality social confusion insane political turmoil and economic instability see the consequences of defection from God coupled with the penalties levied by God for unbelief and wickedness will become pounded and will compound human misery and suffering as we end head towards the end days suffering it will be a bounding amongst people groups as we move toward that second coming of Christ that next part of God’s program birth pangs are going to come about there’s going to be wars and rumors of wars right we have those but the Bible says those are just perfect hangs there the forerunners of what ultimate punishment will be and those who disbelieve will suffer in the lake of fire or in hell so see man is man in his utter depravity and bondage of will is selfish and lives only for what is lowest in his nature and for what is temple now if you look at our passage again to see what I am referring to you’ll find that the Lord identifies a very serious sinful condition that he’s telling to his disciples once he and he’s talking about the coming of the Lord because they’re asking him Lord when is it going to happen and this is what he tells them he so he’s identifying now let me just say the sinful conditions that the world doesn’t think is sinful and we often don’t look at as sinful so it doesn’t matter where you are the Lord brings this up and so these very sinful conditions and really an evil worldly mindset which manifests itself in two particular ways see a non biblical worldview will manifest itself really daily in two ways here’s the first way the first way this worldly evil mindset is noticeable in a person’s life is that that person begins to ignore the highest part of their human nature and only live at the lowest level now what do I mean by that look back to verse number 26 and let’s look at Noah’s days again because we’re just like these ancient people look at what the people thought most in verse number 26 it says and just as it happened in the days of Noah it was also being the son of the man here it is verse 27 they were eating they were drinking they were marrying they were being given in marriage now what’s wrong with that that’s the question what’s wrong with that those are all good things I don’t see any sinful stuff going on there oh look at let’s look at also verse number 28 lots days it says it was the same as happen in lots days they were eating they were drinking they were buying they were selling they were planting they were building now what’s wrong with those things Jesus is saying there’s something very wrong well if I answer that question honestly I would say there’s nothing wrong with them in and of themselves because God’s given us all things to enjoy and these are things that we all enjoy see when God created man he created him body soul and spirit God provided us food to enjoy he provided us companionship with family with friends and that special close relationship with that man or woman that we have in the bonds of holy matrimony is given to us to enjoy also God provided industry and work for us to enjoy so see the question is what’s wrong with doing these things then well when these become all that people live for and they ignored the spiritual and they leave out God’s highest and greatest gift to us that is to have a relationship with God to have communication with God that’s where it all goes wrong so it’s just like in the garden that’s why we’re under ruined because we have not only moved away from God our whole worldview is based on these things the lowest part of our humanity it is wrong when all people can see in the world immediately around them is fancy cars and find furniture and big homes and people taking extravagant vacations so see people want to pursue those things they want to be like those who do those things so in other words they want to pursue the pleasure of the world are their pleasures in the world yes their pleasures in the world but remember what it says in first John there’s the lust of the eyes and there the lust of the flesh and the pride of life see all those things are temporal and they’re passing away why would we put all our marbles in one basket we shouldn’t do it as believers see people forget life on Earth is short an eternity is long they don’t consider the next world that they will possibly matter of fact they will face come face to face with God it is upon people who fail to realize all this that sudden calamity will come upon them why if you look at Noah’s days in verse number 27 it says and the flood came and destroyed them all in the days of lot and when lot left Sodom well then God sent fire and brimstone and destroyed them all so ultimately see people live that way up until the last minute and destruction comes that’s going to happen with people so if you see really from our text that the people in each historical context the people had no interest in other than life in the immediate whatever they however they can gratify themselves now that’s what they lived for no thought to cultivate the spiritual part of their being all they live for was eating and drinking and marriage and family and business and pleasure in fact in the lot days it adds some things that says they were also building in other words they want to make their home here they want to keep building and advancing like the Tower of Babel and stay here I don’t want to go anywhere else I’m going to stay right here I don’t want to go anywhere else there is nowhere else a lot of people this is it is there’s no where else there’s no next world for many people in their world view this is it so man eat drink and be married because that’s all you God you don’t have anything else so man’s highest part remember is spiritual it’s to acknowledge God it’s to have a relationship with them so the Lord is saying to his disciples listen if you’re just living for the here and now if you’re just living for these things you have an evil worldly mindset and the second thing that comes out of a non biblical worldview and in his manifest in daily life is the second way this worldly evil mindset is noticeable in a person’s life is that it ignores the next world and lives only for this present temporal world in other words in both cases people are indifferent to God they’re just indifferent and you know what I would say today people are numb they’re just going along they’re hoping for the best they’re just numb they don’t know where to hang things