Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick works through John 8:21-30, where Jesus tells a crowd at the temple that he is going away and that they will die in their sin unless they believe that he is he. He frames the text with a camping illustration: a mosquito ruins a perfect view, and the deadliest creature on earth is deadly because of what it carries. In the same way, he says, Jesus' warning about sin and death should be taken seriously rather than softened.
The teaching ties death back to Genesis 3, and sin is described not only as missing a mark but as missing what a person was made for. Pastor Keith insists that religious activity cannot fix this, points to Jesus' repeated self-revelation, including the bread of life sayings in John 6, and says a religious spirit distracts people from the God who is right in front of them. The remedy he names is belief in Jesus, whose lifting up on the cross reveals who he is and his obedience to the Father.
Near the end Pastor Keith says going to hell is as simple as doing nothing or continuing without Jesus, while the way of life is learning from the Father and pleasing him. He names pride as the obstacle to receiving grace and cites James on friendship with the world. The recording closes with an invitation to believe and a prayer.
Take this with you
Sin is more than a rule broken
Pastor Keith describes sin as missing what a person was made for, not merely missing a mark. He ties death to sin through Genesis 3 and Romans 6:23, and says religious effort cannot remove it. He repeatedly returns to belief in Jesus rather than self-improvement as the answer.
A religious spirit distracts from Jesus
Pastor Keith says religious burdens can pull attention away from God the way a mosquito distracts from a beautiful view. He connects this to the crowd's mocking question in John 8 and to their failure to understand what Jesus was saying about the Father.
The cross reveals who Jesus is
Jesus' words in John 8 about being lifted up point forward to the cross. There, Pastor Keith says, his identity and his dependence on the Father become clear. The way to life is learning from God and pleasing him, which he describes as flowing from grace rather than earning it.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
I got something in me today. I'll tell you why. I'm about to preach a message I've never ever preached before. I've preached a lot of sermons, but I've never preached this text I'm going to preach on today. So, you're going to see why I I've got two titles that I've been wrestling with for this sermon. I'm just going to give you both titles. I'm going to keep both titles. You choose the one that you like the best. You could write them down. The first one is how to go to hell. That's the first title. Uh the second one is a little more politically correct. It's how not to go to hell. Okay? But I'm going to tell you both answers to that. How to go to hell and how not to go to hell. You could write both of those down if you want or whichever one you uh choose to write down. So let's pray one more time for God to bless uh his word this morning. Not mine, but his word. Lord, would you speak to us through the power of your Holy Spirit? In Jesus name, I pray that every person that hears this word today
would be saved. that we would trust you for the salvation of our soul to know that you are the only way for us to truly experience eternal life. So Lord, may we crucify our flesh. May we eradicate our sin just simply through putting our faith in you. I know this is possible because of what you said today and through your entire word in Jesus name. Amen. I want you to imagine with me for just a moment and use your imagination that we're going camping together. Uh, I'm not really a camper, so you need to work with me with the imagination here. All right. And we choose this perfect spot. There's no other people there. There's mountains. There's a lake. There's wild flowers. I mean, it is pre Oh, it's right there. Okay. So, imagine with me. All right. Th This is where we are. We found the perfect spot. There's no other people. There's no self-service. All we
get to do is just enjoy the beauty of this place together. We've got our Costco camping chair. Come on, somebody. We're sitting in it. We're starting to relax and things are going so well until all of a sudden you hear something in your earz. And you go and you swat it with your hand and then it makes its way right in front of your face and you make eye contact. It's a mosquito. And you try to kill that mosquito because you know exactly what that mission is of the mosquito, but you cannot kill it. And so you kind of forget about it. And then you look down and it's right on your arm. His syringe is in your skin and you didn't even know it. So you go to smack the mosquito, but it flies away.
And then you don't see it again till later that night. You start itching all over. And it's not just itching. You've got these red bumps all over the place. And now you're not even enjoying the beauty around you because you're distracted by these dumb bumps that this little teeny creature has caused. Do you know if you do some research, the most deadly creatures on the planet, the the most deadly creature on the planet is not, despite what people think, sharks. So many people are afraid to swim in the sea. But did you know sharks only kill per year five to 10 people? That's it. So, stat statistically, you going swimming, you're really unlikely to die from a shark.
