The Truth That Hurts And Heals Part 2

Race is looking to Jesus thunder and perfect are those with addictions are usually blind as to how addicted they really are.

Denial goes hand-in-hand with any kind of addiction Jesus had much to say to the religious leaders of his day about spiritual blindness words we need to take to heart from the Moody Church in Chicago. This is running to win one looks or use clear teaching obsessed make it across the finish line will take us again to John chapter 8 more about the truth hurts you and you know day when we think about this, we have to emphasize that her often times were very much in favor of truth. What we forget is that indeed truth does sometimes hurt and I can't help but believe that there are many people who are listening to us today are struggling with various issues and as you mentioned all of us live to some extent in denial.

We shield even from ourselves are true selves, you know, I'm so glad for this opportunity to share God's word and to give messages of hope, but we can do that because so many of you have stepped to the plate and you become a part of what I call the running to win family. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner endurance partners are those who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts want more info go to RTW offer.com. Click on the endurance partner button RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church and open our hearts to the truth that helps us, but it hurts before it heals. You know you you you are very meticulous in keeping the law here. Okay I'm okay you're okay okay as long as we belong to this club for God to overcome their blindness. If I can put it this way is a greater miracle than the blindness of the prostitute down the way. That's why Jesus said that they go into the kingdom of heaven ahead of the all. I think he sometimes spoke text and said they go in ahead of y'all. So there's that right and then for those who are bound in the fleshly addictions only is on of lies lies like Kim, you'll never change, and that, furthermore, your worthless your unloved, you don't have any real value as a person.

Look at your past. Look at what people think of you.

Are you accepted are you the center of things no. You have every right to hate yourself considering who you are. You have every right to slash your wrists in anger. You have every right to be anorexic and not eat so that you can control something in your life because you're angry and everything else is out of control ask you a question.

Where do those kinds of thoughts come from. Do they come from God. I don't think so. They come from Satan and are going to be times when you're going to struggle and you're going to have to say, begone, Satan. It is written, and you're going to have to stand on the word of God because the lies are going to want to control you. Jesus said your father is the devil, because he lies don't believe his lies.

So we need to know something about ourselves something about Satan, and of course something about God. He is gracious and merciful, and in a few moments. I'm going to be giving you an example. Right from the chapter 8 here of that mercy and that grace the fact that God gives us the gift of his presence. He gives us what we normally don't have and don't deserve and he goes with us into the darkest closets of our life. He invites us to open the door and to let light shine there to deal with it issues that us, perhaps for years and years and God comes along and he is merciful and gracious, and we need to draw near to him and if you missed last time the message I preached on how we draw near, through the blood of Christ, absolutely critical to understand what I'd like to do is to give you what I consider maybe three steps they are in step so much as understanding as to where you are at in the path toward hope. First of all, and your writing. Now I'm sure because this is important.

You can't get free.

You can't get free. You must be set free. You must be set free, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And if the sun makes you free.

The son makes you free your free indeed is not a matter of willpower is not even a matter of memorizing verses, though I strongly advocate that net may be part of the process. But Jesus has to enter into your world to set you free.

And I love that Psalm years ago I preached on it. Psalm 40 where David says in his experience, and I used to know it by memory in the King James but I'll read it here. I waited patiently for the Lord he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction. Don't you love this phraseology out of the miry vodka and he set my feet on a rock making my step secure he put a new song in my mouth.

You mean after you been in the pit. You can still sing yet many will see in fear and will put their trust in the Lord, how David says I was in the pit and he drew me up from the pit. God didn't say no, David. Here's a shovel digging yourself out because if you try to dig yourself out of a pit you're going to have trouble. You're only going to be deeper because of the self-confidence that I can handle this know you can't handle it. Thank you very very much.

You can fall into a pit.

Years ago I gave you the illustration of a horse of ours on the farm in the Slough. Now you may not be acquainted with the word but it's like miry blog, and he got in alone but I'll tell you he couldn't get out alone.

