COURAGE: THE STRENGTH OF MIND TO MEET DANGER AND DIFFICULTIES IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S PURPOSES IN HIS STRENGTH AND GUIDANCE. YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE COURAGE TO LEAVE YOUR COMFORTS AND SECURITY OF HOME TO SERVE GOD. BLENDING INTO THIS WORLD MEANS YOU ARE LIVING IN OPPOSITION TO SCRIPTURE. DUE TO OUR SIN NATURE, OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH AS BELIEVERS DEPENDS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT “RENEWING” OUR MINDS AND EMPOWERING US TO AVOID CONFORMING TO THE PATTERNS OF THIS WORLD (ROMANS 12:2). IF YOU FEAR CONFRONTATION IN SHARING YOUR FAITH, UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST EMBRACE THE COURAGE TO BE A WITNESS FOR CHRIST. ARE YOU THE TYPE PERSON THAT SAYS TELLING OTHERS ABOUT CHRIST IS NOT REALLY YOUR THING? THEN, HOW ARE YOU REACHING HEARTS THAT DIDN’T KNOW THEY
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NEEDED HIM? SATAN IS NOT SCARED OF THOSE WITH ONLY A SUNDAY FAITH! YOU CANNOT TELL SATAN TO FLEE FROM YOU UNLESS YOU HAVE A SEVEN DAY A WEEK, 24-HOUR, 365 DAYS A YEAR FAITH TO ACCOMPANY IT. JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHED REPENT. JESUS PREACHED REPENT. IN REVELATION, JESUS INSTRUCTS MANY IN THE SEVEN CHURCHES TO REPENT. WITH TODAY’S CHURCHES FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, WHY ARE PASTORS TODAY NOT PREACHING REPENTANCE? WE MAY DOUBT IN OURSELVES, BUT SCRIPTURE SHOWS US HOW TO APPROACH THE DOUBTS. IN LUKE CHAPTER 7, JOHN THE BAPTIST SENT MESSENGERS TO JESUS, AND WHEN THE MEN HAD COME TO HIM, THEY SAID, JOHN THE BAPTIST HAS SENT US TO YOU SAYING, “ARE YOU THE EXPECTED ONE OR DO WE LOOK FOR SOMEONE ELSE?” AND HE ANSWERED AND SAID TO THEM, “GO AND REPORT TO JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD. THE BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, THE
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LAME WALK, THE LEPERS ARE CLEANSED, AND THE DEAF HEAR. THE DEAD ARE RAISED UP. THE POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM” (LUKE 7:18-22).
IN MARK CHAPTER 9, JESUS CONFRONTED A FATHER WITH A DEMON-POSSESSED BOY. AND THE FATHER, DEALING WITH HIS PITIFUL SON, CAME TO JESUS AND TOLD JESUS THAT IT HAD BEEN THIS WAY WITH THE BOY SINCE CHILDHOOD. AND THEN HE ASKED JESUS IF HE COULD HELP HIS SON. JESUS RESPONDED WITH THIS STATEMENT, “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM WHO BELIEVES.” AND THE FATHER’S RESPONSE IS FAMOUS. THE FATHER SAID THIS, “I DO BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF” (MARK 9:24). WHAT A STRANGE STATEMENT. YOU DO BELIEVE, HELP YOUR UNBELIEF? THE FATHER’S TESTIMONY IS THE TESTIMONY OF MOST OF US. I DO BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF. THAT IS TO SAY I BELIEVE, BUT MY FAITH IS INCOMPLETE, MY FAITH IS ASSAULTED
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AND FRAUGHT WITH DOUBTS. ASTONISHINGLY THAT IS EXACTLY THE SITUATION NOT WITH JUST THIS FATHER, BUT WITH THE GREATEST BORN OF WOMEN WHO HAD EVER LIVED UP UNTIL HIS TIME, JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE GREATEST PROPHET OF ALL (MATT 11:7-11). THIS EXPRESSES THE DILEMMA THAT BELIEVERS CAN BE DISTURBED BY DOUBT. BUT THIS ALSO SHOWS THE CORRECT ACTION IS TO CONFESS OUR IMPERFECTIONS TO JESUS FOR STRONGER FAITH AND COURAGE. WE CANNOT USE IT AS AN EXCUSE OR A FEAR. JESUS WAS NOT THE MILD, MR. ROGERS TYPE, THE WORLD HAS TRIED FOR DECADES TO TURN HIM INTO. HE WAS NOT A NON-JUDGMENTAL FIGURE ALLOWING PEOPLE TO SIN IN HIS PRESENCE WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IN FACT, THE GOSPEL PORTRAYS JESUS AS QUITE AGGRESSIVE, EVEN USING PHYSICAL FORCE WHEN DRIVING THE MONEY CHANGERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE. IF YOU’VE ABSORBED THE IDEA FROM THE POPULAR