Five to 10 people, you're probably not one of them. How about a lion? Lions are even crazier than sharks. Did you know only about 250 people a year die because of lions? You're more likely to be eaten by a lion than a shark. But really, you're probably not going to be one of the 250. Maybe it's a snake because about a 100,000 people die a year because of snakes. So, you might die because of a snake. That's why so many people are afraid of them. Snakes kill about 100,000 people a year. But did you know it's not snakes that are the deadliest creature? It's not lions and it's not sharks. The deadliest creature on the planet year after year is the mosquito.
It's the deadliest creature. You don't believe me? Just look on the internet real quick. Everything on the internet is true. Just look it up. You type in deadliest creature. It's going to tell you it's a mosquito. Now, let me tell you, it's not the mosquito that's deadly. It's what it carries. And you're going to see in the text today that Jesus says every single one of us is carrying something deadly. And it may not look big at first, but it will kill you. So, I want you to take serious what Jesus has to say. If you brought your Bible, you can take it out right now. Wave it in the air like you care. We're just about to get into John chapter 8. It's an incredible text. On the count of three, all of us are going to shout word. No matter who you are, where you are, even if you're watching online, shout with us word on the count of three. Here we go. 1 2 3. Word. We're getting into God's word so that God's
word will get into us. If you're able to, would you read uh stand for the reading of God's word? Uh I'll read it to you. Uh we want to stand just in reverence to listen to God today. I want you to work with me. John chapter 8 21-30. John 8:21-30. Jesus starts off speaking. So he said to them again, I am going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself since he since he says where I am going, you cannot come." He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins." So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "Just what I've been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true. And I declare to the world that I have heard from him. They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the father. So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone. For I always do the things that are pleasing to him. As he was saying these things, many believed in him. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
Statistically speaking, this is still true today as it was yesterday. All of us are going to die. Yes, you will die. I do not mean to be morbid. I just want to be candid because it seems to be that people are still surprised that they're going to die. But statistically speaking, you will die. And the Bible tells us that death is a result of sin. Death is a result of sin. We can read this narrative in Genesis chapter 3 that prior to Genesis chapter 3, God had created the earth, including mankind, and his purpose was not death. Genesis is the first of 66 books that make up the Bible. And in this Genesis story, the origins, we read that God created us to have a right relationship
with him in paradise. Yet, man, because of his free will, chose not God's plan, but his own plan. And as a result, sin entered the story. And when sin entered the story, death entered the story. So without sin, there is no death. So today, we know there's disease. We know that there are problems. We know that that people will die simply as a result of sin. If you want to read this narrative, you can in Genesis chapter 3. And when sin entered the human story, death entered the human story. And Jesus speaks clearly about who he is. So that we would understand that we no longer have to bear the burden of our sin. And if you don't bear the burden of your sin, you no longer have to worry about death.
But without a solution for sin, you will die. So Jesus over and over repeatedly lets us know who he is so that we understand who we are in him. That everything changes because of Jesus. He's not holding it back. He's not making this a mystery where we have to wonder who is this Jesus. He speaks clearly. He he told the Jews in John chapter 8, he's at the temple. He's the teacher, the rabbi. And he says, "I've been telling you from the beginning who I am." In John chapter 6, he he he made it clear with this metaphor. He says, "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." You can imagine they're hearing the story about the bread of heaven coming down that gives life. And they said to him, verse 34, "Sir, give us the bread.
Give us this bread always. Where where is this bakery that you speak of? I can almost smell it as you're speaking about it. Tell us more about this." And they miss the metaphor. They they miss what was right in front of them. So, he has to explain even more in John 6:51. He says, "I am the living bread." This is the first of the seven I am statements of Jesus where he's claiming to be the I am, the sacred name of the Hebrew god, Yahweh, the one true God. I am who I am. And Jesus says, I'm the living bread. I'm the one that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, Jesus says, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Now, this is exactly what got the religious leaders all riled up. They weren't excited that Jesus said this. They wanted to arrest him and they wanted to kill him. Let me put it this way with the illustration I got you with the imagination. You've got God right there in the flesh and you've got these mosquitoes who are distracting from something so beautiful right in front of them. It's absolutely wild that something so small can distract you. And I'm really speaking of what the last several weeks I've spoken of since the place where we find ourselves in John chapter 8, religious spirits. It's the burden of something that's not from God, but wants to distract from God.
