Discussion of "Sinners and Saints"

[0:00] Welcome everyone. In this morning's text was the woman caught in adultery.

[0:11] ! Was that new information for anyone today when I mentioned that the text is in brackets?! Was it? Anybody else? Yeah?

[0:23] ! I remember being in seminary and hearing that. And I guess I just never paid attention to the brackets around it. It was just kind of one of those things that's like, oh, there's brackets here.

[0:36] Yeah. Yeah. And the evidence that exists that we have many, many manuscripts. Some are more ancient than others in the manuscripts of John.

[0:49] The most ancient ones do not include the woman caught in adultery. And so the question is, well, where and when did that start becoming commonly placed in John where it is?

[1:00] Well, it was somewhere around the medieval period. And it's neat to go back. Some of these biblical scholars, they've found this story in other places in the Gospel of John.

[1:15] They've found it in other Gospels like Luke. And so I don't know, I mentioned Don Carson. I don't know if many of you guys are familiar with Don Carson, D.A. Carson. He's a New Testament scholar.

[1:27] He's just an impressive, very intelligent person. And so I really leaned on his commentary some more for this morning's sermon.

[1:37] And, you know, I was really interested to hear what he had to say, because I didn't want to do, you know, what I've done before is like, well, yeah, it's not in those early commentaries of John.

[1:48] But who's to say that we're not going to find an earlier manuscript of John where it's in there? So let's just, you know, kind of not address that too much. But he, you know, he talked about the fact that this story has appeared in other ancient biblical literature, maybe not considered canon in Scripture, but like the Apocrypha.

[2:13] He talked about the fact that other early church fathers referenced this story, a similar story. And so I think, again, that's why it was important that I brought up John in the end.

[2:25] I think it's chapter 21 where he talks about the fact that there are so many things that Jesus has said and done that if they were all recorded, I suppose that not even the world could contain them all.

[2:36] And so I would fit this encounter in to that. So I feel confident to preach on it and to say that it is the word of God. And I hope that you still feel the same.

[2:47] One day when we go to heaven, we can ask these questions and say, you know, well, when, you know, just tell us more. And where, you know, along Jesus' three-year ministry, did that really fit in and whatnot?

[3:01] So, yeah, we can erase the brackets. Finally, we can erase the brackets. But with these application questions, I kind of took a little bit different of an angle because I think that there's so much here for us.

[3:17] That, you know, again, a sermon that is long enough that couldn't be fit in there. But that talk about the attitude that characterized the Pharisees that, if we're honest, sometimes characterizes us.

[3:36] And sometimes often characterizes a lot of people who say that they follow Christ, where their attitude tends to be more of that we look down on others or we view some sins as being okay and not such a big deal.

[3:52] Other sins as much less permissible. And we have an ability. And, again, I'm speaking to you. I'm confessing to you that I do the same thing.

[4:03] You know, I think, well, yeah, I lied. Forgive me, Lord. But in your mind, you can kind of think, but I didn't, you know, kill anybody today.

[4:15] I think that's pretty good that I didn't do that. And we know the world thinks in this way, doesn't it? I mean, especially in churches that are more focused on the health and wealth gospel or they talk more about God's attribute of being loving.

[4:32] But they act as if that attribute is greater than all of his others, which we know that he, you know, as I was talking about with Julie, he's equally wrathful. He's equally loving.

[4:43] You know, this is who God is. But they focus so much on that. And then think, well, you know, it can lead you to think, well, hell, you know, is only a place for really, really bad people like Hitler.

[4:56] Or somebody who has caused many deaths and slaughtered others and caused a lot of pain and suffering in this world. That's really only who hell is for. But, you know, as we read scripture, and that's why it's so important.

[5:08] I know I've talked to people about, you know, they've raised the thought that, well, the Bible is a book of morals. It's about good moral living. And the answer to that is, well, there is a lot of commands from God about how we are to live our lives.

[5:24] But if you read the Bible, you'll come away with a major takeaway that you're not a good person. You are a sinner. That God is not pleased with your sin.

[5:35] That you are incapable of living up to his perfect moral standard. Therefore, you must have a Savior if you're going to be saved. And so the Bible always reminds us of those things.

[5:49] But we can, and I think if we're honest, we can get into a mode where we can maybe not go that far. But when it comes to us or when it comes to our church, we can think, well, that's not such a big deal.

[6:02] At least we're not, I don't know, fill in the blank, doing these unacceptable things. So in James 3, 1 through 12, I want to read that first.

[6:16] Because really, again, we see here the attitude of the Pharisees in this encounter with the woman caught in adultery. They take the attitude of Satan. They're accusers. Whereas Jesus, we see, is our interceder.

[6:29] And so let me read that if you want to follow along. James 3, verses 1 through 12. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

[6:40] For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

[6:55] Look at the ships also. Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the will of the pilot directs.

[7:05] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.

[7:16] The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.

[7:32] It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

[7:45] My brothers, these things ought not to be. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?

[7:56] Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. And so, you know, that scripture where I was thinking about using it with this morning's sermon as well, is to talk about one of those acceptable sins that we, in the church, or that we, even in ourselves, that we know is often an issue in the church is gossip, right?

[8:18] That's sort of the, that's one of the things that the world kind of pegs any church with, is that, well, they, you know, really they gossip a lot. And, you know, let's be honest, sometimes we do.

[8:31] And sometimes the ways in which we gossip, we mask it. Like, we'll say something like, well, you know, hey, I really want you to be praying for John because.

[8:44] And maybe it's not so much the prayer request for John that we want, but to share what we know about John or the gossip that we have about John. Or, you know, bless his heart, we'll say things like that.

[8:54] And that's kind of our Christian lingo to try to mask our gossip with religious talk. But it can really do major harm in the church, you know?

[9:05] Not only is it harmful for the person who it originates from, but it's also harmful in the mind of those who hear it, right? It's like poison in their mind. And so we know that in the church, that can be a major problem that creates division, is how or the language that we use, right?

[9:26] And we've seen that this is a very big deal. The words that we use, God is aware of. And it's really important to him that our tongue is bridled, that it's tamed.

[9:37] And as he's saying, it cannot be tamed by us. It's the Holy Spirit, right? It's got to be the Holy Spirit who tames our tongue so that we don't become an accuser like Satan, but instead be an interceder like Jesus is for us.

[9:53] And then we read that in Hebrews 7, verse 25. Hebrews 7, 25.

[10:08] And so to picture Jesus in this role right now as he sits at the right hand of the Father, though Satan is accusing us, accusing us, and we are guilty.

[10:26] We are sinners. We are deserving of God's wrath. Yet Jesus is there pleading for us and interceding for us, telling the Father, this is somebody whom I've died for.

[10:40] This is somebody whose sins I have atoned for. So, you know, the reflection question really, or the application question really, was for you to reflect again on your own words.

[10:52] Do they reflect those of an accuser or an intercessor? And so this is something, you know, really, I mean, I don't know what discussion we can have about it in here, but just to think about and pay attention to the words that you use, you know.

[11:12] Are my words more accusative or intercessory? We look at the world that we live in, right? And what do we notice from especially our politicians?

[11:27] And again, I'm going to talk about politics, but I'm not making a political statement. It doesn't matter anyways. But, you know, it's all accusing, isn't it? Accusing, accusing, accusing.

[11:39] You know, this, well, you did this and you did that. You're going to do this. You're going to do that. The world is going to end because of you. Kind of a deal. But, you know, what would be nice, I think, if we had agreed if our political leaders did more interceding for us, wouldn't it?

[11:55] You know, if they asked us if they cared about what we think or the concerns that we have instead of lying to us or believing lies about us to do more interceding on our behalf, which is better for everyone.

[12:09] So, any thoughts on that as you reflect over the words that you use? Are they accusing or interceding? So, like, you know, we can, give me some examples. Jack, are you here?

