if CHRIST has X then you can Y

GOD Loves You 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to Simple Man Sermons, the preachings of
a simple man called by God to share the good
news of Jesus Christ. If God has X, then you
can why. You may have saw that title when you

(00:23):
clicked on the episode, or maybe it just auto played
after you listen to something else, but I want to
try and unpack that today on this episode. If God
has X, or if Christ has X, then you can why.
And the X in this equation is what God has

(00:44):
already done, and the why is pretty much anything in
your life that applies to you. Now, I'm gonna be
real with you, guys. Have been working two jobs. The
second job is supposed to be part time. It has
not been part time a lot like it's been full
time plus another job. And I've been really tired just
being I'm not complaining. I'm just being honest. I think

(01:06):
I can be honest without complaining, hopefully because we are
not too complain. But I've been tired getting up at
three something four something in the morning a lot. I
try and get up early and go to the gym
before we're and I try and hit the gym after work.
One of the days this week, I was in the
gym after work, and I was exhausted, and I was

(01:29):
having kind of a little pity party, like, oh, one
of the last things I want to do right now
is voluntarily going and lift really heavy weights. I've been
working all day to get up early again tomorrow. You
get the idea, right, Just a pity party now. I
wasn't listening to earphones or anything like that. I don't

(01:50):
like to do that often when I work out. I
generally like to work out without it. But a song
popped into my head, and forgive me, I don't remember
the song. I don't remember the title, I don't remember
who sang it. I can't seem to find it anywhere.
If a couple of lyrics I remember ring a bell,
and you know that's great. I would give credit where
it was due if I honestly could remember. It wasn't

(02:10):
like a big name or anything. It was just something
I randomly heard, I think on a podcast. But the
lyrics were your grace is my grit. And I haven't
forgotten that after all these years. What a wonderful few words.
God's grace is my grit. I was thinking about that
while I was hanging from the pull up bar and

(02:34):
then I thought, man up. If Christ could hang on
a cross and die for me for my sins when
I didn't deserve it, can't I do this? If God
gave me a body? Now, the body's not the most
important thing. We are spirits that dwell in a body.
But God gave us these temporary dwellings, these tents here

(02:56):
on this earth, and until the silver cord is loosed,
shouldn't we take of a gift that God has given us?
If you care for somebody, respect somebody. If they give
you a gift and it really means something to you
because they took the time to pick it out for you, you
should probably appreciate it. Right. How much more does that
apply to our bodies that God has given us? But
not to be treated as a carnival or as a

(03:16):
playground there to be respected and taken care of. It's
the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Right. Our bodies are
the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells
in us. Should I not take care of that dwelling
while I can? And this is not the only thing
that applies to But I'm using it because it's the
illustration that came to me. If Christ could hang there
and die for me, being pierced and run through with

(03:37):
a spear, hanging dying, after being whipped and struck and
spit on and insulted and blasphemed for me. Could I
not suck it up and do a little bit to
take care of the things He's given me here on
this earth, even when I don't want to. You think
Jesus wanted to hang on that cross. Remember him praying

(03:57):
in the garden, my will, but your will be done,
as Christ asked for the cup to pass from him,
and then he said, not my will, but your will
be done. He didn't want to do that, he did it.
It's easy to do what you want all the time.

(04:18):
That's kind of hedonism, or the modern creed of satanism.
Right is doing whatever you want all the time. I
didn't grow up a Christian. I grew up living that life.
It might be pleasurable in the short term, but it
is miserable in the long term. Part of being a
good man of God, a righteous man, a somebody who

(04:39):
walks with God, let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments. Part of
that is doing the right thing. Whether you want to
or not. What you want has little to do with
it now. In the end, it produces fruit of love, joy, peace,
self control, and wonderful, wonderful things in the long term,
but many, many times in the acute, it requires you

(05:01):
to do things you'd rather not do, not because they're bad,
not because they're wrong, but because you just don't want
to do them in a flesh. If you think God
is asking you to do anything hard, whatever that thing is,
there's nothing even close to what He's done for you.
Are you striving against sin? Well have you resisted them

(05:23):
the bloodshed? From Hebrews to twelfth chapter. Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,

(05:44):
the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the
joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
the shame, and sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. For consider him who endured such
hostility from sinners. Against the least you become weary and
discouraged in your souls, for you have not yet resisted

(06:06):
to bloodshed striving against sin. Sometimes we have to do
things we don't want to do. Sometimes it's hard to
struggle against sin, especially when it seems like the majority,
not seems like when the majority of the world is
doing whatever they want, going the easy path. But have

