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Beware of Spiritual Landmines (Luke 12:1-12)
17 Plays1 day ago
Sunday Message recorded 08 March 2026
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Supporting Missionaries in Faith
00:00:07
Speaker
um much for our North American Mission Board missionaries who are serving across the United States and North America. They are lifting up Christ and giving people hope. And so that's why it is more than a gift whenever you give to the Annie Armstrong Easter offering for North American missions.
Warnings from Luke 12:1-12
00:00:25
Speaker
So I hope you've had a good weekend. hope you're getting off to a good start with spring break. And so looking forward to all that the Lord has for us today in his word. If you would turn with me to Luke chapter 12, verses 1 through 12. That's where we're going to be today.
00:00:42
Speaker
You know, ah as a disciple walks with the Lord through life, he or she must be careful where they step. Fourteen times the New Testament warns followers of Christ to beware.
00:00:57
Speaker
There's a Greek word, pros echo. It's a nautical term where a captain of a ship when he was steering his vessel, you had to pay close attention that he doesn't run aground.
00:01:08
Speaker
And so it means to pay attention to, to be cautious about, to take heed to. Peter used the word beware once. Paul used it three times, at least where it's translated as beware. Sometimes it's translated pay attention to.
00:01:23
Speaker
But Jesus, he used it 10 times. And I think he's trying to tell us as you're going through life, there are some things you need to be careful about. Need to pay attention lest your testimony for for Christ just explodes and suddenly everything crashes down around you.
00:01:42
Speaker
In Luke 12, 1 through 12, We're going to read at the beginning where it says when so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were trampling one another. You're going to see that and hear that in just a minute. The people were trampling on one another.
Life's Hidden Dangers: A Metaphor
00:02:00
Speaker
He began to say to his disciples first, beware, beware. You know, i got to thinking about where people step. And this past week, I read an article on the Good News Network, and it caught my eye on Tuesday of this past week.
00:02:16
Speaker
After two decades of what they call de-mining, where there's minefields and all kind of landmines that are planted in Croatia, they declared themselves to be landmine free.
00:02:29
Speaker
Don't you wish that life was landmine free? You know, during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, 1.5 million landmines were hidden.
00:02:39
Speaker
They were planted by both sides. And now 107 mines and 407,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been removed. And so they're so thankful to be landmine free.
00:02:55
Speaker
But it's interesting that Jesus would say to his disciples first. want you to listen to that and think, what is he trying to say? i think what he's trying to say is, I know that as my follower, I know that as my disciple, you're listening to what I say.
00:03:12
Speaker
And so I want all of us to listen closely to what God is going to say. You know, the Lord did not plant. the explosive devices in life that we're going to read about.
00:03:24
Speaker
Yet, even though they're buried and hidden from the eyes of many, they're not hidden from him. And so the Lord is going to tell us where they are and that we need to avoid those, that we need to be careful around them.
Hypocrisy and Authenticity in Faith
00:03:39
Speaker
So I hope by now you found Luke chapter 12. We're going to start with verse 1. If you would stand in honor of God's holy inspired word of God. We're going to listen to what God will say to us today.
00:03:52
Speaker
In the meantime, when so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
00:04:10
Speaker
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you've whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
00:04:29
Speaker
I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that, have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear,
00:04:42
Speaker
Fear him who, after he is killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?
00:04:56
Speaker
And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. Amen.
00:05:10
Speaker
And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the son of man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
00:05:26
Speaker
And everyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say.
00:05:49
Speaker
For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. So let's ask God to bless our time. Lord, I thank you so much for my church family. I love them.
00:06:01
Speaker
I want their testimony to be ah blameless. I want them to Walk through this life and people seeing not perfect people, but seeing a group of disciples that are authentic and real.
00:06:15
Speaker
And so we confess before you our faults. We confess before you our sins in those areas where we've gotten off track. But we're honest about it. We're not trying to be duplicitous about it. We want you, oh Lord, to use us, but to use us in our transparency, to be real before those that are around us.
00:06:36
Speaker
but we also need you to help us with fear. We need you to help us not to not deny you in front of other people. We need you to help us not to be anxious over what we would say if we're ever called on the carpet for following Jesus.