And the religious spirit will sneak in and it will will take us away from what matters most and will get us caught up with the burden of what to do and not to do. And I I love that Andrea just spoke so well of the song that we sang that we've got to be careful of the comfortable path that we continue to take. We should be asking God to make us sure to shake us up to break down the walls of religion to understand who is Jesus. We're talking about the Lord God Almighty, the one that made heaven and earth, the one that knows absolutely everything is in the flesh. And when it comes to Jesus, you you cannot just come up with your own conclusion because if you do, Jesus warns us, you will die.
Another way to put this is you will go to hell. Jesus said in John 8:21, he said to them again and he's at the temple, this place where you go meet with God. I'm going away. Where is he going? Shout it out if you know. Heaven. No trick questions there. He says, "I'm going away." And he did what he said he would do. Jesus is someone you can trust. That's right. In Acts chapter 1, he ascends into heaven. He says, "I'm going." Now, if death is is a result of sin, and if there is no sin in heaven, because heaven is the dwelling place of God, what a wonderful place to want to go.
You have to use your imagination because in heaven, there cannot be any mosquitoes. Everything that's good on this side of earth is meant to make you hunger for heaven. It's going to be awesome. No sin, no sorrow, no sadness, no death. It is just absolute bliss in heaven. And Jesus says, "Hey, I'm going away and you're going to look for me, but unfortunately you will die in your sin. Where I'm going, where is it again? Shout it out. you cannot come. Jesus repeatedly has said, "I I come from heaven. I come from heaven. I come from heaven."
He's not sugarcoating the truth here. He doesn't hold anything back. He says, "Because you're in sin, you will die." Now, what does he mean by sin? This Greek word sin is an important one. We often describe it as missing the mark. But it actually means uh something so much deeper and more. It means to air. You're aiming for the bullseye, but you don't get the bullseye. You're you're not just missing the mark. You're missing who you are. You're missing what you're intended for. God created you. He made you for life. And you live an entire life to get to the end to die to meet your maker. And you miss it. You could have money. You could have sex. You could have success. Everyone could love you, but if you get to heaven
and you have sin, you're not getting in because you've missed it. It's dead end. You got one chance at your life. One. Regardless of what other spiritual people say, you got to choose. Do you take Jesus at his word or other people? The Dollaly Lama came out this week professing that he's near the end of his life, that he will be reincarnated. He is extremely kind. He's compassionate and very sincere. I am not saying anything ill of his kindness or his sincerity, but you can be sincere and be sincerely wrong
to believe that somehow I'm going to come back. this idea of reincarnation, I'm going to have another chance to continue to work harder, to strive to be better. It's a dead end. That's called sin. It it stops. There's no life in you. And Jesus warns, "You will die in your sin." And when Jesus says, "Where I'm going, you cannot come," he's being as straightforward as he can be in love. We often love the gentle Jesus. because he is gentle. Matthew 11, Jesus says, "I am gentle and lowly in heart." He is gentle because he's the fullness of grace. But he also, according to John chapter 1, is not just the fullness of grace. He's also the fullness of truth.
So don't mistake gentle Jesus for Jesus. He will discipline those whom he loves. He will tell you the truth even if it's difficult to hear. He loves you so much. He wants you not just to die. He wants you to experience eternal life. I love how Paul when he writes to the Romans, he tells us the same thing when he says in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death." Not for some people, for all people. Sin is death. It doesn't matter what the sin is. We We like to categorize and well, at least I'm not a murderer. I'm not as bad as that husband. At least I'm not like that coworker. We like to categorize it, but all sin leads to death. And sin is simply missing the mark of God. So you can miss you can sin in so many different ways. There are a lot of religious people that are living in sin.
It's dead end. You can meet a religious person and say, "I don't want anything that you have." And I'll tell you, that's not Jesus. That's sin. when it when it's a burden too big to bear, when you've judged internally in your heart, when you've lusted, when you have greed, when you've coveted, when you've done any of the things that the Bible speaks of in the law, just just pick the ten commandments, not the 613 commandments. Just the 10. We live in a world that makes a mockery of Jesus simply by using his name as a curse word. Do not be mistaken. It's the devil slipping in that Jesus is not sacred. But Paul says, "The wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Not like a little gift, not like some
gift. It is the free gift of God's grace, which means you are eternally forgiven of every single sin. That one day when you go to heaven and God says, "Why should I let you in?" All you got to do is say the name of Jesus. It's not anything you've done. It's not the family you're born into. It's not the church that you attend. It's not how good you lived your life. It's the free gift of grace that gets you into heaven. And when you believe in Jesus and you get that free gift of grace, it does so much. It forgives you of every single sin. Not some sins, not the big sins, not the sins that you you think that you've confessed. Listen, he's forgiven you of every sin once and for all. Which means if death is the result of sin, you're no longer doomed for death.
