A Warning to False Teachers (Mark 12:38-44, ESV)

 

Tough Teachings of Jesus: Divorce (Part 2) Mark 10

Tough Teachings of Jesus: Divorce (Part 1) Mark 11

Sermon: Don't Look at Me! (Genesis 3)

TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO:

Good morning and welcome to Hope Church Clinton’s Virtual Church on Facebook Live! My name is Chad Frizzell and I am the pastor of Hope Church Clinton. If you’d like to know more about Hope Church, please feel free to look around our Facebook page. We are a Christ-centered, Bible-teaching church for all ages. And in saying that, I am pleased to announce that we will be having a church gathering for worship on Sunday, June 7^th at our normal time at 9:30 am at the Hickman County Senior Center. We do intend to continue streaming our services that Sunday and beyond to reach those of you who don’t quite feel comfortable gathering yet and I want you to know that it’s perfectly fine. You come on when you feel safe to do so. I’m thankful that we have the technology to do these livestream videos, but there is nothing like being together with our church family and worshipping God together. I am looking forward to the day when everyone feels safe to come back together.

            All right, let’s get down to business and our business is the Word of God! Today, I am going to be talking about something we all have in common -sin. Sin, as I have mentioned in previous videos is simply breaking God’s moral laws. And let’s just start at the beginning of sin by profiling our number one enemy -Satan.

            Satan was created by God as a cherub, the most powerful of God’s angelic beings. Ezekiel 28:14-15 says, “You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you” (ESV).

            Sometime after his creation and before the creation of man, Lucifer, or “Day Star” rebelled against God and was thrown from heaven. Isaiah 14:12 tells us about that if you want to do the research.

            One thing that we must clarify: the devil/Satan/Lucifer is not some little guy in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork waiting at the door of hell. The Bible indicates that angels are neither male nor female but when they come to the earth, they sometimes take on human form, such as the angel Gabriel. Earlier I mentioned that Satan was a cherub. When we think of cherubim, we tend to conjure up Renaissance images of little chubby-faced baby angels that sell toilet paper on television. However, a cherub is a large creature up to 18 feet tall with four to six wings that span 16 feet. Ezekiel the prophet described them as having hands under their wings, eyes all over the wings, and four faces on their heads. Does not sound so cute after all, does it? Even though he was a cherub, Ezekiel wrote that he was “perfect in beauty” and the Apostle Paul referred to him as an “angel of light” (1 Corinthians 11:4). So what happened to Lucifer? One word -pride. Pride caused his downfall. He wanted to be worshipped as God. Isaiah 14:13 says “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (ESV).

            After his fall, Satan wasn’t finished with his rebellion. His first appearance in the Scriptures is found in Genesis chapter three and he is doing what he does best -wreaking havoc on the earth.

Let’s look at Genesis chapter three. We will begin with verses 1-5 in the English Standard Version:

1.     Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

2.     And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

3.     “but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

4.     But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

5.     “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In the very beginning of this chapter, we are introduced to the devil and his temptation. The writer points out that he was “more crafty” or “cunning, sly, subtle” than any other creature. His crafty methods of temptation include

·        Planting seeds of doubt. Notice he asked the woman, “Did God actually say…?” (v. 1). Satan loves to sow seeds of doubt in our lives. He may ask you, “Does God really want you to be unhappy in your marriage?” or “Does God really want you to go to church today?” or “Does God really need you to lead that Bible study?” or “Does God really think you don’t deserve such and such?

·        Slandering God’s motives. He tried to convince Eve that God was keeping something from her -that he was holding back blessings from her and Adam. He uses this tactic in our lives in many ways attempting to convince us that if God really loved us, we would have whatever we wanted, rather than just what we need.

Allow me to make a statement right here. If Satan will tempt God in the flesh, he will tempt you. Never think you are too spiritual for Satan’s temptations. Actually, if he isn’t tempting you to sin, you may want to check yourself to make sure you don’t actually belong to him instead of the Lord. If you are a follower of Christ, prepared to be tempted. He will tempt you to sin! It’s how you respond to that temptation that matters.

            In 1 John 2:15-17, John the Apostle mentions three things that Satan uses to lure us away from fellowship with Jesus.

1.     The lust of the flesh – the taste of the forbidden

2.     The lust of the eyes – the sight of the forbidden

3.     The pride of life – the desire to be all-knowing and all-powerful

Satan appeals to our worldly desires to keep us from God’s blessings and protections.

