Serve God or Money
Transcript
Good morning. How are we doing? We'll be in Luke chapter 16. It'll be page 568 if your Bible looks like this. If your Bible doesn't look like this, it'll be Luke chapter 16. So what we're doing is we're in our third week of our gift series.
And so what we've been doing throughout this series is celebrating Christmas, celebrating the fact that that Jesus came to earth to pay for our sin, to rescue us, to make us his. Celebrating that that's what we celebrate in Christmas, that that that that God became a human. And so that's what that's what we've been doing. But we've been trying to celebrate it in a distinctly Christian way to actually look at that and not get caught up in all of the consumeristic tendencies that we have as a culture. And I get caught up in just the the Christmassy stuff and miss out on what Christmas is about. And so we love Christmas, love singing Christmas songs, love celebrating Christmas, love traditions and the things that we get to enjoy with family.
Like we're big on that. I think it's all good. We like my family. Just we celebrated our Christmas yesterday. My extended family, so my parents very much are just like, let's figure out a time when all of us can get together and we'll celebrate Christmas, whether that's early or late. My family also, we do fireworks, we're in fireworks stores.
So New Year's is not a good time. We usually go before Christmas sometime because we're getting amped up to run fireworks stores and try to figure out when all the family can get together. And so we did our Christmas stuff yesterday as a family. And there's just a couple of things that I know go along with that, the way we celebrate Christmas. So I know there's certain foods we'll have, you know, that's just some traditions that we enjoy.
So we're going to eat sausage balls. We're going to have some coffee cake. I always usually take a weapon with ammunition whenever I go celebrate Christmas with my family because I know at some point we'll go shoot things. That's just part of how we celebrate Christmas together as rednecks. And so I'm assuming that you have different Christmas traditions that you get excited about, that you know are going to happen, that you're going to enjoy with your family. And but what can happen is we can get too caught up in that.
We can get too caught up in this being the perfect Christmas, making the best memories, getting the best gift, giving the best gift. And we can forget that the reason we celebrate Christmas is that Jesus came to earth as an infant. And that is the best gift of the world ever received, that that ultimate humility is shown when God becomes a human and ultimate generosity is shown when God becomes a human. The manger and the cross are the two pictures of the most complete humility and generosity and charity. That have ever existed. And so what we're doing in this series is we're taking some stuff that Jesus said because he is the standard for humility and generosity and charity.
And we're seeing what he has to say about our finances and about our possessions. So for three weeks right around Christmas, we're talking about money and not how to get more of it, but how to give more of it away. So we've all been having a blast. Like favorite series for everybody. I love talking about money. Everybody loves money.
Like if you can just talk about somebody's finances, that's a good way to make a friend. Just just when you're meeting someone, say, hey, my name is, you know, fill in the blank and say, can I see a copy of your budget? Maybe your last paycheck is pay stub like that's it's awkward, but we're we're taking what Jesus says seriously. And we're as as people who follow him seeking to apply the fact that he is the only eternal human who's ever come back from that side of eternity. So when we die, we all enter into eternity.
Jesus is the only one who's ever come out of eternity and into time. And so we're seeing what he has to say about money and our hearts and our finances. And so we'll be in Luke chapter 16. I'm going to pray and then we're going to let Jesus teach us today. God, we thank you that we get to gather as church family. We thank you for the opportunities that we have.
God, we thank you for how you've already begun to train us in what it looks like to handle our finances well. I would thank you for for the gifts that are on the front of the steps here that that will get to be shared with families in our city. And we pray that that today that through your Holy Spirit, you would continue to teach us the words that we have from Jesus that have been faithfully kept and written down for our sake as you have overseen it. And so we praise you and we thank you. And in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. So this this passage has always been kind of confusing to me. So I'm excited that we all get to read through it together today and look at it and talk about it. And so we'll be Luke 16 verse one. And Jesus is going to tell a story. And so we'll just kind of talk about what the story is and then we'll talk about what it means.
And he follows it up with kind of explaining some different stuff. So 16 verse one. He also said to his disciples, there was a rich man who had a manager. So basically very rich man because he's paying another guy to keep up with his stuff. So he's got like a money manager, property manager.
This guy oversees everything. So rich enough that he no longer has to. He just pays someone to do it. Who had a manager and charges were brought to him. That's the rich man that this man. That's the money manager was wasting his possessions.
And he called him and said to him, what is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager. And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. So there's two options.
I can go do real work. No, I can go ask people for stuff. No. No. And so he says, I'm ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.
So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, how much do you owe my master? And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50. And then he said to another, and how much do you owe? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your bill and write 80.
And the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. All right. So we're going to stop there and we're going to pick back up. But I just want to look at the story because Jesus starts kind of explaining stuff in a second. So that's kind of an odd story.
Basically, the guy's super rich, has someone managing his accounts, his funds, his property, and realizes that the guy isn't doing a good job. We don't really know, but he's a dishonest manager. And so he's probably skimming some off the top, probably using some of it for himself, probably slowly padding his own account, probably just doing some poor decision making with it. And so he basically brings him in and says, show me your accounts that you've been managing and you no longer get to be manager. And so the guy freaks out because he's about to lose his job. And so he makes friends with the people who owe his boss money by cutting their debt down.
And so he knows now they owe him. He's got some leverage over them. And so he's been very intentional with the short amount of time he had left as a manager to set himself up for what was to come. So he knows he's got just a little bit of time to be manager left. He's about to get fired. So he takes it, says he sat down and wrote quickly, did whatever he could at that point, leverage everything he had at that point to set himself up for what was to come.
And so his boss just commends his shrewdness. So the rich man is very rich because he's probably very shrewd with his money and makes wise decisions. I don't think he liked it. I think he was just like, it's a smart decision given the situation you were in for your own benefit. You're still fired. Leave.