We actually had to put up put gadget around him and and help him and pull amount you can fall into the pit alone. Nobody even has to help you some of you say I didn't fall I was pushed years ago in a subway. There was spray painted Humpty Dumpty was pushed, and you may feel that you were pushed into the pit. Either way, guess what, you're not getting out alone but in Jesus, God comes into the pit and he is there any doesn't throw us out rope because you're too weak to grab the rope and even if you did not pull yourself up. He says I come into the miry where you are and I scooped you up and I put your feet upon a rock, and I'm the one that established you're going and I'm the one that puts the news on Jesus comes to us in our need and that's why he was able to say as he did.

You know, this is my body, this is my blood that was shed for you live for redemption for reconciliation. I came into this dirty world to rescue you, and I came to your level. I didn't send but I came to your level because you're worse off than you ever thought I had not intervened. Would've been lost because you can't get free.

You must be set free. Notice what Jesus says. He says whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. The servant doesn't wake up in the morning and say well today to tell my master what to do.

Servant doesn't do that. Jesus said, you have to understand sin owns you. It's the master who tells you do this do that and you must recognize therefore that you are in slavery and I came to set captives free.

Second, your struggle, your struggle magnifies God's grace. Your struggle magnifies God's grace. You know I sometimes smile and God I don't think that's irreverent to say because you know what God actually thinks of things I don't can you handle that I think so. Last weekend we were in Nashville and St. Louis or media rallies and Tuesday morning. We got on the plane from St. Louis to fly to Chicago and God knowing that I was gonna speak about addictions. He knew that I actually knew that to but he knew better than I could. As he put me next to on a plane but a man who sitting next to me and then there's another one sitting ahead and before the plane is off, you know were talking and I discovered that he was an addict who went to an organization that was set up to help addicts. They have about 200 addicts there and they stay for a number of months they make them work. Everybody earns the remarkable organization and so what does God do God says hey you never gonna speak about addictions. Let me give you two guys who used to be addicted better free now so that you can get some good information for your sermon. So I said to this guy. So what were you into.

He said you know it began with marijuana the way this idea that marijuana should be legal and everybody by and it I don't know exactly how that fits into our definition of progress, but you know I'm maybe a minority here but anyway it begins with marijuana then it goes into harder drugs.

So there he is okay and then the guy had said hey I was in prison he didn't have to give me his pedigree said name not done it okay now how do these guys who are set free. Now work for the organization and why is it that there are people in this organization who go there addicted and they end up being Bible teachers and leading others to the path of wholeness and help and deliverance that wonderful well see things that God does is what he wants to do is through our struggles, displaying grace, these guys understood grace a lot better than the goody two shoes who may be listening to this message who think they don't need that much grace because they've done it all. Right. And really, you know. Sure, I messed up a little like a guy said yeah I've send.

I remember taking my golf clubs and wrapping them around the tree whole.

I'm impressed with you that's all you've done folks. Jesus was not kind to people who didn't think they needed grace and what he does is he motivates us by his blessed presence. I read a book about a man who struggled with pornography and here's a couple of lines. He said I remember many times sitting in front of my computer and the question was to click or not to click.

I felt the Holy Spirit tapping me on the shoulder.

I knew better. I knew that the peace of God's presence is better than this rush that I would receive God was nevertheless even their present with me convicting the yes but everyone what the way of escape is there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man and God will with the temptation provide a way of escape, so what's the way of escape. He said the way of escape was the presence of the living God. He became my rescue and he said that I had to come to the point where the peace of God and my fellowship with God meant more to me than the pleasure that I would receive a guilty pleasure, and that God ultimately in my fellowship with him would mean more. It is the presence of God right in the midst of our temptation is God's presence there that becomes the means of deliverance, the passion for God greater our passion to sin, to learn that lesson.

Many failures along the way, I'm sure, but at the end of the day.

We are motivated by the fact that Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. How high the now, here's the most important thing you may hear when you sin and when you're loaded with guilt and when you are in a lifestyle that just increases your what do you do note the big mistake many people do is they run away from Jesus, why can't handle the God thing right now. Someday when I'm out of this someday when I'm doing better than I can come to God. I clean myself up, and I present myself to him and and now he's better and I'm better and so now he says, all while, now that you clean yourself up.