[12:23] Can you be my mic man? I've got to find a microphone. All right, Nick had his hand up, Jack.

[12:41] Thank you, sir. I already turned it on. Yeah, Nick, right here. Yeah, looking at it, it's, suddenly I realized, I don't know about an interpersonal relationship, if this is an issue for me, but certainly when I think about other denominations and other churches.

[13:03] Like, when I actually think about the things I say about, you know, Methodists, Lutherans, heaven forbid the Catholics, Charismatics, you know, I mean, it's just like, man, I just bash these people all the time.

[13:17] And it's like, do I ever intercede for them? Yes. Would I ever pray? Yes. For Lutheran, for the Lutheran denomination.

[13:28] Would I ever pray for strong believers in a denomination that has drifted? Do I ever pray for their restoration? No, I don't. I just criticize them. And, yeah, it definitely, it touched my conscience thinking about that.

[13:44] Good comment. And I think that that one's that probably is convicting for us all, because I know that I'm guilty of doing the same as well. And when we get in our little groups, you know, we kind of get a little bit of enjoyment over accusing, you know, other denominations, other teachers that we aren't in line with.

[14:06] And we get, we can laugh about it or we can get really angry about it, but that's a good thought. Like, do we ever stop to actually pray for them? Do we delight in seeing some of, like, what the United Methodist Church is going through and the division that they are experiencing?

[14:25] Is that something that we're like, yeah, you know, saw that coming? Not surprised. Be careful what, you know, you ask for. Or are we actually interceding for them, as you mentioned?

[14:38] Yeah, that's something that I've had to try to take into consideration, too, when people come into the church. Because, you know, we have visitors come in, and I don't know what their background is. If people come in and they're visiting, and maybe they grew up Catholic, and all they hear is just me bashing the Catholic Church, what kind of a message are they going to, what are they going to be hearing from me?

[15:01] You know, an accusing message or one where it's more sprinkled with love and grace? Good. Any other thoughts as you reflect over those accuser or accusing, being accuser or intercessor?

[15:18] Wes? I just wanted to add a little side note. I did this scripture in James in a youth group. And as I was doing my study and word search on it, as far as the backbiters and gossipers and stuff like that, it was really interesting, as I'm reading three different parts of the Bible talked about it, and it was saying, when it talked about how God hates certain things, when you're looking up for backbiters, along with that list of things is murderers and liars and thieves.

[15:51] I mean, God does not like gossip. He just does not like it. It rates right up in there with all the biggies. And it's just sad that it does happen.

[16:02] And I heard a guy once said, it was a pastor, when someone starts trying to gossip to him, he says, one second, he starts, let me write this down. He's like, what are you doing? Well, I'm writing it down later on so I can tell. No, no, no, no.

[16:13] Okay, then you shouldn't be telling me. I mean, that's just the way to stop that right there in his tracks. Yeah. It's just to make it look like, I'm going to repeat it, and so if you don't want me to repeat it, then you shouldn't be telling me.

[16:25] Yeah. And so that's just one way to kind of look at it. Yeah. Working at Roos, you always had to be careful not to start bashing the different denominations because you never knew what might be coming in the door, so it kind of made that a little easier for me.

[16:39] Yeah, good comments. I remember I talked about in my previous church, my mentor there, the previous pastor, Pastor Blaine, he gave me a good piece of advice with dealing with gossip, and what he would do is if somebody told him something and it sounded like gossip, he'd say, do you mind if I repeat that back to that person?

[16:59] Oh, no, you don't have to do that. No, no, no, no, no. So to think, you know, is this something that you would say to that person's face? And if not, then maybe there is more of an accusative attitude behind it than you realize.

[17:14] I think you raised another good point, too, in sharing the gospel with people. I know that Danny and I have talked about this. This is she's shared the gospel with people, and maybe they'll mention, like, yeah, I heard a really good sermon from, you know, Joel Osteen or something like that, or this book, the secular book that you know is totally against Christianity, some kind of self-help book.

[17:44] And in that moment, what's going to be the most effective way to continue to share the gospel to that person, to accuse them and to hammer them right there at the, you know, at that moment?

[17:56] You can't, no, man, you can't listen. You can't be reading that. Even though you don't want them to be, but are they going to hear you? And maybe what's more effective, you could disagree with me, would be to do more interceding and praying for that person, keeping that door open and for more opportunities where eventually you can say, you know, well, I don't listen to that person or I don't read that, and these are my concerns with it.

[18:23] And by that time, the person hopefully knows that you actually really do care about them. They've seen Christ in you in some way through your conduct and your attitude, and you're going to be more successful with them when you have those conversations because they're going to see you, I think, as being more credible.

[18:40] Somebody whose advice, somebody whose words are going to be weightier because they have a better feel for who you are and what you believe and that you're saying these things because you're concerned.

[18:55] You have genuine concerns. It's not just coming from hate but from love, which can be hard to do sometimes because it breaks my heart when you hear some of these feelings. It's like, no, you know, put that down.

[19:08] Turn that off. Okay, let's move on to the next question. In the parable of the Pharisees and the tax collector, Luke 18, verses 9 through 14. And again, looking at these attitudes here, looking at your attitude towards God, right?

[19:30] Because even these Pharisees in John 8 think that they're doing the right thing. Clearly they're not.

[19:41] I mean, they've acted horribly and maliciously to set this woman up, not to excuse her in any way of the sins that she was involved with. But, you know, in their eyes, they were much greater than they truly were.

[19:54] And they thought they were working for God when in fact they were working against him. Luke 18, 9 through 14. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

[20:08] Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. I think you all know that, you know, Jesus uses these two professions in contrast because in the eyes of the people, a Pharisee is a great and righteous and holy man.

[20:22] A tax collector is a dirty, rotten sinner. Yeah, and hey, you know, we won't get into tax collectors either. None of us, I believe, is a friend of the IRS in here.

[20:36] But continuing on, it's hard to like people who take your money, isn't it? I'll stop there. Okay, the Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

[20:55] I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get, but the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[21:06] I tell you, this man went down to his house, justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

[21:18] So, having read that parable, what warnings does Jesus give to those who look down their religious noses at others? What is the warning? Wes, and then Cameron.

[21:33] That you'll be humbled. Okay? Cameron over here, Jack. I think this was definitely one that hit me when I look back at my life, especially like teenage years.

[21:49] It's so easy going to a public school, looking at kids and going, hey, I may not be the best Christian, but I'm way better than those guys over there.

[22:00] Like, you know, so you kind of, you know, put yourself on a scale next to somebody else instead of putting yourself on the scale of Christ, like you should be.

[22:14] And so I think, kind of for me, what it does is it almost makes you content in your sin, that, hey, my sin's not as bad as other people's sin, so I'm still doing okay.

[22:30] And I think it can kind of make your walk with Christ a little bit more stagnant for a while because you become content where you're at instead of continually keeping your eyes and focus on Christ.

[22:44] And so, for me, I think that's kind of a secondary warning here is that if you look at others, you can kind of be content where you're at and it'll definitely kind of hinder your walk with Christ.

[23:03] Or, like Wes said, you'll be humbled altogether. And there's no telling what that will lead to. Good. So, like the Pharisee we see in his prayer, kind of like you mentioned, his focus was on who he was and what he wasn't, right?

[23:22] I'm a Pharisee. I do good things. There are unacceptable sins, these horrible sins that I do not commit, have not committed.

[23:36] Again, I've done a lot of good things. I fast. I tithe. But I'm not like this one over here, drawing these comparisons.

[23:48] So I think part of the warning, as you mentioned from Jesus here, is not to draw those kinds of comparisons from one sinner to another, from you to another person.

[24:00] To not be deluded into thinking that just because I have had perfect church attendance for the past 20 years, and over that time, I've regularly given of my tithe, and I've served in the church.

[24:15] The warning is, you know, to not ever, one, do those things for the wrong motivation, but two, to not think that you're so much better than another person because of them, or think that you're justified because of them, right?

[24:28] Which the Pharisees thought that he was. So having a healthy estimation of yourself. Because I think we can go too far the other way, can't we?

[24:39] We're just like, I'm just a sinner, and how can God ever love me, and I hate myself. I never do what I want to do. I'm just a horrible, wretched man. And to have that attitude all the time where you're just like, you know what?

[24:52] You know, thinking about Martin Luther before what God revealed to him that led to the Protestant Reformation as well. It just, he's a miserable person to be around because of how much he hated himself, and how much he hated God as a result of that, because he felt like he could never do enough to measure up to God's perfect standard until the Lord opened his eyes to the word.

[25:14] And so we've got to be careful of going too far in that direction either, but to have a healthy estimation of ourselves. And so that's why I really like that quote from John Newton. I think that that's a good thing to keep in mind every day, that yes, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior.

[25:34] You know, and Christ is greater than my sin. And to keep that in mind, that I think will help you as you interact, especially with those who maybe you could be tempted to feel like you don't have any ability to associate with because maybe they're involved with something or the way that they look or whatever the case may be, you've allowed your sin nature to make you think that you are greater or better than them.

[26:03] And then the warning here too is that again, as Wes very simply put it, those who exalt themselves will be humbled. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled.

[26:15] Have you ever seen that take place? Wes, anybody want to share a story? Wes? I mean, within reason.

[26:26] If that person's in the room, then, you know, maybe wait to do that unless that person is yourself. Well, I'm going to cop out and just pull something out of the Bible, but I was thinking about being humbled is when Jesus said, don't put yourself right at the guest of honor seat.

[26:43] Just sit in the back. Yes. When Christ, when the host comes in, no, no, you in front of everybody, you come up here and sit next to me and you can go back over there. So someday that's going to happen and the people that are exalting themselves now are going to be set down way at the end of the table.

[26:59] And I think God's table is going to be a really big table. So you'll be way, way, way, way down there. Yeah, good point. So there's other instances where Jesus talked about this very thing, right?

[27:13] when he went into the Pharisee's house and the woman came and anointed his head with oil and wiped his feet with her tears and her hair.

[27:24] And he made the point that, you know, since I've come in, you've done nothing for me to show any kind of hospitality for me. But yet here's this woman. Ever since I've come in, she can't stop crying.

[27:34] What else? Biblical examples could be good as well. Mommy back here, Jack. You can think of biblical examples.

[27:44] I think of a lot of the kings of Israel, right? Man, how many of them were full of themselves who God had to humble? Danny? Well, I think sometimes we forget that we can look down at our children or any children as not being, I don't know, just not having as much importance as they do in the church.

[28:06] And I think that Jesus addressed that a couple of times about how, you know, such as the kingdom of heaven and that that's something that we do need to put value on, teaching the children and really taking them under our wing and mentoring them.

[28:21] That goes along with youth too. Good. Yeah, it's good to exalt others within the church, especially those who maybe don't have as much of a voice or as much of a say. Any other examples or examples from Scripture?

[28:36] Huh? Haman? Yes. Yeah. Certainly Moses. Striking the rock instead of speaking to it.

[28:49] Yes. Moses. David. David on a couple of occasions, right? Or he was humbled. Jerry over here. Jonah.

[29:01] Were you going to say Jonah, Doyleen? Okay. Jonah, for sure. Jerry. You know, I wish I could remember all the times that my mouth was engaged and my brain wasn't.

[29:14] and things I've said or done and it depends on what the situation was. Sometimes you can resolve them pretty easily.

[29:26] Yeah. And sometimes you may never get it resolved. But it's a humble experience when you're confronted with, you know, when you're saying, said something or did something that was, like I said, looking down on someone else.

[29:41] Yeah. Yeah. And it comes back to bite you. Yeah. Yeah. Good. I think of Peter, as you were saying that, somebody who would often speak, maybe not really thinking what he was about to say beforehand and he would often, you know, he would, you know, forbid it, Christ, that you should die and get me in a place after he just confessed him as Lord to think that now he could tell him what to do and what not to do, right?

[30:03] And he was humbled then as well by our Lord for that. Michael? This story really makes me think of Satan himself and how prideful he was and how at the end of it all he will truly be humbled and put in the lake of fire.

[30:18] Yeah. The ultimate example. Very good. So, I mean, I think we can go through Scripture and see Jacob. I mean, gosh, we can go through and see many, many, many examples in Scripture of godly men and women who at some point in time, and especially it seems like it's more of an issue with men as I'm thinking about it, who are the ones who get a little full of themselves, especially as they arise to power or to prominence to think that, you know, just kind of forget their place in the grand scheme of things and who they are before God and say things or do things and God humbles them.

[31:09] The ultimate example, as Michael said, is with Satan, is with unbelievers who continually reject the Gospel, who continually reject Christ. And, you know, I think we've seen people like Richard Dawkins who, you know, has encouraged unbelievers to mock Christians.

[31:32] And, you know, again, we can fight fire with fire there or we can intercede for Him and pray for Him. But to think that one day all these people who have mocked the Lord, who have despised Him, who have exalted themselves, who have made a God out of themselves, they will be humbled.

[31:54] They will be humbled. Anybody else have a comment here? So, a good point to keep in mind to have the attitude of the tax collector, right? He had an understanding of who he was before God.

[32:07] He was a sinner. He begged for the Lord to be merciful and the promise here is that He went home justified. And so to have that attitude amongst ourselves, you know, that's why I think it's so important as we look at the Lord's Prayer and I know you've heard of a lot of other preachers make that recommendation too that when you pray, you know, first start by exalting Christ and then humbly acknowledging your own sin and inability to save yourself.

[32:37] That puts you in a good state of mind. Not just for the rest of that time of prayer but also for the rest of the day which takes us to the last question. Are you preaching the gospel to yourself every day?

[32:51] How will doing so ensure that your attitude towards the lost becomes more like Christ? And so I list some scriptures there, a couple from the Old Testament and the New Testament that, you know, I think are good scriptures to keep in mind your sin and what God has done with it through Christ, through His ability, His power.

[33:16] Are you preaching the gospel to yourself every day? And then let's focus on this question here for discussion. How will doing so ensure that your attitude towards the lost becomes more like Christ?

[33:26] If we're focused more on the gospel, how is that every day, right? We preach it to ourselves every day, we're saved by it but we see again even in Paul's letters that as he was writing to these Christians that we see a lot of times this man who certainly knew the gospel and shared the gospel, you see him in it preaching the gospel to himself as he was sharing it with them as well.

[33:47] So I think that it's important that we be preaching the gospel to ourselves as we seek to share the good news of Christ with others. How will doing so ensure that your attitude towards the lost becomes more like Christ?

[34:03] What would be the result do you think? Wes? Okay. All right, and Cameron, I saw a little beard tug and an ear pull and I was just waiting, waiting for it to be the rest of the way.

[34:17] You snooze, you lose Cameron. Yeah, giving signals. I'll steal second base. Pretty obviously how, you know, we've been forgiven so much from Christ and as we preach that to ourselves and we should be forgiving others, I mean, Lord's Prayer, right?

[34:32] That God's forgiven us and, you know, over and over sometimes the same thing it's like, when are you going to get this straight? But he continues to forgive us of our sins that we should be able to do the same thing for others where they've done something to us or just even if you don't even know them but tending to want to put them down for whatever their reasons are, God's forgiven them too if they've asked for forgiveness but we should be more like Christ by forgiving others.

[35:01] So preaching the gospel to yourself every day reminds you of, yeah, Cameron, of the fact that you've been forgiven. you've been forgiven of your sins that you were unworthy of the salvation that you've received and so therefore that's going to make you a more forgiving person as well when other people wrong you even if they don't ask for your forgiveness giving you the ability to forgive them as you've been forgiven and then you don't hold grudges and you're free from what that can do to us as well mentally the stress it can put on us.

[35:36] Cameron? Cameron? The couple weeks I was talking to the youth on Wednesday nights about stress I came across kind of a cool illustration that you know it's a person standing up on a diving board and it just asks if the pool is empty and that person is pushed then how painful is that going to be but if the pool is filled with water and the person is pushed then they have something to catch them well the water is Christ's word right the Bible and so the more we are filled with the Bible the more we're able to handle stress and I think that kind of goes to this situation as well the more we're teaching ourselves the gospel the more we're reminding ourselves every day of the gospel the more we're spending time in God's word the more time we're spending in meditation and prayer then we're not going to have a choice but to have our attitudes become more like Christ just through the natural walk with Christ and so I think as we're continually filling ourselves with

[36:45] Christ-like information through his word through preaching through teaching through books of solid authors the more that's just going to overflow from us automatically yeah good point for sure okay Julie up here yeah the more that we're in God's word the more his word is embodying in us Jack up here to Julie please buddy right here and there is an outflow of that right there is an outflow of that the more we're rejoicing in our Savior who has saved us I mean reading other you know the Bible certainly of course other books written by other believers and and chewing on those things as well I mean there's a lot of benefit for that to us but benefit for those around us too it's a benefit for your family it's a benefit for your friends it's a benefit for those that you work with for you to be in the word it's a great benefit to our church because there is that outflow because nothing like the word of God has the ability to change us and to fill us like it can

[38:01] Julie I think for me preaching the gospel to myself for my attitude it reminds me that that I'm them without the hand of God on me I'm I'm I was lost just like them and I was fed in my trespasses and sin and so it changes I think how you look at them and how you approach them and and permits you to feel compassion and to have understanding of where they're at so good good and I'm glad you said that because going back to this scripture right I was talking to Nick about this text also last week is who do you identify with in that exchange you know and who do we need to I think most identify ourselves with well ultimately

[39:07] Christ that's who we want to be like but we need to understand that we're that woman each one of us has been in the place of that woman maybe we didn't commit that particular sin but we've sinned just like her Satan stands to accuse Christ lives to intercede and so when we come to these scriptures as well I think and one thing we hear a lot from some of these churches that we have already talked about or preachers that we've talked about is they often will make the hero into the hero of the story but we're not the hero of the story Jesus is always the hero of the story you know we're the one like her we've been caught in our sin we've been accused we stand guilty before a God who is holy and righteous and to remember that like her we too have heard those words from our Lord in different ways

[40:09] I don't condemn you and I don't condemn you because I was willing to be condemned for you and when we think about that as Julie pointed out when we're reading the word when we're preaching the gospel to ourselves we identify with that woman that is me and Christ has not condemned me I've been set free from the shame and the guilt and the wrath that was heading my way because he took it from me and then in understanding that that that's who I am who do I want to be like I want to be like Jesus so I want to be able to be the one who communicates this gospel truth to others to those who stand condemned for their sins as well to be able to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them too so that hopefully they will be saved as well and yeah I think preaching the gospel to yourself every day is so important because the world is constantly preaching different messages to us isn't it we're being preached to all day long if you just stop and think about it and what you watch and what you listen to the interactions that you see from other people or that you have with other people at work or what not you're being preached to by the world and its message is there's many but you know you can be your own God you decide your own truth you be whatever you want to be you're the one who can find happiness in material possessions and what not in having multiple kinds of relationships you're not going to be satisfied in your marriage so you should look to find happiness somewhere else how many how many shows have we seen that take place where you know a home is broken up yeah how many haven't we seen

[42:16] I know but there's always like even in these shows they're preaching this message that happiness can be found through you acting sinfully so that's why it's so important also that we are preaching the gospel to ourselves so that we are blocking out the messages of the world so that we can better preach the message that saves which is the good news of Jesus Christ any other comments on that last question okay Doylene and then John I was just checking the notes I've got the MacArthur app on my phone and one thing he mentioned about the tax collector is that you know the law points to him how hopeless life is and that our only hope is in the mercy of God and we hear that through the gospel of our hope and so if I remind myself that I have the answer for the loss because of the hope that is in me you know can I reflect that hope no matter what I'm doing even if it is the challenge of going through