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IMAGINATION THAT JESUS IS THIS MR. ROGERS MEEK AND MILD, NON-JUDGMENTAL PERSON WHO DIDN’T GET ANGRY, THEN YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING
RADICAL LIKE ACTUALLY SITTING DOWN AND READING THE GOSPELS, BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING TO BE SHOCKED BY JUST HOW ANGRY JESUS COULD BE. AND WHY IS THAT? IT’S BECAUSE LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. TO LOVE SOMEONE IS TO WILL THE GOOD FOR THEM. TO WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR THEM. ULTIMATELY, AS A CHRISTIAN, TO LOVE SOMEONE MEANS THAT YOU WANT THEM TO GO TO HEAVEN. SO, IF YOU ARE ACCEPTING PARTS OF THEIR LIFE AND THEIR BEHAVIOR THAT’S LEADING THEM AWAY FROM SALVATION, THAT’S NOT LOVE. IT’S INDIFFERENCE, WHICH IS THE TRUE OPPOSITE OF LOVE. INDIFFERENCE MEANS TRIVIALITY; IT’S A LACK OF CONCERN. WE ARE TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO CALL OUT SIN, LIKE JOHN
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THE BAPTIST. WE DON’T NEED TO BE OUT LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT OFFEND US. HOWEVER, WHEN IT IS PUT BOLDLY ON DISPLAY, WE MUST HAVE COURAGE TO PAY THE PRICE. THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF SINS TO CALL
OUT IN TODAY’S WORLD. BUT IN A DAY WHEN SIN IS BEING SUGAR-COATED AND REDEFINED, THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF COURAGEOUS CHRISTIANS WILLING TO CALL IT OUT! WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT JOHN THE BAPTIST, WHO WAS WILLING AND COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO CALL OUT SIN. BECAUSE IN THE PASSAGE WE’RE ABOUT TO LOOK AT, JOHN THE BAPTIST LOSES HIS LIFE OVER CONFRONTING SEXUAL SIN IN THE LIFE OF HEROD, WHO WAS IN A MARRIAGE THAT WAS UNLAWFUL. GIVEN WHERE OUR CULTURES GOING, WILL WE HAVE THE COURAGE, GIVEN THE CANCEL CULTURE THAT’S SWALLOWING UP OUR COUNTRY, TO CALL OUT SIN, ESPECIALLY SEXUAL SINS? ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL
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IMMORALITY; SINS SUCH AS ADULTERY; HOMOSEXUALITY; AND TRANSGENDERISM. SIN ROBS US OF GOD’S RICH FAVOR IN LIFE, AND IF LEFT UNREPENTED OF, IN THE LIFE TO COME. SIN IS A FALSE SALESMAN. IT LIES, IT PROMISES BUT DOESN’T DELIVER. SIN UNREPENTED OF, KILLS, ROBS, AND DECEIVES. NO WONDER WE SHOULD BE AGAINST IT. BEING AGAINST SIN MEANS CALLING IT OUT AND CALLING MAN OUT OF IT THROUGH REPENTANCE. ACTS 17:30, JUST ONE VERSE, BUT IT’S A SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. PAUL SAYS WHAT GOD HAS COMMANDED: FOR “ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO REPENT.” REPENT OF WHAT? SIN. CALLING MEN OUT OF SIN AND CALLING OUT SIN IS PART OF THE GOSPEL PROCLAMATION, AND IT WILL REQUIRE COURAGE. IT WILL REQUIRE COURAGE IN A CULTURE LIKE OURS TODAY THAT INCREASINGLY OVERLOOKS EVIL, PERMITS EVIL, LEGALIZES EVIL,
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PROMOTES EVIL, CELEBRATES EVIL, AND THEN PERSECUTES THOSE WHO CALL IT EVIL.
