I’m a Goodfella – Lies of the Enemy #35– Purity 1047

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a tranquil morning scene at Persimmon Lake in Murphy, North Carolina, comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who captured this beautiful scene with the lake's mirror-like reflection of the sky and the morning mist rising off the lake's surface back on May 4th as a case study in contrast As Persimmons waters recede in the winter months, leaving the shores looking like a barren desert, but come May, the lake fills up again to reflect spring's thriving abundance of life. Well, it's Friday, and I for one really appreciate Fred's diligence of practicing and sharing his photography. In my life, in my, my full life, I don't always have time to check in, to Facebook or to plan the photo of the day. And whenever I'm not sure what to share, I have discovered that Fred is a reliable source to go to see the glory of God's creation on film. His penchant for sharing the views of his life consistently and reliably makes, uh, makes me appreciate Fred's friendship and his life's narrative. Although I have never sat down and chatted with Fred, he has told me bits of his story through social media. And he comes across as someone who appreciates the simple joys of life in spite of some of the challenges, challenges he faced in the recent years with finding a place to call his home, with health concerns, or with car troubles. You can't always know who's— know who somebody is from looking from the outside, but I get the overall impression that Fred is a nice guy, although I can't be certain. I I think Fred is a good fella. Now, I use that particular phrase quite purposefully to highlight the duality of man, our mix of good and evil that can sometimes define who we are and that just may seal our fates. The phrase good fella obviously is loaded with meaning for most of us, as Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster film is praised by critics and fans, resulting in several awards and nominations and has been listed as one of the greatest films ever made, particularly in the gangster genre. Based on the life of a real-life wise guy, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his family and friends from 1955 to 1980. The film's scenes are gripping and its dialogue is infectious, as those who love the film are often known to echo its phrases. While I won't share any quotes from the film on the blog, uh, I am sharing a link to star Ray Liotta's 10 best Goodfella quotes if you want to walk back to the dark side of memory lane. The paradox of the film, of course, is that Henry Hill and his friends are not good fellas by the standards of traditional biblical morality. They are thieves, liars, adulterers, drunks, swindlers, drug addicts, and murderers. Their zeal for life is to serve themselves and take, take what they want by any means necessary. However, these men also have families and friendships that are defined by love and a strong sense of loyal— loyalty, unless of course those things get in the way of business. Ironically, members of organized crime sometimes surprise us by doing good. They give justice to those who can't— don't get it from police or the government. Sometimes they give things to those— give things to those in need. Um, sometimes their ill-gotten gains even go into the coffers of the— of charities or in churches. They may indeed seem to be respectable businessmen to their local communities and churches. With these good works, one may wonder if these gangsters aren't so bad after all, that somehow in the final accounting they may do more good than bad and find themselves in a state of grace. They that God will declare that these criminals are good fellas after all and welcome them into heaven. Now, as much as I have introduced the subject of gangsters who have obvious concerns about their eternal destinies because of their many crimes, I actually mean to shine a spotlight on all of those of us who consider ourselves nice guys, good girls, or good— or a good neighbor, who know they aren't perfect but who don't display any fruit or evidence of having a relationship with God, but are putting their faith in their good outweighing their bad as the means to getting, uh, to be a part of God's eternal kingdom. And that brings us to our current series, The Lies of the Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies sometimes sneakily whispered into our minds as first person's statements that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. So today's big lie is Lie Number 35: I'm a good fella. Uh, this lie is so pervasive throughout the world that it not only infects, uh, the realms of supposedly Christian institutions, it forms the basis of all false religions and the measure of performance of the world system. The lie "I'm a good fella" is unbiblical, as the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 7:20, "For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin." The Apostle Paul expounds on our moral hopelessness and inability to do good and be approved by our own efforts in Romans 3:10-20, which says, "As the Scriptures say, 'No one is righteous, Not even one. No one is truly wise. No one is seeking God. All have turned away. All have become useless. No one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don't know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all. Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. The lie of I'm a good fella or I'm a good person, uh, that proclaims somehow God will forgive us because our evil will be less than our good is based in ignorance and ignores the word of God that tells us that we will be dead in our trespasses and sins without Jesus. I'm sharing a link to Open Bible Info's 100 verses about Jesus died for our sins on the blog today. If you need the scriptures to convince you that our works don't save us, I know that most Christians, quote unquote, most quote unquote Christians, quote unquote, know this. But the Bible also speaks of those who will claim a relationship with Christ by works or passing association that will discover that their show of Christianity, nominal agreement, disingenuous face, or infrequent participation in outward signs of worshiping the Lord won't fool God in the end. So before you go anoint yourself with the cheap grace of having a passing relationship with God, or, or of doing more good than bad as a means of salvation, consider Christ's words to the non-believer and to those who profess to try to prove their faith with good— with works. For those who haven't— for those who haven't put their faith in Christ, I offer Jesus's words and John 14:6, where Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. There is no other way to God but through faith in