Do we understand our errors? World has mindset without God. General understanding of Him goes only so far. We need to know specifically the truth about the Lord and His purposes for us and for everyone. Sin crouches to ambush us and we need the counsel and discernment for life. (Psalm 19; John 14:17; Genesis 4:1-5)
Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12811
Date: 2024-10-27
Time: Sun 11:00am
P. Schaller –
There is so much scripture to cover in our studies and in our – good morning! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Amen. Amen. Praise God. Wow. Wow. So glad you came this morning. Very thankful.
How many of you have lived in cold climates? You’ve lived in cold climates? How many have
never lived in a cold climate? You’re tropical or somewhere? You’ve never lived. So, those
people aren’t with us here this morning. What do we do when you’re cold? You put on more
clothes.
Okay. So, that’s #1. Turn up the heat. Okay. But keep coming. Keep coming to church,
so I need it. All right.
I’m thinking every time we get together, I could share something about Bible prophecy. That’s
not our primary message today, but we started last week when we talked about the Millennial
reign of Christ.
This morning, I want you just to read a couple verses, Daniel 7. And this is regarding Daniel.
There is a couple chapters you should know pretty well. Daniel chapter 2. This is regarding the
history of the human race. Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 7, Revelation 13:1-10, they all are saying
something about the fourth beast or that era in history before the coming of Christ.
So, if you make note of this, I’m writing these down just so you can write them down or put
them in your phone and read about them through the week, because I want you to learn as
much Bible as possible and understand the time we are in.
We have a timeline here. Christ crucified and raised from the dead, so he’s ascended. He’s at
the right hand of the Father. Time has passed. We are in 2024 and we are anticipating the
Rapture. That’s when we disappear and go up into heaven and meet Christ in the air if we
haven’t died first.
If we die, when we die, we will leave our body. The spirit leaves your body, James 2:26. You fly
away, Psalm 90:10. You’re in the presence of God immediately, 2 Corinthians 5. Absent from the body
present with the Lord, Philippians 1:21. So, we learn our Bible. We understand the doctrine. We
understand how to look at life. There’s a kingdom coming. “Our Father who art in heaven.” Say
it with me. “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.” Really? Come on? Really? I mean
really? Is the kingdom coming? “On earth as it is in heaven.”
Is there sin in heaven? There’s no sin in heaven. Will the kingdom come on Earth like it is in
heaven? Is there death in heaven? Sin in heaven? Is the devil in heaven? Our sin nature, is that
in heaven? No. But that kingdom will come on the earth. We read about it last week. There’s a
new world, better world coming, Isaiah 65:17 to the end. I create a new heaven and new earth.
That is not the new heaven and new earth we read about in Revelation 21. That’s the eternal age. But
the new heaven and earth will be on this earth different from this world but similar. There’ll be
rivers and oceans and there’ll be animals on this earth in the Millennial reign.
All right. So, that’s going to come, but without the sin nature dominating government,
dominating community life, dominating the lives of people. There will be different kinds of
people. Glorified saints and then also human beings born in the Millennial reign. All right.
So, we will be raptured. We that are alive on the earth. I think that happens before the
election! Okay. Who knows? Who knows! Oh, man! Oh, wow! Wow! All right. Listen. Sidebar.
Vote. Know the issues and vote. We are not telling you to vote by party. We’re not telling you
to vote by personality. We’re asking you to vote ideology, practice, platform of what they
believe.
If you are believing in transgender surgeries for minors, then you vote accordingly. But if you do
not agree with that, then you vote accordingly. If you believe in full-term abortion, you vote
accordingly. If you do not believe in that, but that life is sacred in the womb, then you vote
accordingly.
Are you going to vote? I recommend it. you’re a citizen. You have a right to vote. And who we
elect, that depends on people and what they’re saying. If you say nothing, that’s a vote for the
bad guys unless you’re a bad guy. If you’re a bad guy, don’t vote. If you’re a bad guy, don’t even
go. Go have a sandwich! But if you’re a good guy, vote. But vote anyway. You’re an American
citizen. Okay.
