Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
It’s been claimed that approximately 800 people climb Mount Everest each year, and it takes between six and nine weeks to actually accomplish this dangerous task. But as they slowly ascend the mountain, they will eventually reach a height of over 26,000 feet which is known as the death zone. When you begin to climb into such high altitudes, the pressure of oxygen can only sustain human life for a short period of time, because the oxygen levels are only one third of what they are at sea level. The body will start to starve for oxygen which is known as hypoxia, which can result in dangerous fluid levels building up in the brain and the lungs and result in the climbers suffering from confusion and fatigue. When passing through the death zone, people can only survive 16 to 20 hours in these conditions, and if they don’t make it back down to camp on time, death will inevitably come upon them.
This reminds me of the Christian life.
There are going to be people who will make great attempts to get all the way to the top of Mount Everest, but in order to get all the way there, they will have to survive the death zone. There will also be many people who make the attempt to obtain eternal life, but in order to achieve this high goal, they also will have to overcome the death zone of sinful temptations.
Romans 6:23 (KJB) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God grants us an incredible gift of mercy in order to help us begin a brand new life of faith towards Him, but that is only the beginning of what must be done, if we truly want to make it into heaven. God calls all of us to repentance, by turning away from dead works and bringing forth good fruit unto God.
Acts 26:14-20 (KJB) And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Genuine repentance requires a change of one’s heart, something that the Apostle refers to as Godly sorrow.
2 Corinthians 7:6-13 (KJB) Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
In order to find a place of Grace with God, the Apostle warned the church that they needed to humble themselves before Him
James 4:6-10 (KJB) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Sin is all around us in this world, but in order to get through its death zone, we must mortify the sinful deeds of the flesh.
Romans 8:12-14 (KJB) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Through repentance, we must put to death the old sinful person that we used to be in the past.
Romans 6:1-13 (KJB) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
There is a lot of preparation that must happen before ever reaching the top of Mount Everest. Likewise there is a lot of preparation that must be done for those who want to inherit eternal life. We must continue to walk each day in the will of God, and turn away from all of the sinful works of darkness, continuing down the narrow path of Christ Jesus, and keeping ourselves out of,…..
….The Death Zone
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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