[43:29] Walmart and keeping a good attitude amen amen that is a struggle and it's really what you all discussed it's about the hope they need to see the hope we have in us when everything else around us seems to be totally lost and chaotic let my attitude be one that shines hope and let our church shine hope that church seems to have the answer well we do only because it's the hope we have in Christ good comment yeah I've often found myself in Walmart convicted in the same way and I think if somebody asked me right now what do you do for a living I would be really you know afraid to tell them what I actually do because right now I have like the meanest face on my look I just want to get out why won't you just check your stuff out how long does it take no I'm not I think I've gotten better God's working on me I hope okay John well I have to admit that this is the first time first preacher has ever told us that we ought to preach the gospel to ourself every day and I never heard that way before but

[44:36] I don't know why I thought of this a few weeks ago I was going to mention it but I was at an OU football game last year and trying to sell a ticket it was late in the evening you're getting close to kickoff were they playing KU is that why it was so hard to sell it I don't know who they were playing okay what I do remember is this guy standing there he had a microphone and he's preaching the gospel and I was listening to him I don't remember all the words he said but he talked about believing in Jesus Christ repenting of their sins and I'm sure he had literature too and as I was watching him and trying to sell my ticket at the same time nobody paid attention to him they just walked right by him and I reflected on that and it reminds me that you know I know people in my circle friends and family that don't know the Lord and I just you know preaching the gospel to yourself just you know reading it every day I think it will help me encourage me to be more sensitive to people who are lost because because we know that if they finally reject the Lord and they die they spend eternity separated from him that's a bad thing so yeah so thank you for this message well that's a great that was a great comment because as you're talking you know the more we preach the gospel to ourselves the better preachers of the gospel we will be you know and you think about the guy with the bull horn not being effective because you wonder is he more concerned about checking a box well I went out there and I preached to all those lost sooner fans you know you won't find as many in

[46:23] Lawrence in Kansas but I'm just joking actually I will say that's not true that is not true but but you hit on a really good point that you know you wonder people are just walking by maybe they're hearing it doesn't seem like they are there's a place for street preaching and ministry I think that is effective I've seen it be effective but I've also seen it be ineffective because you wonder you know how how successful is this person being is he coming off more like an accuser than an intercessor and so the more you're preaching the gospel to yourself the better preacher of a gospel of the gospel you will be because you'll act more like Jesus you know you're you're gonna you're not gonna see somebody that maybe you would look down upon in the same way because you realize that you know I'm hopeless without Christ but I have hope in Christ and I want to communicate that message to people and maybe you'll be able to do and do that in one sitting maybe not but because you care for that person you'll continue to do so and they'll continue to give you give you opportunities to preach the gospel to them but it's important that we also preach the gospel with our words too I want to say that as well I don't think that it's true that you say well the statement preach the gospel and if necessary use words it's necessary to use words but your actions can give you better opportunities to communicate those words to the lost so any other comments before we wrap up here maybe a few minutes short

[48:05] I would just you know take these scriptures if that helps you but you know as much as you can I know if you're like me when I wake up in the morning my mind is instantly flooded with what's going to happen in the next hour as we wake up our kids and get them ready for school what's going to happen after that what's going on that day and already like by the time I wake up I just want to go back to bed like oh I just want to go back there and sleep so if you can't even at the beginning and this is something I'll confess to you I really struggle with I still struggle with that time in the morning but the times in the morning where I've spent that time first with the Lord being reminded of the gospel those have been I think more fruitful days than the times when I have it so anyhow good thing to keep in mind last thing just remember yourself like who are we in the story we're the woman we're not the hero but

[49:12] Christ has saved us we're called to act like him and so let's mirror his attitude with those who were around with and again I think we'll do that better when we're filling ourselves we're preaching the gospel to ourselves daily you you you you