CALLING PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE IS AT THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL. ALTHOUGH IT’S ALWAYS BEEN TRUE THAT MEN AND MINISTRIES WHO CALL OUT SIN AND CALL MEN OUT OF SIN WILL BE BULLIED THEMSELVES. THE MAN WHOSE SERMON IS ‘REPENT’ SETS HIMSELF AGAINST THIS WORLD AND WILL BE BATTERED MERCILESSLY BY THE WORLD WHOSE MORAL TONE HE CHALLENGES. THERE IS BUT ONE END FOR SUCH A MAN, ‘OFF WITH HIS HEAD!’ I LIKE HOW PHILIP DE COURCY SAID, “YOU HAD BETTER NOT TRY TO PREACH REPENTANCE UNTIL YOU HAVE PLEDGED YOUR HEAD TO HEAVEN, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST.” BUT THAT’S WHERE WE’RE AT. IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED IT, IN THE UNITED STATES, ALONG WITH THE WIDER, LARGER WESTERN WORLD; EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, AND CANADA, THE CULTURE NOW CALLS
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GOOD EVIL, AND EVIL GOOD (ISAIAH 5:20). OURS IS A SOCIETY THAT SAYS WE HAVE NO SIN. REMEMBER WHAT 1 JOHN 1 WARNED US? HE WHO SAYS HE HAS NO SIN
DECEIVES HIMSELF. BUT THAT’S WHERE WE’RE AT. WE HAVE NO SIN. THERE’S NO SIN TO CONFESS. THERE’S NO WRONGS TO REPENT BECAUSE WE’RE ALL LIVING OUR OWN TRUTH. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT? WHEN YOU ALLOW SOMEONE TO DEFINE WHAT’S RIGHT AND WRONG, THEN THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG. THERE’S ONLY WHAT THAT PERSON PERCEIVES TO BE TRUE FOR THEM. AND IN THAT KIND OF CULTURE, OUR CULTURE TODAY, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS SIN. IF THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS SIN, THEN THERE’S NO NEED FOR REPENTANCE. YOU’RE JUST A RELIGIOUS BIGOT.
JUDGES 21:25: EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. THEN THERE IS NO WRONG. AND NO WRONG MEANS NO NEED TO REPENT. WE LIVE IN A CULTURE
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WHERE SIN IS BEING RELABELED AND REMOVED. HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOW A LIFESTYLE CHOICE. ABORTION IS SIMPLY REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.
ADULTERY IS A MISTAKE BASED ON IRRESISTIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES. MARRIAGE TO SAME-SEX PARTNER IS ONLY AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE. GAMBLING IS AN OVEREXTENSION OF A DESIRE TO BE WEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL. VIEWING PORNOGRAPHY IS NOTHING MORE THAN APPRECIATION FOR ART AND THE HUMAN BODY. DOING DRUGS IS THE WAY TO REDUCE STRESS. DO I NEED TO GO ON? SO, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MUST PLEDGE OUR HEAD TO HEAVEN. ADRIAN ROGERS STATED, THERE ARE NINE STEPS TO THE GROWTH AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF ANY NATION:
1.
FROM BONDAGE TO SPIRITUAL FAITH
2.
FROM SPIRITUAL FAITH TO COURAGE
3.
FROM COURAGE TO LIBERTY
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4.
FROM LIBERTY TO ABUNDANCE
5.
FROM ABUNDANCE TO SELFISHNESS
6.
FROM SELFISHNESS TO COMPLACENCY
7.
FROM COMPLACENCY TO APATHY
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FROM APATHY TO DEPENDENCE (WHICH IS WHERE WE ARE IN AMERICA TODAY)
9.
