Borderline Living | Glen Osburn

This afternoon I just really there's lessons have four

different purposes. Sometimes it's to inform,

sometimes it's to encourage people to do what they've been

informed. And then you have other kinds of

purposes. Sometimes it's just to encourage

and of course to give knowledge, let all things be done for

edification. So there's there's different

purposes in this afternoon's lesson is a an examination of

direction. Once again, similar to this

morning in one sense, in the sense that I think we need to

recognize God is great and all the songs this afternoon I wish

we'd LED. I should have requested that

they be LED this morning because they were all reflecting the

greatness of our God. And this afternoon though, I

want to talk a little bit about drawing near to God and how to

do that. We're going to entitle our

lesson borderline living. Borderline means there's two

places in the Kingdom of God. But let me tell you where this

illustration comes from and then we'll go from there.

This is a picture of the Australian bite.

They called it a bite because it's on the South Coast, the

southern coast of Australia. The size of Australia is about

the size of America, but there's only the middle of Australia is

is abandoned. There's the great Simpson

Desert, which is horrible. I mean, it is really bad.

It's there. There's places where people can

live and then there's things where there's an area, a big

large area where nothing lives, not even plants.

It's really a a big place in the middle at one time because they

get no water there. They, the Australian government

thought about building a mountain over a Mile High to try

to scrape water out of the clouds.

And fortunately there was enough laughter that they finally

dropped that idea. But the whole point is, is that

the middle of Australia is nothing but a desert.

There is one highway that goes around Australia, around up

north, through the jungle, literally up there.

And then there's one that comes down and it goes down and

there's a out near Adelaide and Adelaide comes across the bite

into Perth, WA. Now the Bite, there's one road

and that there's a road that runs NS from Cooper PD, they

call it, which is up north, the whole town in the middle of

there is, there's a big huge rock up there.

They used to call it Ayers Rock, but the town is built

underground because it's so hot and literally it's underground.

You, you go underground to get around and that's where the

hotels are and everything. It's really an interesting

place. But the Bite, this is the

southern border down here in between Adelaide and Perth.

It drops off. It is that way all around from

Adelaide to Perth almost to WA and it's really, it's really

interesting area to see. That's it, that's down the whole

thing where you can hear water. But look where the beach, look

at the beach. There isn't 1.

And the people who drive across the top up there to get to the

other side, if they say gas, they mean that's the only gas

station there is for the next 200 miles.

You stop and get gas, you don't pass it.

That's how desolate that road is.

There were three gentlemen that drove on that southern Rd.

between Perth and Adelaide and they're going down this down by

the bike to get over there. And they decided to stop because

they were just going on and on and on and they decided to stop.

They pulled off the road and over to a camping area and they

were listening and they heard the water and they said well we

better stop, I can hear some water here.

We must be close to edge. Let's just park here for the

night. So they parked and they camped.

The next morning when they woke up, they were exactly 8 feet

from the edge of this Cliff that goes into the water and it would

be easy to drive off of that and be never heard from again.

It that's why they call it the bite.

It looks like somebody took a bite out of it and there's

nothing there. It's really a quite an

interesting place to to live in. Well, so it is with the two

kingdoms of our Lord. Sometimes we've been transferred

out of the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of his dear

Son, and we stopped the camp along the border, and we don't

realize how close we are to peril, how close we are to

absolute destruction. And yet those people, you look

at them and you either are grateful and thankful, or you

look at borderline living as the way that we often live.

We try to live as close to the border as we can get without

going over the edge, so to speak.

I don't know if many of you don't Myron McKinney, but Myron

used to live in the middle of Missouri up there, take pictures

and he used to be a shepherd and he said sheep are the stupidest

animals that live. He he said that they are the

greatest example of a Christian that he could think of because

they're really dumb. He said he went out one day to

take some pictures and three of his sheep died sticking their

heads through a square of of a wire fence to try to eat 1

sunflower. And three of them, literally,

they asphyxiated. They died trying to eat once 1

sunflower. He said, Can you imagine digging

before you take a breath? Because what you want is that

sunflower so bad you're willing to hold your breath and try your

best to get that sunflower over there.