Like I think that was kind of the commendation for his shrewdness was like, see what you did there? Now get out. So it's not like Jesus is saying, so kind of steal and pilfer a little bit because that's smart. That's not what he's saying. He's just saying the manager said, he said to the manager, the rich guy said to the manager, well played, sir. You may leave now.
And so Jesus is then going to begin to unpack this for us. He's going to begin to just explain a little bit what he's saying. I do want us to see this. Whenever Jesus tells a story, he's going to be in the position of the rich man. He's going to be in the position of the master. He's going to be in position of the father.
Like he, whenever he tells a story, he's the chief head character who is in charge of everything. That's one of the reasons that the religious people didn't like him because Jesus would tell stories. And it was obvious that he was the main character who was in charge of everything. And so that's not always received well. So when you read a story like this, just realize if we're going to be in the parable for to understand the parable, we're going to be landing on the manager side, not the rich guy who's in charge of things.
Just in case you wanted to play that character, that's Jesus. He's in charge of stuff, not you. So just so you are aware. And so that puts us in a position with finances, with possessions, with money, where we are managing Jesus's stuff. That's the general tone of the story is that the things that you have. So just take a second, quickly take stock of the home you're renting, either from an individual or from the bank.
Maybe the home you own, your vehicles, the amount of money you have in the bank, the worth that you have from the job that you have, the possessions that you have. In this story, as Jesus is showing this to us, you're just managing his assets. So a little bit, when it comes to how we operate with God, we're kind of like the FedEx guy. We got a truck. We got nice stuff in it. It doesn't belong to us.
So like if you're the FedEx guy, you can't show up at someone's house and be like, hey, you got a Christmas gift from your grandma. I know because I opened it. It's this shirt. It doesn't fit me super well, but I'll make do. And there were some cookies in it that I thought were chocolate chip, turned out to be oatmeal raisin. So I threw them away because they made me so angry because I had mistaken them first for chocolate chip.
Because let's just be honest. This is a side note. Oatmeal raisin cookies are good. Only if you know they're oatmeal raisin cookies. But if you ever see them and think, this is a chocolate chip cookie, and then you eat it, it's like, what on earth?
Why would someone disguise oatmeal raisin as chocolate chip? It's pure evil. But you'd be a terrible FedEx driver. And you're like, please, could you just sign here? You're like, no, I'm not. I'm reporting you.
Like, you're terrible. And that's a little bit of the position that we have that some of the things that we've been given are not even for us. They're designed to be given to other people. And at all points, we're just a manager. God's super rich. And he's entrusted us care of a certain amount of what belongs to him.
And we are either going to handle that well or handle that poorly. That's kind of the situation we find ourselves as Jesus begins to explain this a little more. And so he says this. And this is where it gets a little confusing. So we're going to have to park here for a second.
The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Okay. Stop for just a second. The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Okay.
Big picture Bible. There are two types of people. And that's what Jesus is talking about here when he says sons of this world and sons of light. Sons of this world is not only, it's not just sons. It's not just males. Humanity, men, people, boys and girls, children, whatever you want to call it.
It's humans of this world and humans of the light. People of the light. People of this world. But he uses the word sons. And so that's how I kind of will continue to refer to it. But if you're a female, that includes you.
Just, there you go. For the record. So, sons of this world. The Bible is going to be pretty clear on how this breaks out. There are two types of people. There are those who have placed their faith in Jesus and there are those who have not.
That's the only two types of people that exist in the world. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus and those who have not. And here's how that works. Sons of this world. What it's talking about there is that's all the people who in this world, this is as much life as they will have. So when it says their generation, what it is referring to is this life.
Their generation, which is a generation. 50, 60, 80 years. Sons of this world. Sons of light. Their generation is eternity. Eternal life.
So I was at a funeral this past Thursday. I believe it was Thursday. And it was Thursday. And it was a co-worker of mine when I worked at Sears. And I was just standing at the funeral. And there was this moment where I'm just looking at the casket.
And I can see around it all the grave plots and tombstones and little cups with flowers in them. And I'm looking at the people grieving. And I'm thinking, that's where we all end up. That's every single one of us is going to be put in a box and lowered into the ground. Every single one of us is going to have a little spot of earth with a little plaque or a tombstone that says a little bit about us. Every person there grieving at some point will be in one of those boxes and have other people standing around grieving, myself included.
And what Jesus is saying when he says they're sons of the world and they're sons of light is that life, vibrancy, joy, enjoyment, fullness for sons of the world, this is it. The happiest, the happiest they ever are, the most peace they ever have is going to have to come in that 50, 60, 80 years. And that sons of light, when they die on this earth and are placed in a box, life has just begun. Because their generation is an eternal one. And here's why. Jesus Christ came to earth to be a man to save men.
To be a human to save humans. That's why he came. That's what we're celebrating at Christmas. Jesus Christ is that he showed up not to show us how to live, but to live for us. That he's not a God that sat at the top of the mountain and yelled down to us, figure it out, learn how to be good, learn how to behave, learn how to be moral, learn how to follow religious rules, find your way up the mountain. But no, he came down and went up the mountain on our behalf for us.
That when we look to the cross, what we see is that Jesus definitively declares for every person in this room that we have sinned, that we have fallen short, and that we need him on our behalf. That the cross tells us Chet Phillips is busted, broken, and needs a savior. The cross tells us that every person in this room, every person on earth has fallen short and needs a savior. If there was one human from Adam and Eve in the garden, Adam and Eve in the garden, all the way to the last baby that was just born, that just got smacked on the bottom by a doctor and just sucked in its first bit of air and screamed for the first time.
If there was one human from that span of time, if there was one human from that span of time that was moral enough, good enough, loving enough, generous enough, that walked perfectly with God, Jesus would not have come. Because all God would have come. Because all God would have to do is say, it's possible. All of y'all should have been like this person. This person is good enough. None of you are.