FROM DEPENDENCE TO BONDAGE
WE ARE ONE STEP AWAY FROM DISINTEGRATION. CURRENTLY, THE GOOD GUYS ARE CALLED THE BAD GUYS, AND THE BAD GUYS ARE CALLED THE GOOD GUYS. THAT’S WHAT GOES ON IN A CRUMBLING SOCIETY. SOUND FAMILIAR? DEFEND TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE, CRITIQUE TRANSGENDERISM AS A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE, DISMISS THE IDEA THAT MEN CAN GET PREGNANT, OPPOSE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, CRY FOUL AT THE THOUGHT OF DRAG QUEENS READING TO YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN IN THE LOCAL LIBRARY, AND YOU WILL
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BE CALLED NAMES, HOUNDED, CENSORED ONLINE, TAKEN TO COURT BY WOKE PROSECUTORS BOTH LOCALLY AND FEDERALLY, HAULED BEFORE AN HR DEPARTMENT AT WORK, OR EVEN FIRED FOR NOT WEARING A PIN OR BADGE CELEBRATING THIS DEPRAVITY. OURS IS A SOCIETY PERSECUTING THOSE WHO STILL CALL OUT EVIL. IN 2021, ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM UNEXPECTEDLY TOPPLED OHIO STATE AND THUS MOVED ON TO THE NCAA BASKETBALL PLAYOFF’S SWEET 16. NOW, YOU WOULD’VE THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE A CINDERELLA STORY. OH NO, BECAUSE THAT’S A CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY THAT HAS A BIBLICAL VIEW OF MORALITY, THE UNIVERSITY WAS CONDEMNED, NOT CELEBRATED. THE SCHOOL WAS VILIFIED FOR IT’S PLEDGE THAT STUDENTS WILL NOT ENGAGE IN HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY AND FOR AFFIRMING THAT MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN. THE RADICAL LEFT COULD NOT CELEBRATE THE
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TEAM’S ENTRY INTO THE SWEET 16. CALLING OUT SIN AND CALLING MEN OUT OF SIN IS NOT AN EASY THING. HERE’S A VOICE CRYING IN THE CULTURAL WILDERNESS TO REPENT. THE CONTEXT IS THAT JESUS’ MINISTRY IS SPREADING; HIS FAME IS SPREADING ALONG WITH IT. IN MARK 6:14, “NOW KING HEROD HEARD OF HIM, FOR HIS NAME HAD BECOME WELL KNOWN. AND HE SAID, JOHN THE BAPTIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD.” HEROD NOW HAS HIS GUILTY CONSCIENCE ABOUT KILLING JOHN, BEHEADING JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE LAST PROPHET. IT CAUSES HIM TO THINK THAT MAYBE THIS FIGURE THEY CALL JESUS IS ACTUALLY A MAN CHANNELING THE SPIRIT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. IT’S A GUILTY CONSCIENCE SPEAKING. THAT SETS US UP HERE IN MARK 6 TO GO BACK OVER THE STORY OF HOW JOHN THE BAPTIST LOST HIS HEAD BECAUSE HE CALLED OUT SIN, AND HE CALLED MAN OUT OF SIN, AND THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE THEN, AS IT IS NOW. MARK 6:17-18, “FOR HEROD HIMSELF HAD
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SENT AND LAID HOLD OF JOHN AND BOUND HIM IN PRISON FOR THE SAKE OF HERODIAS, HIS BROTHER PHILIP’S WIFE; FOR HE HAD MARRIED HER. BECAUSE JOHN HAD SAID TO HEROD, IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR YOU TO HAVE YOUR BROTHER’S WIFE.” THAT TOOK COURAGE TO STAND BEFORE KING HEROD AND TELL HIM THAT THE RELATIONSHIP WAS INSIPID, ILLEGAL, AND IMMORAL, AND HE NEEDED TO REPENT. JOHN DID THAT KNOWING FULL WELL THE POTENTIAL PENALTY. HE COULD EASILY LOSE HIS LIFE. THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS, JOHN, JUST LIKE DANIEL, WAS WILLING TO ENTER THE LION’S DEN. THERE’S NO TIPTOEING THROUGH THE TULIPS FOR JOHN. HE WAS A PROPHET, NOT A DIPLOMAT. HE WAS LIKE MOSES CONFRONTING PHAROAH. HE WAS LIKE ELIJAH CONFRONTING AHAB, LIKE NATHAN CONFRONTING DAVID. IN FACT, THE TENSE OF THE VERB IN VERSE 18 IS THAT JOHN REPEATEDLY REBUKED HEROD. HE SAID THIS TO HIM MORE THAN ONCE, AND MAYBE ON MORE THAN
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ONE OCCASION. HEROD WAS A GODLESS MAN WHO WAS IN AN UNLAWFUL RELATIONSHIP. JOHN CALLED OUT SEXUAL SIN. IN THE MACARTHUR STUDY BIBLE IT TELLS US WHY IT WAS UNLAWFUL. HERODIAS, WHO IS NOW HEROD’S WIFE, WAS ONCE HIS BROTHER PHILIP’S WIFE. HERODIAS WAS THE DAUGHTER OF ANOTHER SON OF HEROD THE GREAT. SO, WHEN SHE MARRIED PHILIP, SHE WAS MARRYING HER OWN FATHER’S BROTHER. WHAT PRECIPITATED THE ARREST OF JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS THAT HEROD ANTIPAS, ANOTHER OF HERODIAS’ UNCLES, TALKED HERODIAS INTO LEAVING HER HUSBAND, HIS BROTHER, IN ORDER TO MARRY HIM. THUS, COMPOUNDING THE INCEST AS WELL AS VIOLATING LEVITICUS 18:16 (BROTHER’S WIFE). JOHN WAS OUTRAGED THAT A RULER IN ISRAEL WOULD COMMIT SUCH A SIN OPENLY, AND SO, IN THE KIND OF TRADITION OF THE PROPHETS, HE REBUKED HEROD. AND FOR THIS HE WAS IMPRISONED. AND JOHN HAD COURAGE TO DO IT.