00:06:52
Speaker
So bless our time, equip the body of Christ through this, your living and abiding word of God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:07:05
Speaker
Have you ever heard of a device? It's used in the military called a Miklik or an M58. It's a mine clearing line charge is what it stands for.
00:07:18
Speaker
It's a rocket propelled rope pulling a line of C4 explosives across a minefield, providing a safe lane. It's about 320 feet in length that the rope goes out and it will make a swath that is safe for our troops to to follow across a minefield that's about 45 feet to 52 feet wide.
00:07:43
Speaker
Now I don't know a lot about a Miklik, I think that's the newest version, but I do recall that when I was at college, my younger brother and my dad both worked at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant.
00:07:55
Speaker
And my brother actually helped with another device that was very similar, but it was smaller. it could be It could fit in the backpack of two soldiers. It was called an APOB system, an anti-personnel obstacle breaching system.
00:08:11
Speaker
It was light enough, like I say, for two soldiers to carry the parts that were needed. But it would have a 145-foot rope that would shoot out there, and it would contain 108 grenades.
00:08:25
Speaker
So guess what my dad did? My dad worked in the x-ray department. And he would examine bombs before they ever went out. And a lot of those guys couldn't see in there. But my dad had really good eyes.
00:08:37
Speaker
And so they called him Batman. And so anyway, i was like, why do they always call you Batman when I see you at the ball when they see at the ball games or the store or whatever? And he said, well, they say I can see where I'm going in x-ray and they they're stumbling over things in there. But my brother, he was working on this device. He just called it the rope.
00:08:58
Speaker
And I couldn't imagine what it was like, but you should Google it sometime. What is this rope that has all of these explosive devices? But my brother said, tying grenades on this taut rope all day long, he was tying grenades so that they would just go out there and just make a safe trail for our troops, he said, it made my neck hurt. So if you ever think that you have a pain in the neck, my brother had a pain in the neck doing those that rope.
00:09:27
Speaker
But anyway, it saves lives. So I think the Lord can save our testimony if we'll listen closely to what he's trying to warn us
Overcoming Fear of Man with Faith
00:09:35
Speaker
about. I want us to examine four landmines that you don't want to step on one of these, because if you do, then people are going to say, well, I don't know if I want to follow Christ if that's the way it is.
00:09:47
Speaker
Well, landmine number one that Jesus would say to us in verses one through three would be beware of hypocrisy. Beware of hypocrisy before men. What is hypocrisy?
00:09:59
Speaker
Hypocrisy is comes from a Greek word that describes an actor playing a part on a stage. He's pretending to be someone that he is not.
00:10:10
Speaker
Now, a true believer A true believer is honest about their sin, admits their need for a Savior. They know they're not perfect, but they are real. They're genuine. They're authentic.
00:10:22
Speaker
Well, that's not what I'm talking about when you're being real, authentic, and you're saying, I need Christ. But what I'm trying to say is someone is a hypocrite when they pretend they don't need Christ.
00:10:33
Speaker
When they pretend that there's somebody okay, when really on the inside, they're not okay. And their lives are definitely... in help of the Savior's assistance.
00:10:44
Speaker
So I want us to look at these first three verses and think about this whole landmine of hypocrisy. I don't want you to step on it, so I want you to know about it. First, I want you to notice the context for this warning that Jesus gives.
00:10:58
Speaker
The scholars are divided. The people were gathering, right? I mean, they were really gathering together. Was this because of popularity or animosity?
00:11:10
Speaker
were there Were these friendlies or were they hostiles that were gathering together? Bible scholars, believe it or not, are divided. Some see it one way, some see it the other way. So I'll let you decide if you think it's just that it was all popularity or based on the verse that we read right at the end of chapter 11, right before we start chapter 12, where it says the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard.
00:11:36
Speaker
and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say. So I can definitely see what they're saying, but for myself, I still think, well, I think they wanted to hear what Jesus was saying. I think people are hungry to hear that.
00:11:53
Speaker
And so it leads us from the context to the crowd. There's a crowd during that's mentioned in this warning. I think that's interesting that Jesus would say, beware of hypocrisy,
00:12:05
Speaker
when the numbers were increasing. You know, sometimes when the numbers increase, there's a tendency to say, maybe we should soft pedal on truth. Maybe we should soft pedal on the gospel and not say, well, it's only Jesus. If we just make it easier, i think we can have a lot more people attend church or come and be a part of this gathering.