But since no one fits that description, Jesus showed up to be that person on our behalf. And so Sons of Light is the group of people that have placed their faith in Jesus, that have said, his death covers me. His cross is my cross. That when God looks at me, he doesn't see me anymore. He doesn't see my sin anymore. He sees Jesus.
He sees Jesus. You see, every single person in this room will be put into a box and will be lowered into the ground. And every person in this room will stand before God, just like this manager did. Stand before God, just like this manager stands before the rich man and he'll say, open the books. Let's look at the account.
Let's see how you handled it. And every person in this room will either, as a son of this world, defend themselves and say, this is why I should be okay. This is why I should be good. See, Sons of the World is going to include all the religious people who think through their good behavior and their morals, their hard work and their white knuckling, being just a good person. They can put God in their debt. It's going to include all of them.
It's going to include all rebellious people who have just said, God doesn't exist. I don't submit to God. He doesn't have any claim over my life. All of them will be standing before God and they will defend themselves. They will be their own counsel. But Sons of Light will stand before God and say, Jesus is my account.
His life was for me. His death paid my penalty. My faith is in him. My hope is in him. My life is in him. The Bible is very clear on that.
And so when Jesus says there are sons of this world, there are sons of this age, and there are sons of light, what he is saying is there are those who have had their account replaced by mine. There are those who have placed faith in me. I lived for them. I died for them. And their faith has covered them because I have covered them. And there are those who said, no, I'll handle them all.
So let me explain something to you very clearly. We are in this room because this is true. So we celebrated on Friday. We got our groups together. We had our family meeting. And Raz's group won on a technicality, really, if you think about it.
And by a really messed up arbitrary point system. There was voting and lobbying. It's a lot like the BCS. And so we gathered in this room and celebrated what God's been doing and who we are as a church family because, and we talked about a lot of the effort and the money that's gone into church planting and to getting this church started and all the stuff we've gone through and all the man hours that we've put in and all the service that's happened and all the group hours and all the stuff that we've done. And the reason we have done that is not because a group of people want to get together and say that we are good and holy and can behave and are moral.
The church is not a group of people who get together and say that we're going to behave together and we're going to be good together and we're going to be really nice church people. It's a group of people who raise their hand and said, I have fallen short and I need a savior. And we get together and do all of the things that we do because sons of light exist and sons of the world exist. Because my neighbors will be put into a pine box and will be lowered into the ground and will stand before a righteous judge. And if they haven't had Jesus pay for their sins, they will spend eternity in hell, which is a real place.
And this life will be the only life they have had and they will have eternal death that follows it. And that's why we do what we do. And that's why we care about what we care about. Because sons of this world exist and sons of light exist. And those who know what Jesus has done on our behalf are not okay with the fact that there are still people who are trying to make it on their own, trying to be good enough, trying to earn it, trying to run from God because we will all face a righteous judge and a righteous judge does not acquit the guilty. And so when Jesus says that sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are sons of light, what he is saying is this.
People whose life is only going to take up 50, 60, 80 years. And when they die and are lowered into the ground, eternal death begins for them. That the most life they'll ever have is here. They handle their money really well. That's what he's saying. People who don't know Jesus handle their money in a very smart way because the most they'll ever have something, the most they'll ever enjoy something, the most fun they'll ever have, the best adrenaline rush they'll ever have, the most laughter and peace and joy and comfort they'll ever have is going to take place inside of 40, 50, 80 years.
And so he says they're very shrewd with their money. They make wise decisions. The sons of this world, the sons of this age are very intentional with their money because they're planning for retirement. They're going out of their way to figure out to have 401k. They're making sure they've got some medical insurance so that if something happens, they've got liability insurance. They intentionally go out of their way to enjoy things here.
So they plan ahead. They plan vacations. They do a lot of smart things with their money because the most enjoyment and the most life and the most fulfillment they'll ever have is here. And then he says the sons of light don't handle their money in a very smart way because for someone who has placed faith in Jesus, this life is a small, sad picture of what real life gets to be like, of what eternal life with a great savior and king gets to look like. And when we're lowered into a pine box, those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, life just began. Real life, true life, eternal life just got started.
And so when he says that they don't handle their money well, what he's saying is most Christians live as if they're going to live for 40, 60, 80 years. And you would not know that they believed they were going to live for eternity. And if they were setting up their accounts, they're really being dumb with their money because their money has eternal consequences that the other money doesn't. That's what he's saying. So when we talked about last week when he says, sell your possessions, give to the needy, provide for yourself money bags and treasures in heaven that do not grow old, that moths don't eat, that rust won't destroy.
That's what he's talking about. That's why he says sons of light aren't shrewd with their money. They don't make good decisions with their money because we actually get to have eternal things, those of us who place faith in Jesus. That boat is going to be a hole you pour money into, first of all. It's going to need upkeep. It's eventually going to get old.
It's going to rust. That new car is going to lose value when you drive it off the lot. That job that you're pumping hours into, that promotion you're working so hard for, that house is going to be put up on the market. There's going to be an estate sale. It's going to go to one of your children, or all of your children are going to fight over it. 40, 60, 80 years, it's over.
And every possession you have does not go with you, is not enjoyed by you. And if you are a son of this world, if you are someone who has placed no faith in Jesus, you are carrying your own weight of sin, you are standing before God to be your own moral, righteous person, or you're just saying that God doesn't exist, get a boat. Have a nice house. Set up for retirement. This is as good as it gets. Be shrewd with your money.
You got 40, 60, 80 years, if you're lucky. And the last ones aren't going to be so nice. So put some money in retirement. But if you're a son of light, none of that stuff is going with you. And eternal possessions begin the moment people toss dirt on that box your body is in. That's what he's saying.
