0956 The Tales of Four Women

God’s Chase

Four Types of Stumbling Blocks:

1. Christians can be stumbling blocks for others. (Matthew 18:6)

2. Satan is a stumbling block for Christians. (Matthew 16:23)

3. Jesus is the stumbling block for the Jews. (1 Corinthians 1:23)

4. God puts a stumbling block for the sinner. (Ezekiel 3:20)

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Ezekiel 3:20

I. Christian don’t lose their righteousness but they can choose to forfeit their righteousness by walking away from the Lord.

Example: Wedding Ring & Marriage

Being righteous doesn’t remove the presence of sin but the practice of sin.

See: Birthmarks of Salvation message

When you are righteous you don’t lose your ability to sin, you lose your ability to enjoy sin.

And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:6

By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:2

If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 1 Timothy 2:12

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

2 Peter 2:20

Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Psalm 69:28

Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Exodus 32:32-33

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:5

Lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son Luke 15. Shepherd didn’t get new sheep. Woman didn’t get new coin. Father didn’t get new son.

II. When you turn from righteousness, you will turn to iniquity.

Our righteousness comes from faith, not from works.

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3

Righteous standing empowers righteous living.

If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. 1 John 2:29

Practice is performing an activity or exercise a skill repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency.

Righteousness we practice (1 John 2:29), pursue it (2 Timothy 2:22), present members of body as instruments of it (Romans 6:13), slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18), hunger and thirst for it (Matthew 5:6)

To live righteous life we have to prioritize relationship with God

III. When you turn from righteousness, God starts pursuing you.

During the first sin, man hid from God; God didn’t hide from man, instead He went after Adam.

God is out to get ya! (Cop goes in pursued after criminal to arrest them, God goes in pursued after criminal to redeem them)

Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.” Hosea 3:1-2

God pursues with the passion of a lover the life style of a felon.

IV. When you turn from righteousness, you get stumbling blocks.

Painted Road signs (parents)

Road Signs (Gods word)

Police Siren (Consciousness)

Speed Bump (Experience of others)

Spike Strip (Personal painful failures)

When rubber comes off, you lose total control of your vehicle. Puncture.

“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. Hosea 2:6

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37

V. It’s time to pull over and come out to surrender.

A spike strip (spike belt, traffic spikes, tire shredders, stingers, stop sticks, Stinger or formally known as a tire deflation device) is a device or incident weapon used to impede or stop the movement of wheeled vehicles by puncturing their tires

When you stop running from God, God’s grace will stop loud siren

When you stop running from God, God’s grace will arrest you

When you stop running from God, open your window, come out of your car

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 9:5

The conversion of Saul the legalist into Paul the grace preacher has a significant lesson for us. We can be amazingly wrong while thinking we are doing right. The Holy Spirit awakens our hearts to feast on Christ, our righteousness. Religion has a deadening effect on our hearts. Like Saul, we have to fall off our “high horse” and bite the dust before our blinded eyes can see.

Surrender - who are you? What shall I do?

Pilate was not a saint. He was considered to be a corrupt and violent leader who would execute people without a trial. (Philo, De Legatione ad Caium, ed. Mangey, ii.590). He stole money from the temple treasury and brought pagan statues into Jerusalem, which caused riots and death to many. It was reported by the church father, Eusebius, (History Eccl. ii 7) that he was later banished to Vienna in Gaul, where he committed suicide.

Ignored warning from others (wife)

Ignored warning from Holy Spirit (dream)

Ignored consciousness (heart judged)

Ignored Christ (Jesus spoke)

Ignored calling (judge)