You have eternal life. Not just someday or another day, but you can start having that life now. I love how Jesus tells us to pray. You should start praying God's kingdom come. His will to be done right now on earth as it is in heaven. Don't wait to get to heaven and be like, "This is better than I thought." Wake up and know that his mercies are new every morning. You got breath in your lungs. He's saying, "I want you to have some heaven today. I want you to know you're forgiven today. I want you to know you're loved today. I want you to know who you are today in me. I want you to know who I am. Jesus wants us to know that we can spend forever with him.
Life on this earth is not the end of your story. The Jews said to Jesus, "Will he kill himself?" Since he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come." They're mocking Jesus. They're not being respectful in their questions. They're not being curious, and they're certainly not being humble. Have you ever met that pretentious spirit that asks you about what you believe? Will he kill himself? Where I'm going, you cannot come. You see, there was an ancient belief that if you committed suicide during the days of Jesus, they believed this. If you committed suicide, you went to the worst place in hell. They had come up with a lot of conclusions on their own about the everlasting eternal life. They'd come up with their own conclusions about the the Torah, the law.
And the lawgiver has come in the flesh and he's come to let us know. And now they're simply mocking him. Are you going to go to the worst place in hell when Jesus says you're going to die? They're they're now challenging him. Are you going to commit suicide? Now, Jesus, the Bible says, willingly gave his life for us. He did not commit suicide. He's a God of love that did what needed to be done. He who was without sin was willing to die for your sin. In John chapter 10, when we get there later this summer, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He loves you so much. He laid down his life, not so that we would mock him, not that we would make small of his name or
his fame. Jesus is the name above all names. It is the name of Jesus by which we can be saved because of what he's done for us. And so he lets us know that here's where the perspective is. You're from below, I'm from above. You're from this world. I am not of this world. There was a brand not too long ago that that capitalized on these words of Jesus, not of this world. And it was cute and clever and they had stickers on the back of cars and clothing. And uh it it was it was clever like, hey, this earth is not my home. I'm just on a journey. I'm not of this world. I mean, it's a great brand. But the problem is a brand is just a brand. Unless you believe it, it doesn't matter. What Jesus is saying is don't get comfortable here because there's something greater there.
This is not it. And the moment you think this is it, your whole life will revolve around it. Your health, your finances, your relationships, it it'll be all about you because you think that this is all there is. And Jesus gives us perspective. If you think this is it, you're going to miss it. Jesus said, "I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe, shout, believe. Believe that I am he, you will die in your sins." Jesus gives us the conclusion. You don't have to die. You can go where I'm going, but you don't have to do it on your own. You believe in me. I'll take care of your sin for you. That's a good deal. I'll write the check.
I'll go build your home for you. But what you got to do is receive from me what I'm giving to you. You'll never get it on your own, but I'll give it to you. And so now you have to ask, how am I going to live? Do I believe Jesus? Will I take him at his word? There are three distractions that will lead you straight to hell. I'll tell you the three. yourself, the world that we live in, and the devil. I would just put the devil, meaning any devil. There's a whole bunch of them. They're demons. Those three will lead you away from Jesus. And as long as you're away from Jesus, you're experiencing hell. Some of you might be
there in your mind right now. You might be in your life right now. That was true in the days of Jesus and is true now. John who wrote this little John who wrote the book of John about Jesus life wrote three little letters first, second and third John. He said this for all that is in the world in the world. So not the next world but right now the world we're living in the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father but is from the world. These are the things that will distract us. It's yourself the desires of the flesh. If you don't know what the flesh is, it's just you. It's I want my way. And by the way, you're so important because God made you. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. There's no one like you, which is incredibly unique.
But may I also just put it this way? You're not that important. Because the moment you think you're important, you get your eyes off of God and your eyes are on yourself. And even unintentionally, you make yourself God. the eyes of the flesh, the desires of the eyes. Do you know what the desires of the eyes are? It's when you want something you don't have. You're just looking at something. It could be a car, a phone, a person. The desires of the eyes is when I start to covet and the pride of life. I deserve this. I need this. That's not from our heavenly father. Jesus had come from the presence of God into this world to show us who God is.
And they had the audacity to ask in verse 25, who are you? I could just feel the religious pretentious who are you? And Jesus so kindly just says, "Just listen to what I've been saying from the beginning." He has so much to say, but look at verse 27. They did not understand. This is the worst part about being a preacher. Doesn't matter how clearly I preach. Doesn't matter how loud I preach. It doesn't matter what I preach. There will be some that just do not understand. I can get excited. I could dance like a monkey. I could point you to the word of God. I could I could sing the word of God. But none of those things matter if
you come in here with a heart that already says, "I don't want to receive what God has to offer." It's a It's a a humble heart that says, "I need grace. I can't get any closer to God without God's help. He did everything possible. I cannot make God love me more than he loves me right now." And when you understand that reality, all you want is more. It's like you've never tasted candy before and you got a taste. You're not going to be like, "That was all right." Like I don't think I need anymore. You want more. Okay, that was an illustration for me. I don't know what your thing is, but I don't know. Some of y'all like other certain things. You know, some of you is gardening. You get a taste of gardening.
You just want more. Whatever your thing is, you just you want God wants you to have more. He says, "I'm the bread of life. If you're thirsty, come to me." And you not you're not going to just get your your thirst quenched out of your belly is going to come of rivers of living water. Jesus exposed to us last week in the temple. I am the light of the world. Let the world see me and you. You're made for this. You're made for this. Last week we had 13 courageous souls step forward to get baptized. I always love this because they're simply saying, "I don't care what I look like when I'm leaving. I I came one way, but I'm leaving another way." And every person has a story. Some people, they've believed in Jesus for decades, but they just never got baptized.
And they re realize, I've been disobedient. I need to do more. And it's not do more to please God. It's like, I just want more God. And there comes a point, I don't even care what anybody else thinks of me. I could be in my 60s and someone's going to be like, "What? You just got saved?" I don't care if you think I just got saved because I'll get born again again and again again. I'm working out my salvation. I just I just want more. And you know who does it the best? Come on. Do you know who does it the best when they see who It's the little ones. It's the kids. It's the I love when kids come forward and they courageously say, "I I want that Jesus." They don't need to have it all figured out. They don't need to have a Bible degree. They just simply need to say, "I believe in Jesus." And Jesus said to him, "This is what it looks like." And I'm going to conclude
with this, and I've told you, here's how you go to hell. You die in your sin. Death is the absence of life. And God is the lifegiver. And so, if death is the absence of life, hell is simply an eternity separated from God, which means it's the second death over and over and over and over again, it's horrific. There could be nothing worse. In fact, the devil would love for us just to joke about hell. Oh, when I get to hell, we're going to have a party when hell freezes over. And we make all of these jokes about hell. But here's the reality. It's real. And it's separation from God. So, how do you go to hell? Just do nothing. That's it. That's it's really easy answer. How do you go to hell? Do nothing or just keep doing what you're doing without Jesus. You can know the whole Bible, by the way, frontwards, backwards. You can know every verse.
You can know everything about church history. You can know everything about religion and esquetology. And you can know all the right answers. But without Jesus, you still die in sin. So it's not about knowing more. There's very very intelligent people who are getting it wrong. Sometimes Jesus just says you got to be like a child to enter heaven. So here's how you get to heaven. You ready for the answer? Verse 28 and 29. Jesus said to them, 'When you have lifted up the son of man, he's pointing us forward to the cross. He's saying, 'Look to the cross. When you see the son of man, that's his favorite term for himself. It's a term we see in the book of Daniel. Daniel says, "Oh, I've seen the ancient of days. It's the son of man. That that's the Messiah. That's the one that saves you. That's your solution. That's the one you wake up to serve. The one Daniel pointed us for to the son of man." And Jesus says, "When you see the son of
man," he's saying, "I am the son of man lifted up." That's on the cross. When you look at the cross, then you will know that I am he and that I have done nothing on my own authority but speak just as the father taught me. So here's the key right here. He says the father has taught me. I and the father are one. One god and three persons. The father, the son, and the holy spirit. Perfectly united. Jesus didn't come and do his own thing. He did exactly what the father told him to do. He learned from the father. He learned from the father. He learned from the father. Verse 29. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I will always do the things that are pleasing to him. Here's how you go to heaven. Learn and please. Learn from God and please God. Now, if there's anything inside of you that feels like that's religious,
you got to remove that because it's not of God. If you learn from God, you learn who he is and you learn who's you are. Because the Bible says in the book of John chapter 1 that if you would just receive Jesus and believe in his name, you are a child of God. So if I learn from the father, I learned that he's always loved me. He always made me. And everything in my life that came against that was a lie of the devil. But every truth liberates me in who God is. So I want to learn from the father. Listen, this book should be the greatest priority of your life. the greatest. I'm not better than you. Listen, I probably spend more time on Facebook than you.
I I'm not trying to say that I'm better than you and I'm in this book more than you. All I'm simply saying is this is the truth and you'll never ever ever ever regret learning who God is and who you are in him. This is God's story. It's not your story. It's God's story. So when you immerse yourself in this book, you immerse yourself in God. And when you get to know God, you get to know who you are. And now all you want to do is please him. And here's what I mean by please him. He's not like an earthly parent. He's not going to shame you, guilt you, or condemn you. When you please God, you're pleased because you're simply living in the promise of who he says you are. If if if you really receive, I'm righteous. and I don't need to do anything to get that righteousness. Everything changes.
Jesus teaches us, here's what heaven looks like. It's learning and living the ways of God and it's pleasing God. I pray you'll have a revelation of what I mean by that. Because pride is the only thing that will prohibit you from pleasing God. Pride says, "I don't need God's grace." Pride says, "I don't need to be dependent on God today." Pride says, "I could hold on to that offense." Pride says, "I won't give that to God." But when you get into the promises of God, they just flood you. Cast all your cares on him. Why? Because he cares for you. Anyone who's heavy laden and burden, come to me. Jesus said, "I'm going to give you rest." I mean, the promises of God, they're endless. He's rich in grace. He'll never run out.
Go read Romans chapter 8 and just let God blow your mind. Just let him blow your mind. Just Romans chapter 8. Probably one of the best chapters that's ever been written in history. Let him blow your mind. You think anything you've been through could separate you from the love of God? Nope. When you don't know what to pray, you've got a God that prays with you. Awesome. What a good God. You don't have to have the right words. Even every other religion is a lie. But God is good. I I close with this as as I'm running out of time. I'm trying to tell you how not to go to hell. Uh when when you don't know what you need, you won't receive it. So if you don't think you're a sinner today and you don't
think you'll go to hell, Jesus won't be that great to you. I stand before you as one who's been rescued and forgiven and excited to go to heaven. I want to take as many people with me as possible. And it's it's it's not me that does it, but I know who does. It's Jesus. So, what he did for me, he could do for you. So, I I close with this because James warns us. Do you know who James is? He's the halfb brother of Jesus. The reason we say halfbrother is Jesus was born of a virgin. Although he was raised by Joseph, he was born of a virgin because he is the promised seed uh that God uh promised to us that he comes from the lineage of David. So James was born of both Mary and Joseph. That's why we say halfbrother. Uh but James did not
believe in Jesus while he was on earth those three years of his ministry. But somewhere he got the revelation. He became a pastor in Jerusalem. Uh pretty big deal. And James is just a straight shooter. five chapters, a letter, just like straight shooting. And he says this, if you're wondering today why maybe your prayers aren't answered, he says, "You ask and you do not receive." Meaning, you're praying and you don't see your answers. Because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own passions. James is one of those preachers that's a little bit of a jerk. Uh like, "Who are you, James?" That's the religious spirit that comes out. That's what they ask Jesus, "Who are you to tell me?"
But James, I just love his heart here because he's like, "If it's of God, it's yours." He says, "You adulterous people," verse four, he goes from hard to harder. When the Bible refers to God's people as adulterous, they're simply saying, "You should have one love, one love, that's God. And when you have any other love affairs, you make anything else more important than God. You become like an adulterous person. God is jealous for you. He wants to have a right relationship with just you, not you trying all these other spiritual ways. He He says, "I am the way." So he says, "You adulterous people, there's only one way to get this. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be the friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
This is the deception of the devil. that somehow you can have Jesus for one hour a week, but you could also have everything in the world. But be not mistaken. Jesus is worth it all. I love that Pastor Brandon even just broke out into I surrender all. All to thee, not me. But it is certainly easy to do that on church on Sunday morning, but you can go to church and still be an enemy of God. James says, "You could pray and be an enemy of God. You could be nice and be spiritual and be an enemy of God." He's not asking you to do things on your own. He's asking you to believe in him. And today, I have to ask you, have you believed in him?