And we're going to continue to go through and see some of the practical stuff that he lays out for us. So he says this. We'll go verse 8. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation, so that's the 40, 60, 80 years, than are the sons of light. They don't handle their stuff well to deal with eternity. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Okay, that's confusing. Because I think mostly we want to find out who are the friends we get to make, and what are the dwellings, and how do they invite us in. And I don't think that's what he's doing. I think he's just using the same language from the story he just told, as he continues his illustration. So it would be similar to if you sat down with a child, and you told them a story about a good little puppy, and a mean little puppy.
And you read through the story, and you told them all about it, and then at the end of the book you said, and you get to decide what type of puppy you will be. And you close the book, and the children say, German Shepherd. No, no, no, no, no, Dalmatian. It's like, no, no, no, no. The choices were good and mean, and it's not really a puppy. You don't get to be a puppy.
It's about behavior. I'm going to read the book again. And so, pay less attention to the pictures. That's what I feel like a little bit when I go, okay, well, who are the friends, and what kind of dwellings are we talking about? I think he's just using the language to say that the manager knew he was about to lose his position, so he did everything he could to set himself up for his next stage, for the place he was headed. And so when he says, make friends with unrighteous wealth, so they'll welcome you into eternal dwellings, he's just using the language that he said he made friends with himself, so they would invite him into their homes.
And so what he's saying for us is, take the time you have, be as intentional as you can be, to set yourself up for what is to come. So when he's talking about sons of light being shrewd, what that means is, what he says in Luke 12, give, be generous, be gracious, because all of that rolls over to eternity. Anything you keep here will be yours here for a short amount of time, and honestly it belongs to God, and you may be mismanaging it. But if you give it away, if you hand it over generously, if you help, if you pour out, all of that rolls on to eternity. That's the wise investment that the sons of light get to make.
That's what he's saying. Okay. So now it's just some practical stuff. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. Okay. Very practical, and we don't believe that.
Just across the board, our culture doesn't, we don't click with that. We believe it on some things. So like, if I'm a terrible little league coach, and I tried to convince you I would be good in the pros, you would not believe that. Like, the terrible employee who works with you, who always says they'd be a great boss, you're like, bro, you don't even show up on time. You'd be a terrible boss. Like, you should get no promotion.
But, there are some things that we believe that. So it says, one who's faithful in little will also be faithful in much. That applies very well to relationships and to finances. So just, this doesn't have anything to do with money. It's just relationships. Just trying to be helpful.
People say things like, yeah, I'm not a real good boyfriend. If we get married, I'll be an awesome husband. No, you won't. And girls, ladies, friends, let me help you. If he is a jerk, and if he is lazy, and if he doesn't treat you well, and if he cares more about video games than you, and if he's always talking to and looking at other girls, do not say, well, I'll marry him and that will fix it. No.
He'll be married to a lazy jerk who likes other girls. It doesn't change that. So don't think, well, yeah, he doesn't treat me real good, but if we get married, then I'll have locked it in. Locked in what? Like, that's a terrible decision. Guys, if she's kind of crazy now, you ain't seen crazy.
I'm just trying to be helpful. Who's faithful in small things will be faithful in big things. And what that means, the way we apply that to money is all the time we say, I'm not real generous now. I don't handle my money well now, but I would if I had more. We said this last week. God says it's a heart issue.
Getting a raise doesn't change your heart. Statistically, in America, the wealthier people give away a smaller percentage than the less wealthy people. The higher education you have, the more money you make, higher income level, the less likely you are to be generous. Statistically. But we believe that if I had more, I'd give more, but that's not how that works.
We are just going to be generous because of our hearts at whatever level we are. That's how that works. So you're going to be generous at your level. And as your level grows, generosity will go with it. As your level grows, if there is no generosity, it doesn't just show up. I heard somebody say that, that if somebody says, yeah, I just, I just am in a spot where I can't be generous.
He said, he'll look at him and say, okay, so if you took a 5% pay cut next year, 10% pay cut next year, you would die? No, I wouldn't die. Okay. So you're just saying you don't want to be generous. Let's just be real.
Let's be honest with it. Because you can be generous at the level you are. Generosity doesn't have anything to do. There's a really good example. If you look it up on YouTube, it messes my head every time I've seen this. A guy walks around in a McDonald's, McDonald's, walks around in a McDonald's, walks up to people and says, hey man, can I have some of that?
Hey man, would you, would you help me get a cheeseburger? Hey, he just walks around and everybody's like, get, no, stop. They do what I would do. Stop. Go away. It takes a dollar to buy something like, get a job.
And then they walk outside, they hand a cheeseburger to a guy who's in a homeless situation. He opens it up, he starts eating it. That same guy who'd been walking around the McDonald's, walks over to him and says, hey man, can I get some of that guy? And the guy breaks it in half and hands it to him. And they sit next to each other and eat. Generosity has everything to do with our heart, and very, very little to do with the level that we are.
If you are not faithful with the money, the possessions, the finances that you have now, they are all on loan. One day, the master sits you down and says, let's look at the accounts. It is his grace towards us that he does not give us more to mismanage. It is his grace towards us that we get to be dishonest in a little bit, as opposed to being dishonest in much. It's grace towards us. Because if we're faithful in small things, we'll be faithful in big things.
You talk to somebody and you say, what's your budget look like? I don't need a budget. I don't have any money. That's not how that works. You need a budget now. You'll need a budget later.
Same thing with generosity. I can't be generous. I don't have any money. No, no, you can. You can be generous at the level you are. You can share what you have.
You can share what people give you. Generosity has everything to do with your heart. Very little to do with the position you're in. Your tax bracket. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.
If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? This clicked in my head this morning. If you've not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? That only makes sense in light of eternity. Only makes sense in light of eternity.
