Valley Gospel
A Pentecostal church experience.
Valley Gospel
Rock and Kingdom
What does it mean for Jesus to be the "rock" of our faith? Discover the profound answers as we explore this and more in our latest spiritually enriching episode of the Valley Gospel Church Podcast. We start with a heartfelt prayer, asking for guidance and humility as we delve into the significance of Jesus as both the cornerstone for believers and a stumbling block for those who reject Him, based on 1 Peter 2:4-8. This discussion highlights the necessity of confronting sin and holding ourselves accountable in our spiritual journey, reinforcing that God's word is meant to challenge and draw us closer.
Can downplaying the concept of sin distort the true message of the gospel? We tackle this critical question by unpacking the centrality of the cross in Christian theology. Referencing 1 Corinthians 1:18 and Luke 20:17-18, we underscore the transformative power of the cross, which may seem foolish to unbelievers but is the essence of salvation to the faithful. We also critique the false teachings that prioritize prosperity over the true gospel, urging a return to genuine self-examination and heart transformation, guided by the wisdom in Proverbs 4:20-23.
In our final discussions, we reflect on the unmatched love of Jesus Christ, showcased through His ultimate sacrifice and patience with humanity. By exploring these themes, we emphasize the urgency of adhering to the true gospel and living a spiritually-minded life, especially with the unpredictable nature of life and the imminent return of Jesus. We celebrate the transformative power of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, encouraging a life of gratitude and surrender to His divine guidance as we fortify our faith and prepare for His return. Amen.
God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and he'll pour you out of blessing. My God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and pour you out of blessing, and you will not have the room to know not because of you, but because he is good and you will not have the room to receive it.
Speaker 2:Hello, welcome to Valley Gospel Church Podcast. We are an independent full gospel church, worshiping in spirit and in truth, located in Springdale Pennsylvania. In spirit and in truth. Located in Springdale, pennsylvania. Our single mission is to present a message of truth and hope centered on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So let's go into a service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church.
Speaker 3:Happy Sunday. Amen, can't wait to see what the good Lord got for today. We're off to a good start. It's good we are. I'll pray and we'll get rolling, but we're going to be in 1 Peter 2 today. That's where we're going to start anyway. Who knows where we'll be?
Speaker 3:Amen, huh, whatever he says, but, father, we just come before you, we love you and we thank you for everything that you do. Father, I thank you for your word. I can't believe you give us the awesome privilege of speaking your word out of our mouths. Father, I just humbly come before you and ask you to lead me and guide me in your ways. Father, help me properly. Show you to everyone that I don't want to mislead anybody or say anything wrong. Father. That would shine a bad light on you. Father, I just want to lift up your name. I want to shine a light on Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross, all for your honor and glory, father, and I need your help, holy Spirit, I need you to take over, I need you to speak through me, I need you to use me as a vessel for your good, to lift up and praise the holy name of Jesus, and I need your wisdom, your discernment, and I need your guidance to help share your word. I pray for all your sons and daughters, all of us out here, that your word would lead us closer to you, Father. That's the goal conforming us to the image of your son, jesus Christ, who paid it all. I love you, I thank you and I pray that you open all of our ears, of our hearts, that we can receive your word and grow closer with you and use it as we go out to be disciples of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' mighty name, I pray Amen, amen, all right, and we're going to start in 1 Peter, 2, 4 to 8. So, when you get there, if you stand for the reading of God's word, all right, 1 Peter, 2, 4-8,.
Speaker 3:And it says Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected, indeed, by men, but chosen by God and precious you also as living stones, are being built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. You may be seated, and that's where the title comes from. Today we're going to talk about the rock and the kingdom, the rock and the kingdom, the rock and the kingdom, the rock and the kingdom.
Speaker 3:Now, jesus in the Bible will always be an offense because he doesn't change. He doesn't change for or because of our feelings or what you or I say. We believe his words that if that offends some, also save and set free many. God's word confronts us and most people don't like confrontation. It confronts us about sin and where we stand. It holds us accountable for it, which are two words nobody likes nowadays accountable and confrontation. People say I don't like reading that or hearing that because it makes me feel bad.
Speaker 3:Sometimes we're supposed to feel bad when we do something wrong. We should feel bad. That's what's supposed to happen. We're supposed to see and know that we can't make it on our own. We need Jesus and God knows that. That's why and that's why he sent Jesus. But the world's answer is don't talk about it, don't talk about politics, don't talk about religion, don't talk about anything that matters why? Because it's a confrontation. There is nothing else more important to talk about.
Speaker 3:And the Bible, the truth and Jesus are all an offense. They're all offensive to those who don't believe. And we don't have to be an offense because the Bible and the truth is we share the gospel in love. We don't save nobody. Jesus is the one that saves. So you can't force anyone to follow Jesus or make a decision in their heart by fear. It's love and you can't force that. So there is no confrontation with us personally. It's a confrontation between people, their sin and God. We will tell the truth in love. That's what we're called to do Now.
Speaker 3:To everyone who believes, jesus is the rock of salvation. He is that rock that we build our foundation and we build our life on. But to those who don't believe, he is the rock of offense. Jesus is the rock that causes those who don't believe to trip and fall, because he says for all to hear that he is the only way, and people don't want to hear that. It's the same as it was in Paul's day, and God was trying to show us from the very beginning, but we just couldn't see it.
Speaker 3:And Paul's talking about this and he quotes from Isaiah, and this is Romans 9, 30-33 we're going to look at. Romans 9, 30-33 says what shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith. But israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith but, as it were, by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. As it is written Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Chapter 10, verse 1 to 4,.
Speaker 3:Right after this, paul says the reason that they're stumbling. He says brother, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Paul says the reason they're stumbling at the rock is they're ignorant of God and his word and they seek to establish their own righteousness. They do not submit to God's plan of righteousness through Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe in him. See, we who believe are cloaked in Jesus's righteousness. When we believe, jesus becomes our righteousness by faith and he is the foundation of our lives and our means of relationship with the Father. And instead of this grand king, high and lifted up, jesus was a lowly servant who suffered and died. And they couldn't see it either. They stumbled because they didn't know God or His ways.
Speaker 3:And everyone wants to remove the offensive part. That's what they want nowadays to remove the offense. Okay, what's the offensive part? It's our sin. We want to stop talking about it. Let's get rid of the offense, let's get rid of the sin, because nobody wants to talk about the sin and it goes against and the sin goes against what I want personally, not knowing or full well knowing that if you remove the sin, you remove the cross, and the cross is the substance, it's the gospel, it's everything. That's the stumbling block that they couldn't get.
Speaker 3:And 1 Corinthians 1.18 says that's just a couple pages over. It says for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved. It is the power of God. And Paul goes on to say that the world unbelievers, through their wisdom, did not know God and that it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe. And what is the message preached? It's Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block and to the Greeks, foolishness. And let me say it another way To the self-righteous, a stumbling block and to those who think they're smart, foolishness. But to those who are called, christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Jesus went to the cross because of sin. No sin, no cross. This gospel that they call foolishness is also the saving gospel. Paul said I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
Speaker 3:This gospel message is about God. God inserted himself into human history to rescue us from what we deserve. The gospel glorifies God, not us. It's his love, it's his mercy, it's his sacrifice and it's his grace. It's not our stories to change, it's his Thank God for Jesus and the cross and his grace. It's God that saves us from the law, sin and death. And when you slowly take away the sin, one sin at a time you slowly take away the cross. We don't need no cross. What sin? Jesus says in Luke 20, 17 to 18, that he is the stone that the builders rejected and he has become the chief cornerstone, and all who reject him or stumble over him will be broken into pieces. But on whomever the stone falls, it will grind to powder. Jesus is that stone made without human hands, and those who deny Jesus will come under God's judgment, since everything depends on our faith in Jesus. Jesus died to make a way for us, and you're denying that way. Jesus is still the only way and sadly, after all this time, people are still tripping, tripping over and stumbling at the same rock.
Speaker 3:God and the Bible take a stand against sin. They say the Bible is hate speech and it is hate, but not towards a person, but sin. It's hate towards sin. Jesus had to die because of sin and his father had to sacrifice his son in more ways than one because of sin. I don't think we comprehend fully the sacrifice that was made on the cross. God had to watch his son suffer and die because of sin. So, yeah, god hates sin, and that's what separates us now from God. So, yeah, it's hate, hate for sin. And Jesus died, not so we could stay in our sin or be proud of it, but so that we could walk out free from it. Jesus died for our sin, so how could we live there any longer? We're supposed to live a life worthy of his death. This is the gospel.
Speaker 3:And you preachers, with your false teaching of abundant life and prosperity and riches here on earth and everything else your evil heart wants, what treasure are you focusing on? Earth and everything else your evil heart wants, what treasure are you focusing on? You speak great swelling words, swelling words of emptiness, and you allure through the lust of the flesh. Is that all this means to you, the Pharisees? In John 8,? Jesus is trying to show them the bigger picture of who he is and what's going on, but they can't see it, just like so many can't see it today. And after going back and forth for a while, jesus says you're of your father, the devil. They tell Jesus who do you think you are? And how dare you? And I think today, how dare him, how dare him? How dare we? Don't? We know who we're talking to. Where is the fear of the Lord? They wear a cross around their neck saying they're a Christian while in the middle of a drug deal and guess who the dealer is?
Speaker 3:There's nothing but false converts with no knowledge of the Lord and everyone who says they're a Christian, a disciple of Jesus. Same word, same meaning. That's supposed to mean something. We need to examine ourselves, examine our walk and what we say, we believe. Do we believe that in our hearts or do we say it with our mouths? And our hearts are a million miles away. What type of soil are we?
Speaker 3:Jesus is trying to teach and show that it is a heart condition, that God wants our hearts and he wants our hearts focused on Him. It's all spiritual and our spiritual condition comes from our hearts. And we're going to look at Proverbs 4, 20 to 23 real quick. Proverbs 4, 20 to 23 says my son, give attention to my words and climb your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life, for out of your heart spring the issues of life.
Speaker 3:But the Jewish view of the heart is different than we think of it today. The Jewish understanding of the heart is not a place of your emotions, like we think of it, but it is the seat of the intellect and the will. The whole person is essentially controlled by the heart. In the Jewish mind we are supposed to incline our heart, commit ourselves to work hard to get understanding. It's the attitude of the heart, the widow woman from Luke 18 who kept asking the judge. The attitude of her heart was I'm not quitting the attitude of the man asking a friend for bread in the middle of the night from Luke 11, not taking what seemed to be no for an answer because he needed it. His heart was desperate, he couldn't, he wouldn't stop. He was calling on and relying on the mercy of the one with the bread. Is that how we go after the things of God, the bread of life? The key is it's the things of God. Jesus is talking about spiritual things and they have to come out of a heart with the right attitude. It's a heart condition.
Speaker 3:It reminds me of that if you've ever seen that movie, charlie and the Chocolate Factory or whatever. Willy Wonka or whatever. The old one, not the whatever they come out with now, the one with Gene Wilder or whatever. So in that movie, charlie at the end of the movie doesn't get what he wants and maybe what he feels he deserves, right. So, mr Wonka, waiting to see how Charlie responds. He waits at the end to see how Charlie's going to respond. Is he going to throw a fit like a spoiled brat? Was his character or his countenance going to change if he didn't get what he wanted when he wanted it? And when we come to God and ask him, if he doesn't deliver what we want when we want it, are we going to quit? Are we going to throw a fit? Is that going to change us, who we are or what we believe? Are we going to say well, I tried, god, guess you ain't who I thought you was. I guess you don't care. That's not the heart God's looking for.
Speaker 3:He says to strive to enter the kingdom through the narrow gate. He said to seek it like a goodly pearl and parting with and selling everything. We have to get it. Is that how we're seeking God, his kingdom and the things of God? And where is the line before the door is shut and I'm left outside? We're supposed to be desperate for it. We have to want it. We have to long for it.
Speaker 3:The Bible says strive for it or fight for it. We have to fight. The Bible says strive for it or fight for it. We have to fight. Everything here is against God. Even ourselves, our own minds, our own hearts and our own flesh doesn't want nothing to do with Jesus or His ways. It's a fight and the only way to win is God in us, the Holy Ghost and fire. We need Him and His power and we have to walk in the spirit, but we have to strive for him. We have to want him to seek him. It's a fight. Are we ready to fight? Do we want it bad enough to fight for it? Then let's put on our armor and fight. Amen. What do we need armor for if we ain't going to battle? Right, we've been given armor. What about that? We have Heinz feet. He's given us Heinz feet to battle in high places. Right, we have all this for battle. What do we need it if we're not going to battle? The whole world is able to go and to do whatever they want, all day, every day, even on Sundays.
Speaker 3:Instead of entering Hebron, what does Hebron mean? Amen, right, the presence of God, so we can. Instead of entering Hebron, assembling ourselves together, instead of being about our Father's business and giving thanks to the Lord, it's weeding out and forming the remnant those who really believe, those who are committed to Him and those who are striving and fighting to seek and to find Him. And that's who he's looking for. And it takes an action. And while everything going on in the world that's going on allows us another option, aside from or apart from God, he is testing our hearts and seeing who his true remnant is, where his sons and his daughters are.
Speaker 3:And just like Jesus going to the cross and everybody pulling out his beard, spitting on him, mocking and making fun of him, he didn't do anything about it because of his love for us. And the same goes on today. People still laugh at, make fun of what he says, what his ways are and his word, the Bible. They still poke fun at him. There is no fear of the Lord, and yet he still does nothing because of his great love for us. So that before too late and the doors are shut, maybe, just maybe, they would see that love and turn from their ways to him. What an amazing God in the very definition of long-suffering, and I am a recipient of this amazing God and his love.
Speaker 3:The woman caught in the very act of adultery is a picture of us and where we're at now this dispensation of grace. She received the same and, yeah, she received the same and we are just like her, every one of us. We're caught in the very act and Jesus the same. Jesus is waiting to forgive and to say go and sin no more. He's waiting to set us free and we are allowed this privilege that words can't describe because of what Jesus suffered for us on the cross. We're all sinners who need a Savior, all of us and we are to be spiritually minded with and listen to this with nothing in the mind of our hearts but God, heaven and eternity, always fixed on heavenly things.
Speaker 3:Jesus was always teaching about and talking about the kingdom of heaven, trying to get his disciples and the people around him to stop only seeing what was right in front of them and start viewing things from a heavenly perspective, to start seeing what was really important and what really mattered, start thinking and acting from the spirit instead of the flesh, which is against Jesus, his ways and his word. We need to see things as he would, remembering that this is a spiritual book for spiritual beings. Jesus and his word is offensive to anyone who is focused on self and the flesh. The Bible is the truth and the truth is offensive sometimes. But God made one way and people think they're saving Christianity by bringing more people in. But you're ruining it by preaching a different gospel just to get more people included. And we don't have time for a false gospel, because a false gospel doesn't save and we're running out of time.
Speaker 3:Everybody sees everything that's going on in the world and knows it ain't the same as it used to be, and things are different nowadays. When is Jesus coming back? We don't know, do we, nope? When are we going to die? We don't know that either, oh man, well, jesus could come tonight or we could die tomorrow.
Speaker 3:So the kingdom is at hand, like Jesus always said about the kingdom being at hand. So the kingdom is at hand, like Jesus always said about the kingdom being at hand. The kingdom is still at hand and for each and every one of us we only get one chance. We can only enter the kingdom now, while we're alive here on the earth, for this short little vapor the Bible calls it that vapor and if our spirit doesn't lead our flesh to enter now, then our flesh will keep our spirit from entering later. Either way, the kingdom of heaven is now. It is at hand. Therefore, repent and believe and let's enter the kingdom now. Let's make that decision now and let's turn from our ways to his ways. He's waiting for us. Amen, and I'll leave you with that that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and we need to turn from our ways and try.
Speaker 3:Jesus reconciled us to God. He gave us that right relationship with God through what he did on the cross, so he didn't just die for our sin. There was an exchange. Jesus is the only one righteous before God. He's the only one that can stand sinless before God. So he traded us, he took our sin, but he also gave us his righteousness so that we have a right relationship. We are now reconciled to God.
Speaker 3:That broken relationship is fixed because of Jesus and what he did on the cross. So we thank Jesus for what he did, for reconciling us to God, for mending that broken relationship, and all we can do is say thanks and humbly come before him and surrender to him and I just pray that we would all see him in that light and what he's done for us and just all we have to do is ask him in and be sincere you know what I mean ask him into our lives and to lead and guide us, because he's the one who made the way, he paid the price, he did it all and there's nothing we can do except say thank you and humble ourselves before him and ask him to lead and guide us and take over our life and thank him for the life that we can have because of what he did. Amen, amen, amen we pray.
Speaker 2:This message is a blessing and encouragement to you. Most of all, that it fortifies your faith as the return of our Lord draws near. We encourage you to share the love of Jesus this week and invite you to listen to next week's podcast.