when it comes to a worldview they’re just trying to do the best they can they think and that’s it there’s nothing else you know and they hope in the end that somehow God will look at them with favor this is where we all here today come into the equation and the present day historical context because if you look at verse number 26 it says this see in other words we live in the last days and what’s going to happen at the end of the last day’s progression upward movement no at the end of the last days is destruction that’s what the Bible says right Lucas says in verse 26 7 Luke 17 and just as it happened in the days of Noah so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man you see that so when Jesus comes again he is coming with judgment upon the world in fact in verse number 30 of Luke 17 it says it will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed is this not an exact picture of what people in our present day live for they live for eating and drinking and marriage and the family and business and pleasure buying and selling business and money-making do they do those things to bring glory to god no they do it just still have more comfort and more pleasure see the goal is to have as much fun as possible everything today is about fun if I didn’t have fun it didn’t mean anything right I didn’t have any fun everything’s boring well people are really most concerned about their homes their cars their sports their games and hobbies their education their jobs their bodies or anything else you can add to that list it’s all about them it’s all about what they want see they pay in other words little attention to the spiritual part of them to the higher activities of humanity they do not prepare for eternity they do not think why should I worry about the future if I am having things go pretty well for me now they say I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it they think either there is no God and no afterlife or they think themselves good enough in their own eyes that God will look on them with favor when the end comes at least they hope they will they don’t consider that it will be too late then was it too late for the people of Noah’s day it was too late Noah preached a hundred and twenty years while he was building the ark repentance and faith he was a preacher of righteousness the Bible says and he warned the people about the wrath to come he preached repentance and God’s means of deliverance for 120 years now if you look at verse number 27 I want you to notice something else in Luke 17 it says they did all these things right in the middle of verse 27 until the day that Noah entered the Ark they did all these things verse number 29 but on the day that lot went out from Sodom what happened judgment fell right but remember there was two groups there was the group that were saved and there was a group that fell in the gods full wrath and destruction see the question must be this morning is which group are you in either those who will be rescued from God’s judgment the saved or those who will suffer the full wrath of God’s judgment the unsaved separated from God from for all eternity in the lake of fire and if there is a hell of course I believe there is because the Bible teaches that if there is a hell when would you want someone to tell you how to avoid going there that’s a good question because remember when it says in Matthew 1028 and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in hell who’s that that’s God see God has full authority over all things so now I really drew for your really dismal picture right but you know what dismal is reality ruin is reality but thank the lord that’s not the end remembers to other ours matta fact these two other arts become important to understand according to God’s Word the judgment of God some day will soon come and no one will escape however God provided one way to escape there was one way in lots time there was one way in knowest I’m there is one way of course in our day or the main emphasis of of being delivered is of course the Lord God our Lord God not only exposes sin and identify sin but he does something about sin see it’s about what God is doing he atones for it by variance punishment so this next word quickly is the word redemption alright God’s done something that’s the word Redemption he provides rescue so dear people do not ignore God’s gracious warnings and his offer of deliverance I think you to give up your own plants to save yourself if you’re trying to do that because you can’t the only way to escape God’s wrath is by God’s own plan of redemption like I said it was the Word of God that tells us that Noah a preacher of righteousness preached for 120 years so if you notice in our text in Luke chapter 17 verse 24 and 25 God tells us there’s a way of escape it says in verse number 24 for just like the lightning when in flashes out of one part of the sky shines to the other part of the sky so will the Son of Man be in his day but verse 25 says but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation in other words something had to come first that God would supply to humanity to all humanity that would secure their deliverance and that was his redemption this is God’s plan of salvation that geez would Jesus would suffer in our place he would take the wrath of God in our place so Jesus is the one who was crucified and died in the place of sinners it is by his very death that those who believe in Jesus can be pardoned and forgiven of their sins so according to God’s plan of salvation all people are currently under the wrath of God you know what and they can’t escape themselves we have all sinned against God we all merit punishment we have forgotten God we have ignored God and live for the sole purpose to pledge to a pleasing ourselves and find as much pleasure as possible in this world without thinking about God so we’re all guilty there no one’s no one can escape that because we live in this sinful world the all people are all also absolutely help us to do anything about their future punishment it says in Ephesians 2 1 and they were dead in their trespasses and why can’t we do anything because we’re dead spiritually and then in Romans 8 7 for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God’s laud indeed it cannot those who are in the flesh cannot please God so as long as we are restricted to the mindset of the pleasures of this world and our lust in our desires