Well I've entitled the message
this morning, the issues of life and death, the issues of life
and death. And that's taken from Proverbs
chapter 4 verse 23 which says, keep thy heart with all diligence
for out of it are the issues of life. the state of your heart
out of it are the issues of life and Psalm 68 verse 20 our God
is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues
from death the issues of life and death the passage I want
to look at is in Luke chapter 9 from verses 18 to 27 Luke chapter
9 verse 18 to verse 27. These issues of
life and death, on what do these vital life issues rest? Last week we looked at verse
9 of chapter 9, the question that Herod asked, who is this? Who is this Jesus? He thought
he'd put to death John the Baptist, who is this? In verses 18 To
22 of our passage, we have Luke's abbreviated version of the much
longer version that Matthew gives that we normally quote, but nevertheless
it's here, it's clearly the same incident, where he asks them,
who do the people say that I am? And they, answering, said, John
the Baptist. But some say Elias, Elijah. And others say that one of the
old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, Okay, that's
what the people say, but whom do you say that I am? Peter,
answering, said, The Christ of God. in Matthew's account, you
are the Christ, the son of the living God. And he straightly
charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing. Who is Jesus? The issues of life
and death rest hinge upon the heart's response to that question.
What is your response to that question? Who is this? What is
your response to it? The issues of life and death
hinge on your response to it, and then how you respond to that
thing inside you, how you respond to it. In Matthew's account,
Jesus said, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, to Peter, said,
blessed are you, for flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to
you, but my Father, which is in heaven. Oh, what a blessed
thing it is. that the Father, by His Spirit,
has revealed to you, to me, has revealed who Jesus Christ is,
that He is God, come in the flesh, for the salvation of His people.
the revelation of God in the flesh. Here he is, the Messiah
of the Old Testament has come. And why did he say don't tell
anybody about it at this stage? Well, I'm not absolutely sure,
but I suspect it was because of two things. Firstly, It must
be divinely revealed at that time. It must be divinely revealed.
After the ascension, go out into the world and broadcast it and
preach it. But the other, and I think more
pressing reason why, is don't alienate the scribes and the
Pharisees, particularly at this stage. His time had not yet come. He was to fulfill his earthly
ministry, and then, when his time had come, go to Jerusalem
and be killed of the scribes and Pharisees. He says, verse
22, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of
the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain and
be raised the third day, but that's all going to happen in
its due time, and now is not the time, so don't broadcast
around what you've said, but blessed are you for knowing it,
because God the Father, by His Spirit, has revealed it to you.
He's shown you You know, that's the essence of true preaching,
of true ministry. Whoever confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh, oh, they all say it. No, they
don't. They don't say that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of
the Old Testament, come walking in human flesh to do everything
that the Messiah of the Old Testament was set up to do, the Anointed
One of God, to save His people from their sins. So then, What
do you think of Christ? What do you think of Christ?
Has God shown you that he is the Messiah of the Old Testament,
that Jesus of Nazareth, that he is the Christ? Has God shown
you that he is the one who is appointed of God to satisfy,
make satisfaction to the justice of God for the sins of his people,
to do it effectually, to do it so that it works, to do it so
that the debt is cancelled without any question or any debate or
any doubt whatsoever? That he is God incarnate come
to do this. He's infinite. Who did it take
to come? It must take God Himself. That's why He's called God our
Saviour. God our Saviour. Again and again,
read Isaiah again and again, it's God who is the Saviour of
His people. because he came in the flesh.
He became man. God contracted to a span for
the purpose of saving his people from their sins. He came in a
body, incarnate, in flesh, that's what it means, incarnate, came
in flesh, in a body that was prepared. Why was it necessary
that there be a body prepared? A human body? If God was to save
his people, God must become man with a human body in the likeness
of sinful flesh. In the same form, yet without
sin, it's so that he would come for the suffering of death. Hebrews
2, read it. Quite plain there. He came for
the suffering of death. Why? The soul that sins, it shall
die. The judgment of God. If he's
to save his people, the penalty must be paid. A body must be
prepared. He must come. The price of the
sins of his people is the lifeblood of the Son of God on their behalf.
For the life is in the blood. He must shed that precious blood.