Jesus. Sorry, Goodfella, without him you don't get in. Christ also said in John 3:18, there is no judgment against someone who believes in him, uh, Jesus, but anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's only one and only Son. For those who are doing good, more good than bad, but have an inconsistent or virtually non-existent relationship with God but have a quote-unquote little faith, I offered Luke 13:24-27 where Jesus said, work hard to enter the narrow door to God's kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!' And he will reply, 'I tell you, I don't know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil!' Just because you sat and heard Jesus' teachings and had the Lord's Supper doesn't necessarily mean you are a Christian. Christ's words indicate that also you also have to repent of our sin. We have to also repent of our sins, um, because otherwise our doing evil, having regular periodic unrepentant sin in our life, may indicate that we are false converts. If we fail to work hard to overcome our sins, we may demonstrate we are not actually Christ's disciples. Those who obey what he teaches. And as for those who are working hard and are proud of it, I offer Jesus' words in Matthew 7:21-23, which say, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Again, this is for the legitimate businessmen and those who stand out in public and shine a light on all the good deeds you have done for God. Christ wants your heart as well as your works, and your good works in the light don't cover the lawlessness you practice in the dark. Christ's call Christ calls us to be disciples, to be real Christians, to seek him, to love him, and to practice what Jesus teaches. Uh, now don't get me wrong, this is not some ultra form of performance-based salvation. I don't think Jesus was suggesting that, but I do think he was trying to convict all of us that we must believe in him and to do our best to follow his example and to do so as an expression of our love for God, as a part of our relationship with him. My heart is to encourage people to walk with God humbly and simply, but not so simply that we aren't pursuing him and seeking to do his will on earth, which includes our pursuing personal sanctification and spiritual maturity. The reason today's lie of I'm a good fellow has so inflamed my passion to exhort is because the whole world would consider themselves good fellas. We are all good in our own eyes, and we would all declare ourselves good enough by judging those who are worse than we are. However, the Word of God tells us we must be right with God through faith in Jesus and through our authentic attempts to follow him into repentance. I know so many good fellas, nice guys, good girls, free spirits and characters that I love, I find amusing and genuinely like that have seemingly no relationship with the Lord. They don't always do the right thing and often suffer from— for their poor choices, but overall they seem like good people. I know others who really seem to have it all together. They are successful and kind. They are good citizens and good to their families or friends, but they don't demonstrate any faith in Jesus. So I say all this to encourage all the good fellas out there, whether they are up— an upstanding— whether you are an upstanding citizen or a wise guy, to stand up and surrender to the lordship of Christ and to be truly wise by declaring that you are not a good fella and that you need the forgiveness and new life that only God can give you, that comes through faith in Jesus and a life that is surrendered to him. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Colossians 3:23-3:24. And the word of God says, work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the master you are serving is Christ. Today's verse— verses encourage us to work as if we were working directly for the Lord, because we do, and because the Lord will reward us with an inheritance when we serve Jesus as the master of our lives. Verses like today's passage, uh, indicate to us that our faith was never meant to be a weekly observance of worship. Our faith is supposed to be a way of life, and we are to consider everything we do as something we are doing for the Lord. God made us and he will reclaim us, and so we are to show him that we know who our master is by being his representative here on the earth. Everything we do, we are to do for the Lord. And although it may not always be easy to do the right thing, God's word assures us that he sees us, sees what we are doing, and we— and he will reward us for our faithful service. As always, I invite you all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's, um, The Holy Spirit as we continue chapter 1, uh, and the topics today will be the problem, effort in the flesh, and the need. So if you want to see what the, the problem is and what the need is, uh, that will conclude chapter 1 of The Holy Spirit, um, go to mt4christ.org and you'll find that resource at the end of today's blog post. Well, uh, it is Friday. I do have to work and time is short, so I encourage all who listen to check out our podcast and YouTube channel for our discipleship classes, um, Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, all based on Dr. Neil Anderson's work and the word of God. And if you'd like, you can join our Bible study that we do once a week, uh, Bible study with the Sincatis, where we sit down with Arthur and Susanna Sincati and talk about the things of, things of life and the things of God and how we are to follow the Lord. Um, yeah. And so, um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much, uh, for setting us free. And Lord, it is our prayer that, that people who are seemingly good but don't know you would know their deep need for Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And, uh, Lord, that our family and friends that are not walking with the Lord, or our co-workers or associate, you know, acquaintances or Facebook friends that don't know the Lord, would, would, would have someone speak the truth of the Gospel in their life, and that, um, your Holy Spirit would move their heart to accept Jesus and to, and to enter into the abundant life that you have for them. Lord, we also pray for anyone who's listening or reading this message today, Lord, that they would be blessed and that you would come alongside them and their prayer request, and that you would guide them in the way they should go. Um, and Lord, as always, we, we pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to what you want us to see and move our feet into the things you would have us walk into, um, Lord, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and to share, um, the love, uh, that we have come to know through our faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.