Everything you own will be somebody else's. Or it'll be in a landfill. Everything you own is lent to you. It's being borrowed unless you're given something in eternity. Because there are no estate sales in eternity. Things don't wear out in eternity.
Moths don't eat things. Stuff doesn't go out of style in eternity. He says, who's going to give you something? If you haven't been faithful with what isn't yours, who's going to give you something that actually gets to be yours? Why would you show up to heaven if you are a believer in Jesus and you haven't been faithful with the small stuff he's let us borrow here? Why would we show up to heaven and him have given us anything that we get to keep for eternity?
That's what he's saying. And that's why he says, sons of light don't handle their money well. Aren't shrewd with their generation. Because our generation is an eternal generation. Which means that it's very small minded and very silly for us to be so focused on the next 40, 60, 80 years when we actually get to have real things for eternity. True wealth.
Something that actually belongs to us. That won't just wear out. That isn't going to go back to the dump or the yard sale or to people who are going to show up at our house and read our will and hand it off. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's who will give you that which is your own. No servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Okay, that makes sense too. We said last week that you don't really love money. You just love what money gives you. So like Scrooge McDuck. You know him? He jumps in and swims around in a bunch of gold coins.
Okay, he doesn't actually just like the gold coins. He likes what the gold coins say about him. He likes that the gold coins provide him security and power. He likes that the gold coins make him feel good about himself. He's not just rolling around in gold coins because gold coins are fun. So like if the U.S. government came out, the U.S.
Mint Treasury came out and said we're getting rid of all of the $5 bills that we currently have and we're changing over to this different type of $5 bill and you can trade in or we're getting rid of all the money that we have and we're changing over to this type of money. You can trade in all the money you have for the same size note. So if you give us a 5, we'll give you a 5. If you give us a 10, we'll give you a 10 and we'll hand it off. Okay, so after the dead date on that, when our old paper money is no longer good and we had to change over to like the plastic money that they use in Australia that has clear holes in it and stuff and it's weird.
After that happens, you no longer like your old money. You put on a pair of pants that has a $20 bill in it, you are now mad at that $20 bill. You do that now and you're like, jackpot, this is my favorite pair of pants. I'm going to wear them next week so if they have another one. You pull out an old $20 bill, it means nothing anymore. You no longer like that because it no longer has the value, carries the weight that it used to.
And so we're either going to serve money for the reasons that, the things that it gives us or we're going to serve God or our money is going to serve God is another way to put that because he says you'll love one and hate the other, you'll love one and despise the other one. Let me show you how that plays out. If you serve money, the past three weeks has been very frustrating and all of us serve money a little bit. So it hasn't been super fun to sit and think about to last week here that Jesus says where our treasury is there, our heart will be so we can look at our bank statement and see what we love.
For any of us who sat down and tried to do that, not a fun thing. Anytime we hear, we'll say things about the church like all they want is your money. Anytime we hear these kind of things because anytime God speaks on money, he's chasing after what we love and we will despise that. We'll hate that. We'll be frustrated by that. We'll be annoyed by that.
We'll think that's aggravating. We'll make excuses for why we get to do what we do or we'll say, well, I serve a lot or I do all this or I would do that if this was different or if I could just have that promotion. We will fight against what he says about it. But if you're serving God, then you'll do stuff with money that only makes sense in light of eternity. And everyone standing around you will say, that was so dumb. But money will be despised by you.
And it doesn't mean you'll hate money. It's not like you're going to go home and grab your wallet and that's not what it is. Despising means over and against the other one, you're going to dishonor, disrespect, shun. So what that will look like is this. Let me give you some tangible examples of how our money gets to serve God. You will adopt some children for Christmas.
Your children will get less gifts. Your family will get less gifts because you despised wealth possessions in order to serve God. You will pass up on promotions because you'll go, no, everything's not about money and that's going to make me work this extra hours or have this, and I really need to be building with the people I'm building with and I need the time to be able to lead a community group. You'll have someone offer you a position and you're like, I can't move. I've got church family here and I've got too many neighbors that I've just gotten to where will talk to me, that I've just gotten to where I can hang out with and build with and I know that there are sons of this world who will face God and be condemned because they did not have Jesus pay for their sin and I know that I deserve to be condemned but have placed my faith in Jesus and he has set me free and I'm not okay with moving because of the relationships that I've built and you will despise a promotion and you will despise getting a raise because you understand eternity and everyone who is your friend and even people in the church at times will say, what?
You'll be like, no, I can't. I can't move. I can't do that. I can't have a house like that. I can't drive a car like that. My money's got to go other places.
The car just needs to get me somewhere. It's a tool. It's helpful. I'm not going to have it forever. And you'll despise money and possessions because your money and possessions will be serving God. Does that make sense?
And so when it says you can't serve God and money, either you're going to have a problem with every time God talks about money, you're going to have an issue with every time he says things about generosity because he needs to be serving your money. There are churches that gather together and say if you follow God, he'll make you rich because God serves your wallet and he wants to give you a bunch of treasure here. No. Maybe. It's not wrong to be rich. It means God has entrusted you to steward more.
He's lent you more to be generous with, to be intentional with. Nothing wrong with having nice things. Nothing wrong with having a new car. Don't hear that. We do need to know it won't be new forever. We can enjoy nice things.
God invented steak on purpose, made it delicious. Eat a steak. But sometimes, pass up meat and remember that the mission's bigger and that your wallet doesn't just serve you. Yeah, both. Let's do both.
Go on a nice date. Go to a movie. Skydive if you want to. Realize the adrenaline rushes in heaven will be better. Don't. Don't act as if all you get is 40, 60, 80 years because that is not true.
Your money is going to serve God or you're going to try to figure out a way to have God serve it. The consistent amount of our prayers our God help me have, help me have, that may be an indication to us of what we're shooting for. He's not black and white. There's no, there's no, he is black and white. There's no gray area there. You cannot serve God and money.