His life is poured out as the payment. The full payment. The
perfect payment. the ransom for the sins of his
people. And in so doing, he fulfills
every prophecy, every type, every picture, everything that is said
about him. These are they which speak of
me. Have you been shown that? Has God shown that to you? You're
truly blessed if you see it. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood. Yes, you hear
a man preach, But if you know it in your heart, it's because
the Holy Spirit has revealed it to you. Blessed are you amongst
men. You think, oh, well, there are
not many, so I'm not gonna go along with it. Just think how
blessed you are that you have been shown these things, that
you have heard these things, that the Spirit of God has sounded
the gospel trumpet in your heart. What a blessing it is when so
many around have no knowledge of it. Will you follow him? Will
you live for him? Will you submit to his word and
will? You've seen such a glorious salvation
with such an eternal prospect of glory. Will you follow him? Will you follow him? Will you
seek his glory, seek to serve him, to obey his word? Will you? Yes, yes, I'll do that. Ah, have
you considered the cost? Have you reckoned on the cost
of it? We're going to go and do this, that and the other.
Have you worked out what it's actually going to cost you to
do that? Have you worked it out? Have you fathomed out the cost
of your project? This following Christ for my
life, because I see what he is, have you worked out the cost
of it? Somebody said, very rightly, the grace of God is free. We proclaim the free grace of
God, but it isn't cheap. It's not cheap. There's a cost.
not just mental assent to the doctrine of Christ. This is what
belief is not just, you know, oh yeah, I agree with those things,
you know, when I weigh up all the other philosophies of life,
no, this one seems like the best one, so yeah, you know, I'm not
going to do much about it, but I'm going to say yes, this is
what I believe. No, it's not just mental assent.
It never ever can be just mental assent. It involves total self-denial
and life commitment to Him. If you think you've seen who
he is, will you follow him? Will you follow him? What about
the cost of following him? I've got three points this morning.
Three denials. One of them is a good denial,
and two of them are dangerous denials. The denial of self,
that's good. The denial of your eternal soul,
The danger you put your eternal soul in is dangerous. The denial
of Christ is dangerous. Three denials, one good and two
dangerous. Denial of self, let's look at
verse 23. Jesus said to them all, you know,
and I've just been saying, will you follow him? If any man will
come after me, if any man wants to come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. That's what
Jesus says. There's a cost involved. Will
you come after me? You must deny yourself and take
up your cross daily and follow him. That's what it is. Coming
to Christ, hearing with the ear, understanding with the mind,
believing with the heart, trusting with the will, you must come
to Christ. If you would come to him, you
must come. And let's not overlook this. We've said a lot about
the sovereign grace of God and election recently, but Let's
not forget, this is absolutely true, if any man will come after
me, if any man will, if you come after Christ, if you come to
Christ, you choose to come, you decide to come. Somebody once
said to me, you know, thinking that they were teaching me very
clearly about the doctrine of election, you know, we used to
sing, I have decided to follow Jesus, and I know it was in an
environment where there was lots of Arminian thinking. And they
said, no you didn't decide. Oh yes I did. Every one of God's
people decides to come to Him. Oh but what about grace? That
doesn't matter. God makes His people willing in the day of
His power. You don't sit there and get saved
just passively. He says, come to me. You decide,
you made willing in the day of his power, and you come to him.
Voluntary. It's like the voluntary slave
of Exodus 21. You know the slave is forced
not to go anywhere, is constrained, cannot do what they want to do.
And when the day of Jubilee came, they were set free. But some
slaves said, I love my master. I don't want to leave my master.
They became a voluntary slave. You know, the ear was branded
against the doorpost. It sounds quite brutal, I wouldn't
fancy having it done, but you know, the account there in Exodus
21, the voluntary slave, you come voluntarily because the
scriptures say, whosoever will, whosoever believeth on him. There
is nothing in election or the sovereign grace of God to keep
any seeking sinner out of the kingdom of God. If you know God
is calling you, you come to him, because that's what he said.
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. If you're laboring and heavy
laden because of sin, where can I find rest for my sin? In Christ. Come to Him, he says. How do
we come? You don't move a muscle. Your
legs don't move, your arms don't move, you don't move a muscle.
There's no altar calls, there's no walking down to the front
of the aisle, there's no signing a decision card. You come to
Christ by faith in your heart. Whosoever will come after me,
if any man will come after me, but it's not without cost. Will you
come? Why would you come after him?
Why would you come after Christ? You can say it's like the answer
that Peter gave when Jesus asked the disciples, were they going
to go away also? And he said, where else can I
go for my soul's safety? That's a reason to come to him.
Where else can I go? There's nobody else. There's
no other philosophy of life in this world. There's no other
religion. There's no other creed. There's no other way of living,
there's no social club, there's nothing, there's no career or
anything that will give you soul safety, soul assurance. Where
else can I go? You have the words of eternal
life. That's a reason for coming to him. And how precious he appears
in effectual saving power, if you've seen the gospel of his
grace. You know, does he not this is a modern expression,
tick all the boxes, excuse it if it sounds a bit irreverent,
but does he not tick every single box that your soul needs for
its salvation? Does he not provide all the righteousness
of God that you need, completely, without any, any lack whatsoever? Yes he does. Does he not hold
everything in his hands that concerns you? Yes he does, of
course he does. Does he not love you with an
eternal love? Yes he does. Does he not do everything
that is necessary to purchase you? You're not your own, you're
bought with a price. He's bought you, he's paid for
you, if you've seen the gospel of his grace and the truth of
his salvation. That will cause you to come, won't it? Seeing
the effectual saving power and glory of this one who bids us
to come. His love constrains us to come. Paul says his love constrains
us. It's the love of Christ that constrains us. But it's not without
cost. What must we do? We must die
to self. Must deny himself. must die to
self. What do I mean? You know what
self is, don't you? It's that thing inside that always
wants its own way, that always wants its interests to be promoted
ahead of everybody else's. Me first. That's what it is.
Deny self. What did Christ himself say in
the garden? the night before the crucifixion,
when he knew what he was going to, he knew he was going to be
made sin. And he shrunk back from drinking
that cup of the wrath of God for the sins of his people. Because
for one who was so holy and pure, the concept of being made sin,
that which in the nostrils of God is a vile stench, and he
came as a man and was to be made sin for us, let this cup pass
from me. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. But why is it not possible? Because
God cannot be just and justify his people unless Christ drank
that cup. That cup couldn't pass from him.
He had to drain that cup. He had to drain every last drop
of that cup of the wrath of God for the sins of his people. And
so he said, not my will, but thine be done. Is that not a
pattern of self-denial? Not my will, but thine be done. Not what I want and must have
anymore, but what he says. what his word tells me, and take
up his cross, he says. People use this phrase all the
time, take up your cross daily, oh I've got my, how are you getting
on, you'll hear it in the workplace, people that know nothing of Christianity,
how are you getting on, oh I've got my cross to bear, I'm bearing
my cross, you know, it's an everyday expression. What does it mean
here, as it was originally given, as it was spoken by Christ himself,
You see, at the time, none of the disciples knew anything about,
really, about Christ dying on a Roman cross. He'd indicated
that he was going to be slain, but I don't think they knew that
he was going to die the death of a Roman cross. So why is he
talking about the cross? Well, the cross would be all
around them, where the Romans executed people, with this tortuous
terrible, cruel method of execution. It was an instrument of death.
The cross was an instrument of death. Take up your instrument
of death daily, is what he's saying. Take up his cross daily
and follow me. Instrument of death, death of
self-will. That must have, me first, at
the cost of everybody else's desires, that must be put to
death. the death of self-will. And instead,
submission to his will. The cross of his doctrine. Take up that cross. The cross
of believing his truth. You know it's a stumbling block
and foolishness to mankind. It's a stumbling block to religious
folk. It's foolishness to philosophical folk. But take up that cross
of his doctrine. What my flesh might want to think,
to go along with the rest of humanity, put it to death. take
up your cross daily and follow him. His word, submit to his word,
his word is going to tell you and you know when it's speaking
to you about how your life ought to be ordered, about the things
that ought to be priorities in your life and when his word speaks
to you, take up your cross daily. and put to death, that self-will,
that I will have my own way. His commandments, his commandments,
take up that cross of doing what you want to do and do what he
wants to do, because as John says, John says his commandments
are not grievous, the cross of his honor, his honor, that we're
living for him in this world and not for ourselves. Those
who say, you know, you hear this a lot, it's my way or the highway,
you know, in other words, we do things the way I'm going to
do it or you can get lost, you can go away. No, it's the very
opposite of that. It's his way alone. And why his
way? Why his way alone? Because of
who he is. verses 18 to 20. Who do men say
that I am? Oh, a good prophet, a good teacher,
you know, somebody who's got a lot to say. But who do you
say that I am? Has God the Father by his Spirit
revealed to you who I am? You are the Christ of God. Right!
