← ArchiveSunday, March 2, 2014DateMarch 2, 2014Speaker—TextDeuteronomy 4Passages in this sermonMatthew 53:51Deuteronomy 45:17Ephesians 211:34John 529:53John 1031:31John 2032:55Acts 1835:56Romans 1537:392 Peter 338:01Deuteronomy 239:01TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Well, I tell you, if it wasn't for grace, we wouldn't be here today, amen? But thank God that His grace is sufficient to bring us together in spite of our sin.0:22Anybody perfect here today might not want to hang out in here because, if I'm not mistaken, most everybody in here has got issues with sin. And so we need the Holy Spirit to work in our life to show us how we can get rid of that sin0:44and move on in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, becoming more like Him as we get rid of all that stuff. But what happens in the life of a Christian and a believer when they come to the place in their life that they just grow no more, they just become kind of stagnant.1:09You know what a stagnant pond is, don't you? You smell it because the water has become spoiled and it has become filled with dead bacteria and that bacteria begins to swell up and it stinks. Now, I want you to look at the person sitting next to you and I want you to say, you stink. Now, does everybody feel better?1:39Because if they really did, you're glad. Now, you can look at them and say, no, I'm just kidding. Don't do that. Don't, don't. Because what we want to talk about is, folks, I can't get more serious and it needs to be serious and we need to be very serious. We don't need to be real light. This is not going to be a sermon. It just requires a good listening and then we walk out of here and I don't want you to2:05walk out of here and say, man, I just don't feel fed today because I want you to hear this. If revival tarries, there are going to be people die and never truly experience the joy of a Holy Spirit, God sent revival. Here's why.2:35Here's why. There are a lot of people that have never experienced a real revival time in the body of Christ. There are a lot of churches that have been around for a lot of years. Now, they've experienced emotional upheavals. They may have even experienced a time when people were saved and a lot of folks got saved. But I'm talking about when the body of Christ gets so excited and so directed to God that2:56that radical lifestyle we talk about becomes a commonplace in our life. You know, David Platt is a great man of God. And I just hate to stew the fact that he's just a few miles down the road. It's too close he needs to be on down in Montgomery.3:26I'm praying God to move him. That's how, because he's a great man of God, a great preacher, and a great writer. And, you know, I'd just like to be a flea on his dog that he has at his house sometimes. But I want to tell you, he did not invent the radical lifestyle with his book, Radical. Jesus did in Matthew chapter 5. And the tragedy of that is, is we look at that and we read that,3:56and we talked about that in our Sunday school class this morning. We read that and we look at that and we talk about it and we say, well, that's just for other people to live, or that was for them to live, or that was... But no, listen, that's what God wants us to live. Now, here's the catch. You can't live that life living like we live. Focused on everything else in the world, and focused on ourselves, and focused on our wants,4:25and focused on our desires, and staying stagnant spiritually. Let me tell you something. I don't have many people that come to me and say, you know, Brother Chris, I pray an hour a day, I read the Bible an hour a day, I read the Bible 30 minutes a day, I pray 30 minutes a day, and then just leave. They don't...4:55They don't... People that feed on their... And use their time wisely and feed on the Word of God, personally and privately, are well-fed believers in Jesus Christ that are seeking to live life according to the Word of God. And that's where life begins. And that's where... I want you to turn in your Bibles with me to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. I'm going to back up. I shared with our deacons in this past last month's deacons meeting just a brief word from a text in chapter 2.5:25But I want to talk about as we look forward to revival, what is it going to take? What do we need to have? What do we need to see? And, you know, it's nothing... I'm not preaching... You know, I'm not foolish enough to believe for one minute that I am preaching anything under the sun that's new to you. Do you hear me? I know that I'm not preaching anything you haven't already heard.5:52Some preacher, if you've been in church very long, preach the text, preach the words, maybe even very clear or very near the outline. But this is what I believe the Lord laid on my heart to share. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, Moses has gathered the children of Israel for the second time to read them the law of God and to challenge them to move.6:12Now, they've been here before with their grandparents. They've been here before with their elder aunts and uncles. They've been here before with their mothers and their fathers. And when they were there before, it wasn't such a good turnout. It wasn't a good happening.6:42It wasn't a good event. Some bad things took place. In other words, when you study the Old Testament and you get into the book of Exodus and you read it, get in the book of Deuteronomy, you read the Old Testament, you understand that it didn't take 40 years for the children of Israel to leave Egypt and get to Kadesh Barnea and to the Promised Land. It took a very few days, and God got them right there, placed them in the most awesome position that they would need to be to move over and enjoy the very best that God could provide for them.7:03A land flowing with milk and honey. Now, I want to tell you something. That is a beautiful description of saying that when we follow God to the place that he has led us, and then we're willing to take the next step and continue on in our journey,7:30that God is going to fill our lives with milk and honey. Now, that doesn't mean he's going to fill your pockets with gold and silver. You know, about that family out in California, I want you to know Gail has dug 400 holes in our backyard looking for tin cans. She's taught our little Maltese to go out there and dig. You know, it's the most amazing thing. They found what was over $10 million buried.7:59Well, listen, don't leave here hearing me say, God's promised me tin cans in my backyard full of gold. And God did not literally mean that the rivers were going to flow with milk and honey. And I am a literalist when it comes to the Bible. But he was saying to the children of Israel, if I'm your God and you're my people and you obey my voice and listen to me and hearken to me, I will provide for you like no other nation has ever been provided for.8:28And because of the relationship that you're known. What are most nations known for? Well, let's just go over. There are nations that are known for their poverty. They're called third world countries, aren't they? There are nations that are known for their government, communism, Russia. They're known for that.8:58I mean, when you think of Russia, do you think of swimming pools and lakes and oceans and beautiful mountains where they did their snow skiing? You know, I'm thinking, golly, you know, I've been to Russia, but I've never been down the way on the Black Sea where this place was. So she in, that's a beautiful place. But I don't think of Russia when I think of that. What do you think of it? What do you think of it when you think of Russia? Communism, don't you? Yeah. You know, oppression. The thing I remember about having been to Russia, and those of you that have gone to Russia with us in the past,9:24you remember the destituteness on the faces of people, the darkness on their faces, the hopelessness that their faces were filled with. You remember that. You've been to a third world country. You think of a third world country. That means that they don't have anything. And you remember when you went there, there was that same, look, you saw those things, but you saw the fact they really didn't have anything. You know, we have far more than they ever had.9:52Countries are known for various things. God said, I want you to be known for something. We have been known as a nation for years as being a mighty, you know, the economic leading nation of our world. You know, we're losing that. We have been known as a nation with the strongest and mightiest military that you could ever imagine.10:20We're probably going to lose that. At one time, I can remember growing up that we were known as one nation under God. We're not known for that anymore. We're not known for that anymore. We've got a nation full of people that don't want to be known for that anymore. At least a vocal part of it anyway.10:48But God said, I want Israel to be known for me. Not Chris Burns, but for God. God said that. He said, I want you to be known for me. I want people to look at you and know that your God is greater than any God they could ever create. Because, listen, there is a spiritual warfare and there are gods. Little gods, Satan, not gods, I shouldn't say.11:18But there's a battle among the darkness of this world that has been around for a long time. And God knew that. And God knows that. And God knows there are people whose lives are hidden in the darkness of those things. Because he said so in Ephesians chapter 2. But we know he knows that. And he said to Israel, he said, but I want you to be a peculiar, particular, unique people that trust me. And how did he show that?11:48Well, if we go advance from Deuteronomy and to the future, we kind of see some of that. When David, why did David fight Goliath? And I thought this was interesting. I found this out yesterday at our little Stepping Up Men's Conference. Andy, wonderful conference. But I found this out. It was because he didn't like the fact that Goliath was out there and all his people were afraid.12:11No. He wanted to defend the honor of his God. I want to ask you here today, how many of you guys here today want to live your life in such a way that you defend the honor of your God?12:29Deuteronomy chapter 4. And now, O Israel, listen. Now, O Bethel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I'm teaching you. And do them.13:00Why? For those of you who have your Bibles, why? Why? That you may live. That you may live. And go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is. Yeah. Isn't that awesome? God doesn't make them pay for anything. God in Walmart. I am so excited that God is not a businessman who runs the universe like a business.13:29But that God is a giveaway