00:12:27
Speaker
You know, when it says many thousands, I want you to understand that the word there is the word for myriads. You know, a myriad is 10,000. So if it says there are many myriads, then what it's saying is there were several 10,000. So there could have been 30, 40, 50,000 people that were gathered there. And so it's no wonder that they were careless and they were trampling on other people. They want to hear what's being said.
00:12:56
Speaker
And so in that context, with that crowd, Jesus sees them not being careful where they're stepping. And he says, hold it. Beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It's like leaven.
00:13:09
Speaker
So I want to think about that for a moment. What is leaven? You know, leaven, if you make a comparison to this warning to leaven, then leaven has this characteristic that it influences through permeations.
00:13:23
Speaker
It influences really for corruption, contamination. Galatians 5, 9 says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And so if you're not careful, if you're not the right kind of spiritual DNA, you're going to multiply the wrong kind of discipleship to the world. So that's why I'm saying, let's all be on the same page. Let's all agree that we want to follow Christ and be genuine and say, Lord, we need your help.
00:13:53
Speaker
And to say to a lost world, hey, look, let me tell you who's helping me. He's still helping me put my life together. You know, he also in verses two and three of this passage on hypocrisy, he's addressing that which is concealed,
00:14:10
Speaker
You know, since hypocrisy is a deliberate veneer placed over the reality, this warning is full. It's full of this admonition.
00:14:22
Speaker
Be careful, because in the final judgment, all that is concealed, all that is hidden, all that other people don't know about, it's going to be made known. And when you look at it, you're thinking, oh, my goodness, you know,
00:14:36
Speaker
If our sins have not been put underneath the blood of Christ, if you've not said, Lord, please cleanse me, then those sins are still there and we'll give account for those sins. That's why it's very important that we go to the Lord every day and say, Lord, I'm sorry.
00:14:52
Speaker
lost my temper. I'm sorry. I was prideful. I'm sorry. I wasn't trusting you. I became anxious. I'm sorry that I was selfish. Whatever it was, just confess your sins to the Lord and ask him to cleanse you.
00:15:05
Speaker
Because he says, he warns, it's what happens in the dark is going to be brought out into the light. What happens in private is going to be public at the last day.
00:15:17
Speaker
I don't know if for sure he said it. There's a lot of different articles that say maybe he didn't say it. But Abraham Lincoln has always been credited with saying something. I know he was raised with biblical truth, but he used to say this, if I got it correct, you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time.
00:15:41
Speaker
I would add another line on there and say, of course, you cannot fool God any of the time. So there's no need in pretending. Why don't we just be genuine? Why don't be real?
00:15:52
Speaker
Why don't we say to God, I need you. I'm saved by grace. That's a wonderful message to declare to those that are working alongside of you, to those that you go to school with. I know we're on spring break this week, but why don't you adjust your life and say, Lord, when I go back to school, I don't want to act like I've got it all together. I want to tell them I don't have it all together.
00:16:14
Speaker
But Jesus has forgiven me for all that I've done, all of my sins. And so I think that rather than soft pedaling, you know, to keep a big crowd, we should always say, know what?
00:16:27
Speaker
Truth, truth will draw people. Truth is what we need and grace is what we need. So landmine number one is beware of hypocrisy before men, but there's something else because he goes right from that into verse four.
00:16:43
Speaker
And what's the topic between verse four down through verse seven? Well, I would say that topic is fear. Five times, five times in verses four, five, six, and seven, the Greek word phobeo,
00:16:58
Speaker
Does phobeo sound like anything? Sorry if my Tennessee accent is hard to understand. But anyway, phobeo comes from phobia. That's where we get our word phobia.
00:17:09
Speaker
It means fear. And so he's dealing with fear. Do you know that Proverbs 29, 25 also warns us against fear, but it's a certain kind of fear, the fear of man.
00:17:23
Speaker
Do you know what the Bible says about the fear of man? You don't want to be afraid. of what other people think so that you say, well, I better do what they say, what they think, or else I'm gonna get in trouble.