If he's the Christ of God, there is no higher authority. That
every knee should bow, it says, doesn't it? Every knee should
bow. Isaiah 45 says it, of God. Philippians says it, of Christ,
because Christ is God. Every knee should bow. Every
knee should bow to His will and His word and His ways. He's God. There's no higher authority.
There's no better authority. There's no more just and good
authority than God. That's why He is God. He created
me for Himself, for Him. By Him and for Him, says Colossians,
were all things created that were made. God made all things
for Christ, by Him and for Him. I was created for Him, by Him
and for Him. And He came to save sinners,
like me. He came to save His people, sinners
in the flesh, from their rebellion against God. That's why His way
We don't see things as he does. He's the one who graciously loves
and cares for his people, and guides and directs. If you would
come after him, if you would follow him, because you've seen
his salvation, you must willingly die to self daily. Is this not
what he's saying to us here? You know, this is not preaching
works, this is preaching what the scriptures say. Jesus said,
if you would come after me, you must die to self and follow him. And you must do it willingly,
daily. A daily death, a daily self-denial. Ongoing, daily, for the rest
of your earthly life. Can you bear that cost? Is that
a cost too great for you? If you're a thorny ground believer,
that will be a cost that's too high. Remember in the parable
that we saw two or three weeks ago, the parable of the sower,
the thorny ground here as they looked like believers, they grew
up looking like the real thing, and the cares of the world The
things of this world choked that desire for the things of God.
Love of the world will choke any allegiance you ever profess
to Christ if you're a thorny ground believer. But if you would
follow him, as he says here, if any man will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me. Denial of self, that's a good
denial, for it leads to eternal life. Let's move on. Denial of
your eternal soul. Read with me verses 24 and 25.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. What? Think of that again. Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. Well I want to save my life,
I don't want to lose my life. Whosoever will strive to save
his life shall lose it. but whosoever will lose it, his
life, for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged
if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? denial of your eternal soul.
What's the price of a soul? Mark chapter 8 verse 37 we read,
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? You know, what's
the bargaining price? You put your soul on eBay, what's
it worth? What's it worth? How wasteful
we often are with resources. aren't we? How, you know, you
read of people, you know, sometimes they have a huge lottery win
and you read of people who've just foolishly, carelessly, frittered
it all away on triviality and they get to a few years later
in life and there's nothing left. They're living in poverty because
they were so wasteful with resources. It's no more so than people are
with their own souls. How careless and wasteful people
are with their own souls. How lightly they regard the value. What would they give in exchange
for their soul? Esau sold his birthright for
a mess of pottage, we read. What was it to sell his birthright?
Effectively, you can read for that, he sold, he traded his
soul's salvation for a worthless bit of this world, just at the
moment. Think of how many people do that,
who trade their soul, they value it so lightly, what will a man
give in exchange for his soul? They value it so lightly that
they trade it away, they throw it away for a worthless bit of
the world in the moment. Esau, think of him, they stand
as records in scripture to teach us. Looking at these verses,
What will you do? Will you strive to retain control
of what you want to do with your life and with your soul? Will
you strive? Whosoever will save his life
will do everything he can to keep hold of it, to keep control
of it, to save it, to do what you want with it, you'll lose
it, says Jesus. But whosoever will abandon control
of it to his control, for his sake, to serve him, the same
shall save it. And that's the testimony of every
child of God that's ever trusted him, even if it's meant the loss
of their own life. like the martyrs, tied to the
stake, being burned for their faith, and refusing to deny the
truth of the gospel they believe. And they were losing their souls,
it would seem. They were losing their life for
His sake. And in the process, they were
saving it for eternity. They were just, the flames were
not burning them, they were going straight into His presence. If
you strive to retain control of what you want to do with your
life or soul, it's a futile thing. Which of you, we read elsewhere,
can by taking thought add one cubit to his stature? You can't. You are what you are. You cannot
do it. The affairs of life are beyond
your control anyway. And Jesus warns that if you strive
to retain control, to save your life, you'll lose everything. You'll lose everything, for everything
will be lost in hell. That's what he's saying. Everything
will be lost in hell. There'll be an eternity of bitter
remorse and suffering. Because to live for yourself,
striving to save your own life for your own pleasure, is to
deny salvation. But to relinquish power over
your life to Christ, to give it to him, And his cause is to
save it for eternity. Think about it. What is a man
advantaged if he gained the whole world and lose himself or be
cast away? Everything we hold dear in this
life will be lost in death. You count up the things that
you have. Everything you hold dear in this life will be lost
in death. Think of the person at the height
of their success and their prosperity. and they're killed in a motoring
accident. And in that moment, everything that was precious
to them is worthless. It counts for nothing in that
moment. So what value do you put on it?
What value? What's the advantage if you gain
everything this world has to offer, and in the process, by
grasping at those things, you're denying, you're refusing to follow
Christ, and you lose everything. You lose everything. You can
possess the whole world. You know, there are those that
are stupendously rich. You can possess the whole world.
You can sample everything in it. You can aim to enjoy as much
of it as you can, to be stupendously rich, to be unconstrained in
fulfilling your desires. And in serving that Master, You
deny Christ. For a man cannot serve two masters.
Jesus said you can't serve two masters. You can't serve both
him and worldly pleasures. You cannot. You'll lose your
soul. You'll be cast away into hell with the weight and responsibility
of your own sin around your neck. How can you lose your soul? What's
the way to lose your soul? Here's some ways. Love of the
world, that will kill it. Love of the world will kill your
soul. What did John say, my little children? Simple. Love not the
world. Oh yeah, we enjoy things in the
world. But hold them on an open hand. God can take them away
from us at any time. And if he chooses to do so, that's
his will. That's giving over my control
of my soul to him. He does. He determines what happens
to me and what I do. Love of the world will kill it.
False religion. Take heed what you hear, we read
a couple of weeks ago. False religion will poison your
soul. How many cling on to their false
religion, even knowing it's a false religion? Even knowing it's not
ideal, but where else can I go? I mean, we've always been here,
and we've always done these things, and there's all these people
here, and... Beware. Beware. Anyone listening to this,
beware. Beware. That's a way to lose
your soul. That's a way to kill your soul. False religion will
poison it. Neglect. This is getting more
personal. This is speaking. This is not me speaking to you.
This is this word speaking to all of us, me included. Neglect
of God. Neglect of his word. Neglect
of prayer. All those things will starve
your soul and eventually a starving soul will die. anything that
seems right to the natural man. Proverbs 16, 25, there is a way
that seems right unto a man. Isn't it? Every day there's a
way that seems right unto a man. But the end thereof? Destruction. The ways of death. Then thirdly,
the denial of Christ. Verse 26, For whosoever shall
be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be
ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his father's,
and of the holy angels. whosoever shall be ashamed of
me. Remember we read in Romans 10, the word that's near you,
it's in your heart, it's in your mouth, that whosoever confesses
that Jesus Christ is Lord and believes in their heart that
he's been raised from the dead shall be saved. Belief and confession. And Jesus says, whosoever shall
be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be
ashamed. Well, that's a stark, a stark warning to us, isn't
it? Isn't that a stark warning? When Christ returns, will he
deny you? He says this, when he shall come
in his own glory and in his father's and with the holy angels, he'll
be ashamed of those that have denied him. Will he deny you? Will he say, there's lots of
religious folks that will say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all
these things in your name? And he shall say to them, depart
from me, I never knew you. I never knew you. If he never
knew you, then you never truly knew him. You might have associated
with those that knew him and been a bit of a stony ground
or thorny ground believer, but you never truly knew him. You
never knew him. You never experienced him. Not
about him, but knowing him. You never lived on the blessings
of his salvation. Do you live on the blessings
of his salvation? Peace with God. You know? It's daily food for your soul,
isn't it? Peace with God. Peace with God. I'm right with God. He can take
me now. I've got peace. I will lie me down and sleep.
Psalm 4. I will lie me down and sleep peacefully. for God's keeping
me, God's saved me. The blessings of salvation, the
knowledge of redemption, the knowledge that my sin has been
paid for, that the ransom, deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom says God. He looked for iniquity in Jacob
and he found none. because it's taken away, for
Christ has taken it away. The knowledge of redemption.
Does your heart say, we often quote that hymn, my sin, oh the
bliss of this glorious thought. You know, we're talking about
thrilling. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed
to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, oh my
soul. the assurance of eternal life.
Do you live on these things? This is knowing him. Do you live
on the hope of eternal glory? Do you live on the blessings
of adoption? No longer that Sinai relationship,
but Abba, Father. He's my heavenly Father. He loves
his child, the child of God, adopted, joint heirs with Christ. Do you live on these things,
the promise of heavenly treasure? Lay up for yourselves treasure
in heaven, where moth and rust doesn't corrupt. Not treasure
on earth, which are all subject to corruption. And the expectations
of reward in heaven. What reward are we talking about? I, said God to Abraham, am your
exceeding great reward. If you are his, Christ is to
you who believe exceedingly precious, the most precious thing. To you
who believe he is precious, and he is your great reward. in a
heaven of bliss without sin. If you never knew any of this,
you'll be ashamed to confess him before others. I know it's
difficult in these days. The last thing I want to appear
as a Christian is being associated with all the false Christianity
that's all around. I don't want people to think
that I'm a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness. I don't want people
to think that I'm a lunatic, charismatic, whooping and dancing
in the aisles person. I don't want people to think
that I'm a staid, legalistic, self-denier of anything to do
with pleasure in this life. I don't want people to think
that I'm like that. But if anybody asks me, I do want them to know
that I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe Him, and I trust
Him for salvation, and for my soul's security. We confess Him
before others. Be ready to give a reason to
anyone that asks of the hope that's in you. And we trust Christ
in the heart, if you knew Him. If you knew Him, but if you didn't,
you'll be ashamed to trust Him. You won't trust Him in your heart,
in all the affairs of life and eternity. And you'll be ashamed
if you don't trust him, if you don't know any of those things,
you'll be ashamed to believe him and honor his doctrine. And
I'm talking in particular about election and particular redemption,
because these are the absolute foundational pillars. of the
gospel of his grace. Tulip, you know it, total depravity,
unconditional election, limited atonement, particular redemption,
irresistible grace, the perseverance of the saints, that's it, that's
the standard. And if you didn't know him, and
you don't know him, you'll be ashamed to align with his cause.
and associate with his people, his true people. And Christ warns
that if that is you, when he comes, he will deny you as never
having been one of his people. These are serious, solemn matters,
you know. I love to preach messages that
are kind of uplifting, but the scriptures have got warnings
as well. And Jesus gave these warnings. And when these come
up, then these messages have got to be given. These are serious,
solemn matters. The issues of life and death.
There are no half measures. It's all or nothing. You can't
serve two masters. Think of the warning to Laodicea
in Revelation by the glorified Christ. He says of the church
at Laodicea, you think you're rich and have need of nothing.
He said, I tell you, you're poverty stricken, you're poor and blind
and stripped naked. He said, come to me and buy of
me what you need, eye salve, that you can see properly. He
says, otherwise, he says this, and you know the scriptures don't
beat about the bush, do they, in using delicate language. He says, I will spew you out
of my mouth. Think of another example, Joshua
says to the people who were constantly, constantly saying they were God's
people but living as if they weren't and he said, choose you
this day whom you will serve but as for me and my house, we,
God helping me, In any respect that it's got to do with me,
God helping me, we will serve the Lord. We have so great salvation. Hebrews 2 tells us that. We have
such a great salvation. How shall we escape hell if we
neglect it and seek our own pleasure and our own self-interest?