(06:27):
you resisted to the point of bloodshed because Jesus did?
Have you hung on a cross to do the right thing?
Because Christ did that. If he can do that, surely
you can do whatever the other variable is in your
life right now? Whatever that why is? Yeah, many may
take the easy path, and you see yourself struggling uphill.
But doesn't Jesus tell us this very thing. Therefore, whatever

(06:52):
you want men to do to you, do also to them.
For this is the law, and the prophets enter by
the narrow gate. For why is the gate? And broad
is the way that leads to destruction, and there are
many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate,
and difficult is the way which leads to life, and
there are a few who find it. This is not

(07:14):
unique to me, This is not unique to you. You're
not uniquely being persecuted. That is unprecedented. Look at the
lives of the disciples and what they suffered from following Christ.
Look at Paul, look at what it cost him to
follow Christ. Many of those things I'm sure he would
have rather not done, been shipwrecked, been beaten, on the
run for his life. I'm make no mistake. This is

(07:34):
not the entirety of the Christian experience. There are times
when you're so filled with joy and love it seems
that you could run into Hell with a water pistol
and be happy to do it. But part of it
is going uphill, keeping on the narrow path when you're tired,
when you're weary, even when you don't want to right

(07:57):
that that's kind of a test in itself. If you
look at this in men's lives and people's lives, often
the people always do the easy thing. They don't want
to do anything hard, they don't want to struggle. How
does their life turn out versus people that struggle even
when it's hard and persevere and God is not a hypocrite.

(08:20):
Christ is not a hypocrite. He was tempted in always
as we are, yet without sin. Whatever temptation you have,
then He's faced it and he's overcome it, and if
he can do it, he's not a hypocrite. He's not
asking you to do anything that he hasn't done. That's
one thing Jesus rails against in the gospels is being
a hypocrite. Don't be a hypocrite, and do not be deceived.
You will serve something. The Bible says. You will either

(08:43):
be a slave of sin or a slave to God.
There's going to be unpleasant times either way. But I said,
admit it. In these simple terms. It is better to
struggle with the truth than to bask in a lie.
It is better to take a narrow way that's difficult
sometimes that leads to life, then an easy broad way

(09:04):
filled with pleasure that leads to destruction. Doesn't give another option.
There doesn't give a third path. From the Gospel of Matthew,
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoka is easy and my burden is light.

(09:29):
Be of a good cheer. God will not tempt you
beyond what you were able to bear, and he certainly
won't ask you to do anything that he himself hasn't done.
God became man and hung and died for you. He's
not asking that of you right now, is he? Whatever
the thing is, if God can do that, can you

(09:52):
not do whatever the other thing is that you're supposed
to be doing? And the yoka is easy and the
burden is light compared to the burden and penalty of sin. Yeah,
it might be easy for a while, It might be
a pleasure before a while, but it leads to eternal
destruction and damnation. Jesus talks about hell often, Well, why
many modern Christians shy away from it? I certainly will not. Yeah,

(10:15):
compared to the burden of hell and sin, there's a
little short term discomfort in this life. We should all
think about that as to what kind of men we
want to be, kind that struggle and wrestle to stay
on the difficult, narrow way, the way that leads to life,
or the kind that just want to take it easy

(10:36):
all the time. One thing that helps when you're going
up a mountain and I like to hike and be
out in the back country quite a bit, is just
looking right in front of you, not looking at all
the difficulty before ahead, but just taking that next step,
that step in the right direction. I was a marine

(11:01):
and going through Marine Corps boot camp, especially like the Crucible,
which is like the really hard, exhausting section of boot camp.
One of the things that will help you get through
hard times like that, or in war or in a deployment.
I've been to war TOI sadly more than I care
to remember. But one of the things I do remember
that gets you through this, and it can be applied

(11:21):
to many other things. In the war against sin, just
do the next thing. Think about you know today was
so hard, and you have hundreds of days ahead of
hard things. Think about doing the next thing and getting
the next good thing that you're supposed to do completed.
You might get even more discouraged looking around at the

(11:43):
wickedness of the world. But as it says in Ecclesiastes,
there's nothing new under the sun. People basking in sin,
even prideful of their sins, moral sins, sexual sins, injustice, persecution, mockery.
There's nothing you under the sun. These things. They persecuted
Christ to death for being honest and good and holy.

(12:09):
But he focused on what he was supposed to do
and got it done. And if he can do that,
bear that cross. After being beaten and spit on and
insulted and mocked and blasphemed whatever the next thing is
that we have to do, it's less than that. If

(12:30):
God can ax, you can why whatever that why is,
Thanks for listening, and have a blessed day.