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REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID? “WHAT DID YOU GO OUT TO SEE? A REED SHAKEN BY THE WIND?” THAT’S HOW HE SPOKE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST IN MATTHEW 11:17. JESUS WAS TAKING THIS BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF REEDS THAT GREW ALONGSIDE THE JORDAN RIVER, BENDING BEFORE EVERY BREEZE. HE SAID, JOHN’S NOT THAT KIND OF GUY. THERE ARE THOSE KIND OF GUYS, AND THERE ARE THOSE KIND OF PREACHERS WHO LICK THEIR FINGER AND PUT IT UP TO SEE WHERE THE PREVAILING WIND OF THE CULTURE’S GOING, AND THEY TAILOR THEIR MESSAGE TO SUIT THE WORLD. NOT JOHN THE BAPTIST. WHAT DID YOU GO OUT TO SEE? A REED BLOWING IN THE WIND? NO, THIS IS A MAN OF COURAGE, LIKE DANIEL. JOHN WAS AN UNCOMPROMISING VOICE, A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD.” AN UNCOMPROMISING VOICE THAT SAID TO A GENERATION OF ISRAELITES TO REPENT BECAUSE THEY WERE A BROOD OF VIPERS. IN A WORLD WHERE YOU’LL BE
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CALLED A HATER OF WOMEN FOR CHALLENGING ABORTION; IN A WORLD WHERE YOU’LL BE LABELED A BIGOT FOR OPPOSING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE; IN A WORLD WHERE YOU’LL BE CALLED TRANSPHOBIC FOR DENYING THAT MEN CAN BE WOMEN AND GET PREGNANT; IN A WORLD WHERE YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT WILL LABEL YOU A TERRORIST FOR QUESTIONING A TEACHER OF INDOCTRINATING YOUR CHILD IN CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND GENDER THEORY; IN THAT WORLD, YOU’RE GOING TO NEED TO SHOW A SPIRIT-FILLED COURAGE. YOU MUST BE COMMITTED TO TELLING OTHERS THE WORD OF GOD BOLDLY. LET ME TELL YOU WHERE WE’RE AT IN THE CULTURE. WE ARE AT 2 TIMOTHY 3: DIFFICULT TIMES FOR “MEN WILL BE LOVERS OF THEMSELVES; RATHER THAN LOVERS OF GOD.” THEY’LL BE VIOLENT, ARROGANT, THEIR CHILDREN DISOBEDIENT. IN MANY CHURCHES WE SEE, “THEY WILL NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE,” AND THEY WILL “HEAP TO THEMSELVES
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TEACHERS, TO SAY WHAT THEIR ITCHING EARS WANT TO HEAR” (2 TIM 4:3). TEACHERS WHO WON’T PREACH ON HELL. TEACHERS WHO WON’T CALL PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE. ARE WE GOING TO BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO ENDURE THE INSULTS, THE ISOLATION, AND THE IMPRISONMENT THAT WILL COME? I HOPE SO. I HOPE WE’RE GOING TO BE BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS LIKE JOHN. CALL THEM TO REPENTANCE IN THE AUTHORITY OF THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. IN ROMANS 1:25, PAUL WRITES, SEXUAL IMMORALITY IS AN EXPRESSION OF PEOPLE WORSHIPPING AND SERVING THE CREATURE RATHER THAN THE CREATOR. HE GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT IT BEING A DISHONORABLE PASSION. THE WORD OF GOD WOUNDS PEOPLE. THAT’S THE POINT. IT WOUNDS US AND HEALS US ALL AT THE SAME TIME. IT’S A SWORD THAT CUTS, AND THEN IT’S MEDICINE THAT HEALS. WHENEVER THE TRUTH IS TOLD, WHENEVER THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED, SOMEONE IS INCONVENIENCED.