And I go, yeah, that's a real good example of sins.

Sometimes. Sometimes we wake up dead, so to

speak, spiritually, because we're sticking our head to that

fence and trying our best to eat from the stuffs on the other

side of the fence. And we do.

We die trying. Yeah.

Many sheep have tried to live on that border, sticking their head

through the fence, trying to eat that which is forbidden by God.

And that's, I think, a perfect example of, of, of us for us.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness, the power of

darkness. It chokes us out.

It chokes our spirituality, deceives us.

It it we men love darkness rather than light, for their

deeds are evil. If our deeds are evil, we don't

want to know sometimes. And so the deceitfulness of sin

entraps us and we, we get to thinking, well, it's not that

bad, it's not that far. And I'm only going to hold my

breath for so long and then I'm going to get out of this and go

back. Well, we have transferred.

He has transferred us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love

or the Kingdom of, of those whom we love, in whom we have

redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians says there are two kingdoms.

There's the Kingdom of Satan, the Kingdom of Christ, and are

we still on the border trying to stick our head through the

fence? That's not very bright.

The power of darkness is great, and we need to get away from it.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 7, either by the narrow gate, enter

by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way

that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by

it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way.

I like newer translations because it it shows that what

that word really means. Difficult is the way that which

leads to life. And there are few who find it.

God says, I don't want you walking on the edge.

I want you to be as close to me as as possible.

In James Ford verse 8, the Bible says draw near to me, draw near

to him and he will draw near to you.

Clinch your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double

minded. Double mindedness is our

problem. We live in a world where we

don't walk by faith. We have to deal with the real

world. Our job deals with the real

world. We go Glenn, I got to deal with

the real world. I got day and night and I have

hunger and I have all of these things.

And we sometimes get deceived into thinking that we're still

in the Kingdom of the flesh and not that of the Spirit.

We're not. We've been transferred into the

Kingdom of God. We're his children.

And he will knows. He knows what all of our needs

are. He knows those things.

The Bible tells us in Timothy a verse that I didn't get to quote

this morning in Timothy it says verse in chapter 3, second

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Timothy chapter 3, verse one. But realize this in the in the

last days, difficult times will come because men will be lovers

of self, self love if you will, lovers of money, boastful,

arrogant, revellers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful and

unholy. Now just what I told you this

morning, the spiritual disciplines that God gives us

when we come to worship Him are working against this

development, the development of being self-centered and

narcissistic and believing that the temporal world is the only

real world. The spiritual world, my friend,

is very, very real, and we need to draw near to God in this

world, while we're in this world, treacherous, reckless,

conceited, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.

Remember that worship, prayer, Bible study, and the communion

and the collection are designed by God not only for His glory

and for the perpetuation of His message, but they're for us to

develop a spiritual mind and so draw near to God.

Draw near to God. He will draw near to you.

We occupy one of three positions.

Clearly in Satan's Kingdom, clearly in the Kingdom of the

Son of his love, or trying to live on the border between the

two. That's what we don't want to do,

try to live on that border. Two kinds of people live on the

border, the citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.

I'll let you go, you know, but I love the statement in Exodus 8.

Let my people go. No, no, no, I'm not going to let

them go. But here's what I will here it.

Let's compromise. OK?

Notice what he says in Exodus 8. So Pharaoh said, I will let you

go. Oh, but he stopped.

Here's here's the conditions. I will let you go that you may

sacrifice to the Lord your God and the wilderness only you

shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.

Is that the way some of us are living, trying to live in the

Kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of Christ?

God says let my view. All right.

God set me free for the bondage of sin.

I'm free from the Kingdom of darkness.

I'm in the Kingdom of the Son of his life.

I'm going to work. Really.

I'm going to go and worship God, Tried to draw near to God, but

the devil says, oh, you can go. Just don't go very far.

Don't become a fanatic about it. Have you ever heard anybody say

that to you? Has anybody said that to you?

Oh, yeah, you can be religious. But look, don't be a fanatic

about it. Are you?

Are you, are you a little bit fanatical?

I want you to know I want to be known as a fanatic and so should

you used to say I believe in God.

I'm going to act like it. I'm going to walk like it.

I'm going to talk like it. I'm going to draw near to God.

I'm going to be upset when I need to be upset, righteously

indignant about bad language and different kinds of things.

I'm going to be drawing near to God always.

Now, I don't mean act like a freaky.

I'm just saying don't be. That's well, it's one of the

great satan's greatest phrases. Yeah, go worship God.

Just don't go too far. That's borderline living.

Don't. Don't buy into it. 22 areas

along the border that Christians need to watch.

Areas where the line is clearly marked.

It's clear. There's no doubt about it.

It's right there and between honesty and dishonesty.

There's some people who are dishonest about where the line

is and they don't need to be recompense.

No man evil for evil. Provide the things honest in the

sight of all men. We need to be honest all the

time. We need to be straightforward,

not deceitful like sin is. We need to be faithful.

You know, sometimes our friends out in the world are hungering

and thirsting after righteousness too, but we're

almost trying to cover up our spirituality, and they have

nobody to follow because we're trying to cover it up.

We're trying to deceive people. Don't do that.

Let people know whose side you're on.

Let it be faithful. You know, I was taking

introductory psychology at school and my professor was a

well, he was a jewel of a person and he enjoyed destroying the

faith of many young people that had never had their faith tested

in this class before. He delighted in it.

And I was defending them at every chance that I got.

AI got out. You guys don't know about

apologetics. There's a a greater defense you

can give for this and everything.

And I was fighting my teacher and finally came time for the

midterm and I wrote my thesis against his and I said, listen,

you're not very helpful person. And I just wrote about what the

truth is. He come up to rides.

He said, Glenn, come here, I want to talk to you.

I went, well, here goes. My grade is going down the tubes

and everything. He said, were you considering

psychology or sociology as a as a career choice in life?

And I said, well, I'm considering it.

He said, I'm here to tell you, I'm giving you an A on your

midterm paper. That's good, he said.

But I want you to know that's generous because you're going to

have be fighting this the whole time.

You're going to be fighting people like me the whole time.

He says. I am going to be in on your back

and I'm going to be testing you all the time.

Now, in Oregon, there was only 8% of the people that really

actively exercise their faith at all.

And he felt like he was the, you know, but he's the big guy and

he knew what he was going to do. Here's my point.

I was in his face about faith and he respected that for a

little bit and had enough guts to warn me that I was going to

have a hard time getting the paper chase after getting the

certificate that I wanted to have in this class.

All I'm telling you is that was one of the greatest compliments

I ever had is whenever somebody says to you, I'm glad you're an

authentic person that will stand up for their faith and you're

not like everybody else. Your faith is different than

everybody else's, my friends. That's a compliment.

That's something wonderful. That's when you stand fast.

You're giving a light to others in darkness, to others that need

that encouragement. I'm telling you, you don't live

on the border. Don't try to compromise your

faith. Stand fast and stand up for what

you believe and let let the devil he loves darkness.

He's not going to stay where your light is.

He's going to flee. Resist the devil, the Bible

says, and he will flee from you. So I'm telling you, if you're

honest and you're straightforward and you're

faithful, you will accomplish what God wants you to do and you

will accomplish putting the devil to flight.

You will. And that's why we need not live

on the border. Don't live on that border at

all. Be there's a difference between

stealing and honest labor. Let him who stole steal.

No longer that I I use this passage to talk about how to

read with emphasis. No, the passage doesn't read.

Let him who stole steal no longer let him labor.

You can read it that way, you know.

Yeah. I want you to get at it.

No, I want you to steal no more, but let it labor with his hands.

In other words, you have to read it with the proper inflection.

Working with his hands. What is good that he may have

something to give to him who has need.

There's a purpose. Whenever you accumulate wealth,

as long as it's not self-centered or about yourself

esteem, you use it for the glory of God.

You view it as a talent. As a talent, thankfully, I know

some very rich people. I know some very rich people.

But guess what? They are humble people who

recognize their wealth is a stewardship from God.

And that is a wonderful place to be.

And that's what we're talking about here.

We need to be faithful no matter what our talent might be.

Notice between lying and the truth, we need to not be

vacillating and obtuse is what I call this.

Don't be as vague as you possibly can be.

Don't be that way. Speak the truth in love.

You can speak the truth in love. You know.

Here's what I always say. If somebody offers you a mint,

take it Now. That's what I mean.

That's the nicest way they can tell you.

You have bad breath. Take the mint.

The Christians, we can tell one another the truth, but we can

speak the truth honestly. We can say, I don't know if

that's the proper way to go. I think we maybe need to

consider that. Have you prayed about that?

We can talk without being bossy, without being overly taking

control. We could be thoughtful with

people and say, is that a spiritual?

Is that the spiritual? Is that drawing near to Christ?

You know, and ask those kinds of questions, but don't be vague.

Don't be lying. A lie is when you tell somebody

they're all right when they're not all right.

That's the most horrible lie a Christian can tell is that oh,

you don't need to worry about it.

You need to can be concerned about it.

That's not loving to love somebody to hell to tell

somebody not to check if they're in the wrong vein.

That's not loving. That's not Christ like behavior.

A Christian would tell somebody if they're going to be lost and

would share that would be concerned.

Pray and help somebody counsel them, for we're members one of

another. We need to be concerned about

each other. There's a difference between

fornication and marriage. Nevertheless, because of sexual

immorality, let every man have his own wife and every woman

have her own husband. First Corinthians 7 two, it's a

sin to live in fornication, to live as if you're married.

When you're not married, get married.

That's what 1st Corinthians 7 tells.

Let every man have his own wife and every woman have her own

husband. Stop living in sin.

Try to draw near and close to God encourage each other and we

need to not put make a distinct we need to make the distinction

and say this is this is not permitted in in the Kingdom of

heaven areas where the lines clearly marked areas where the

lines not so clearly marked. Yes, sometimes the area is in

modesty. We he wants women to adorn

themselves in modest apparel, moderate apparel.

That's what we have to try to not be gender bending

Christians. We need to be men and women,

especially in this age. Especially in this age.

We need to try to be the best men and women that we can be.

And that's what I'm trying to say.

Yes, it may be vague because somebody, some apparel here

might not be appropriate in a foreign country.

And sometimes in a foreign country, their parable might not

be appropriate in our country. But we can live as men and

women. Masculinity and femininity is

something that we should have awareness of.

And yeah, it's sometimes vague, sometimes it's conditional, but

sometimes it needs to be known and appropriate.

Masculine and feminine does not even nature itself teach you.

If a man have long hair, it's a dishonor to him.

But if a woman has long hair, it's a glory to her for her hair

is given to her for covering. This is scriptures.

It reads this way because God wants us to be aware that we're

not speed supposed to be messing around in this area.

Try to be as masculine or as feminine as you can be in the

Christian graces and they're opposites.

We should know what it is. Faith, virtue, knowledge,

self-control. New American Standard says

perseverance. Not patience, perseverance,

holding on, not holding back, but holding on.

Godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

These are the virtues that we should strive for and teach our

children to strive for. We've got to help them to grow

in their faith, to recognize the limits that God's constraints

that God puts on them, and help them to be faithful in keeping

their word and keeping the appropriate things of God in our

in our lives, things about which we may have doubt.

We must choose the safe path, the Bible says.

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because he does not

eat from faith. Faith is the assurance of things

hoped for, a conviction about saying things not seen.

Hebrews 11 / 1. If we can't have that kind of

conviction about something, then step back and maybe reconsider.

But try to be confident in the right things in the in the walk

that we have, because we're trying to walk not on the

borderline, but as close to the middle as we can get.

We need to walk by faith, for whatever is not from faith is

sin. The Bible says in Romans 14 and

verse 33 there's two kinds of people.

Once again, they're citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and

citizens of the Kingdom of Satan.

Many live their lives near the Kingdom of God, but never in it.

Notice what Jesus says and the on in Mark 12.

In Mark 12 verse 32, listen to what it says to the scribes.

Mark 12:32

He said to them, well said teacher, you've spoken the

truth. For there is one God and there's

no other but He, and to love him with all of your heart, with all

his understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and

to love one's neighbors, oneself as more than all the whole burnt

offerings and sacrifices. This is a response somebody's

given Jesus. Now when Jesus saw, listen, when

Jesus saw that the answer that he answered wisely, he said to

him, you are not far from the Kingdom of God.

He still wasn't in it, but he wasn't far from it.

He said you're not far from the Kingdom of heaven, my friends.

That's what we need to be is not far.

We need to be constantly drawing as close to God as we can get.

Nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed on him.

But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess.

If they knew they should have, lest they be put out of the

synagogue, they didn't want the consequences.

They should have had enough courage to speak the truth like

Felix now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control and

judgment to come. Felix was afraid and answered.

Go away for now. When I arrive, a convenient

season, a convenient time, I will call for you.

Yeah, but we don't think he ever did.

Then the GREEP has said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become

a Christian. Yeah, sometimes we're almost

persuaded, but we just never really make the commitment.

Not everyone who says to me this is one of the scariest passages

in the Scriptures, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of

heaven, but he does the will of my Father, which is heaven.

We got to do what we know is right, try to get, try to get as

close as we can to the Lord, not as close to the border, but as

close as we can to the Lord. Moses got close enough to see

Canaan, but he didn't get to enter.

In foolish versions could hear the Lord through the door, but

they couldn't go in. The rich young ruler was close

enough to lack only one thing, but he didn't get in.

Where do you live? I just want to.

I just want to encourage you folks.

We need courage. We need courage and faithfulness

and commitment to be successful in this generation or we are

going to be overwhelmed and dismissed as irrelevant.

We need to be relevant because the Lord is relevant.

What he did was expensive. He gave his life so that others

could be saved. Don't disrespect that sacrifice.

Be faithful. Confess His name proudly,

confidently. See how close you can get to the

Lord, not how close you can get to Satan.

The Lord is the one you need to thank.

Lesson. George, today I kept you awake.

I'm successful. I'm glad.

I'm happy. I kept you awake.

That was my objective. Thank you very much.

But do you agree with me that we need courage?

Do you agree with me that we need to see how close to the

Lord we can get and how far away from the border?

All those guys that were driving by the bite, there was no

lights, only their headlights and they couldn't see out in

front. They were getting close and all

they could do was hear the water.

Do you hear the water? Do you hear the water?

Are you going to slow down? Are you going to stop?

Are you going to drive right off the edge?

Let's see if we won't stop and be faithful to the Lord as best

we can. You know, this year, I, I'm, I'm

over 70 anymore. I know I don't look like it, but

the point I'm getting at about all this is that I'm fearful for

the kids. I don't see very much courage

anymore. I don't see courage and really

bothers me. Courage.

Brothers and sisters, we need parents that are willing to be

courageous in their stand for the Lord.

Let's, let's not, let's get away from borderline living.

Let's get away from that. If you stand in need of

obedience tonight in your faith, repent of your sins.

Luke 13, three, confess his name if you haven't, Matthew 1032,

and be baptized for the remission of your sins

courageously, faithfully. If you're a Christian, you've

fallen away because you've been intimidated your faith.

It's time to confess your faults and pray and ask God to

forgiveness if you need to. But for all of us, it's time the

church stopped borderline living and tried to see how close we

could come to walking with Jesus with no question where we stand.

If you stand in need of changing your life in some meaningful

way, come while we stand in, while we see.