A Desperation to Live - Audio

We live in sobering times. We have to be spiritually alert in what is certainly the end times. The chaos in which we find ourselves contains an evil influence designed to come against the church. Our text in Matthew is startling, but it is not advocating self-mutilation but is an illustration of how important it is to remove things from our spiritual life that will keep us from our reward. The bible is full of truth and we have all received it. Our human nature is to question the things in God’s word that are hard for us to do. God’s word says “Thou shalt not”, and He is not interested in our opinion of that word. Many will try to amend or change their interpretation of the Word. We do that by the things that we tolerate or accept in life. When we are unwilling to face the truth, we become our own worst enemy. Dr. Hughes has often observed that we do not need a devil to be bad, we can do it on our own. Paul’s letter to Timothy is an effort to help him bring the church back to a place of recovery. They, like us, can easily become trapped by a web of our own interpretation of God's word. Our text from Matthew is sobering. Anything that gets in the way of living for God must be removed. When we fail to remove these things from our life, we distance ourselves from God and His will for our life. God does not restrict us from things to punish us, but to protect us from things that will destroy us. Our world is trying to tear down every safeguard and protection in our lives. We have to remove anything that will prevent the blessings of God from flowing into our lives. Too often, we find a way to explain away or change the parts of God’s word that we find inconvenient. The truth is truth no matter what. Far too many are judging life by an altered truth. We have to ask if the things that are keeping us from staying close to God are worth our life. Are we going to be satisfied with part of what God has for us? There is a goal that is worth any sacrifice, and that goal is life. We must have a desperation to live.