God. He's always giving things away. Let's go on. He says, I'm going to give you this. You shall not add. But listen to what he says. You shall not add to the word that I've commanded you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I commanded you.13:52So what did he just say? Don't change anything that I've said. Don't make it say something that it doesn't say. Don't add anything to it. Don't take anything away from it. Do you remember reading that in the book of Revelation of the last chapter and the last few verses? Jesus said, don't take anything away from this book that John's written and don't add anything to it. I want to tell you something. Don't you take anything away from this book either.14:20He says, your eyes have seen what the Lord did. There's a little warning there. Now, you know, that's hard to swallow. That's real hard to swallow. God has destroyed from among you what the Lord, excuse me, all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.14:41But you who held fast, who held fast to the Lord your God, are all what today? All what? All alive. Isn't that awesome? You're all alive. But there's some of them that are not alive anymore. See how I've taught you the statutes and rules?15:10In other words, folks, this is the second time that Moses has brought the children of Israel together to teach them. He's already did it once. You know, people don't catch on fast. And sometimes I've had people say, you know, you just preach the same sermons over and over again. And, you know, I probably do. And when you catch on to them, I'm going to catch them. Is that all right? You know, I haven't found anything new in the Bible. I don't think God's changed the gospel any. I don't think God's changed a whole lot. A lot of my sermons ought to be just alike. I ought not be anything really new under the sun, according to Solomon.15:39See, I've taught you statutes and rules as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Make sure so you can take possession. You're going to have to do it whose way? No, I'm going to do it Moses' way. Can I do it Moses' way? What happened with Moses' way? He couldn't go in, could he?16:08So you're going to do it God's way. You're not going to change anything from God's said. You're going to do it God's way. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who, when they hear all these statutes, will say surely. See, this is why God did it. They will surely say, this great nation is a wise and understanding people, for what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon him?16:29Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that good just to go back and read what you've already read before, but you didn't pick up on how awesome it was when you read it the first time? And what great nation is there that the statutes and rules, so righteous as all this law that I said before you today?16:58Wow. You know, sometimes I'd probably, did you hear what God just said? Through the prophet and through his teacher, through his example, Moses. God shared with us some very important information about his character. Now, what never changes about God?17:28Hello? Character. God's never changed. He's the same today, the same yesterday, the same tomorrow. His character never changes. So, when God says, don't do something, and we do it anyway, there's going to be what? Consequences. That's right. What do we refuse, don't want to accept, don't want to hear about? Consequences. I don't want to hear about consequences. You know, I want to go by, me, I told Gail, and I, well, I really hadn't told Gail, I told Christopher, I said, you know, Christopher, I think, I told Jimmy, I said, Jimmy, you know, I'm getting about tired of this BMW.17:58I want me a Corvette. You know what, you know what, four or five people said, you're the pastor of a church, you can't own a Corvette. You think you got beaten, beat up because you got a BMW.18:26I said, I might just own it for a little while. I mean, oh, why can't I own one? Especially if I get cheap. Well, have you prayed about it? No, I hadn't prayed about it. I don't want to pray about it. I just want to do it. But what happens when we suffer consequences?18:55For doing that which we pray about or don't pray about, then God tells us to do something else. Be prepared. There are consequences. Well, now I just want to linger back to where I shared with the deacons, and I want to just read one verse, and I want to begin, and then I'm going to preach, and we're going to be out. We're going to be out of here, okay? 75 minutes, Chris. Watch your clock. In the second chapter of Deuteronomy, in the third verse, Moses is preparing the people for what he's about to share and what he's about to do.19:24He says this, and I thought it was pretty powerful. You've been traveling around this mountain country long enough. It's time to turn northward and command the people you're about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau. And then he goes on, and he tells them where they're headed. But I like that. He says, you've been traveling around this mountain long enough.19:53Folks, I want to tell you something. We've been wallowing in self-pity at Bethel Baptist Church long enough. We've been wallowing in aggravation of my leadership long enough. We've been wallowing in what we should do and what we shouldn't do long enough. What we need to do is move from this mountain with a body of believers that are sick and tired of being sick and tired. And, folks, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.20:24Have I been a perfect pastor for 20 years? I absolutely not. I didn't accept the pastor to this church. Doc Holliday was on the pulpit committee. I didn't accept the pastor to this church telling him and making them believe for one minute that I was perfect. As a matter of fact, I let them know that I was a human and that I would make mistakes. And, folks, I'm standing before you and telling you I have made blunders.20:50I have made mistakes. I have hurt our church in ways, possibly, that you know about I don't even know about. There are times that there are things I read about that I don't even realize. People leave, and I don't even know why they leave, and I don't know what they're saying. But I want to tell you something. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. And it's time to move forward. It's time for God to do a fresh work in our lives.21:18And we need to get out from under this mountain. And we need to move on. We've lived in the shadow of aggravation. We've lived in the shadow of mean intention. We've lived in the shadow of hurt. We've lived in the shadow of gossip. We've lived in the shadow of lies. We've lived in the shadow of deceit. We've lived in the shadow and the stench of waters that have got bacteria growing in them.21:44And we stink. And it's time we move on. I want to tell you something. We need somebody besides ourselves to inspect us. And I want you to know, I put myself out here first for God's inspection.22:10And I challenge you to. I'll tell you why I say that. I used to go up and stay with my grandmother. And my grandmother, bless God, didn't have a bathtub. But she had two sinks. And back then, I wasn't nearly as big as I am now. And my grandmother would put us in a sink. She'd run it full of warm water. And that's the one we'd soap up in. And the other sink we'd rinse off in.22:40She'd just pick a big old white one. Y'all know what I'm talking about? Well, you know, I'd wash. And she'd give me a chance to wash. And she'd throw me a towel and I'd dry off. And I'd be about ready to get in the bed. And she'd say, stop right there. And I'd say, okay. Brother Rick, would you stand up as a good shining example of me? She'd go. All right. And I want to tell you something. She'd look behind your ears.23:10Now, did your grandmama look behind your ears? I didn't know dirt grew back there. She'd scrubbed my ears. You can sit down now, Brother Rick. That's what she'd do. She'd pull out here out and she'd look in there. I thought I was clean. In my eyes, I was clean. Then she'd say, sit down, Brother Rick. I'm not going to ask you to do this. Miss Pam, I'm not going to ask you because I won't be knocked down. But then she'd look. She won't look at the bottom of your feet. You didn't.23:40You didn't. I'm serious. I'm serious. You did not put your feet in her bed without it being clean. Did your grandmother do that? Was I the only one that had that kind of grandmama? Do I hear amen? Yes, sir, preacher. I'm with you. I hear you. Amen. I did. Somebody else had to do the inspection. She didn't trust me to do it. I want to tell you something. I don't trust me to inspect myself spiritually. I don't trust me to inspect myself in my own personal righteousness.24:10I don't trust myself in every decision that I make. I don't trust myself in everything that I say. That's why a lot of times I try to pull people around me that I can call on and I can sit down with and I can speak to and have them to speak truth back to me. And then I go get in my office and I close that outer door and I lay down on my face and I say, Oh, God, wash me and cleanse me with this that I may be truly clean before you and before this people because I know I'm a sinner.24:35I know what I'm capable of. I know what I can do. But God, I don't like that about me. Will you cleanse me? So he said, let's go. Time, Bethel, if there ever was a time, I want you to think this about this.25:03We don't have our children here, but we have children's church. But if you walk out of here and if I don't preach this message and we don't hear from God soon, the children that are out there in our children's church and our four and five year olds and our babies that are over in our nurseries, we might as well forget trying to fix the leaks and the problems that are going on this building bill because we're going to bury it in a few years anyway.25:29And you say, Brother Chris, I'm just not sure that's going to happen. I want to tell you, there have been churches where pastor after pastor have come in every time they think they're going to get better ones and they're going to get better ones and you could get a better one than me. But I want to tell you something, unless the heart of the people of God change, Ichabod can be written across the lid of the doorpost and the spirit of God can be removed25:59and we stay in the mountain of digress and regret for the rest of our ministry. And our children will grow up soured by our personal behaviors toward one another and what they've heard. Listen, I don't want to say the words, but I want to ask you, you're a parent here. In parenting your child, did you ever hear your child say their first curse word that you ever heard them say?26:28Raise your hand. All right, so you got cussing kids. I just tricked you into that one, didn't I? Kim, I'm not going to ask you where your kids learned it. But you are, and they do. They learn it. They go, right, they learn it. They learn it on the bus at school.26:56My kids learned it from playing with Deacon's kids.27:08But they learn it. You know, there's a time when it's cute. It shocks us, but it's kind of funny when a four-year-old says something like that, and you go, don't talk like that. I'm going to kill you if you ever do it again. And you just, I'm going to tell you, God's time of laughing at us is over.27:36I fully believe. I fully believe. I met with Robert, who spoke last week. I've met with pastors and teachers all over this land, and I hear the same thing. Chris, I think the trumpet's being cleaned to sound, and we are the ones that are going to be caught off guard.27:58So, here's what I want to share. I want you to listen. First of all, it was time to quit whining and complaining and start listening.28:25Listen to what he said. Oh, now Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules. It's time we listen to God. Now, God says, literally, you don't even need to bring your offering to this altar if you've got aught with your brother or knows your brother's got aught with you without taking care of it.28:47You don't even need to do it. I'll go with you to see somebody who has aught with me if you'll come see me. If you have aught with me, I'll meet with you. There's no need for you to run from this church to the next church to the next church to the next church because if you're running from something like that, you'll be running till you die, and you'll never find what God truly wanted to give Israel.29:19So he said, why was it a time to quit complaining? Here's why. Because look what he says. So that I, he says, now listen, O Israel, to the statutes and the rules that I'm teaching you, and do them that you may, what?29:47Why? Because that's what Jesus is all about. John 5, 26. Look what Jesus says. So if we're going to truly have life, we're going to have to listen to what God says because it is within God and in our relationship to him through his son, Jesus Christ, that we're going to have life.30:00John 5, 39 says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me, and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have eternal life.30:25Do you realize I can't believe there would be people still left in Israel of the people of Israel under the tutelage and leadership of Moses that would not want to listen to what Moses is saying after they had left so many graves and cemeteries across the wilderness of people who God had taken out because of their sin. Belpior was just one example of the sins of the children of Israel as they crossed through the land to get to the promised land.30:52There were multiple other occasions that God literally said, I've got to weed this rotten spot out so I can bring together a people that will follow me. My friend, my friend, I believe, just as Adonai and Sapphira stand as an example to the church, that God's not through taking people out till he gets a people that he can lead. And we've got to be open to God's leadership.31:25John 10, 10, 10, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came that you might have life and have it abundantly. I want to ask you here today, are you living an abundant life? Or are you living a counterfeit life? Are you living the best life you can buy?32:01Well, why would we not have abundant life if Jesus came? That we not just have life, but have it more abundantly. Why would the children of Israel not listen to Moses and say, you know, this is life. We're going to follow you this time. We're ready to go. You lead the way. We're moving forward. We're getting out from under this mountain, and we're going to the promised land that God promised us over 40 years. Actually promised it to our forefathers before they ever left to come down to Egypt.32:30And now, after 400 and something years of being in bondage, God's going to give us that back. Why wouldn't we want that? Why would you and I not want? Why would we harbor sin in our life, misgiving, aggravation, anger, hatred, unforgiveness, or anything else that would keep God from allowing us to enjoy life? John 20, verse 31. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the God, and that believing you may have life.32:57In his name. Folks, I'm tired of just existing. I don't want to just exist. I don't want to just be another preacher that pastored Bethel Baptist Church. Now, I'm not saying I want my names in neon. I don't want that. But I want to walk in the power and the boldness and the might of God knowing that every day he's chiseling away at who I am because I am a sinner saved by grace who recognizes the need to repent as we all should.33:21And hopefully God is changing me, working through me, but at the same time giving me the privilege of living life. So he says, listen. Listen.33:51Listen. It's a time to listen. Next thing he says, they were to be totally dependent on God's Word. Remember where he says, you shall not add to the Word that I have commanded you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I commanded you. In other words, we're not going to get out from under the mountain unless we obey the Word of God.34:17We're not going to know peace. We're not going to know love. We're not going to know joy. We're not going to know happiness. We're not going to enter into the rest unless we know the Word of God and unless we're willing to obey the Word of God. It's about allowing God to change my life, to change your life, so that you can become like he wants you to be, become what he wants you to be, be what he wants you to be, where you're at, without anything around you changing except for you.34:37You know, I hear it all the time. If I only could be here, I know I'd be happier. If I can only be here, I'd be happier. Folks, I want to tell you something. I don't care where a preacher goes. If he's not happy in the Lord where he's at, he's never going to be happy.35:05A church member's never going to be happy unless they get happy where God's got them planted. And so they were to be totally dependent on God, Deuteronomy, or you shall not add. I read that. You talk a good talk, but your actions will speak louder than your words. You're going to do God's Word and not just be able to quote God's Word. You know, I have people all the time say something to me.35:34How do you learn so much Scripture? And, you know, if you were to ask me to stand out here and quote verses to you, I probably couldn't quote you two or three verses. But I'll tell you, it doesn't do any good to quote a verse of Scripture if you can't live the verse of Scripture. It doesn't do you any good to read the Bible unless you're reading the Bible to say, God changed me while I'm reading the Bible. Acts 18, 24. Now, a Jew named Apollos and Alexandrian by birth. An eloquent man came to Ephesus, and he was mighty in the Scriptures. Is that all?36:08He didn't sledge on it? He didn't take down a mountain? He was just mighty in the Scriptures. Acts 18, 28. For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. You know why we're not willing anybody to the Lord this day and age? We're not demonstrating the Scriptures to them. We're not loving our enemies as ourselves. We talked about this in our Sunday school class about suing people.36:39You know, if you can't win the lottery, and you can't get the job you want, you can't get a rich uncle to die for you, pray you get rear-ended by somebody, and you can wear a back brace for the rest of your life, and you can't get a whole bunch of money. I saw it on the TV. A woman done got $250,000. It's about all I need.37:09The Bible says don't even do that. As believers, don't even get caught up in that kind of stuff. But, you know, there's a lot that the Scripture says that we don't abide by. And we wonder why revival hasn't come to the church. I could read more. Just one or two.37:37He says in Romans 15, 3, 15, 4, he says, Wow. He said don't change the Word of God. Just live the Word of God. And know that the Word of God is an encouraging Word to you. That it's there. And then he says that, you know, I get tickled. I've got to read this one over in 2 Peter 3, verse 14. He says, Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things,38:06be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you as also in his letters, Do you know there are people in the church today38:21that are distorting the Word of God so that it can read the way they want it to read so they can live the way they want to live in the sin that they have and they wonder why they're not happy. His words were a challenging word38:50to the people of God for one more chance. Deuteronomy 2, 3. 4, 3. Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done to the case of Belpior. For all the men who follow Belpior, the Lord your God, has destroyed them from among you. But you be held fast to the Lord. Your God are alive today.39:19But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today. Every one of you. Folks, I want to tell you something. You may be the very people God's brought together this time. Young people, young families, older families, guests, old members, young members. God's brought you here and he's saying to you,39:47you are going to be a part of what I do in this church. But here's what it's going to take. We all have got to get out from under the shadow of the past. Here's how you do that. You own it. I did it. I sinned. You repent of it. You turn from it.40:18You own it. You repent of it. And you move forward. You don't look back on it again. But I want to tell you something. If you don't own it, you know, in our society, we don't own much of anything. It's always somebody else's fault. Did you know that? The reason that our economy is in the trenches is because we've got a terrible president, we've got a terrible senate, we've got a terrible congress. Now I want to tell you something. It's because you and I as individuals spent more money40:47than we had to buy things that we couldn't pay for on our own. So we borrowed to pay for it. And then when the crunch did come, we had issues. The people that didn't have issues with the fall of the market in 2008 were people who weren't in debt. Right? But I want to, it's easier for me to blame it on the government. Amen? It's easier for me to blame it on somebody else's decision. Now, does that play, I don't want to get politics, but I want to tell you something. I got to own the fact41:16that my wife and I may be struggling financially, which we're not. Bless God, we're not. We are blessed. But we do have to own it. We can't, you know, boy, I tell you what, as a parent, and I think my sons are here today. One of them may be with the children, but Matthew's home for a little quick visit. I think he's up there41:46hiding somewhere, but I want to tell you something. I couldn't, that'd make me so mad when I'd walk in a room and something'd be broken and it was like it just fell over by itself. What happened here? I don't know. Don't know. Don't know. Okay. I've not been in the room. Your mother's not been in the room. Y'all in the room. What's happening here? Now, who do you think Justin stepped out?42:16They did it. Christopher and Matthew. Now, I'm sure, you know what I'm talking about. Nobody wants to accept responsibility. You ever been pulled over by a police officer and said, yes, sir, I was speeding. I know I was speeding. I'm, write me a ticket. Or do you pull over and you go, oh, I always pull over and I say, I'm a preacher. And he said, you ought to know you're supposed to obey the law. We don't want to own nothing. We don't want to accept responsibility for anything.42:45We don't want to blame somebody else. My friend, I want to tell you something. If revival is going to come to Bethel Baptist Church, we got to own it. We got to own our sin. We got to repent. Brother Chris, does that repentance need to be public? It's between you and God. If it's a public sin, yes, it does. I believe you need to go to the person you sinned against, ask their forgiveness43:14so you can move on. Otherwise, I want to tell you something. Your days may be short, your time may be short, or you may be the very reason that God doesn't send revival. And I don't want to stand before God one day and God say, Chris Burns, you're the reason I didn't send revival. Revival to Bethel Baptist Church because I want you to know in these 21 days of prayer and fasting, these days are going to be spent praying and asking God to reveal to me what about me do you want to change? Do I need to confess and repent of God?43:43I want to know. I don't want to have to guess because I believe God showed me this before I showed you this. So you own it, you repent of it, and folks, then we move into the promised land. And you know something? It was just that for a time. It was just that.44:13Wherever they walked, the walls fell until sin entered the camp again. it's kind of like Enoch and Adam. They lived at the same time. Can you imagine Enoch when he was talking to Adam and he asked Adam, what was it like living in the garden with God? And Adam would look at him and tell him what it was like. And Enoch44:43And Enoch wanted that so bad that God took him and he was not. He didn't die. He just got taken up because he wanted that much of God so bad. My friend, I want to tell you something. I don't want more of you. I want more of God in my life. I want to know him. I want to know him. I want to really, really know him.45:13Let's pray. Father, as we gather here today, people want to know you. We need to know you. God, I believe that Israel is an example for us as your church today to get out from under the mountain. And Lord, to move out from under the shadows of the past, to move into the presence45:42of the light of God who is the light of life. And Lord, I don't know what's going on in everybody's heart and mind out here today. But God, I know that Father, if we stay where we're at, we're going to die. we're going to die. And that death ain't going to be pretty. But God,46:12But God, you're a God of life. And I believe you'll give life, I believe you'll give life to individuals that Father want to get right with you today. I believe if there's somebody here today that's lost and wants to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, you'll give them life today. God, I believe that if there's a person here today that has sin in their life, they've covered that sin with lies and deceit, God, I believe today you'll give them life if they'll come and confess and repent. Own it, repent of it. I believe it, God. Because I believe46:44that's what your word says. I don't want to change your word. I don't want to add to your word. Father, your word says at least we repent. You wrote to the church at Ephesus, Sardis, Thessalonica, Laodicea, Thyatira, all of them. you wrote to them, Sardis. And God, every one of them, you gave an opportunity to repent. God,47:15God, how do we know that today this may be the day you're giving us to repent? Own it, repent of it, and move on. Father, I would just pray that your Holy Spirit have your way today in Jesus' name. Amen. I want you to hear me. I'm going to ask you not to leave. I want to ask you not to leave. I want to ask you to stay just for47:44the invitation. I want you to hear me. if Christ is speaking to your life and you need Jesus, I want you to come forward. If you need to own a sin in your life and you need to spend some time at this altar, you spend time. We'll go on with the benediction at the end. You stay here all afternoon. That'll be all right. But I don't want anyone to leave here knowing God speaking to their heart. I'll pray with you. There'll be others that'll be glad to pray with you.48:14But I want to challenge you. Folks, we don't move. If we don't move out from under the shadows of this mountain, we're going to die in its shadows. We'll be right back.48:29We'll be right back.More sermons on Deuteronomy →