Kingdom is coming. And I have a lot – it’s really in my heart but we don’t have much time in our
services, because we want to keep our messages relatively compact but cover the subject in
some measure. So, I say this just to kind of wet your appetite that Bible prophecy, end times,
it’s called eschatology in theology, is teaching of end times.
And that’s this period where we have the Tribulation period, a seven-year period. A very really
great and tremendous problems. Incredible. Tragic. Horrible. Incredibly important era of time
where the Jews will be literally they will be – the world will try to decimate the nation to
destroy Jews, Jewish people. That will happen in that period.
But they will also turn to Christ, the one crucified 2,000 years ago. They will also many will turn.
There will be a movement of evangelism in the world with 144,000 Jewish – we say it just to
kind of paraphrase, Billy Graham’s. 144,000 fervent evangelicals that’ll be sharing the message
in the midst of a very, very troubled world.
And that’s another subject in our study of end times. It’s called Tribulation. Halfway through,
3.5 years in the middle. This period is called Great Tribulation. It looks like it’s just the survival of the human race is really being questioned here. Will anybody survive that period? It’ll be
horrific.
Christ will come back with his saints. There will be a short period of cleanup, and then there’ll
be the thousand-year reign of Christ. And then, the end. Judgment. White Throne judgment.
They’ll be the Sheep and Goat judgment will be right after when he comes back at this period,
the cleaning up period. And there will be the city of Jerusalem. There will be the government.
I want to maybe next Sunday talk about government in the Millennial reign. How will the
government be operating in that period of time, but there will be no war.
The devil will not be in the atmosphere. Demons will not be in the atmosphere. There’ll be a different era of time.
Peace on earth. Paradise like we’ve never seen before on the earth with the human race with
Christ governing the world during that 1000-year period of time. Okay. So, I think I just end
there because um, but my reference is Daniel 7:15-28. That could be your reading. Daniel 7:15-
28. Okay. Welcome, P. Steve. (Baby dedication).
Okay. Let’s turn to Psalm 19 for just a note for us to kind of register in our minds. Psalm 19. All right.
So, are you ready? Yeah. The theme is regarding being sharp. Sharpness in your life. Being
discerning, wise, having some conviction in our hearts. Being awake. Being engaged. Being
alive. Being sharp. We could say iron sharpens iron. I like to have a sharp edge. You know, I’m a
butcher’s son. My dad was a meat cutter and he was always sharpening with a steel, you know.
We learned that as kids how to keep a sharp knife and have an edge.
And to be honest, sometimes Christians are very general, and we have a general idea about our
doctrine. Generally, about living. Generally, about convictions like what is really bad. Like it’s
got to be really bad for it to be bad. But before it’s really bad, maybe it’s okay.
So, we have a good message maybe this morning. I hope so, because it might relate to us all,
right? So, Chapter 19:7-12. That’s about my errors. Who can understand my errors? Who can
understand me and the way I think about things? Cleanse me from secret faults. Vs. 13.
Maybe one example of that would be my love for money. A Christian in their heart could say, I
want money. I’ve got money. I want more money. And then, you know, I get more money. I
want more money. This is fun. I’m making money. I like money. I want money. I want money.
Now, would you say that publicly? I don’t think we would say that publicly. I don’t want people
to know about what is in my heart. It’s a secret fault.
Or my sexual makeup. My sexual passion or desire. I have that in my heart but it’s a secret
what’s in my heart. People don’t know about it. I don’t think that they need to know about it,
but I need to know about it. I need to know like am I covetous? Am I lusting after the opposite sex? Third one, let’s see, would be hatred. I hate somebody but I don’t tell anybody about it. It’s
secret.
Cleanse me from secret faults. How? Right there. The text is by the Word. Vs. 13-14. So, yeah.
So, I think it’s important that we would know that when we are saved and the Holy Spirit comes
into our life, that the Holy Spirit is faithful to guide us into all truth, John 14:17. Maybe we could
put that up on the screen, John 14:17.
Remember our teaching on the word “world?” The world is in a mindset without God. The
world received him not. In him was light and the life was the life of men. Or life and in him is
the light of men. But the world received him not. The world is in darkness. They cannot receive
the Spirit of God. The world does not receive the Spirit of God. It has a different spirit.
But you and I have the Spirit of God and that’s what makes us different. And he searches our
heart and he goes, yeah. Your know, your hatred in your heart. I want you to deal with that.
And we say to God, I don’t have any hatred in my heart. And then, I just blow it off. I don’t have
any sexual thing going on in my imaginations that I’m harboring, that I’m developing in my
fantasy. Well, that’s natural. Yes, that’s natural but it’s not spiritual. Do you want to be
spiritual? I highly recommend it. You do want that but often times you don’t know how to get
it. How could I live a spiritual life? I want to know how could God help me live my life?
And he goes into that – like you could call this is my house and the Lord comes like in my house
into my heart and that verse says the world doesn’t know him, doesn’t see him, but you know
him. Do you know the Holy Spirit? Do you know the Comforter? Do you know the Word? The
still small voice? Do you know when God searches your heart and puts his finger on your heart
and he says, there it is. What are you going to do with it? What do you think about that? Where
are you living? Where are you living? What kind of life are you wanting to live?
It’s like I got it down. Don’t worry about me, God. Everybody thinks I’m pretty good and I am
pretty good actually. I’m pretty clean on the outside. I’m okay. And the Lord is saying, well, let’s
have a talk. Look at it in a minute. Go to the next part.
Vs. 17-18. Let’s go to a couple examples. The text here is about the first – Psalm 19. I’m breaking
this down really short and I know you can follow this. Probably you know it, but the first six
verses of Psalm 19 is about Creation. This is called general revelation. It’s about Creation.
I was windsurfing one time at Gunpowder, and there was a fellow windsurfer there. We were
talking and he goes this is my church out on the water. This is my church. This is where I
worship God. I find God out on the water in the sunshine in nature. And I said, I do, too. I love it
out here. It’s amazing. I worship God sailing on a board with the wind. Wow! That’s amazing.
This was years ago. But I said, I also need the church.
“No, I don’t go to any church.” I go, but I need it. Why? Well, this is Psalm 19 talks windsurfer
language is vs. 1-6. But then, we have another one. This is called specific doctrine. Specific.
Specific revelation. This is Psalm 19:7. This is where you get corrected in your heart. When
you’re out on the water, you may not be corrected specifically about something that God wants
to say to your heart about sex, about money, about relationships, about hatred, about jealousy,
about envy, about selfishness. God wants to help me and go right where I am living.
Okay, so let’s go to two examples and they are Genesis 4. Turn there. Chapter 4:1. Adam and Eve
left the Garden, the Garden of Eden. They left. They were taken out. They couldn’t be there
anymore. They lost it. They lost their innocence. They lost their relationship with God and
they’re out. But God saved them. He slew animals. Covered them with animal skins and gave
them grace and saved them. Adam and Eve, vs. 1-2.
Were they bad people? Abel, Cain? No, they just are human beings and they have a sin nature,
but they represent two different kinds of people. One is saved. Abel is saved and made
righteous by grace and Cain is not saved. Abel offers up blood. Cain brings to the sacrifice
vegetables and he’s a tiller of the ground. Agricultural. Grass cannot save you.
Tomatoes and plants and trees. Mountains and rivers cannot save you. It has to be the blood, the blood of the
Lamb that atones for my sin. Abel is an example, a great example of a born-again believer.
So, vs. 4-5. Well, you might not like that but that’s what it says. I might not like the fact that
God doesn’t accept religion. There’s many religions in the world. Many ideas and many
philosophies, personalities and people that we feel you should respect. God, you would respect
somebody because of how good they are or how smart they are.
How beautiful they are. How popular they are. But God is saying I don’t have respect for Cain’s offering. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. It cannot cleanse Cain from his sin. Cain has something growing in his heart. Cain
has something happening in his heart about his brother and it happens to you and I, also.
I have something in my heart that grows about my brother or my sister or my church or my
family or mom or dad or my country or any number of things. How about the political figures
that people are hating? They hate. One hates the other.
The other hates the other. The names doesn’t matter. The name, the name – that’s not my point. My point is God wants to go in my heart and teach me truth and have fellowship with God who is no respecter of persons. Have
fellowship with God that guides us into the truth, that is able to build us up in our inner man.