So it's really going to be one or the other, which is really kind of annoying when Jesus does that. I'm just going to be honest. You read that and you're like, dang it. What about, what about this? And he's like, no. And that's what he gets into next.
The Pharisees, 14, the Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they ridiculed him. It's exactly what he just said. You love money, you'll despise God. That's a case in point. The Pharisees loved money, heard all these things and they ridiculed him. They mocked him.
They said it was dumb. Same thing that'll happen if we're living intentionally with our money as if we have an eternity. And he said to them, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Okay. Two things there.
The arguments that we throw back up stop. The justifications that we give, we just get to stop. Jesus cuts right through it and says, God knows your heart and justifying yourself in front of your community group and explaining to your spouse and making yourself feel good by your clear articulation of why you live the way you live. Just stop. God knows your heart, which makes things easier and nicer just so y'all know. And it makes things way harder.
So we'll cover easier and nicer first because that sounds better to me. Makes things easier and nicer this way. Because it's a heart level issue, it doesn't have anything to do with our behavior. Which means that what he is not saying is go earn it. Go give a certain amount. Go be, no, it's a heart level issue.
So when that guy broke that cheeseburger in half, if he is a believer, eternal treasures exploded. Real things were just added to his account. Because it's a heart issue. It wasn't like, well, I guess he gets an eternal half of a cheeseburger that they forgot to put pickles on. That's not how it works. It's not level of.
It's heart. Which means that for someone who says, I don't have that much to give, doesn't matter. It's not earn it. It's heart. And it's not get out there, try really hard, white knuckle it, fight. No, it's a heart level issue.
Makes it way easier. Not check it off a list. And it makes it so much harder. Because wouldn't it be nice if it was just checking off a list? Do you see what I'm saying? Like, we don't have to go earn it, but there's something in us that feels like, but kind of we do.
And I really wish it was just like some do's and don'ts and some, you know, certain percentage or maybe some, if we could just kind of reach, like there would be this moment we reach and God would just say, good, you did it. Up top. You don't have to be generous anymore or you've already banked up enough. Just enjoy this stuff. Like, it's a heart level thing, which means that if we religiously follow into it, which is I'm going to go do this so that God will owe me, our hearts are off. We've gotten confused along the way.
So our justifications, save them. He sees your heart. And it is a heart level issue. 18. The law and the prophets, that's the Old Testament, were until John, that's John the Baptist. So he's the pre-runner before Jesus.
The law and the prophets were until John. Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it, into the kingdom of God. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void. Okay, so he's talking to religious leaders and what he says is, the law and the prophets were until John and since then, the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom is preached and everyone tries to force their way and everyone's fighting to get into the kingdom. But I'm going to tell you, not a drop from the law will become void.
And what he's saying is this, your goal to earn heaven, to work really hard to live up to the law, to force your way in, which means that you would show up and you'd stand before God and you'd say, I've been good enough and his hand would be forced. Yeah, you have. You're in. Good Job. Good Job. What he says is this, not a bit of the law will be void, which means that every single one of us will be guilty because God is a good judge and none of us will be generous enough, none of us will be moral enough, none of us has the moral resume, the moral report card to show before the God of the universe and have him be impressed.
Not a drop from the law disappears. We all stand with the weight of the law of a holy God on our shoulders. And we cannot force our way in because we all fall short. The law is not void and God is a good judge and a good judge does not let injustice happen, does not acquit the guilty but holds everyone accountable for failure and upholds the law. That's what a good judge does. But the good news of the kingdom is preached.
And the good news of the kingdom is that the manger and the cross exist and Jesus' generosity gets to be applied to our account. That we will never be generous enough. We will never be good enough. The weight of the law will always fall squarely on our shoulders and must be upheld unless Jesus upheld it for us. That's the good news of the kingdom. That sons of this world do not move themselves over into the category of sons of light that Jesus does.
That we don't earn it, we don't merit it, we don't moral it, we don't get together as church family to learn how to be good so that God will love us. We get together as church family because God has loved us and was good on our behalf. We get to gather together, we get to get in our community groups and talk, we get to be the first people, Christians get to be the first people to say, here's my sin, here's how broken I am, here's where I've fallen short, and all other Christians go, yeah. The world thinks it's the opposite. Some of us in this room may think it's the opposite, that the purpose of the church is for us to get together and learn how to be good and show how awesome we are.
That is not the case. The purpose of the church is to get together as a group of people who realize that Jesus was awesome on our behalf, good on our behalf. That's the good news of the kingdom, that we have eternal life because Jesus gives it to us. So we're going to continue to sing, and here's what we're going to do. Here's what I want us to realize. If you are a Christian in this room, you get to be generous, and every bit of it is worth it.
Everything you give away is actually the only stuff, think about the stuff you've given away, that's the only stuff you'll ever keep. That's the only thing that ever gets to be truly yours, is the stuff we give away. And that Jesus' ultimate generosity has been applied to our account, that he paid for our sin, that he canceled our debt, and that he gives us life and freedom. And that generosity changes our hearts so that we can be generous. That his spirit changes our hearts so that we can view money in the right way, so that we can understand eternity. So if we're Christians, that's where you sit today. with an ultimately generous God, who has paid your debt, who has given you true riches, and invited you into eternity.
And if you're in here today, and I don't care if you've been around the church, I don't care if you grew up in a church, I don't care if you could beat everyone in this room in a Bible drill. If you think that you make yourself a son of light, if you think that you force your way into the kingdom through behavior, through good morals, through being a really good churchy person, you do not. everyone in this room is a son of light because Jesus has saved us and set us free, or is a son of the world because he has not yet done that. And we have not yet placed faith in him, and have not yet trusted him to pay our debt, and have not yet said that I know that I'm broken and I fall short, but that Jesus was righteous in my place. So if you're a believer, allow the gospel to impact your heart so that you can be changed by God's ultimate generosity, by the fact that an infant was laid in a horse trough, in a barn, and then hung on a cross, to be generous and charitable and gracious to us.
