The enemies of our Lives
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The treasure of our Heart
The treasure of our Heart
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“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Matthew 713-29
Recap.
Last week we discussed:
BEWARE of the false prophets.
BEWARE: look out, be on guard
They come in sheep clothing but inside are ravenous wolves.
Prowling for food
This is like a man saying come to me that you may have life and behind his back he has a dagger. He is deceptive that he may devour.
How do we test these prophets? By their fruits
Apple trees will not bear oranges.
We need to put our fruit goggles on.
Its not just these false prophets that we need to beware of but also our culture. the popular way.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Enter through the straight and narrow
Broad is the way that leadeth to death and many are upon it.
Test your steps to ensure you are not on the road that our culture who denies God is on. the road of popularity.
For example. The preachers of our day that proclaim life is found in the bottle.
Test the fruits.
How do they sell alcohol?
Give me a commercial prototype.
They dont sell it by going to the homeless shelter and showing the wrecked lives. they dont go to the jails to show the bad decisions. They dont go to the homes to show the battered wives and the hearting children.
Why?
Most people that find themselves in this position didnt start this way. It begin with the idea that life was found in this arena. This is the answer to our problems. Preaching a message of hope and life. The problem is fruit does not stand in the fruit test.
If the world and the false teachers were not enough it doesnt end there.
Satan uses these things top pull at our heart.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
James
:13
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Have you ever done something that your parents told you not to do for your safety but you didnt anyway thinking they were wrong?
Look how jeremiah describes our heart
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
Dont trust your heart.
hallmark, follow your heart.
who here has been hurt by following your heart.
God will judge each man according to his heart. The fruit of man. The evidence of where their heart is.
The same way in which we judge what the false teachers are saying the same way we ourselves will be judged.
He knows all things. Theres no getting around it. He knows what happens in the most secretive spots.
We are in some serious trouble if our hearts can trick us.
How can i know where my heart is?
This is by what we cherish or treasure.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What i treasure begins to reveal where my heart is.
Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
What we speak begins to reveal the position of our hearts
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Our lips are driven by our hearts which springs forth a crop and a fruit that reveals (with enough time) where our hearts are at.
Our answer
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Be the wise man that builds His life upon the Rock.
The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but fools dispise wisdom and instruction.
Some of you this evening God is telling you, you are running and rebelling against me. Its time you confess your sins, getting specific with God and asking for Him to forgive you. That you may be made knew to longer produce the bad fruit that is deceptive but that you may walk in newness of life.
Tonight if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts. Resist the devil and submit unto God that you may experience the freedom of God. Enter through the straight gate.