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THAT’S THE COURAGE. THEN WE’VE GOT CONVICTION. JOHN THE BAPTIST’S COURAGE WAS UNDERWRITTEN AND UNDERGIRDED BY CONVICTION. HE UNDERSTOOD LEVITICUS 18:20-21, THAT THIS MARRIAGE, THIS RELATIONSHIP, THIS CONTRACT THAT HERODIAS AND HEROD HAD ENTERED UPON WAS UNLAWFUL, WAS AGAINST EVERYTHING GOD UNDERSTOOD TO BE MARRIAGE. JOHN HAD STRONG BELIEFS, AND IT MADE HIM STRONG. IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE STRONG, IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE COURAGEOUS AND PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN AGAINST THE PREVAILING WILLS OF THE CULTURE, YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE A STRONG FAITH, WHICH WILL REQUIRE STUDY, PRAYER, AND OBEDIENCE IN YOUR LIFE CONCERNING THE WORD OF GOD. AS YOU GROW STRONG IN YOUR BELIEF, YOU’LL BE STRONG WHEN YOUR BELIEFS ARE CHALLENGED. YOU WON’T BEND, YOU WON’T BUDGE, YOU WON’T BOW. JOHN WAS UNAFRAID AND UNAPOLOGETIC ABOUT IT BECAUSE HE WENT
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ARMED WITH THE WISDOM: “THUS SAYS THE LORD.” END OF STORY. NO MORE DEBATE. THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE MADE HIM AUTHORITATIVE. IF YOU HAVE MISGIVINGS ABOUT YOUR BIBLE, IF YOU DON’T KNOW IT WELL, YOU’RE GOING TO BE BLOWN ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE. YOU’RE GOING TO BE A REED BLOWING IN THE WIND. BUT IF YOU’RE LIKE JOHN, AND YOU STUDY YOUR BIBLE, AND YOU’RE MASTERING IT, AND IT’S MASTERING YOU, AND YOU’RE CONVINCED OF IT’S AUTHORITY AND INERRANCY, YOU’RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO STAND IN THE EVIL DAY BECAUSE YOU’VE GIRDED YOURSELF WITH THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD (EPHESIANS 6:10-18). EMBEDDED IN THIS STORY IS AN IMPORTANT INSIGHT. ALTHOUGH HEROD WILL BE PARTY TO THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND HE FELT GUILTY ABOUT IT TO HIS DYING DAY; IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONFRONTATION, HE KNEW HE WAS DEALING WITH A JUST AND RIGHTEOUS SOUL. WHEN JOHN CONFRONTS
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HEROD AND SAYS, THIS IS UNLAWFUL, HERODIAS, IS BOTHERED BY IT. SHE HELD IT AGAINST HIM. DON’T BE SURPRISED THAT PEOPLE HOLD THINGS AGAINST YOU FOR YOUR BIBLICAL BELIEFS. JUST TAKE IT ON THE CHIN. THEREFORE, HERODIAS HELD IT AGAINST HIM AND WANTED TO KILL HIM, BUT SHE COULD NOT; FOR HEROD FEARED JOHN, KNOWING THAT HE WAS A JUST AND HOLY MAN (MARK 6:19-20). AND FOR A TIME, HEROD PROTECTED HIM, UNTIL HE WAS TRICKED. YOU KNOW THE STORY ABOUT THE PARTY AND THE BAD BEHAVIOR LEADING TO JOHN’S BEHEADING. BUT DON’T MISS THIS POINT BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE GET IT. JOHN WAS NO HOLLOW HYPOCRITE. IF YOU’RE GOING TO CALL SIN OUT AND CALL MEN OUT OF SIN, WHAT YOU ASK OF THEM TO DO, YOU BETTER BE DOING IT, OR THEY’LL SMELL
HYPOCRISY A MILE AWAY. BUT HEROD KNEW THAT JOHN WAS THE REAL DEAL. THAT’S WHAT PUT THE FEAR OF