John 8:30 says says, "As he was saying these things, many believed in him." And we're going to cover this next week, which is so worth coming back next week when Jesus says, "If you would just abide in my word." What does it mean to abide in his word? To obey. To be connected with Jesus and his word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free. So, I I bring it back to that creature that causes more deaths than any other creature on the planet. It's not the mosquito that kills you. It's what the mosquito is carrying.
And more often than not, it's malaria, which kills over a million people a year, which is wild because there's a vaccination for malaria. I've been to Africa, this continent that so many people die from malaria on the continent of Africa. And when you go, you got a choice to take a malaria vaccination, or you could just take the risk. Inevitably, when I've gone with teams from Journey Church, there's like usually one or two, I'll tell you the gender, males that say, "I'm not going to bring malaria pills. I'm not going to get the vaccination." And malaria is just like a really serious flu. But if you have a weak immune system or you've been sick several times, it it it can take you out or if you're dehydrated.
If I tell you today that you can have the vaccination for sin, you alone are the one that chooses whether or not you take it. And the vaccination is the blood of Jesus. He took our sin so that you would be free from sin. But if you simply say, "I reject that. I will not receive it." You will get sin which causes death. If you take the vaccination of Jesus, now I thought about not sharing this illustration because I feel like vaccination is one of those words today. Like especially in Oregon, it's either like it's celebrated or cursed, you know?
But I need I need you to use a revelation of of the Holy Spirit right now. If you knew you could be set free from death, meaning the moment your heart stops, you don't die, you actually start living. That's what you get in Jesus. I love Jesus so much because he says even if you mess up and you come home, you're still welcome. Go read Luke 15. In fact, he'll go after you when you've messed up. What a good God. You're not going to hear that in Islam or Buddhism or Taoism or any new age stuff where you've got to use something. We've got a God that went after you. Hallelujah. He took your sin. He doesn't say go be better. Oh. So, I just ask you right now, if you want that, it's yours. I'm just going to be real blunt. If you've
never done that and you want it, I can't assume because you came to church, you've believed in Jesus. I can't assume today that you know what it means to be born again, but you can walk out of here saved today in Jesus. The Bible says once you believe, you receive the Holy Spirit. That's God himself. You're no longer alone. He wants to journey with you. Now, if you want to do that right now, be forgiven of your sins and and receive Jesus. We're just about done with the service, but I want to just ask I want to celebrate with you. Would you just wave your hand like this and say, "That's me. I I want to receive and believe Jesus today." You got to be praise God. Yes. Praise God. Amen. Yes. Praise God. Praise God. You see, I'm not calling you out and I'm not going to ask you to say anything, but here's what I'm going to say. Jesus says, "If you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. But if you confess me, he's going to confess you before the father." You've got an advocate in
Jesus. He's for you. No one's believed in you more than Jesus. No one. He's at the right hand of the father right now celebrating because of two men that just changed the trajectory of their lives. Any anybody else today? Wave at me if that's you too. I want to just see and celebrate. If someone says, "I want to be forgiven." Doesn't matter how young you are, how old you are. Don't be ashamed of anybody around you. You might have been faking it your whole life looking like a Christian but not actually believing Jesus. By the way, if that's you, I'm so sorry that someone has told you that you you can learn all the right language, do all the right things, and still bear the burden of sin. I really am sorry because I've done that before. I've preached it before. I just repent of that.
It's a crappy life to call yourself a Christian and then leave with no joy. I've done it. It's not the fruit of God. The fruit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. If you got that in your life, you got God. People start spewing bad things on you, I'll tell you right now, it's not God. They can call themselves Christians. They can go to church, but I'm telling you right now, it's not the Holy Spirit. The Bible says the devil is an accuser, and he accuses day and night. Jesus, liberator, lover, freedom giver. Anybody else say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want that Jesus." Praise God. He's for you. Amen.