we can never please God there so the incredible thing about God’s plan is only God through Jesus Christ can save sinners from his wrath and condemnation like acts 4 12 as there’s salvation and no one else where there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved in John 10 I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture and then in Romans 6 23 the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ so Jesus is God’s remedy Jesus has provided the way of escape the way of salvation and Jesus offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all those who are under ruin to all those who cannot save themselves and that is everybody so ruin is man’s condition redemption is God what God has done and what he offers man but there is another word another are and that is regeneration regeneration is really you can know all those things and still not be in God’s family the regeneration is where your get born again you get born again into gods family in fact you can know those things and never really move toward them that would be very tragic than to not know that you’re right with God so regeneration simply means to be born again when a person is born again he sees and enters the kingdom of God and he does so always by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ like we say see in John 3 3 and jesus answered and said to him truly truly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God he cannot be born into gods family unless he turns from his sin and believes in God the father’s only solution for that sin and that’s Jesus Christ and remember faith always includes three things knowledge of what’s going on knowledge of God’s plan of salvation a second thing is you can know things never move any further the second thing is ascent i assent to the plan of God salvation that Jesus Christ died in my place that he took the full wrath of God firm for me that I cannot save myself and that by faith and repentance if I believe in Jesus Christ Jesus would give me everything that he said would be offered to me and I can be saved I can be born again to gods family but a person could ascend to the facts and still not be saved and born again because there must be trust in Christ there must be that step where you trust in Christ it’s like the john three sixteen passage of scripture for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him he who believes is not judged doesn’t come up with God’s judgment but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God this is the judgment that light has come into the world and Men loved darkness rather than light why because their deeds were evil so if you want to be in the group that is saved then there must be a response you can’t just have knowledge of it matter of fact there’s there’s movements towards faith and the first movement is repentance and it’s that movement includes you hear from the truth in your heart and you start getting it you start seeing you the Spirit of God begins to shed light upon it and then you begin to say you know what the way that I was thinking the way that I was going to what I was believing what I was trusting is totally wrong and you begin to rethink deeply in your heart about what you heard about Jesus Christ that’s what included in repentance but then that move also includes a second move and that’s the move about Jesus Christ repentance really does mean a change of mine about what Jesus has done he offers great blessing in the kingdom of God and that Kingdom that obtained that you must begin to transfer your trust to anything you’re believing and Trust completely and totally him so there’s repentance and part of repentance is believing and then there is the third move that’s an intentional step to reach out and take what is promised to you and given by God it’s an intention now I get it now I see if I don’t trust completely in Jesus Christ I’m going to be like those people in lots day and nose day because judgments coming and there’s only two groups to save than the unsaved I know the only group was going to be in the rescued is going to be those who get rescued by God’s means of rescue Jesus Christ and you get that you know light bulb goes on I see that now I get it and I want to do something about it because when you get to that point that’s why we believe that you know once the Spirit of God convicts you up in that point you can’t resist it anymore there’s like an irresistible gray saying what do I do now that’s why people cried out what must I do to be saved that’s the question why where’s that come from it comes from a deep conviction in the heart that I know God supplied salvation to me and it’s only in Jesus Christ so see you it moves you to confess him as your Lord and Savior and believe him in your heart all the things he’s promised you and you know you trust them that is true but once that happens there’s also another move of faith and this must be included and it’s this to follow him not just to profess him but to follow him it means an intentional daily practice of following and doing what Jesus did end having a worldview that the Lord did give marriage he did give food he did give work and all those things I’m to enjoy but that’s not it my relationship with God is more important to those things right and I’m going to seek that first see and then what happens your whole worldview and the way you look at things changes its it switches right around and now you’re in a place that in a very real way I can enjoy all the things God’s given me and I can enjoy the truth that God told me what it would take place and happen and enjoy both things even if I’m suffering even if everything I used to have is taken away even if my circumstances change it doesn’t change my relationship with God no one could take that away not even death can take that away because many people who are servants of God in Scripture died for their faith but that was just a doorway into the presence of God because God is taking care of everything else see that’s the way to live that’s the way to go out there and be thankful that’s the way as I the first scripture i read to be on guard that’s the way to keep on the alert at all times why because will we be in the presence of God someday the answer clearly is yes and so God’s taking us from ruin offered us Redemption provided for us the spirit of god so we can be born again regeneration and then what glorification right into the presence of God living with the Lord for all eternity that’s where God that’s what God is doing and those are the most important things so see you have to say to yourself where are you at in that process are you just thinking about them or have they become crystal clear in your life and if they have have you done anything have you trusted Christ is there a change in your life do you desire to follow him no matter what’s going on no matter what your friends say no matter your what your professors say no matter what other people have influence what is going on in your mind as far as you’re living the highest part of your being you created in the image of God is a spiritual part my relationship with God is the most important thing in this on this side of eternity is it not that’s how I live that’s supposed to live and if we live like that then we will have a biblical worldview but we will also do something else we will be concerned somebody asked me the other day what do you think about you know Syrians coming into our country everybody’s asking that question right I said of course it’s a matter of wisdom we have to protect our people in our country we have we can’t let anybody in here we need to vet people before they get here that we make sure they are but from a biblical theological perspective if god brings him here the church ought to evangelize them right that they are people who need the gospel maybe all this stuff is going on in the Middle East and people are being thrown out of their homes and burned out of their homes to come here so the gospel can go to them because we can’t reach them over there in a war zone see we have to think that’s God’s world for you you know I don’t like things that are going on in the world as much as you don’t either but you have to always look from God’s perspective okay if they come here I’m going to be cautious but I want to get them the gospel because they need Christ they need to go from Redemption from ruin to redemption to regeneration they need the kingdom of God that’s what they need they need Christ so see that’s what we ought to do and if the church doesn’t do it who’s going to do it if you don’t do who’s going to do it I don’t know no one’s going to do it no one’s going to do it so the gore Lord’s doing a lot of things in the world I don’t understand them all some of them I have a lot of questions about so do you I think the insecure insecurity is in our world has changed where there’s a lot of insecurity in the world but I don’t know if that’s a bad thing I think it’s a good thing because when things are too nice to secure we don’t even think about God no we do we eat drink Mary be given in marriage work plan build that’s it we don’t think about God but when there’s turmoil and their insecurities we think about what is God doing what if the day came today where do I stand before God will I go into God’s presence see those questions could be answered now and believe me you want those questions answered everybody does I prayed that you do if you don’t if you have questions you don’t know you add please come and talk with me I want to share with you the gospel but if you do know please let’s not sit back on our laurels let’s be aware attentive let us be like the Bible says on guard soldiers are on guard right let us keep alert let’s not fall asleep and get lou Lord to sleep in this world that’s always be vigilant spiritually vigilant about what’s going on so we our lives could be used by the Spirit of God at any time to do whatever the Lord wants us to do and that will well can you continue to do preach the gospel and move it to her where it ought to be so I prayed this morning that you will be in the right group the save group and not the unsaved group and that you’ll realize that your worldview would have been adjusted to understand that from ruin and judgment God offers retent Redemption and regeneration to all who will come in faith and repentance to believe and then follow him with all your heart and be a servant in this world so we can use you any way possible within his church and all God’s people said what let’s pray lord again as I come before you today Lord I guess there’s some Lord there’s some sin that we have to that I myself have to confess and that lord is the sin of really sometimes not looking at the world correctly the sin of Lord going through the motions and going through the daily things and and hoping for things and doing things that everybody else is doing but Lord somehow ignoring you and forgetting you I pray Lord that that would not take place anymore but that would be something that we’re very vigilant about our time of reading the word our time of thinking through the Word of God and as we read it and as we hear it preached our time of adjusting things in our lives or our view of the world is more biblical unless what it used to be knowing Lord that this world is going on a downward slope but your plan is to bring the gospel Jesus Christ to those and thank you Lord for those who received you thank you Lord for those who have been rescued by the Spirit of God and the Word of God and the gospel and I pray Lord that we would always be faithful to be aware of those around us who don’t know you and be able to share the gospel with them and i pray lord please save them save our neighbors and our families save people that are going to move in next to us that are a little different than us and for maybe from another country Lord let us somehow befriend them and for the purpose of showing them God’s plan of salvation so they too can enter the kingdom of god i pray that for us Lord so Lord bless Stephens it this week Lord as we consider our Thanksgiving holidays I pray Lord that you would help us to be more sober about them that Lord we can take them more seriously that Lord it is a time to thank you it is a time to pray to you it is a time to ask you to advance the kingdom of God it is a Time Lord to just even repent of our sins and to adjust our life so it could be more in line with what pleases you and I just pray Lord that every day we have an outer sense of our indented pneus to you about the great things you’ve done for us in in salvation and so lord go before us this week make us more aware of our days than we ever were before and I pray Lord that our main desire would would bring to give you glory and honor for what you have and will accomplish and I pray this in Christ’s name Amen
