{"id":18494,"date":"2018-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-035-spiritual-gifts-15\/"},"modified":"2018-09-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T05:00:00","slug":"ecclesiology-035-spiritual-gifts-15","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-035-spiritual-gifts-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 035: Spiritual Gifts 15"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[87],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18494","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-luke","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 035: Spiritual Gifts 15","sermon_date":"20180902","sermon_month":"9","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":6004,"sermon_slides":6003,"sermon_mp3":6010,"sermon_id":"9218925250","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":87,"chapter_and_verse":"16:27-31","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 35:\u00a0 The Charismatic Movement, Part 2\n\nLuke 16:27-31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9-2-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 35\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for Your word, grateful for Your truth I just pray You\u2019ll be with us today during Sunday School and the worship service that follows and I just pray that Your Spirit will be present illuminating the Scriptures to us so that we might embrace everything that You have for us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles to Matthew 7 if we could, Matthew 7, verses 13-14 continuing our journey in Ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been camping on the purposes of the church, one of which is the edification of the saints so that they can use their spiritual gifts, which means we have to do some teaching on spiritual gifts.\u00a0 We made some general observations about spiritual gifts and then we\u2019ve sort of been sidetracked on this issue, number two, are all the spiritual gifts for today?\u00a0 And I\u2019m hoping that today will be the last lesson on that subject.\u00a0 And then the goal is to open it up for questions and answers in totality next week, and then the following week is a congregational meeting which I would encourage you to attend but we won\u2019t be having Sunday School because the meeting takes place during the Sunday School hour.\n\nBut we\u2019ve made some preliminary thoughts about these seven gifts and we\u2019re sort of the persuasion of cessationism that those seven gifts ceased in the first century.\u00a0 And we tried to make the case that the foundational gifts, the confirmatory gifts and the revelatory gifts have ceased but the edificatory gifts continue on.\u00a0 And so as the series progresses I\u2019ll be showing you what those edificatory gifts are and some basic tips to follow to identify what your spiritual gift mix happens to be.\n\nThis teaching that the certain gifts have ceased you\u2019ll also find it in church history, many refutable theologians have testified to that fact.\u00a0 I had given you this section, Roman numeral IV, assuming those gifts are around today, and many argue that they are, there\u2019s certain rules that have to be followed so we went through the rules of prophecy as Paul outlines them, and tongues.\u00a0 And the last time I was with you we went through what I think is the true source of the charismatic movement.\u00a0 In other words, if a lot of these experiences that people have today don\u2019t conform to the Scripture then where do those things come from?\u00a0 And I tried to show you in Genesis to Revelation that a miracle in and of itself shouldn\u2019t persuade anybody because the devil performs miracles.\u00a0 So we talked about that.\n\nAnd in this final lesson on the charismatic movement I wanted to give you Roman numeral VI here, which I\u2019m hoping we can finish today.\u00a0 Roman numeral VI, an explanation of the charismatic movement\u2019s popularity.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t really come as a surprise that when you channel surf on so-called Christian television the most popular people out there are the Benny Hinns, the Paula Whites, the Creflo Dollars, it\u2019s almost like the charismatic movement has almost a virtual monopoly on Christian television.\u00a0 Of course, there are some exceptions to that, there\u2019s some very good people on Christian television but by and large I don\u2019t know\u2026 I\u2019ll try to explain why that\u2019s true today.\n\nBut what you discover is the charismatic movement is wildly popular.\u00a0 And so a lot of people think well, it\u2019s got to be true because it\u2019s popular.\u00a0 And I\u2019m here to tell you today that that is not at all a biblical way of thinking.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s actually a logical fallacy called the ad populum<\/em> argument where you identify truth by majority opinion.\u00a0 It was at one time a majority opinion that the earth was flat, although I\u2019m shocked to discover some people are still teaching that today, that the earth is flat but we won\u2019t get into that.\u00a0 That was a majority view, it was at one time a popular thought that we\u2019re living in a geocentric solar system, everything revolves around the earth in terms of the planets and everything, not a heliocentric solar system.\u00a0 And you could go around and you could find that those views were the most popular views but obviously they were (pardon the expression) flat out incorrect.\n\nSo you can\u2019t judge something is true by its popularity.\u00a0 In fact if\u00a0 you\u2019re a Biblicist what you\u2019ll start to discover is that the majority is typically wrong.\u00a0 For example, the crowd coming out of Egypt that went down to Sinai in the days of Moses and had basically an eleven day journey into Canaan, the spies went out in Numbers 13 and 14 to spy out the land and the majority of the people saw giants in the land (those spies) and they said we can\u2019t beat the giants.\u00a0 That was the majority opinion.\n\nThere were two dissenting voices, Joshua and Caleb, that said God has been with us thus far, let\u2019s take the giants, but they were in the minority opinion, they were not in the majority opinion.\u00a0 So the minority opinion lost the day, the majority opinion won and we know that the majority didn\u2019t have it right there. \u00a0God was very displeased with the majority opinion and disciplined that generation where most of them sort of walked around there in the wilderness for forty years (what could have been eleven days turned into forty years) had the minority opinion won the day.