Hardcore Christianity - Part 1

And then you're going to tell them, hey, this is what God did. Every time they see these stones, this is what our Lord did. He parted the Jordan so we could walk across it on dry ground.

And if you go to Peter, if you read Peter, the Bible says that we are lively stones. We're living stones. So when I'm standing here and people see me and the people that knew me, they look at me and say, well, what happened to him? I'm a living stone.

I'm standing here because it's a testament and a testimony of God's power, of God's grace and God's mercy. God is so good. Amen.

Uncompromising. Hardcore. Steadfast in allegiance to duty.

Loyal to friends. Extreme. Diehard.

Have you ever been to or maybe watched it on TV? I was passing out tracks at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. And I see some hardcore fans, you know, the guy that doesn't have a shirt and he's painted like gold and black. And he just spiked his hair in every direction.

And he's just going crazy. He's just shouting at everybody. He's hardcore about that.

I would never paint myself blue, silver and say cowboys. No. But.

Yeah. It's been a while. When was it? 90 something.

But see, people get hardcore about certain things that they're into. But if you're not hardcore about Christ, you totally are missing out. Now, I'm going to give you some words that have to do with hardcore.

In the Gospel of Matthew. Chapter. Five.

Or six. Blessed are they that that hunger, that which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be healed. Now.

H. You want to be hardcore for Christ? I'm going to give you a few words. And that doesn't mean that this is the only thing, but these are some of the things that I believe that if people that call themselves Christians, if they keep this, man, they're going to be hardcore. Hunger.

A desire for the things of God. A passion. A strong desire, hunger, thirst for righteousness.

Now the question is. What do you hunger for? What are you hungry for? A career. Get married.

Get a degree. Make a million dollars before you're 30. I mean, what are you hungry for? If.

And by the way, the word if, it's in the Bible over 1,500 times. See, a lot of people don't know this, but I'm going to tell you something that, man, the church system thinks it's almost blasphemous. The word if, it means that it's conditional.

See, God's love is not unconditional. It's conditional. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.

If. If you love me. If you do what I say, Jesus said, you're my friend.

But he said, if you do. So what happens if you don't? See, if you don't show up for work, you don't get paid. And if you miss a couple of days without a good excuse or being in the hospital with a broken leg or something, they're going to fire you.

See, there's conditions in life, and there's also conditions in Christianity. God has conditions. God has rules.

God has laws. I had to attract a lady sitting on a bench, and she said, it was a ten commandments. Oh, we have the new covenant.

In other words, we don't need these. Are you serious? So it's okay to commit adultery and murder and lie? Because, oh, by the way, we have grace. What are you hungering for? That's the question.

Now, reading the Bible, you know, as a believer in Christ, man, we hunger. See, I hungered and had this craving and lust for drugs and everything else that goes with that. And I mean everything else.

That's what I had a hunger for. Then I get born again, and all of a sudden, now I'm hungering for Bible study, witnessing, passing out tracts. Man, I want to read the Word.

I want to go spend some time in prayer. I want to go encourage somebody. See, that's what I hunger for.

For this. For this right now. Man.

So, and guess what? It says that if you hunger for these things, you'll be satisfied. And you know what? I'll feel my cup is running over. And see, but some people, they think that if they just fill it up to the little rim of the cup, it's okay, man, I'm full.

But no. You're missing it. God doesn't want you full.

He wants you running over. He wants it coming out of you. See, and so many people walk around just full.

And they think they're okay because they're filled. Man, I'm filled. I got Jesus in my life.

I go to church every week. And man, I'm just filled. I'm comfortable where I'm at.

But you're missing it. God wants you flowing. So full, man, it's pouring everywhere.

So when you run into somebody, let me tell you about Jesus. You're just spilling stuff everywhere. Everywhere you go, you're just spilling it all over the place.

See, why is this running over? The Ten Commandments. You know, man, I love the law. The Bible calls it the perfect law of liberty.

You know, and today, we're in the church world today, did you know that just maybe 1% I say 1% because from my personal statistics, it's even less than 1% of the people that don't even go to Ten Commandments and they've been going to church all their life. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine having an English teacher that did not know the ABCs? Now, I would say everybody in here knows the ABCs. Now, what would you think if somebody didn't know the ABCs? Man, what an idiot.

He doesn't even know the ABCs. And he's going to college? Well, what about a minister that stands by the pulpit and he don't know the Ten Commandments? What's the difference? Did you know that I've talked to many, many pastors that actually get mad at me because I ask them the question. If they know the Ten Commandments.

They get mad at me. Like an insult. What? Of course I know them.

I said, cool, so let me see. Go ahead pastor, start naming them. And man, that really gets them.

I still carry my little black coat. 7,465 people have been asked the question. Can you name the Ten Commandments? Only eight people.

And I'm talking in the past seven years. Can you imagine? Now, what are you hungry for? Are you really hungry for the things of God? Now, the next word of hardcore is an A. Accountability. Now, when I first got saved and I went to this Bible study.

One of the things that they were pushing real hard was, you have to have an accountability partner. Everybody needs an accountability partner. And I'm thinking, really? And I'm thinking that ain't going to work.

Now, I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I think it's a good idea. To have somebody that you can share with and just be encouraged by one another.

And just be friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm not against it. But what about - see, and one of the things about having an accountability partner, it's so easy to deceive them.

So how's your week been? You go to the accountability meeting. So how's your week been? Man, brother, it's been so awesome. And you're lying to your front teeth.

Because this happened and that happened and this happened. But you just got to say the right words and they believe you. But I want you to know something.

We have an accountability partner. And his name is the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And he knows everything. Amen. He even knows what you're thinking right now.

He knows what you thought this morning. He knows why you want to go do certain things. He knows the motives and the intentions of your heart.

So, man, he keeps you in check. And I remember I was telling them last night when I first started going out, man, I see a good-looking girl and I'm like, man, she needs Jesus. And I'm going to go give her a track.

But if you weren't attracted to me, you're just going to go to hell. That's what I was thinking. That was my thoughts.

And then one of those nights, I'm going home, I'm driving home, and I'm like, man, it was a good night. And then the Holy Spirit just, man, he got me. I saw what you did.

I saw the intentions that you had tonight. I saw how you didn't talk to that girl and that other girl that was wearing a red dress. I saw it.

I died for that, too. And, man, it just got me. And I just bowed my head, and I'm like, God, forgive me.

Things change, you see? But I have a good accountability partner. So, think about this. Jesus is with you.

If you're a Christian, Jesus is with you all the time. Now, think about that. If you really believed that, how would you live your life? What would you think? What would you say? What would you do knowing that Jesus Christ is with you? I had a young man.

He had a hard time with pornography. I said, man, I can't believe you're doing that in front of Jesus. Man, he freaked out.

What are you talking about? Well, you're a Christian, aren't you? Man, Jesus is with you. And you know what? He freaked out so bad because he actually, it clicked. Oh, no.

See, it didn't matter if I knew about it or some other people knew about it. But he was never even thinking that Jesus was right there. Man, that's hardcore accountability.

But, see, you have to believe that. And when you believe that, you don't do certain things. As a matter of fact, you don't do a lot of things.

Man, I don't want to think that way no more. Why? Because, man, now we have an accountability partner that's hardcore.