But he recognizes in Cain the fact that Cain is not changing. Cain is still the bitter – he becomes
bitter and hateful. It’s interesting how that happens, what sin does. Here’s a little picture of the
guy and what sin does. What I become. What I become. A big, bad guy, you know. Does sin
affect us? And we become – oh, I just don’t like him. I’m not going to be around. I just don’t like
him. And then, it grows cuz it says sin crouches at the door.
Let’s read the text. Chapter 4:5. Okay. Act that out for a second. Go ahead. Cross your arms,
you know. His countenance. He was not a happy camper. He was not free. Have you ever
worked with anybody like that in a warehouse with a guy that’s just cursing, swearing. Hates
everybody or every other word is a swear word, you know. How about it? Have you ever – I
have. I worked up in a tannery up in Maine. I remember most miserable people in the world
worked in that factory. Actually, I was one of them. I was a borderline Cainite. My countenance
fallen. I’m angry inside and the Lord is the counselor.
Notice this about the story. You know that Jesus is not the policeman. Jesus is the counselor.
Jesus is the prince of peace. He’s the God of all grace. He’s the Savior of the world. Jesus is the
one who has compassion. Jesus is the one that really loves you. That really loves you when you
are bad. That really loves Cain when he is bad. And that thing that started in his heart like my
brother. Let’s think about it.
Cain, what are you thinking? If you had an x-ray machine of his heart. My brother thinks he’s
hot stuff. My brother is so happy. What is he so happy about? My brother thinks he’s better
than me. My brother, you know, I’m actually starting to hate him. No, Cain. You don’t hate your
brother. I wouldn’t say that, but I’ll tell you something that I am getting really angry about him.
I’m starting to actually hate him.
Okay. Oh, okay. The Lord is the counselor. Cain, how are you doing? Not good. Not good. Okay.
Let’s talk about that. Let’s look at that for a minute. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to
go to church. I don’t want to hear about Jesus. I don’t want to hear the Bible. I’m out
windsurfing on the water. Just leave me alone. I want to be in nature by myself.
Yeah, you can do that and worship God out there, but the Lord knows that you got something
crouching at the door and that word is here RUBOTZ in the Hebrew. It means to crouch on all
four legs folded like a recumbent animal. By implication, to recline, repose, brood, lurk in bed,
crouch down, fall down, make a fold, lay, make to rest, sit.
So, here’s the house and here’s the door and sin is at the door crouched down. Now, this is an
idea. I heard a preacher say this one time and I like it. Crouching you can’t see how big it is cuz
it’s folded up. You can’t see where your sin can take you. You don’t see where it’ll end up. You
can’t see that. It’s crouching down and it’s at the door and if you look at it, if you open the
door, will it come in and become a lot larger than what you thought it was? That’s one meaning
in the text.
But if you do well, like you won’t worry about that ’cause you are actually greater than your sin.
You have authority over your sin ’cause the Holy Spirit has come into your life. But you and the
Holy Spirit have to be in agreement.
When the Lord puts his – he says, you hate your brother. You say, yes I do. Yes, Lord. You’re
correct. I’m humble. I’m humbling my heart before your words and before your Spirit. And Lord,
Lord will be our counselor with specific words.
You see, these words come from the Spirit specifically to your life. You know that sexual thing
that you have going on in your heart? Deal with it. Agree with God. Bring it before God. God
sees everything, right? Bring it before God and admit that it’s wrong and if you don’t, that thing
is crouching at the door and you don’t know where that will take you.
How big is it? How much pain and suffering it will cause in your life? You don’t know where it’ll
take you to some perversion or break up a family or destroy your self-image or you bear around
the guilt that comes from those kinds of sins that happen in people’s lives. And I’m not saying it
as a judge. I’m saying it as a counselor and I need help, also all through my life. I need it and by
God’s grace I’m thankful that I can say there’s an answer for every one of us.
And in those three categories that I gave there is the hatred issue that has to be dealt with.
There is the sexual temptations that have to be dealt with. And there is also the covetousness
and the love of material things that has to be dealt with and there are surely many others.
Okay. Go to the text. Chapter 4:7. Let me say it differently, the same meaning. If you do well, if
you are saved, if you do well like in your nature. If you are saved by grace and Spirit filled, then
you’ll be feeling the acceptance. Almost like I say there’s the smile on the outside and then
there’s the smile on the inside.
We were just in the Philippines a couple weeks ago. The most pleasant people, happy people,
smiling people, beautiful people, but we all know in our nature that can be on the outside and
not on the inside. But what about you have a big kind of sense of smiling on the inside? That’s
where you are really living. And Jesus said it this way. You clean the outside of the platter but
did not God make also the inside. So, on the outside I may look good but on the inside, that’s
where God lives. God says when I have accepted you through my Son Jesus Christ, then you do
well in this authority that you have as a believer.
There’s three things about it I want to share in a minute when we get there. Chapter 4:7, so
that needs some explanation but I want you to see something in it. Sin lies at the door,
crouches at the door it says, and unto you shall be his desire. You shall rule over him. There’s a
second meaning in that. Matthew Henry brings it up in his commentary. I’ll read it to you.
It says, “the curse waits at the door like a bailiff ready to arrest the sinner whenever he looks
out. It lies as if it slept, but it lies at the door will soon will be awakened and then it will appear
that the damnation slumbered not. Sin will find you out.”
So, that’s the one meaning. Like if I go out the door, it catches me. ‘Cause it’s inside in me and now
I find myself interacting with it and it’s a lot bigger and more problematic than I ever realized. It
becomes a big, disastrous debacle.
Okay. The second meaning is almost the opposite. And he writes, “the same word signifies sin
and a sacrifice for sin.” That means this is Jesus here at the door. Jesus crouching at the door
and he says, “though you have not done well, yet do not despair. The remedy is at the hand.
The propitiation is not far to seek. Lay hold on it and the iniquity of your holy things shall be
forgiven thee. Christ, the great sin offering is said to stand at the door, Revelation 3:20, and
those well deserved to perish in their sins that will not go to the door for an interest in the sin
offering. All of this considered, Cain had no reason to be angry at God but at himself only.”
So, that’s a message of grace from the counselor.
Cain, if you’re not doing well, the sin offering is at the door and come to him and you’ll be fine. I will do this for you. The three things that I want to share. What will happen when you live by specific doctrine.
Let’s go to this. One, two, three things and we’ll finish again. What is specific doctrine? It’s
when in Psalm 139, the Lord, Psalm 139:23-24, those verses. It’s when he searches our heart. It’s
when we get convicted. Maybe it happened to you now this morning. Maybe the Lord has said
something to your heart.
I remember years ago being in Bible school and I remember those anointed classes. I remember
God ministering to our hearts and searching our hearts and nobody knew if we don’t talk about
it and nobody really knew it but in our hearts, we were deciding. I want God. In our hearts,
we’re saying I want more of God. I want to know God. I’m hungry for God. I’m thirsty for God.
In another class, another time, a few weeks later or some months later, it happened. I want to
serve God or I want to follow God. I don’t know where this is coming from or what it is that’s
happening in my heart But God is ministering to us and it happens.
But you see with Cain like that little cancer that’s bothering him, it’s his brother. It’s his brother.
My problem in my life is my brother. It’s my brother and the Lord is saying, no. It’s not your
brother It’s your heart and I want to heal you. I’m your counsel. I’m the one.
And we can go many places in that idea. It’s my wife. It’s my country. It’s my church. It’s my
friends. It’s my finances. It’s my education or the lack of it. Many things. We can all do that. But
God is saying, wait a minute. Hold it, Cain. Wait a minute. if you’re not doing good, admit it.
And the sacrifice is at the door for you. I am for you. I’m the one. I will heal you. I will put my
Spirit in you. I will show you. I will open up your heart. I will lead you. You’ll be a lot bigger than those problems. I will solve them for you. I will satisfy you. I will give you, give it to you. I will
give these.
#1. We say and this is in Numbers 13. If you go to the website and you look at the 9:00 service
this morning, I shared these in more specificity, more clarity, but I’ll just hit it quickly right now.