\u00a0 So sort of in America we look at elections and we look where everybody is always ramming some kind of poll down our throat and there\u2019s all these surveys people conduct and so we\u2019re sort of being discipled into thinking that majority opinion is right.\n\nAnd quite frankly, biblical speaking, the majority typically has it wrong.\u00a0 Jesus, did He not speak to this in Matthew 7:13-14? \u00a0He said, \u201cEnter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. [14] For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.\u201d\n\nSo the correct path is the narrow path and the small path that few find.\u00a0 The wrong path is the wide path and the broad path and the many that are on it.\u00a0 So when you get into charismatic theology what people will do is they\u2019ll point to so and so\u2019s ministry, it\u2019s so big and look at all the TV and radio stations that they\u2019re on and look at their budget and haven\u2019t you seen the screen shots of the masses of people that are jammed packed into their auditorium.\u00a0 I mean, are you telling me that that is wrong, that\u2019s a wrong way of thinking?\u00a0 And I\u2019m saying it is a wrong way of thinking because you\u2019re trying to figure out what\u2019s true based on what the majority believe.\n\nYou know Revelation 12:9 tells us that Satan deceives the whole world.\u00a0 [Revelation 12:9, \u201cAnd the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0So Satan is pretty good at deceiving masses of people and if that\u2019s true you can\u2019t ascertain truth by majority opinion. Amen!\n\nHaving given that introductory remark I want to give you theses six reasons as to why the charis\u00admatic movement is so incredibly popular.\u00a0 Reason number one is the charismatic movement attracts those who are drawn to miraculous experiences rather than simple faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and the diligent study of His Word.\u00a0 And underneath that point I\u2019ve got a few sub points.\u00a0 There is an awful lot of people out there that will tell you that faith alone in Christ alone is just not enough, and simply ordering your life by what God has already revealed in His Word is not enough.\u00a0 But the reality of the situation is faith alone in Christ alone is enough.\u00a0 In fact, whether you have a single experience in your life or not as a Christian is sort of irrelevant. What God has already provided for us in His Word and in His Son is completely sufficient.\n\nSo over in 2 Corinthians 5:7 it says \u201cfor we walk by faith, not by sight\u2014\u201d we\u2019re the kind of people that just trust God walking with Him without needing to see all of the time the next vision or the next sign and wonder.\u00a0 Hebrews 11:6 says, \u201cAnd without faith it is\u201d what? \u201cimpossible to please Him, [for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.\u201d]\u00a0 Not only is faith alone in Christ alone enough but God\u2019s Word is enough.\u00a0 I mean, a lot of people will reject a church like this because they don\u2019t see all of the signs and wonders happening, we\u2019re just here to study the Bible.\u00a0 And what I\u2019m here to tell you is the Word of God IS enough.\u00a0 Romans 10:17 says, \u201cFaith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s \u201cthe word of Christ\u201d that brought us to saving faith alone in Christ alone.\n\nAnd we\u2019ve been through this passage many times but just down 2 Timothy 3:15-17, you can go back into our 2 Timothy series and listen to that but there we were talking about the sufficiency of the Scripture and what the work of the Word does in a person\u2019s life.\u00a0 [2 Timothy 3:15-17, \u201cand that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [16] All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [17] so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.\u201d]\n\nNot only does the Word of God bring us to faith alone in Christ alone but it helps us grow up and it actually equips us \u201cfor every good work.\u201d\u00a0 And so if you have that going on in a church whether it is a single vision, whether there\u2019s a single sign or wonder, whether anybody has an experience, what God has already given in His Word is sufficient.\n\nBeyond that, people have a mindset that where they think if a miracle happens that\u2019s going to immediately produce faith and obedience.\u00a0 I remember one time I was talking to an unbeliever and he was saying to me, well, why doesn\u2019t God just start writing in the sky or do some obvious miracle and then masses of people would trust in Christ.\u00a0 Well, my response to that is God has already written in the sky, it\u2019s called general revelation.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s obvious God exists simply by looking at the world around us.\u00a0 Psalm 19, Romans 1, many other passages.\n\nAnd if that weren\u2019t enough God is also doing something very\u2026 He\u2019s doing a significant miracle right now in our midst that most people won\u2019t take time to examine; it\u2019s the nation of Israel having returned into their land in unbelief which is a sociological miracle.\u00a0 So when people say why doesn\u2019t God something, why doesn\u2019t He do a miracle, well, you\u2019ve got two miracles happening right now; you\u2019ve got general revelation, I mean the fact that you exist and your heart is beating is\u00a0 a miracle.\u00a0 The fact that these planets rotate around the sun without colliding with each other and we\u2019re not so close to the sun that we burn to death and so far away from the sun that we freeze to death, that\u2019s a miracle called general revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 And the nation of Israel, as we\u2019ve talked about in other lessons is a sociological miracle.\u00a0 So God is doing miracles today.\n\nSo if we won\u2019t be faithful with the miracles that we\u2019re seeing why do we think that yet another miracle is going to create faith and obedience in people?\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is miracles, as you study them in the Bible don\u2019t necessarily and automatically produce faith.\u00a0 If that were true, if miracles produced faith there was not a generation that saw more miracles than the nation of Israel that came out of Egypt.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God was so displeased with that generation.\u00a0 They saw the ten plagues in Egypt, they saw the manna sustaining them in the wilderness, they had the Sinai revelation, all they had to do was keep trusting God for eleven days and enter the land despite giants.\u00a0 And that generation that saw all of those signs and wonders, I can\u2019t think of a generation that\u2019s seen more, including the parting of the Red Sea.\u00a0 And yet that nation, despite having all of those miracles, couldn\u2019t trust God and obey Him in very simple things.\n\nSo we think miracles are going to produce automatic faith and obedience and that simply is not true.\u00a0 Take a look if you could at Luke 16:27-31.\u00a0 It says this, \u201cAnd he said,\u201d now this is the rich man that died in unbelief and went to Hades, \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father\u2019s house\u2014[28] for I have five brothers\u2014in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.\u2019 [29] But Abraham said, \u2018They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.\u2019 [30] But he said, \u2018No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!\u2019 [31] But he said to him, \u2018If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.\u2019\u201d\n\nIsn\u2019t that interesting?\u00a0 The rich man says do a miracle and go back and reach my brothers who are in the same state of unbelief that I was in so that they don\u2019t come to this terrible place of torment.\u00a0 And the answer is very clear they\u2019re not going to believe that; they\u2019re not going to believe someone rising from the dead.\u00a0 If they\u2019re not going to believe Moses and the prophets you can do miracle after miracle after miracle and they still won\u2019t believe.\n\nSo there\u2019s a mindset out there, particularly in the charismatic circles that you\u2019ve got to have signs or wonders.\u00a0 And I\u2019m here biblically telling you that that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 The only thing additional signs and wonders would do is increase a person\u2019s accountability on the day of judgment.\u00a0 If folks aren\u2019t going to believe the simple revelation of God and His word it doesn\u2019t matter how many signs and wonders occur in their lives.\u00a0 Signs and wonders of such an extent that it those in the days of Sodom had seen those identical signs and wonders they likely would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice under C there I\u2019ve got several Scriptures you can jot down.\u00a0 Matthew 12:38-42, that\u2019s speaking of the generation that wouldn\u2019t believe Christ despite the fact that they saw multiple signs and wonders occurring through the life of Christ.\n\n[Matthew 12:38-42, \u201cThen some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, \u201cTeacher, we want to see a sign from You.\u201d [39] But He answered and said to them, \u201cAn evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet<\/em> no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; [40] for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] \u201cThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. [42] The<\/em> Queen of the<\/em> South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.\u201d]\n\nYou can jot down Acts 2:22-23, those verses talk about the multiple miracles that the nation saw through Jesus Christ and yet they nailed Him to a cross.\u00a0 [Acts 2:22-23, \u201cMen of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know\u2014[23]this Man,<\/em> delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him<\/em> to death.\u201d]\n\nYou can jot down Galatians 3:5 where the Holy Spirit testified through various signs and wonders.\u00a0 And yet this was the generation that was moving off into a false gospel.\u00a0 [Galatians 3:5, \u201cSo then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?\u201d]\n\nYou can jot down 1 Corinthians 1:7 that had multiple manifestations of spiritual gifts taking place in their congregation in Corinth and yet that\u2019s probably one of the most carnal rebellious group of people that we have record of from the ancient world.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 1:7, \u201cso that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d]\n\nSo this idea that miracles automatically produce faith and obedience simply doesn\u2019t fit what the Bible describes.\u00a0 If you really want to know what the issue is with people concerning faith go over to John 7:17, a very important verse.\u00a0 I hope that you have this one underlined in your Bible.\u00a0 John 7:17 and what does it say?\u00a0 Jesus says, \u201cIf anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.\u201d\u00a0 So how do you know if what Jesus is saying is true?\u00a0 It has to do with the heart, you have to be willing to embrace it.\u00a0 If you\u2019re willing to embrace it then you\u2019ll get all the proof that you need.\n\nSo the reality of the situation is the mind follows the will.\u00a0 If the will has already decided that it will not trust in the provision of Jesus Christ then the intellect or the mind will just generate darkened philosophy and excuses for explaining away the things in the Bible.\u00a0 And doing miracle after miracle after miracle to a person with that kind of a heart problem and a will problem will never convince them, it doesn\u2019t matter what you show them.\u00a0 The only thing it\u2019s going to do is it\u2019s going to increase the level of torment that they will experience on the day of judgment.\n\nSo we often use the phrase \u201cseeing is believing.\u201d\u00a0 You hear that all the time.\u00a0 Seeing is believing, in fact, that\u2019s not even biblical to think that way.\u00a0 What Jesus is saying here is not seeing is believing; what He\u2019s saying is believing is seeing.\u00a0 If your will is right and that sends submission to God you\u2019re going to get a lot of evidence.\u00a0 And this is very important because we have these apologists today that call themselves evidential apologists that think they can go onto college campuses and construct an airtight argument and they\u2019re going to produce all of these conversions.\u00a0 I\u2019m not necessarily against those kinds of things, particularly if the Holy Spirit is using that to draw people, but here\u2019s the reality of the situation.\n\nIf a person has already made up their mind they\u2019re not going to believe it doesn\u2019t matter what airtight argument you present to them their mind will generate some kind of bizarre philosophy to explain away the obvious.\u00a0 This is what people do with creation.\u00a0 Our country can\u2019t even accept the fact that God created the heavens and the earth.\u00a0 We now teach in the schools that everything came about accidently.\u00a0 So if you can\u2019t accept that miracle how in the world are you going to embrace another miracle.\u00a0 And as I\u2019ll be showing you, according to Romans 1:18-22 what people do is they take the obvious revelation of God and they pervert it.\u00a0 That\u2019s what unbelief does.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the mind follows the will; if the will is not submissive to God then the mind just generates excuses for what the will already wants to do.\u00a0 John 7:17. [\u201cIf anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.\u201d]\n\nBeyond that there are an awful lot of people in the Gospels that hang around Jesus only for the next miracle. And Jesus simply would not accommodate Himself to such people.\u00a0 Over in Matthew 12:38-39 Jesus made this statement, He said: \u201cThen some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, \u2018Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now that\u2019s me as a hilarious statement because He had already shown them multiple signs, what else do you guys want?\u00a0 [39] But He answered and said to them, \u201cAn evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign;\u201d see that, \u201cand yet<\/em> no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah\u201d which properly understood He\u2019s speaking there of His resurrection, I mean, if miracles produced faith and obedience Jesus would have accommodated these people.\n\nOver in John 6:15 and verse 26 you\u2019ve got a bunch of people that are attracted to Christ because he performed the miracle of the loaves and the fish and fed the multitudes.\u00a0 [John 6:15, \u201cSo Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.\u201d]\n\nAnd Jesus saw through the holes in the air, and in verse 26 of John 6 He says, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.\u201d\u00a0 Your stomach was filled, that\u2019s the only reason you\u2019re following Me.\n\nOver in John 4:48 it says, I think he\u2019s being somewhat sarcastic here, \u201cSo Jesus said to him, \u2018Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So there are many, many people out there that just are attracted to Christ for a miracle but they really don\u2019t want anything to do with His actual teachings concerning their spiritual life, health, salvation.\u00a0 And you see, the charismatic movement is filled with people who were drawn to these miraculous experiences.\u00a0 But the reality is simple trust in Christ and His Word is enough; they put miracles on way too high of a pedestal.\n\nSo that, I think, is the first reason why the charismatic movement is so wildly popular.\u00a0 The second reason why the charismatic movement is so wildly popular is it is attractive to people who have a very difficult time trusting God through life\u2019s adversities.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is God has put into our lives obstacles and problems for the simple purpose of building faith and character.\u00a0 You know the verses well, James 1:2-4, \u201cConsider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, [3] knowing that\u201d and he begins to describe what trials do, how they build endurance, they build faith, they build character, they build patience.\u00a0 [Verse 3, \u201cknowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. [4] And let endurance have its<\/em> perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.\u201d]\n\nAnd a lot of people just aren\u2019t interested in that process.\u00a0 There are times in\u00a0 your life where there\u2019s going to be problems and you\u2019re going to pray and pray and pray and you\u2019re not going to get any sign from God, you\u2019re not going to get any vision from God, you\u2019re not going to get any experience from God.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because if God simply gave you a vision or a sign or an experience or an immediate healing, all of these things that we want how in the world is the character ever going to be developed in us?\n\nPaul, of course, had a thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he asked the Lord to take it away three times, each time the Lord said no, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 12:7-10, \u201cBecause of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me\u2014to keep me from exalting myself! [8] Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. [9] And He has said to me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\u201d Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. [10] Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ\u2019s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d]\n\nSo nobody ever told us that becoming a disciple of Christ and growing up in Christ is somehow an easy process.\u00a0 Salvation through justification is free but discipleship is always costly and quite frankly, a lot of people aren\u2019t interested in that and they would rather pack an auditorium that tells them something that they can see, something that they can feel, and something that they could experience.\n\nThe third reason why the charismatic movement is wildly, wildly popular is it attracts people who are really not content with the gradual process of progressive sanctification.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone through, in our church year numerous times this chart that reveals the three tenses of salvation.\u00a0 Justification, the past tense of salvation where I\u2019m freed from sin\u2019s penalty at the point of faith alone in Christ alone.\u00a0 Glorification, the future tense of our salvation is when we\u2019re free from the very presence of sin upon death or the rapture.\u00a0 But what about that middle tense there, sanctification, the present tense of our salvation where we are being gradually, and it\u2019s a gradual process, delivered from sin\u2019s power by walking with Christ and learning of His resources and appropriating those in faith and obedience moment by moment.\u00a0 What you\u2019ll discover in the Bible is salvation is used in the past tense, the present tense and the future tense.\n\nThe middle tense of our salvation, unlike the other two tenses which take place in a nanosecond, the middle tense is a gradual process.\u00a0 And it can be an excruciating process, it can be a difficult process, but it\u2019s a process nonetheless that is necessary to conform us to God\u2019s ultimate goal for our life.\u00a0 What is God\u2019s ultimate goal for your life?\u00a0 You want to know God\u2019s will for your life?\u00a0 We could pack out seminars talking about that, \u201cHow to know God\u2019s will for your life,\u201d until you actually tell them what the Bible says, then the crowd thins, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 God\u2019s will for your life is right there in Romans 8:28 and 29.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd we know that God causes all things to work together for good [to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\u00a0 [29] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.\u201d]\n\n \n\nNow it\u2019s very important to understand this, it doesn\u2019t say everything in your life is good, we have cancer victims in this church, I\u2019m not going to sit here and tell you that suffering from cancer is good.\u00a0 If you get injured and go to the hospital I\u2019m not going to tell you that that is good.\u00a0 We\u2019re living in a fallen world where bad things happen.\u00a0 It\u2019s been that way since the fall in Eden.\u00a0 What I am telling you is this, God (if you give Him an opportunity) will use it for good.\u00a0 The Bible never says it\u2019s all good, what it says is God wants to use it for good to call you according to His purpose.\u00a0 We know that \u201call things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\u201d\n\nSo if I was sitting in the classroom with Paul I would raise my hand and I would say well what is that purpose.\u00a0 Paul would say I\u2019m glad you asked, verse 29, \u201cFor those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;\u201d what is God\u2019s will for your life?\u00a0 It is to take your daily walk, your daily life in the middle tense of your salvation and allow your practice to catch up with your position.\u00a0 In other words, you don\u2019t become perfect but gradually what starts to happen through the middle tense of salvation, progressive sanctification, is we start to become more Christ like in moral character in life.\u00a0 That\u2019s God\u2019s will for your life.\n\nAnd everything that happens to you, some of it could be bad from the human perspective, if you give God the change He will use it, sort of like sand paper sanding off some of those rough edges. Do you all have any rough edges that need to be sanded off?\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a few of those myself, the sanding process is never fun but everything that happens in my life God will use it to sand this off, to sand this off, until I gradually begin to conform in daily life to the image of Jesus Christ.\n\nThis is not popular American preaching today.\u00a0 What people want to hear is instant success, instant spirituality, instant glorification.\u00a0 And the charismatic movement offers that by giving people an immediate miracle, giving people an immediate sign or wonder, giving people an immediate word of knowledge, and so you can see why the charismatic movement is such a draw, there\u2019s just a lot of people out there who aren\u2019t content with the gradual process of progressive sanctification, because quite frankly the process isn\u2019t enjoyable.\u00a0 And how appealing it is to hear somebody to kind of give me a tool to circumvent that process by receiving something instant from God.\n\nThe fourth one, and I believe this is a biggie, the charismatic movement attracts people who lack the assurance of their salvation.\u00a0 My eyes probably were opened to this the first time listening to one of my heroes, professor who is now with the Lord, J. Dwight Pentecost, in a doctoral class he made some sort of comment, I think we were in Paul\u2019s letters that semester, he made some kind of comment about the charismatic movement and he said I want you to know how many people in the charismatic movement lack what is called the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Now do all of the lack the assurance of salvation?\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say that, what I\u2019m saying is it\u2019s a doctrine that\u2019s almost lost in charismatic and Pentecostal circles.\n\nWhat is the doctrine of the assurance of salvation?\u00a0 Listen to me very carefully; it is not the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 We know that when you\u2019re in the hands of Christ you are eternally secure, you will never perish, John 10:27-29, \u201cno one is able to snatch them out of\u201d My hand. [John 10:27-29, \u201cMy sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; [28] and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. [29] \u201cMy Father, who has given them<\/em> to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them<\/em> out of the Father\u2019s hand.\u201d]\n\nThere are many, many people that believe that but they do not believe in the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 The assurance of salvation is knowing that you possess that.\u00a0 See, a lot of people, whether you call it Arminianism, don\u2019t believe in the assurance of salvation because they deny security, they think you can be saved one day and lost the next.\u00a0 There are other people, and this is probably the group that is almost getting the upper hand today in the Reformed very Calvinistic circles that say oh, we believe in eternal security, and they do, but what they say is I really can\u2019t know if I have eternal security because I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m one of the elect and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m one of the elect because I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve persevered enough in my life.\u00a0 That\u2019s Calvinism.\n\nAnd this is, if you do counseling ministry you\u2019ll see this very fast, there\u2019s like an epidemic of people out there coming from bad teaching in Arminianism and in some doctrines of Calvinism that are all confused on the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is the Bible teaches the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t just teach security, it teaches that you can know that you have security.\u00a0 This is as old as Job who said, remember all the problems that Job had, what did he say in the midst of that?\u00a0 He said, \u201cI know that my Redeemer lives and in the end He will take His stand upon the earth.\u201d \u00a0and with my own eyes I will see Him.\u00a0 [26] Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God;\u201d] Job never had any doubts that he was on his way to glory, even in the midst of all of his affirmatives.\n\nDavid, of course taught and believed in, remember all the trials David went through, David in Psalm 23 is not just talking about eternal security, he is talking about the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 In Psalm 23:6 he says, \u201cSurely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will<\/u> dwell in the house of the LORD forever.\u201d\u00a0 Sound like a guy that really doesn\u2019t know if he\u2019s saved or not?\n\nJesus, as we\u2019ve explained many times at this church taught the doctrine of assurance of salvation.\u00a0 He says, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes in Him who sent Me, has\u201d present tense possession, \u201ceternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed\u201d perfect tense, one-time action ongoing results, \u201cbut has passed out of death into life.\u201d\n\nHe doesn\u2019t say you have this as long as your life measures up; He says you have it period.\u00a0 Now you can either spend your life second guessing that or you can get smart and just believe what the Bible says.\u00a0 Of course, the assurance of salvation is taught in the Book of Acts. What did Paul and Silas say to the Philippian jailor?\u00a0 \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u00a0 [Acts 16:29, \u201cand after he brought them out, he said, \u2018Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019\u00a0 [30] and after he brought them out, he said, \u2018Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019]\u00a0 [31] \u2026\u201d Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,\u201d as long as you make it to the end in good works\u2026\u00a0 That last clause he didn\u2019t say, did he?\u00a0 He gave that jailor not just the salvation message but He gave him the doctrine of the assurance of salvation immediately, in that statement.\n\nPaul, of course, taught the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Look at how many times he uses the word \u201chope\u201d here, \u201cwaiting eagerly for our adoption as sons.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 8:23, \u201cAnd not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.\u201d]\u00a0 \u201cThe redemption of our body,\u201d anybody looking forward to that?\u00a0 [Romans 8:23, \u201cAnd not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.\u201d]\n\n\u201cFor in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?\u201d [Romans 8:24] The word \u201chope\u201d is sort of deceiving to us because we\u2019re all substituting the English definition into that word, where it\u2019s I hope I get the new job, I hope the stocks that I picked work out, that\u2019s English. The Bible wasn\u2019t written in English, right?\u00a0 It was originally written, the New Testament, in which language?\u00a0 Greek.\u00a0 The word there for \u201chope\u201d is elpis,<\/em> which means not anxiously wishing or uncertainty, but rather confident assurance of something yet future.\u00a0 It is not an \u201cI hope so\u201d mentality but rather an \u201cI know so\u201d mentality.\n\nSo whenever you\u2019re reading the New Testament, particularly Paul, and you see the word \u201chope\u201d you ought to just cross out that word or put next to it \u201cI know\u201d because that\u2019s what the word elpis <\/em>means.\u00a0 Paul here in Romans 8 gives no indication of anything other than the absolute ironclad assurance of salvation.\u00a0 And the general letters, of course, teach the assurance of salvation; one of the most prominent is 1 John 5:13 where John says, \u201cThese things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may\u201d what? \u201cknow<\/u> that you have eternal life.?\u201d\n\nHannah Whitall Smith, back in 1893, writes this: \u201cIn the first chapter of Numbers we are told that only those Israelites who could declare their pedigree might be numbered among the men of war and in the second chapter of Ezra no one who could find this register and reckon his genealogy was allowed to exercise the office of priests.\u00a0 Any doubts and uncertainties on this point them as polluted and consequently unfit to serve.\u201d\u00a0 She says, \u201cI believe the same thing is true of Christians now; we can neither be numbered amongst the Lord\u2019s soldiers nor enter into priestly relationships with Him until we can also declare our pedigree as children of God and reckon our genealogy as being born of Him.\u201d\n\nIf you\u2019re not willing to stand on the doctrine of not just eternal security, but on the assurance of salvation you\u2019re already neutralized.\u00a0 How in the world are you supposed to go out and fight for God if you don\u2019t even know if you\u2019re a Christian or not?\u00a0 And I think this is why this is such a plague in evangelicalism today because it neutralizes the effectiveness of God\u2019s people in this world.\u00a0 This is not some doctrine that I\u2019m up here making up; it\u2019s in the Bible.\u00a0 Dallas Seminary was founded on this that all Christians can know of the assurance of salvation from the very day they take Jesus as their Savior.\u00a0 And this is not founded upon any fancy discovery of their own worthiness but holy written upon the testimony of God in His written word.\u00a0 It\u2019s an objective fact.\n\nIt\u2019s like looking at accounting, you can\u2019t vent math in accounting, right?\u00a0 Well, the government does I guess, some, but good accountants, you look at something in the ledger, it\u2019s a mathematical fact, it doesn\u2019t matter how you feel at any given moment, it\u2019s a mathematical fact.\u00a0 You can feel rich, you can feel poor, it\u2019s irrelevant, it\u2019s in the ledger, it\u2019s true.\n\nSo, the problem is people say \u201cwell, I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m saved,\u201d and I say\u201d well, have you trusted Christ?\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve done that.\u201d\u00a0 Okay, I take them at their word, \u201cso why don\u2019t you feel you\u2019re saved?\u201d\u00a0 Well, I\u2026 haven\u2019t prayed enough, and I\u2026. allowed this sin into my life, and I\u2026. did something I shouldn\u2019t have done.\u00a0 You see the problem there, you just used the personal pronoun \u201cI\u201d three times; you don\u2019t live the Christian life looking at yourself.\u00a0 You want to talk about depression!\u00a0\u00a0 You live the Christian life based on what Jesus has already declared to be true.\u00a0 That will unleash incredible service in your life because you\u2019re not concerned, your mind is not divided anymore on this issue, the assurance of salvation.\n\nNow today you ask people well, how do you know you\u2019re saved?\u00a0 And they always start talking about some subjective experience in their lives---well, I used to have no desire for God\u2019s Word and now I do.\u00a0 I used to have no desire to share my faith with the lost and now I do.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not denying those experiences, God gives us experiences but the great Lewis Sperry Chafer called those experiences secondary evidences.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThere is a normal Christian experience, there are new and blessed emotions and desires, old things passed away and behold all things become new but all such experiences are secondary evidences as to the fact of salvation in that they grow out of the positive response of faith which is the primary evidence.\u00a0 You know you\u2019re saved because Jesus says you\u2019re saved.\u201d\u00a0 Period.\n\nNow, you have emotions, I\u2019ve had them and continue to have them.\u00a0\u00a0 You can have experiences but that\u2019s just gravy train, that\u2019s secondary, because if you\u2019re going to live your life based on your experiences let me tell you something, as someone who\u2019s walk with the Lord, oh, gosh, I\u2019m afraid to even ask how long I\u2019ve walked with the Lord, your experiences are going to come and go.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to ebb and they\u2019re going to flow.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re living your life based on these evidences that are just secondary you\u2019re going to think you\u2019re save done day and the next day you won\u2019t think you\u2019re saved, because one day you felt something, the next day you didn\u2019t.\u00a0 You live your life based on what God has objectively declared for you.\u00a0 This is what I\u2019m talking about; I\u2019m not just talking about eternal security; I\u2019m talking about the assurance of salvation knowing that you actually possess it. And what I want you to understand is this doctrine is, for whatever reason it is neglected, it is ignored in many charismatic circles.\n\nJohn Piper says this: I can\u2019t think of a more unbiblical thing than what he\u2019s saying here.\u00a0 \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer, hence there is an ongoing need to be dedicated to the Lord and to deny ourselves so that we might make it.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, compare that to what Jesus just said.\u00a0 Compare that to what 1 John says.\u00a0 Piper, I cannot believe the popularity of this guy, some have even called him jokingly The Pied Piper, he has a complete inroad into the minds of the youth within evangelicalism and I don\u2019t know how you interpret that, not only is he denying the assurance of salvation here, he\u2019s teaching works salvation because what he\u2019s saying is maybe your good works didn\u2019t save you but you\u2019d sure better keep doing it to keep your salvation, which makes me my own savior.\u00a0\u00a0 God help us if I\u2019m my own savior!\n\nAnd it\u2019s not accident that John Piper is very much into this mystical sort of Christianity.\u00a0 Why the relationship between the two?\u00a0 Because if you don\u2019t have the assurance of salvation what are you dependent upon to know that you\u2019re saved?\u00a0 It\u2019s the next miracle, the next sign or wonder, the next audible voice, the next vision from God.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to keep having these things because they make me feel a certain way and I don\u2019t even know if I\u2019m a Christian or not, so I\u2019m completely dependent on extra biblical manifestations to teach me something that God already says you possess.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo as the doctrine of assurance of salvation wanes what you start to see is an explosion of mysticism and experientialism and charismatic theology.\n\nA fifth reason why the charismatic movement is so popular is it attracts people who really don\u2019t want to worship God in truth.\u00a0 Jesus is very clear, John 4:24, \u201cGod is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.\u201d\u00a0 You worship God by how He has revealed Himself, not based on how we want Him to be.\u00a0 But you see, the great plight of fallen humanity is to make god (little g) in man\u2019s image.\u00a0 This is as old as the golden calf incident, you can read about that in Exodus 32:1-10, where Moses is up in Sinai and they just got tired of waiting on God and Aaron, the high priest is leading the charge, the religious authority.\u00a0 They got their metal and threw it into the molten fire and Aaron what he says, \u201cI\u2019ll pop this calf\u201d as if they had nothing to do with creating this thing.\n\n[Exodus 32:1-10, \u201cNow when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, \u2018Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.\u2019 \u00a0<\/strong>[2] Aaron said to them, \u201cTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them<\/em> to me.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>[3] Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them<\/em> to Aaron. [4] He took this<\/em> from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, \u201cThis is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.\u201d\u00a0 [5] Now when Aaron saw this,<\/em> he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, \u201cTomorrow shall be<\/em> a feast to the LORD.\u201d [6] So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.\u00a0 [7] Then the LORD spoke to Moses, \u201cGo down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.<\/em> [8] \u201cThey have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, \u2018This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!\u2019\u201d [9] The LORD said to Moses, \u201cI have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. [10] Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.\u201d]\n\nAnd then what did he say, Behold, this is who took you out of Egypt.\u00a0 It\u2019s a false god.\u00a0 Romans 1:18-23 talks about this where people take the revelation of God and they distort it.\u00a0 [Romans 1:18-23, \u201c[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, [19] because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. [20] For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. [21] For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing to be wise, they became fools, [23]and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.\u201d]\n\n \n\nWhy do they distort it?\u00a0 Because they don\u2019t like how God has revealed Himself.\u00a0 I want a God after my own making, I want a God that gives me experiences.\u00a0 I want a God that tells me I\u2019m going to be rich.\u00a0 I want a God that tells me if I get sick then there\u2019s an immediate healing in it for me.\u00a0 What is it?\u00a0 It\u2019s a false God, its people wanting their itching ears tickled and turning aside to myths.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t like how God has revealed Himself then you substitute in that a god of your own liking.\u00a0 For example, in Exodus 32:6, the golden calf incident.\u00a0 It says, \u201cSo the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.\u201d\n\nNow when it says here they \u201crose up to play\u201d we\u2019re not talking about a game of checkers.