Praise God. You will never regret this decision. Never regret it. More important than any other decision. More important than who you marry or career. Praise be to God. Anyone else? Just before we end our time. When you make this decision now, you walk with God. You live with God. You pray. Praying is talking to God as listening to God. You can do anywhere, anytime. You don't have to have the right words. You just have to go to God. The Bible's going to teach you how to do that. Jesus didn't leave us hanging. He teaches us how to pray. But get into this book. If you don't have a Bible, take one before you leave today. We've got them all over the room. They're a free gift. I want to pray with you. You could just repeat after me these words just so you confidently know the decision you made in your heart that
Jesus saves you. You are loved. You're forgiven. You're born again from this day forward, a child of God. Anyone that's ever believed, can we do it with those for the first time? Pray out loud with me. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe in you. Forgive me of my sin. I receive eternal life. I receive the Holy Spirit. I am a child of God. I am born again. I am born again. I will not die. I have eternal life. Help me to follow you today and forever more in Jesus name. Amen. And amen.
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Taking Jesus' warning seriously
The sermon opens with Jesus telling a temple crowd that they will die in their sin unless they believe. Pastor Keith argues that this warning is loving rather than harsh, and that it should be heard as clearly today as it was then.
John 8:21-24 · John 1:14
- When you hear Jesus say people will die in their sin, what is your first reaction, and why?
- How does Pastor Keith distinguish a gentle Jesus from a Jesus who avoids hard truth?
- Where does Pastor Keith say both grace and truth are seen in Jesus, and how does he connect that to this warning?
Sin as missing what you were made for
The message defines sin through the Greek word often translated as missing the mark, then pushes further: sin is missing who you are and what God intended for you. Death follows sin, and no amount of religious effort removes it.
Genesis 3 · Romans 6:23
- How is Pastor Keith's definition of sin different from simply breaking a rule?
- Where are you tempted to categorize sins as big or small, and what does this sermon say about that?
- How does Pastor Keith explain sin as missing what people were made for, rather than only missing a mark?
Religious distraction and the question 'Who are you?'
The sermon describes a religious spirit that adds burdens and distracts from God. The crowd in John 8 asks Jesus who he is, and he answers by pointing back to what he has already said. Pastor Keith connects this to the temptation to build conclusions about God on our own terms.
John 8:25 · John 6:51
- How does Pastor Keith contrast the crowd's resistance to Jesus with humbly receiving grace?
The cross as the place of clarity
Jesus says that when the Son of Man is lifted up, people will know who he is. Pastor Keith reads this as a forward look to the cross, where Jesus' identity and his obedience to the Father are shown most clearly.
John 8:28-29 · Daniel 7
- Why might the cross be the clearest place to understand who Jesus is?
- What does it mean to you that Jesus says he does nothing on his own authority?
- How does learning from the Father shape the way you please God, according to this message?
Receiving grace and responding
The sermon closes by contrasting doing nothing with believing in Jesus. It names pride as what keeps people from receiving grace and uses James to warn against friendship with the world. The recording ends with an invitation and a prayer for those who want to respond.
James 4:3-4 · John 8:30
- What does Pastor Keith mean when he says going to hell is as simple as doing nothing?
- How does pride keep a person from receiving grace, and where do you see that in yourself?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What does it mean to 'die in your sin'?+
Pastor Keith explains that sin brings death, going back to Genesis 3 and to Romans 6:23, which connects sin with death. To die in sin means to face death without the forgiveness Jesus offers. He does not treat this as a distant threat but as something Jesus states plainly in love, so that people would turn to him and receive eternal life rather than remaining separated from God.
What is the 'religious spirit' Pastor Keith keeps mentioning?+
He describes it as a burden that is not from God but distracts from God. In his reading of John 8, the crowd at the temple argues and mocks rather than listening, and he calls that a religious posture that resists receiving what God is offering. He warns that religious activity or knowledge cannot replace belief in Jesus, and that a religious spirit can make a person miss the God who is right in front of them.
What does the sermon say is the way to heaven?+
Pastor Keith points to John 8:28-29: Jesus says that when the Son of Man is lifted up, people will know who he is, that he speaks what the Father taught him, and that he always does what pleases the Father. Pastor Keith summarizes this as learning from God and pleasing God. He quickly adds that this is not about earning favor, because pleasing God flows from receiving grace and knowing who you are in him.