00:17:35
Speaker
I would say you've got it backwards. If you try to do what everybody else says and everybody else thinks, you're gonna be the one in trouble. You're gonna be making a lot of hardship on your life because the Bible says in Proverbs 29, 25, the fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
00:17:58
Speaker
You see, pleasing people is a really hard way to live. So it's like a minefield. And you might please this one and you might please that one, but you keep on trying to live that way pretty soon. They're going to say, you can't please this guy and you can't please this guy.
00:18:15
Speaker
You're nothing but a phony. And you see how hypocrisy and the fear of man, they're kind of connected, aren't they? Well, how could you drive out the fear of man?
00:18:27
Speaker
If it's trying to get its icy grip on your heart, what will displace it? What will push it out? Well, I think there's a few hints that I saw in verses four through seven that I would pass along to you and as your pastor that cares about you.
00:18:43
Speaker
I would say one thing that'll drive it out is friendship with Christ. Friendship with Christ over friendship with the world. You know, James chapter four, verse four, it warns me.
00:18:56
Speaker
It warns you. It warns all of us. It warns any disciple.
The Value of Each Soul to God
00:19:01
Speaker
You can't be a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time, because friendship with the world that's going away from God is what's called enmity.
00:19:12
Speaker
In other words, it it is like opposition to God. The world's not following God. We're following God because we're trying to line up with his word and trying to let Jesus be our guide. So if we're gonna follow Christ, then there's gonna be some times that we say, you know what?
00:19:29
Speaker
The world's gonna go that way, but for me, I'm going that way. What is your choice? You gotta decide who would you rather have as a friend, Jesus or the world? So that's the first thing that'll drive that kind of man pleasing out of your life.
00:19:44
Speaker
There's a second thing though, that Jesus mentions. He says, I tell you my friends. So that's where I got this whole idea about friends. Jesus called them a friend. Would he call you a friend?
00:19:55
Speaker
But he goes on to say, do not fear those who kill the body. And after that have nothing more they can do. Maybe you're thinking, What else is there to do if he kills the body, you know? But wait, it's not over.
00:20:08
Speaker
And that's why it's so important that we get these truths down, that we have fearlessness toward physical death because of the limitation of the physical body.
00:20:19
Speaker
You see, just because your body dies doesn't mean your soul dies. Your spirit They will go on in eternity. So the question is, am I just thinking about the body?
00:20:32
Speaker
Like if someone says, you deny Jesus or I'm going to kill you. Would you be willing to sit there and say, you know what? You can kill me, but you won't end my life. I will go to be with the Lord forever and ever in heaven in eternity.
00:20:46
Speaker
But if you're thinking the body's all I've got, this is it. There's nothing more than this life. This is all there is. If that's your thinking, then you're going to be so afraid all your life of man because you're going to think, oh, I don't want anybody to hurt me.
00:21:02
Speaker
You know, yesterday in the afternoon, i came up here to put sermon notes up to the tech crew in the balcony. And when I opened that door right there, guess what? It was 94 degrees in here and the heat was on full blast. And I said, oh my goodness, you know, we're not ready for tomorrow. You know, I know it's spring break, but that's too much spring. Let's get back at all. So anyway, I run up there and I go to the thermostat and the thermostat was set on 74.
00:21:31
Speaker
And I thought it doesn't feel like 74. The thermostat was set on cool. But guess what? It's registered. The sanctuary is 94 degrees. And before we ever got it calmed down, it went up to 96 degrees.
00:21:44
Speaker
So aren't you glad today that we have a building and grounds helping hands crew that took care of things yesterday? So thankful. But also ah thankful for, um i think his name is Bryce Leopold, who came and he rewired things and shut down the heat side.
00:22:00
Speaker
And just rewired the AC side. So I'm so thankful that we have AC today. But here's the thing. I forgot to come check on it. And so I thought, well, you know, what if it's still hot?
00:22:13
Speaker
So last night ah when it was about time for the news, I thought, you know, it's about 10, but I better come up here. And it looks different, you know, when it's all dark in here. So anyway, but you know what? I wasn't afraid and I don't live my life being afraid of what man can do. Do you live your life being afraid of what others could do?
00:22:35
Speaker
I think there's a better way to live. That's where Jesus comes in and gives us peace. But there's also another, a third way to drive out the fear, the fear of God with authority over eternity.
00:22:48
Speaker
These are the words of Jesus. He said, I'll warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he is killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
00:23:00
Speaker
So we are to say, oh Lord, why am I fearing man anyway? I will stand before your great throne. And if I stand before you, then I need to fear you more than anybody else on the whole face of the world.
00:23:13
Speaker
But I feel like sometimes we forget that. You know, there was a Scottish reformer, a pastor named John Knox. Perhaps you've heard of him before. But when they lowered his body down into the grave after he passed away, someone said there that day, here lies one who feared God so much that he never feared the face of man.
00:23:36
Speaker
I wonder if that could ever be said of any of us. So you want to press the fear of man out of your life? Develop that friendship with Christ. Decide right now, you know what?
00:23:48
Speaker
I'm going to be fearless about physical death because I'll just go to be with the Lord in heaven. But also develop that fear of God where you know he's waiting. But then the fourth thing is faith.
00:24:00
Speaker
And this one is what I really want to camp out on just a little bit. Faith in your infinite value to our creator. You know, Jesus says something that may seem odd at first until you really realize what he's saying. And what I think Jesus is getting at is how valuable each one of you in this room are because each one of you in this room were created by a creator who loves you so much.
00:24:26
Speaker
I want you to hear what he says in verse six and seven. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
00:24:37
Speaker
Why even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be counting the heads hairs on people's heads. the Fear not. You are of more value than many sparrows.
00:24:50
Speaker
So I got to thinking about what is he really getting at? You see, Luke's version says five sparrows are worth two pennies. But if you were to go to the parallel passage in Matthew, Matthew says in his version, two sparrows are worth one penny.
00:25:08
Speaker
So if you go with Matthew, he was a tax collector. He probably knew a lot about money stuff. So if you go with Matthew, then you know two sparrows are worth one penny.
00:25:19
Speaker
So how many would you get for two cents? Four. You would get four sparrows, but what is Jesus saying? Five sparrows. So what he's saying is the fifth sparrow is not worth anything. You're not even going to be charged for the fifth one.
00:25:35
Speaker
So there's no cost For the fifth one. But someone could say. But there might not be value. To the fifth one. You know. I think what he's trying to tell us is.
00:25:47
Speaker
That even though you may feel like you're not valuable. And even though you may feel like God has forgotten you. If he takes care of those sparrows. And if he says. Not one of those sparrows goes to the ground. Without me knowing about it.
00:26:02
Speaker
Why do we feel forgotten? Why do you feel God doesn't love you? God does love you. You're so valuable to him. You're so valuable to him. He sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to a cross to pay the price for sins that he had not done that we committed, that I committed, that you committed.
00:26:22
Speaker
So don't question whether God loves you or not. I was thinking also about the the detail of his love. You know, when he talks about the hairs of our head are counted,
00:26:33
Speaker
You know, medical researchers, I know I'm going to get some flack on this one. Medical researchers say that blondes usually have 145,000 hairs on their head.
00:26:44
Speaker
But those with dark hair have only 120,000 hairs on their head. But redheads have only 90,000 hairs on their head, usually, okay?
00:26:55
Speaker
But what's the idea here? When he's saying all, did you catch that? He did say all, right? All the hairs are numbered.
Acknowledging Christ, Avoiding Anxiety
00:27:04
Speaker
do you know that that's how deeply, that's how intimately that God knows us and loves us.
00:27:11
Speaker
So I just want to remind you that you're not forgotten by God. You are intimately known by God and you are greatly valued by God.
00:27:23
Speaker
Let's go to the third thing. The third thing is landmine of denying Christ before men. have you ever denied Christ before someone else and you feel badly about it later?
00:27:36
Speaker
Romans 10, 9 and 10 tells us there is a connection. It says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
00:27:50
Speaker
For with the heart, one believes and is justified. And with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. You see the connection there? You got to believe in your heart for sure, but there's something that's significant to God that you're not ashamed of him, that you're willing to speak about him in front of other people.
00:28:11
Speaker
I think some Christians never, never mentioned Christ in front of other people. And yet I hear Christ saying here, professing Christ before men leads to a certain promise that he will profess man before angels.
00:28:27
Speaker
But then you flip it around and you say, oh, wait a minute. He goes on to say, denying Christ before men, there's a warning. he will deny that man before angels. Do you remember the parable of the wheat and the tares?
00:28:42
Speaker
In the parable of the wheat and the tares, there's a group called the reapers. And so it's like, who are the reapers? And he explains in Matthew 13, verse 30 and verse 41, that what's going to happen is the son of man will send his angels and he'll say, go get them.
00:29:01
Speaker
It's time for me to send for my family. But then there's also rejecting Christ before the Holy Spirit. You know, John 16 verses seven through 15 gives some very informative and helpful explanation by Jesus on the work of the Holy Spirit.
00:29:19
Speaker
He convicts us of sin, of righteousness and judgment. Do you know that that's the one who convinces you and convicts you? You know what? I need Christ.
00:29:30
Speaker
So what is talking about here is someone who says, what you're saying to me, Holy Spirit, is not true. I'm okay. I'm better than other people. I'm a good person.
00:29:41
Speaker
So when you just do that your whole entire life, you just continue to say, no No, no to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is saying, Jesus went to the cross for you.
00:29:53
Speaker
He died on the cross so you can know for certain that you have eternal life. So that you can know for certain that your sins are washed away. But this person says, no, no, no.
00:30:04
Speaker
If someone keeps that up, then what's going to happen is it'll be considered blasphemy to the Holy Spirit because Jesus is the only way of salvation. So if you reject the Holy Spirit drawing you to him, then what you're basically saying is you're lying.
00:30:22
Speaker
I know what I'm talking about. I'm just fine without Jesus. And what we need to say is, no, I'm not. But that final rejection of the Spirit's work in bringing a person to repentance and faith in Christ is It's so serious because there's no other way.
00:30:39
Speaker
So let me get to that fourth and final rope. The rope of these biblical truths are going to protect you. One will protect you from the the landmine of hypocrisy.
00:30:52
Speaker
Other verses protect us from the landmine of fear. Another one is it will protect us from the landmine of denial of Christ. But now the fourth landmine is beware of becoming anxious before men.
00:31:06
Speaker
Before men. What would happen if you were ever arrested for being a disciple of Christ? That's what he's talking about with these men. And maybe you'd say, that's ridiculous. Nobody gets arrested for being a Christian.
00:31:20
Speaker
ah wait a minute. Actually. Actually, the men he's talking to, just a little bit down the road, every one of those guys, they were arrested for being a Christian.
00:31:31
Speaker
As a matter of fact, in the book of Acts, which was also written by Luke, Luke wrote Luke's gospel, but Luke also wrote the book of Acts. In the book of Acts, these guys were arrested three times.
00:31:42
Speaker
What if you were arrested for being a disciple? Would you be anxious over your defense for Christ? You know, i think that anxiety for a Christian, it's unnecessary.
00:31:55
Speaker
It's unproductive. I think it's unhealthy. You know, anxiety is going to cause you to have health problems. You ought to say, you know what, if that ever happens, if the crowd ever comes up to me at school, if the men ever gather around me at my desk at work, or if they ever come to me at a ball game, I'm going to simply say, you know what?
00:32:16
Speaker
I'm gonna stay with Jesus, I'm gonna lift up Jesus, and I'm not gonna be afraid of what to say because of the assistance through depending upon Christ.
00:32:27
Speaker
You know, the Lord's gonna give you through his Holy Spirit what you need to say and when you need to say You don't have to worry about it. So I got to looking at these four landmines and I thought, wow, you know, we really need to beware of the mind of hypocrisy before men.
00:32:44
Speaker
We also need to beware of the landmine of fear before men, the landmine of denying Christ before men, the landmine of getting so anxious and stressed out over what to say before men.
Lessons from Peter's Mistakes
00:32:58
Speaker
And you know it reminded me of? It reminded me of Galatians. There was another guy. He wasn't perfect, but he's so relatable. And I thought, you know, Peter, he stepped on a landmine.
00:33:12
Speaker
In Galatians 2, 11 through 14. As a matter of fact, he not only stepped on a landmine, he stepped on four landmines. And if you read through this passage, what you'll realize is that before these guys come from Jerusalem, sort of like from the the main church down there in Jerusalem, before they came, you know what he did?
00:33:32
Speaker
He was with Paul and he was there with the Gentiles. And he said, you know what? I don't have to just eat with Jews anymore. I can eat with Jews and I can eat with Gentiles because we're all one in Christ.
00:33:44
Speaker
And man, he was having a big time until these guys came in. And he said, oh, I don't think I want to eat with the Jews with those guys in the room. So he goes over and he sits at their table.
00:33:56
Speaker
Have you ever done that at the lunch lunch table? It happens in in high school and junior high. But anyway, he's like, I can't sit at the table with them. i better go and only eat with the Jews.
00:34:08
Speaker
And so what happened? Well, verse 12 of the passage in Galatians 2 says, what happened was he was afraid. He stepped on the landmine of fear.
00:34:19
Speaker
But then the next verse in verse 13 says, and the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him so that even Barnabas was led astray by their what?
00:34:32
Speaker
Hypocrisy. Man, he just stepped on a second landmine, didn't he? And when he's stepping on these landmines, what is going on in his life? I'll tell you what's going on. He's thinking more about man than he is about God.
00:34:47
Speaker
And so there's one man in the room who had the courage and the love to say, you know what? That's not right. That's not right. Paul writes in verse 14, but when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel,
00:35:03
Speaker
I said to Cephas, that's Peter, before them all, if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? So in other words, he was calling them out on it.
00:35:16
Speaker
He was saying, I know you're anxious, you know, Peter, about how to say and what to say right there in front of all these people. And I know that you're tempted to deny Christ here, but don't do it.
00:35:29
Speaker
Don't do it, Peter. And so Paul called him out on it. You see, Peter's anxiety over what to say to his friends from Jerusalem led him to step away from the truth of the gospel, from the verity of what he should have said to his friends.
00:35:46
Speaker
Paul would later write to the church in Galatia something similar. He wasn't the only one because he wrote to them in Galatians 5, 7. You well. were running well.
00:35:59
Speaker
Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5, 7. You know, wonder if maybe the same could be said about you or me. We were running well.
00:36:10
Speaker
We were walking well, but something happened. We stepped on a landmine. we We didn't realize it, but we got afraid. Or maybe we didn't realize it, but we just sat right there and den denied Christ right in front of our friends.
00:36:24
Speaker
Or maybe we were anxious on what to say. Or maybe we said, maybe I better be a hypocrite. I better say, you know what? I don't know what you're talking about, Jesus. Man, let's just let her rip right here.
00:36:35
Speaker
Let's just go and have a big time party and then sin and living without the Lord.
00:36:42
Speaker
Don't step on the landmines. All I'm saying is it will destroy your witness, your testimony, your credibility. And so keep these things in mind. And so during this Next song is we sing about blessed assurance.
00:36:57
Speaker
It could be something that you say, Lord, I need the assurance. You know, the the assurance that we can have as believers is if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
00:37:13
Speaker
That's where assurance is found. Assurance will never be found in walking away from Christ.
Exploring Faith in Jesus
00:37:20
Speaker
It's only found in walking toward Christ. Let's all stand together. i want the musicians to come to lead us in this last song. But I just encourage you to say, Lord, help me to return to that place of rest, that place of commitment to Christ, where I'm living for you and trusting you, where I'm not afraid.
00:37:41
Speaker
And so let's pray together. Lord, I know this was a tough passage and maybe it's tough to hear. Maybe your Holy Spirit is speaking to someone right now. and you're convicting them of something in their lives.
00:37:54
Speaker
Maybe they've stepped on a landmine. It doesn't mean they can't be healed. It doesn't mean their heart can't be put back together, but something's happened. And so Lord, would you restore them?
00:38:05
Speaker
Would you renew them? Would you remind them how great your love is for them? Would you let them know that mercy and grace is so available for them? So bless us as we sing this last song of invitation. If there's anyone here and they'd say, I don't even know what you Christians are talking about, then maybe this is the time to come forward and to begin a conversation in saying, I need to look into how to trust Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
00:38:36
Speaker
So bless this time of invitation, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
00:38:45
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.