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GOD IN HIM. JOHN WASN’T A HYPOCRITE, AND THAT’S WHY HIS WORDS DIDN’T RING HOLLOW. JOHN PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED, SO WHEN HE PREACHED REPENTANCE, THERE WAS A MORAL FORCE WITH IT. PERSECUTION COMES IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZE. AND WE ARE BEING PERSECUTED. THE DESIRE BY THE ACLU TO SHUTDOWN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS. THERE’S A COST TO CALL OUT SIN. WE MUST BE WILLING TO BEAR THE COST. I’M GOING TO PURSUE MY RIGHTS BEFORE THE LAW. I WILL USE THE CONSTITUTION AGAINST THE CULTURE INVADING THE CHURCH. I’LL DO IT UNTIL I CAN’T DO IT. PAUL DID IT. HEY, I’M A ROMAN CITIZEN. YOU DON’T GET TO DO THAT. BUT WHEN ALL OF THAT’S DONE, WE MUST BE WILLING TO BEAR THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN JOHN 5:35 WAS CALLED A BURNING AND SHINING LIGHT. AND YOU CAN’T BE SHINING WITHOUT BURNING AND BEING CONSUMED. AND JOHN WAS WILLING TO SHINE
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THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL. THE PATHWAY OF FAITHFUL DISCIPLESHIP AND SACRIFICIAL SERVICE. THE WORLD HATES RIGHTEOUSNESS. IT THINKS THE CROSS IS A SILLY IDEA. IT CONSIDERS CHRIST A SMALL HISTORICAL FIGURE OF THE PAST. THAT KIND OF WORLD WILL ALWAYS REQUIRE SUFFERING ON OUR PART. ISOLATION, MOCKERY, IMPRISONMENT, AND EVEN MARTYRDOM. IF CURRENT TRENDS CONTINUE, CHURCHES, CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES, AND NON-PROFIT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS WILL FACE PERSECUTION IF THEY DON’T CHANGE THEIR POLICIES ON GENDER IDENTITY AND SEXUAL IMMORALITY. THEY’LL FACE LAWSUITS FROM THOSE WHO CLAIM HARM. BY THE MESSAGES OR PRACTICES, THE CHURCH ADHERES TO. CORPORATIONS WILL FORCE THEIR CHRISTIAN EMPLOYEES TO CHOOSE BETWEEN ATTENDING EVENTS THAT CONFLICT WITH THEIR CONSCIENCE OR LOSE THEIR JOBS. STUDENTS MAY FIND THEMSELVES DISCIPLINED OR EXPELLED FOR
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HOLDING POSITIONS THAT ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO THEIR SECULAR SCHOOLS CULTURE. PARENTS WILL BE CLASSIFIED AS ABUSIVE FOR NOT CONFIRMING THEIR CHILDREN’S ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY AND WILL SUFFER THEIR FORCEABLE REMOVAL FROM THEIR HOMES. ANYONE OF ANY SORT MAY BE SUBJECT TO FINE OR JAIL IF THEY SPEAK BIBLICALLY ON HOMOSEXUALITY OR TRANSGENDERISM. CHURCHES WILL EVENTUALLY BE SUBJECT TO STATE LICENSING TO DETERMINE THEIR QUALIFICATIONS TO HOLD SERVICES AND THE LEADER’S COMPLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT STANDARDS OF DOCTRINE. WE NEED TO BE LIKE MARTIN LUTHER AND HAVE A CONSCIENCE INFORMED BY SCRIPTURE AND NOT BE BULLIED BY GOVERNMENT OR RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES WHO HAVE GIVEN INTO CULTURE. LET’S HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY, HERE I STAND, I CAN DO NO OTHER. LITTLE BY LITTLE, GAIN COURAGE BY PUTTING YOURSELF INTO SITUATIONS TO BE BOLD FOR CHRIST,
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BUT NOT IN YOUR OWN FLESH. LEAN UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT. SOMEONE ASKED DWIGHT L. MOODY, DO YOU HAVE GRACE ENOUGH TO DIE FOR JESUS? MOODY ANSWERED, NO, HE HASN’T ASKED ME TO DO THAT. BUT IF HE ASKS ME TO, I KNOW HE WILL GIVE ME THE GRACE TO DO IT. THAT IS THE ANSWER TO COURAGE. OUR OWN FLESH IS WEAK, BUT GOD WILL SUPPLY OUR EVERY NEED