And if you're in here and you haven't placed your faith in Jesus, let's at least be very clear about this. This is not a place that is about behavior, not any of our behaviors, Jesus's. If it's about behavior, if it's about upholding the law, it's about Jesus doing that on our behalf. It's not about us being good, being moral, and realize that you are freely and forever invited to place your faith in Jesus and have him set you free. Does life get better? I don't know.
Maybe not. Eternity's going to be great. That's where real life starts for the believers. And we will guarantee you that you get a whole messed up church family to walk through this messed up life with. And at least you'll every once in a while get to look good by comparison. But if you haven't placed your faith in Jesus, we invite you to do that.
To trust him with your sin because he can handle it and you cannot. And if we're Christians in the room, don't let the generosity of Christmas be lost on you and be drowned out. But let the gospel change your hearts. I'm going to pray. Pray with me. God, we ask that through your Holy Spirit for those of us, for the individuals in this room who have not yet trusted you, not yet said that I know I can't hold my sin, but Jesus can, we ask that you would right now show them and call them and break them with your generosity and your grace.
God, that people would leave this room today as sons of light and their destiny for eternity would be changed through your grace and generosity. God, we ask that those of us who have already trusted you with our sin would continue to grow in trusting you with every area of our life, including our finances, including our generosity, that the gospel would so impact our hearts that being generous just made sense to us, that we would so clearly see the eternity that is given to us that everything here would pale in comparison and seem as small as it really is. we ask all this in your holy name. You talk to God, if you need to talk to God, do business with him, let him speak to you, and we're going to sing... Due to the Talent...
Where Your Heart Is
Transcript
Well, good morning. How are we doing? All right. It's my favorite thing to do. I do that all the time. I ask how people are doing, no one responds, and then I make fun of you.
It's great. It's a wonderful way to start off a sermon. So my name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here, and we are in the second week of our Give series. And so what we're doing is right around Christmastime, as our culture just kind of goes crazy with buying things, with Christmas in general, and sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a healthy, we're excited about Christmas way. More often than not, though, it's in a consumeristic kind of frenzy-ish way.
So, like, I heard somebody said that there was someone who was from another country. I think they were from England or something. They were here on Black Friday, and there was, like, people shooting and stuff at a Black Friday thing. And they looked at someone near them and said, is this normal? Like, do y'all usually shoot each other on Black Friday? Like, is this, should I have brought a gun?
Like, I'm not an American. What should I have done here? And so it turns into that, where there's this mob of people and this massive amount of weight and pressure that come with Christmas. I'm assuming y'all feel that, have noticed that. Like, there's this pressure for it to be magical, for it to be special, for this Christmas to somehow outdo last Christmas. There's this pressure to have perfect time with family.
There's this pressure for there not to be any problems or anything bad. Or, like, we just, no, no, no. It's Christmas. You can't be angry at Christmas. Like, my mom cried one time and told my dad he was ruining Christmas. And his response was, like, how?
What am I doing? And she said, I don't know. Because there's just this weird pressure of this has to be perfect. This has to be great. This has to be. And even when it just, when it's a really nice time, when it's a really special, it just, you feel this weight for it to be better, for it to be bigger, for it to be more magical, more special.
And so what we try to do around this time of year, and we've done it every single year for both years that we've existed as a church, is we try to intentionally be generous, intentionally try to reorient our hearts towards generosity with a series called Give. And we're not the only church in this area that does this. There are two others that we partner with and are good friends with. They do this as well. And it's just an intentional around Christmas. We're going to try to be generous.
We're going to try to remind ourselves what's really important, why it really matters. And so what we're doing for three weeks is we're looking at some tough sayings of Jesus on the topic of money and possessions. So what we're celebrating at Christmas is that God became a human. That's what the word Emmanuel means. So they said he'll be called Emmanuel, which means God with us.
We're celebrating that God became a human, took on humanity with the express purpose of dying on our behalf. And so when we read the words of Jesus, when we look in the Gospels and see what Jesus says, we're seeing what God says. The creator of all things. We're seeing what he says about marriage. We're seeing what he says about relationships with other people. We're seeing what he says for the next three weeks or for these three weeks on the topic of money.
We're seeing what he says about money and finances and possessions so that we know how we ought to think, how we ought to view this, where we see it incorrectly. So that's what we're doing. I'm going to pray and then we'll be in Luke 12, which is right where we left off last week. God, we thank you that we get to gather as your church, as your people to hear your word. We pray, God, that you would help us to follow, to not just say we're disciples, not just say we're followers of Jesus, but to actually follow Jesus. We pray, God, that you would, through your Holy Spirit, help us to see truth, to believe it, and give us, God, the grace that we need to repent and the grace we need to follow after you.
We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We'll be in Luke chapter 12, and like I said, we're going to pick up where we left off last week. So last week we started in verse 12, 13, somewhere around in there, 13.
And basically Jesus is teaching. Somebody comes over and says, hey, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me. Jesus immediately starts teaching how this guy's kind of covetous. He turns it on, everybody. It'll be on page 566 if your Bible looks like this. If you don't own a Bible, take one of these with you.
We want you to have a Bible. This is our gift to you. Take this with you. And so what we talked about last week, though, was that Jesus tells us to be on guard against all covetousness. And so we tried to point this out and even jokingly some point how we're covetous and we don't even notice it. It doesn't even show up on our radar.
It's just normal to us. We were shooting some video stuff yesterday. And Charlie, one of our group leaders, came over to give something to Matt. And he came over on his motorcycle. And when he rode off on his motorcycle, I looked at Matt and said, I want a motorcycle. And Matt responded, me too.