You're welcome in the book I read. The woman was telling about a young woman who didn't feel right unless she was in another same sex relationship and and how she had this condemnation so forth. What she needed to do is in need not run from Jesus run to Jesus because remember last week's message, the basis upon which we are, except that is not her performance, but when Jesus did is and even in the midst of temptation. We are reminded of the blood of Christ were reminded of the fact that we belong to him.

We remind ourselves that we are the righteousness of God and we stand on that in the midst of the temptation until we begin to ask yourselves what the my doing as a child of God and a daughter of God doing this that displeases him. We we invite the presence of God in others. Some of you here who have to take the baggage that you have all that stuff and you have to be willing to open that suitcase in the presence of Jesus.

The presence of Jesus during the time of the Reformation. There was a man who is actually a a a musician. He wrote music's name was Martin R: and that he was a composer and he lived during the time when there was the struggle between Catholics and Protestants in the was a teacher in a Protestant school. I want you to catch what he wrote is as though my sin were as great and as many as the hairs of my head. The grass of the earth. The leaves of the tree. The sand on the seashore.

The drops in the sea or the stars of heaven, yet I would not fall into despair, but I would run to the great indulgence chest, namely the grace and the overwhelming mercy of God run to Jesus, don't walk, run to Jesus.

Now your Bibles are open the battery on your cell phone is still working were in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John want you to notice something the beginning of the eighth chapter you have the story of the woman who it says in verse three was caught in adultery. She was brought by these men and she was brought to Jesus and said, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone such what you say. I just absolutely smile Jesus Christ answer is is let him who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her funeral keep the law, but if you haven't committed a similar sin pick up some stones and start throwing the matter once more. He bent down and wrote on the ground, but when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning at the older one. They all filed out catch this. The woman was caught for her. That was a gift. There is a gift of being caught exposed in the presence of Jesus because that's how healing helps the men also were caught. They were caught, but they walked away with their masks fully intact. We we may be guilty of the same thing but so they walk out to realize the contrast here's a woman who hears the words of Jesus, your sins are forgiven go and sin while here are self-righteous people. We don't have any addiction we wages we judge all those people get all those people struggle with their sexuality and so forth. We judge them. Those are who we are. The fact is what Jesus is saying is some of these people in honesty are exposed in my presence, and they come with their bag of shame, and I enter into their world and I bring the deliverance that they need but you know the people who walk away with their masks. They go back to their little hideaway unchanged. Remember what I said at the beginning.

Grace enters open doors not closed.

Hearts.

Jesus comes to where we are and says why don't you find the secret place somewhere find time take out an hour of your life and just open open the suitcase will look at it together will bring healing will bring hope and all section along the right path. Many struggles but I'll walk with you on your journey now where are you today you received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, or deliberate the illusion that you don't need his forgiveness. You don't need his grace, or you're a believer, but you're still living with the illusion that you can manage it yourself. Let's pray together and as I pray I just want you to say this. Whatever God is talking about. Would you talk to him about it. Please father we pray today that this word may break open in the lives of people issues that have never been addressed help them father to take time during this week to get a loan to say God and then open it all up and I'm going to expose it to you because like this woman I want to hear your sins are forgiven go and sin no more old father do that in all of our hearts, and even as we remember the Lord's death.

Help us to remember that he said this do in remembrance of me. My life was given for the forgiveness Manny.

We love you Jesus name, my friend. The system has concern. I sincerely hope and pray that you will respond to whatever it is that God has shown you today were so thankful for the word of God that exposes our need to, but also has a prescription for the depths of that need. Have you been blessed as a result of the Ministry of these sermons, you know, you may need them. And then there may be others then do you believe that they need them to what we are making these sermons available to you. The title of the sermon series is the power of a clear conscience and for a gift of any amount.

These messages can be yours so that you can listen to them again and again share them with your friends.

Here's the contact information, go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 now I'm going to be giving you that phone number. Once again, let me thank you in advance for standing with us.

Together we are making a difference and we make these resources available to you to help you as we frequently say to make it all the way to the finish line so you can go to RTW offer.com or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 ask for the power of a clear conscience. You can write to us run into when 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago 960614 having a clear conscience is wonderful. Next time I'm running to win, how to keep ourselves in that place of joy will turn to first John and hear about walking in the light. This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody church