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| Archive sermon from a meeting at Jaycee park |
| Delivered by Pastor Chuck Marshall |
| (2Corinthians4:1-6) Verse 4 tell us that "the god of this world (referring to satan) has blinded the minds of them who believe not. "Satan wants to destroy people.God loves people.Satan hates God,and he hates anything he loves (people). He is the thief in John 10:10 who comes to steal, kill, destroy he has neither power nor permission to do that directly. His only means of ruining a man's life is to keep him separated from God through unbelief. Even then his power is pretty limited. It's a legitimate question to ask: Do people not believe because satan blinds their thinking? of course the answer is both are true. The person who isn't interested in an explanation of reality that places a Holy God at the center of everything and therefore does not accept that explanation,is open to hear any other explanation. He doesn't believe, and therefore he is easily blinded by any lie that come along. The person, on the other hand, who hears a plausible though erroneous description of reality and is blinded by it, will not readily believe the truth when it is told.In either case, three things are important to consider here: 1) Satan's strategy is consistently the same.Tell any lie that will keep people from the truth. 2) It is the personal responsibility of each person to discover the truth. It's impossible to keep a man in blindness who will not be denied the truth. 3) We need to be able to relate the gospel in a penetrating way that will break through the lies of satan. Maybe the best way to deal with all three is to reveal seven lies that keep people from Christ. 1. moraality is a matter of opinion. Satan knows if he can get the culture to buy into that lie, he can accomplish two things at once. 1) He can get people so hooked on immoral behavior that they choose their sin above christ even when the truth breaks through to them. 2) When the church speaks out against that lie as it must, people who have believed that right and wrong are opinion will reject christianity because of its absolutes. But morality is not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of revelation. Whatever is consistent with the character and purpose of god is moral because God is perfect and holy. The bible reveals to us what the mind and heart of God are on matters of morality. The bible says, "thou shalt not commit adultery" "men shall not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination." "Abstain from fornication: that every one of you should be able to possess his vessel in sanctification and horon." But the culture says "We would rather romp and roll in the gutter than stand in honor with a clean conscience." What they don't realize is that loose living hardens the hart against a holy God, and so keeps them from Christ. 2. One form of religion is just is good as the next. That's what the culture is telling us.You have to be tolerant of everyone's beliefs. After all, why should you Christians think you're right, and everybody else is wrong? Listen, Allah didn't so love the world that he gave his only begotten son so that you wouldn't perish, but have everlasting life. Bhuda didn't die for your sins. Hinduism doesn't have an empty tomb. New Age doesn't fill you with a Holy Spirit. Those who want to reduce Christianity to just our opinion and place it on the same level with all other religions, don't believe in any God at all. The truth is if any religion is right, it's the only one that is. That doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. A brief glance at all the weird, divergent belief systems will show you immediately that they are all mutually exelusive. To give equal place to all religion is a man centered idea. If you were God, how would you feel about Islamic temples being given the same respect as the church your Son died to redeem? The bible says Page 1of 4 |
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