Caleb said regarding the Promised Land, let’s go at once into the Promised Land. You see, you
feel equipped. I don’t have to wait. I can do it now. We have victory now. You feel capable.
You’re equipped. The end of Ephesians 4, 2 Timothy 3. You are equipped, 1 Timothy 4. You are equipped.
You are capable at once. That’s what specific teaching does.
Ryle said, he said about general. He said, “there are Christians nowadays which you cannot
declare positively unsound, but which nevertheless is not full measure. It is a Christianity which
there is undeniable something about Christ, something about grace, something about grace,
something about repentance, something about holiness, but is not the real thing as it is in the
Bible.” It’s kind of a “mingle mangle” it says. “It doesn’t do any good. It doesn’t change my life.
Just kind of like general doctrine. Kind of the way I grew up as, you know, I grew up. I was not a
born-again Christian. I grew up in a church, but it didn’t have any power in my life. It’s kind of
like I was Cain and could kill my brother and then excuse myself, you know.
Hey, Abel, let’s go out in the field. I want to have a talk with you. As we go out in the field, I kill
him ’cause I didn’t get corrected.
So,
#1. When the Spirit fills you, you say I love my brother. We have differences but I pray for him. I love my brother, Abel. He’s my brother. I can pray for him.
I can love him. I can forgive him. I can encourage him. I’m good in my heart. I am okay. I’m
sharp. I got a sharp edge.
I cannot hate my brother and love God at the same time. I cannot love the world and love God
at the same time. I cannot have – I remember as a new Christian, I was thinking I could have
one foot in the church and one foot in the world. I was trying to do that. I started to realize I
can’t. I can’t run a race with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. I realized I can’t
do that. And it was, it was the teaching of the Word that gave me the understanding that I
cannot do that. I have to deny one of them and it’s not going to be – I conclude I don’t want to
deny the church. I want to run my walk. I want to run in faith.
#2. We possess the land. And the 12 spies, there were 10 spies that said they possessed the
land, and Caleb and Joshua said, we possess it. We can take it. It’s our land and they said, the
others said, no. You can’t. The devil, you can’t have it. It’s not yours. We said, yeah. God gave it
to Abraham. It’s ours and the devil said, it’s not yours. It’s not yours.
And then, the two spies said, it is ours. We’re able to take the land. It is ours. It is ours. Can you
say like that spirit? That sharpness, that clarity of mind, clarity of mind, clarity of heart. I love
my brother, Ambel. What could I do to help him to become a better man, a better woman?
What could I do to help my sister or my brother? Can you also say we can do it at once,
immediately? We don’t need preparation. God is with us. We can take it now. Can you say that?
It is ours.
And then the third thing was um it wants and possess the land and then we are able. We can do
it. What can you do? We can follow the Lord with all our hearts. We can denounce sin. We can
repent from our stuff. We can bring our lives before God. We are able. God will build us up. God
will give us gifts. God will open up the Bible to us. We can live by every Word that comes out of
God’s mouth.
We can win souls. We can share our faith. We can have conversations. We’re not afraid of
people. We can be in the midst of people that are different from us and love them and listen to
them and soul win by listening. Have you ever thought about that? You can evangelize not by
talking but by listening.
When people find that you listen – one of our brothers told me this morning, he said I have
somebody at work who got angry at me because I’m not swearing. I’m not swearing on the
factory floor. And they, she, the woman was angry with them. And why aren’t you swearing?
You’re weird. You’re weird. And he’s just quiet. And then, he has a little talk with her and he
gives her a word and they have a little talk and then she says everybody should be like him.
Everybody should be. She changed.
You never know what – we don’t have to prove any points except the fact that we have some
confidence and love in our hearts for people that are different from us. That we actually care
about our country. We care about the differences. We care about people and their future. We
care about their struggle with what’s in their lives cuz they may be shocked one day when they
kill their brother and they’re standing over him and they just run away.
God is saying to Cain, I hear your brother’s blood crying out from the ground. Where is your
brother? And he said, am I my brother’s keeper? He’s defensive, right. And he lives in fear. And
the Lord is saying, Cain, I am for you. I love you. I gave my Son for you. Come to me. Amen.
Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.