\u00a0 If you look at the Ryrie Study Bible note he comments on the Hebrew word \u201cplay,\u201d and he writes this: \u201cThe word suggests sex play, it is the same word used here as is used in Genesis 26:8.\u00a0 In light of drinking and possible nakedness the scene likely becomes a drunken sex orgy.\u201d\n\nSo, what\u2019s going on here?\u00a0 God had already revealed Himself in the Ten Commandments, one of those commandments is \u201cThou shalt not commit\u201d what? \u201cadultery.\u201d\u00a0 So the people said well, you know, monogamy, that kind of rhymes with monotony, I\u2019m tired of being monogamous because being monogamous is monotonous, this is far more exciting than to invent our sexuality and not follow the rules of the Creator.\u00a0 So, they created a god that appealed to licentiousness.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Jude 4 talks about the same thing.\u00a0 [Jude 4, \u201cFor certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.\u201d]\n\nWhat you have to understand is the charismatic world is filled with this mentality.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the middle tense of my salvation stuff, I don\u2019t like gradual progress into Christlikeness, and I\u2019m sure getting tired of not having enough money and I can\u2019t just jet around to Rio de Janeiro whenever I want to, I want to own my own plane.\u00a0 So what do you do?\u00a0 You invent a god that gives you all that stuff.\u00a0 It\u2019s called an experiential god, it\u2019s called the health and wealth gospel, and people will pack out an auditorium to hear that.\u00a0 So, the charismatic movement is very attractive to people who really don\u2019t want to worship God as He has revealed Himself.\u00a0 You know, I go to Sugar Land Bible Church and you guys are so line by line, verse by verse, I mean, we want to hear some motivational speaking, or whatever people want today.\u00a0 So I\u2019m going to go down the street or go down the freeway and I\u2019ll find a happy preacher that appeals more to my sensual nature, which is really your sin nature.\u00a0 See that?\n\nNumber six, this is big too, the charismatic movement is attractive to people who desire authority over other people.\u00a0 If you place yourself in a position where you say to people God told me to tell you and you have to listen to me because I\u2019m an apostle, I\u2019m a prophet and I receive direct revelation from God, so God told me to tell you X, Y and Z.\u00a0 In other words, this book is not the revelation of God in totality, you need my additional prophetic and apostolic insight and God told me to tell you.\u00a0 Do you realize what a power trip that is to people?\u00a0 And how that is an appeal to the basest instinct in people of a desire for authority and power.\u00a0 And once you start to wield that power and once you start to discover how many people are under your spell, that\u2019s very difficult to give up.\n\nAnd as an example of somebody that has this mindset\u00a0 you don\u2019t have to look very far in the Scripture\u00a0 until you run into a guy named Simon the Sorcerer who was into all of these signs and wonders, then he got saved, and then because of the Jewish Samaritan conflict the apostles had to come from Jerusalem to lay hands on the Samaritans so that the Holy Spirit could be given to them, it was a transitional problem in the Book of Acts where this occurred on a limited basis so that the Samaritan Hebrew conflict wouldn\u2019t continue into the church age.\u00a0 So, Samaria knew that they belonged to Jerusalem and Jerusalem would [can't understand word] belong to Samaria because we are all one in the body of Christ.\n\nNow to you remember Simon, the Sorcerer\u2019s reaction to that?\u00a0 He says I want that power.\u00a0 Who was Simon, the Sorcerer?\u00a0 He was justified, he just hadn\u2019t had any chance to grow.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very clear as you read Acts 8:9-24 that the guy wanted the power that he saw manifested through the apostles.\u00a0 The Christian world is filled with people like that.\u00a0 They don\u2019t feel validated in their personal lives (for whatever reason).\u00a0 Part of it is they never really take the time to investigate what God has said about them and the riches He\u2019s given them so they\u2019re attracted to groups, they\u2019re attracted to meetings, they give them some kind of personal sense of validation.\u00a0 And the charismatic movement offers that because if you qualify in their circles as an apostle and a prophet you get the privilege of saying \u201cGod told me to tell you\u201d your power needs are met.\u00a0 I mean, the religious world is filled with people that want power, you have to understand that.\u00a0 And so that would be another explanation of the charismatic movement\u2019s popularity.\n\nSo very quickly, number one, you don\u2019t judge something as true by how popular it is.\u00a0 And number two, there are legitimate reasons why this movement is so big; it attracts those who are drawn to miraculous experiences rather than simple trust in Christ, it attracts those who have a difficult time trusting God through life\u2019s experiences.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying every charismatic is this way but there seems to be a surplus and abundance of such people in their movement.\u00a0 It attracts those who are discontent with the gradual progress of progressive sanctification.\u00a0 It attracts people who really lack the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 It attracts those not wanting to worship God as He has revealed Himself. And it oftentimes is a great appeal to people who want authority over others.\n\nI realize this is a lot of stuff here, isn\u2019t it, so next week the floor is\u00a0 yours and I won\u2019t be doing any teaching, we\u2019ll open up the whole thing for Q&A so this is our final lecture on the charismatic movement and then once we do Q&A next week and the following week the congregational meeting then we\u2019re going to go back into the actual legitimate gifts that exist in the body of Christ, what are they, how do you identify what gift is yours.\n\nLet\u2019s pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for truth even though it\u2019s sometimes hard to swallow. \u00a0You\u2019ve called us to worship you as You revealed Yourself.\u00a0 I pray that You would make us that kind of people here at Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 I pray You\u2019ll bless the communion service that follows and the teaching of Your Word and the fellowship lunch as well. We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t