            In Genesis 3:6, we read, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (ESV). Over in the New Testament, James tells us in chapter one verses 14 and 15, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (ESV).

            In Genesis, not only did Eve fall for Satan’s tricks, Adam did too. Then something strange happened, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7, ESV). Their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked and felt ashamed. Next, they did what all of us do, they tried to cover their shame. Isn’t that what we do? Of course, we don’t actually go looking for leaves to sew together but try to find a “covering” for our sin -usually excuses. “I made mistake… It only happened once… he/she led me on… the devil made me do it!” Or the best excuse ever, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace!” Of course, that is correct, but that doesn’t give us a license to sin. When we commit a sin, we don’t want exposure! So we hide and make excuses for our sin. There’s something we often forget -God sees us. Everywhere. All the time. When my six-year-old was a toddler, I noticed the house was quiet. She wasn’t running around playing and tearing up the house as usual. I immediately went into panic mode looking for her. When I found her, she was in her sister’s room covered head to toe in makeup! The first words out of her mouth were, “Don’t look at me, Daddy!”  When we do bad, we want to hide, but the Father finds us just as he did with Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:9 says, “But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (ESV). Imagine the conversation…

            “Don’t look at me!”

            “What have you done?”

            “Don’t look at me!”

            “Who told you that you were naked?”

            “Don’t look at me!”

            “Did you do something I told you not to do?”

            “Don’t look at me!”

Then Adam begins the blame game. Genesis 3:12-13, “The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then then LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (ESV).

            So there you are exposed in all your nakedness before God. Dirty, covered in sin and trying to cover your misdeeds and transgressions with a few fig leaves using excuses upon excuses for your behavior. Notice that God doesn’t snatch Adam up. He doesn’t strike him dead with lightning right there. Instead, he sets his sights on Satan himself. In Genesis 3:14-15, we see the very first messianic prophecy in Scripture. Listen to what God says here, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (ESV).

            It would be nice if the story ended there. Adam standing behind God, sticking his tongue out at the devil, laughing because he thought he wasn’t in trouble. Adam was in trouble, because even though Satan is the tempter, you and I must face the consequences of our choices. Adam and Eve were evicted from paradise -the Garden of Eden. Eve experienced pain in childbirth and Adam had to work hard his entire life. Sadly, sometimes those we love have to pay dearly for our choices too. As I have told you many times, God is a righteous judge. He cannot and will not turn a blind eye to sin. The wages of sin is death and someone must pay the price. For thousands of years, the Jewish people would sacrifice doves, bulls, goats, sheep, grain, and almost anything they could get their hands on to cover their sins, but it wasn’t enough, so the righteous judge became the sacrifice. He stripped off his heavenly robe and put on a human form and took the wrath for us. Paul the Apostle writes, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

            The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of man could become sons of God. If you are watching this morning, or later today, and you feel God drawing you to Jesus, calling you out of sin and rebellion, telling you to turn to Him… don’t wasn’t a second, run to Him. Confess your sins to Him and believe in Jesus. Receive him as your personal Savior and tell the world what Jesus has done for you.

            Start with me. Let me know what Christ is doing in your life. I’m so thankful that Christ called me to salvation when I was nine years old. Over the past 33 years, I haven’t always walked side-by-side with him. I’ve wasted many years in my life kicking and screaming while Jesus dragged me along. I praise Him because of His mercies and grace that he bestows upon me each day. I hope you do too.

            Thanks for watching this morning. I can’t wait to see you in two weeks! We will have our first gathering on Sunday, June 7^th at 930am with some restrictions, but we will be together! I’ve talked to Devin and we will be taking some precautions with seating and such, but I’m happy to tell you that there will be some music and worship and as always plenty of Jesus to go around. Until then and beyond then, keep loving God and loving people, Hope Church! See ya soon!

How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? by Jonathan Leeman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

During these times, it seems like everyone is divided on the issues. This book is an excellent resource for pastors/leaders or laypersons who experience political conflict within the church. The authors take a step-by-step approach in dealing with political conflict.

The authors explain the difference between "straight-line" and "jagged-line" issues while reminding the reader to focus on loving one another. This book helped me to realize that I have the tendency to be too judgmental towards those who don't share the same views on jagged-line issues.

My favorite part of the book was "How Can Pastors Work for Unity in Politically Divisive Times?" I will use these tips in my local church ministry as I strive to lead my flock to love their neighbor, regardless of their voting record.

(Crossway has provided this reviewer a complimentary copy of this book through the Blog Review Program)

View all my reviews

Good morning and welcome to Hope Church Clinton’s Virtual Church Livestream. I want to begin by asking you to hit that share button in the corner of your screen so we can get this message to the masses.

Today, I’m going to be talking about a bible doctrine that is of utmost importance. It is central to our Christian faith and is the only way we gain access to heaven. This morning I want to spend a few minutes talking about salvation, being saved, conversion, being born again, placing your faith in Jesus, or one of the many terms we have for receiving eternal life.

Wayne Grudem defines conversion as “our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation" (Grudem, 1994). When we think about “conversion,” we think about “turning” one thing into something else. The doctrine of biblical conversion involves repentance and faith. When we undergo a spiritual conversion to the Christian faith, we are “turning” from a life of sin putting our faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot have repentance without faith, nor can we have faith without repentance.

First, let’s talk about saving faith. True saving faith includes three elements: knowledge, approval, and personal trust.

• 1We must have knowledge about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but simply knowing “about” Jesus is not enough to gain access to heaven. James the Apostle tells us “You believe God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -and shudder!” (James 2:19, English Standard Version). We all know that just because the demons know who Jesus is does not mean that they are saved.
• 2Simply knowing about Jesus and agreeing with the facts is not enough. In John 3, we meet a man by the name of Nicodemus. In verse 2 he says to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (ESV). Even though by this time, Nicodemus knew that Jesus had come from God, it wasn’t enough unless he placed his trust in Jesus for salvation or “believe in Him.”
• 3You must decide to depend on Jesus to save you. You can know the facts. You can approve of the facts, but you must decide to depend on Jesus to save you. When you depend on Jesus to save you, you enter a personal relationship with him. You “trust” in Jesus alone for salvation.
• 4Your faith should increase as your knowledge increases. The more you learn about Christ, the stronger your faith will grow. In Romans 10:17, Paul the Apostle says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (ESV).

Now, lets talk about repentance. Remember faith and repentance must accompany one another in salvation. The Bible is very clear about that. Even Jesus himself said, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15b, ESV). What is repentance? “Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ” (Grudem, 1994). Once we have repented, our changed lives will show it. It’s important to note that repentance isn’t just saying “I’m sorry” or promising that you won’t commit that sin again. Repentance is a serious decision to do away with sin that has been committed against God. I feel like we forget sometimes that all sin is an offense to God. Yes, you may sin against your parents, your spouse, your boss -but more importantly, in each of those cases, you have sinned against God. Let me remind you here that repentance is two-fold. It is a one-time event and it is a process. When we first come to Christ, we repent of our sins and we continue to repent each time we sin against God. Repentance is an attitude, not just an action.

Becoming a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean that life will be perfect -I think through the years we have let that false teaching creep into our churches. For years, preachers turned the Christian life into a list of rules that one must follow to please God. “If you do x, God will bless you, but be sure not to do y, or He will curse you.” Here’s the truth, if you are a Christian, you will crash and burn. You are going to mess up. It’s what you do after you sin that really matters. If you are a true believer in Christ, you will repent in godly sorrow. You will commit to never do that sin again. Is it hard? Absolutely. I personally believe the devil steps up his game when we make that commitment, so we must lean on Christ during those times of temptation. All throughout the Bible, we find believers who fall, but they get up and find repentance and restoration.

One of the finest examples in Scripture is King David. You can find his story in Second Samuel 11. I don’t have time to read the entire chapter to you this morning, but you may have heard the story. Basically, instead of going to war like a king was supposed to do, King David decides to stay home and is walking on his roof at night. He sees a woman bathing and inquires about her. He knows she is married, but like much of the world today, he didn’t seem to care. She comes over to his castle, they have relations and she ends up pregnant. Now, David must protect his honor so he sends for her husband to come home so maybe the kingdom would think her husband, Uriah, got her pregnant. Well, Uriah is a good man and committed to the war effort, so instead of going home, he sleeps on the castle steps. Eventually David sends him back to the battle to the front lines where he is sure to be killed.

An evening walk turned into lust which turned to adultery which turned to murder. How easy it is to fall! David is living his life until a prophet by the name of Nathan makes him realize that he has sinned against God. David repents but God has meted his punishment already -his baby boy with Bathsheba dies because of David’s sin.

As a result of his sin, he writes a song to God. A song that today we know as Psalm 51 (READ).

Like I said earlier, you will fall. You will mess up. It’s how you respond to that sin that matters. When you find yourself in sin, you have two choices: You can ignore it, put a smile on your face, and pretend that all is well OR you can confess that sin to God and repent like David. He used words like “have mercy on me,” “cleanse me,” “wash me,” “deliver me,” “restore me,” etc.  You see, God loves his children so much, it doesn’t matter how bad you have messed up, he’s there waiting to forgive and restore you just like King David.

We must always remember that even though salvation is free, it certainly wasn’t cheap. Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Sin is a breaking of God’s laws -something we all have done. God’s Word says that the penalty of sin is death, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. God is a righteous judge who demands justice, and that is why Jesus came to the earth. Someone had to pay for breaking the law. Jesus bore our sins on the cross. He walked out of the grave three days later and in doing so, conquered death. The perfect Lamb of God who knew no sin, became sin for us. He took the punishment. He paid the price. We have been set free from the penalty of the law. We have been liberated from the grip of the grave.

So, now you know the facts. I hope that you accept the facts, but most importantly, I hope that you have or will put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you would like to experience salvation, all you must do is “repent and believe in the gospel.” I know it’s a hard decision. I know sin is fun. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be so attracted to it. But are we willing to trade an eternity in heaven for a few years of fun on the earth?

If you are a believer, maybe your life isn’t what it should be. Perhaps you’ve slipped and fell into sin and you can’t find a way out. You’ve been away from God for some time. When was the last time you read His Word? When was the last time you talked intimately with God? You need to get back in relationship with Jesus. Start by repenting and asking God to forgive you. He will restore you!

I want to hear your story. Please text me, call me, Facebook message me. Better yet, let the world hear your Jesus story! Never be ashamed of your faith in Jesus.

I want to say thanks for watching today. Once again, we are planning on meeting together on June 7^th at 930 am. We won’t have a coffee bar that morning or children’s church, but we will have hand sanitizer and disinfectant! I’ll be sharing more about that as we inch closer to that date. I want to give a Hope Church shoutout to Bobby Gifford. Bobby has been hitting the stores acquiring the disinfectants we need to ensure a safe worship atmosphere when we meet again. Thanks, Gifford!

Until we see each other again, my prayer is that you love God and love your neighbor. If you need anything, you can reach me anytime. I miss you and I love you, Hope Church! I’ll see you right here on Facebook Live next Sunday! Good bye!

Enough is Enough!

I listened to a clip of a preacher who spent several precious minutes of several souls’ lives preaching “personal” convictions rather than biblical ones. Therefore, I’m about to offend some people, but enough is enough. So here’s my top ten responses to the preachers that use the pulpit to push their own agenda:

1. I don’t care who you voted for unless the name “Jesus the Christ” is on the ballot.

2. One political party is just as ungodly as the other. The lessor of two evils is still evil. Jesus never told the disciples how to vote, so I’m not going to either.

3. Second Chronicles 7:14 is NOT about the USA.

4. God doesn’t care if I wear a suit and tie or shorts and a T-shirt. He’s just glad I’m there. And if I miss a Sunday or two, He’s not mad. I’ve hurt myself more than anything.

5. The King James Version is not the only Bible, nor is it the most accurate translation. Jesus spoke Aramaic, not ye olde English. The New Testament writers used koine Greek.

6. Prayer is not prohibited in schools. Look it up. Students may pray at school.

7. Jesus was called a “glutton and drunkard” (KJB) because he ate and drank with the the common folk. Yes, it was real wine and He drank it. Yes, excessive use is sin, but so is excessive fried and sweet tea.

8. Jesus fulfilled the law. Use the Old Testament to point to Jesus -nothing more. You can’t get to Heaven by trying to follow rules.

9. Please STOP telling people they can get to Heaven by repeating a little prayer. Jesus said “Repent and believe the gospel.”

10. Preach Christ and Him crucified. Nothing more, nothing less. CONTEXT. CONTEXT. CONTEXT.

Oh, by the way, the recording that I listened to was a well-meaning, but unlearned and inexperienced young preacher by the name of Chad Frizzell in 2001. Thank God for His forgiveness and mercy! He changes lives. Even those on a spiritual high-horse!