And that's called covetousness. That's seeing something you don't have and then feeling like you need it. Feeling like somehow you're missing something by not having it. And desiring something that someone else is. It's innate in us. And we don't even notice it.
It doesn't show up. The other thing that he said at the beginning of this passage is that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. And although we've watched the Hallmark movies, we don't believe that. There's something deep in us that feels like, no, yeah, but yeah, it kind of does though a little bit. Like good point, but yeah, but not really. Like we feel that.
And I'll show you how this shows up. You're in your community group. You're walking with church family. You're praying about stuff. And somebody says, hey, I've got an opportunity for promotion. I just got promoted.
Automatically. Boom. Celebration. That's automatically a win. You're getting more money. It's a win.
Because life exists in that. We don't ask, well, does that mean you're going to have to travel more? How is that going to affect your ability to spend time with your family, to do what you're doing with like? Automatically it's a win. Somebody says, hey, I've got a better Job. I'm moving.
Oh, congratulations. We'll help you pack your stuff. We don't ask. Do you think that's what you ought to do as a part of church family, as a part of a Jesus follower? Is that like we just don't even show up? Because we believe somewhere deep inside of us that life exists in the abundance of possession.
So if you can get some more, if you can make some more, if you can rise up in the world, that's a win automatically. It's just not on our radar. And so Jesus goes through and he tells the story about a rich man who gets more wealthy and basically says, cool, I get to tear everything down. I get to be set for life. And that God looks at him and says, well, kind of, because your life's going to end tonight. And all this wealth that you've accumulated, whose is it going to be?
And then Jesus says that he's foolish, not wicked, not evil. He says he's foolish because he doesn't understand how to be rich towards God. He doesn't understand what it means to actually invest in something that lasts. And so that's where we are. That's what he just finished saying. That's what we're going to pick up today.
But we're going to do something a little bit differently. We're going to jump to the end of what Jesus says, kind of his summary statement, so that we have this in our head as we walk through. And this is one of my favorite passages on the idea of finances, on the idea of possessions, because I feel like Jesus just says it so clearly. And so it makes me very uncomfortable. And that's why I think it's good. Just so you know, when you're reading scripture and it makes you uncomfortable, you're reading it correctly.
If the Bible always agrees with you, you're reading it wrongly. Like if you read the Bible and you're like, told you, Jesus is a Republican. It's like, no, I think you may be off there. I don't think he automatically agrees with everything you think. And so this is one of the areas where Jesus just says something. He says it very straightforwardly, and it makes me uncomfortable.
So we're going to jump to the end. And we're going to kind of do, you know how you're watching movies sometimes, and it starts off like it just drops you in the middle of a scene. And there's like the main character is like sweating and holding a gun. And you look over, and there's some guy you don't know, but he's like bleeding out. And you can tell that they like each other or whatever. And then he like spins around the corner, and he's like, I guess you're wondering how I got here.
It's like a voiceover thing. He's not actually saying that because that would be weird and walking around saying it out loud. But it's like a voiceover. Two days ago, I was just your normal, average high school student. And then it like takes you back. So like you got to see where you're going, and then it takes you back.
And so you've got that in your mind the whole time you watch. That's what we're trying to do as we read the end of this passage. So like when you meet the character that's bleeding at the end, you're like, bro, I know you're worried about that math test on Friday. You ain't even going to. Don't worry about it. Don't study.
You might as well watch some Netflix. You ain't going to make it. That's what we're doing. We're going to see where Jesus is taking this. We're going to see what the ending scene is so that we can hold that in our brain for the rest of the time as we go through this passage so that we can understand more clearly. I think it's a helpful way to go through this.
So jump quickly to Luke 12, 34. This is Jesus, kind of how he lands this. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So what Jesus is going to say at the end of all this is he talks about money and possessions.
He's going to land in. If you want to know where your heart is, all we've got to do is look at where your treasure is. And he's talking about it specifically in the context of money and possessions. Like the passage before says, sell your possessions, give to the needy, provide for yourself money backs. He's talking about the concept of finances. So don't sit there and go, well, my treasure is my children.
That's not what he's talking about. What he's saying is where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So where you send your finances, where you put your possessions is showing you what you care about. It's going to indicate to us what we love. And we know this. We see this in our culture.
Like I was a business major. One of the things that you talk about a lot when there's a crime is committed, they're going to look at, well, where's money going? So like we have websites called Follow the Money that are going to tell you who gives to what political party. So that you'd watch a guy and see how he votes over and over again in Congress or something. You start seeing, well, who gives him money? There are different TV shows at different times that were Follow the Money.
Every time someone's killed, they're going to look and see, well, who's the beneficiary on their life insurance? Because we know that the money is going to lead us somewhere. And that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, follow the money and you'll find your heart. But you'll get to see clearly what it is you actually care about.
I saw this about a year ago and I looked it back up today to make sure it's true. But it's a lady won a million dollars on Wheel of Fortune. Which I didn't even know you could do. It was apparently like a special thing. Three people now in all of history have won a million dollars. And I was watching it on like local news and they were like showing the clip of how she won.
She's all excited. And then the news anchor before they swap to the next story goes. And the lady said that she would spend all of her winnings on her upcoming wedding. And then they changed over to a new story. And I was like, do what? You're going to spend a million dollars on a wedding?
Like what are the party favors at this wedding? Leather jackets with diamond encrusted doves in the pocket? Like what? You've got to do work to spend a million dollars on a wedding. And immediately I'm like, that is absolutely ridiculous. Because if you gave me a million dollars, I would spend it on the things that I love, not the things that she loves.
That's all we're saying when we look at something and say, that's a dumb way to spend your money. All you're saying is, I don't place value where you place value. But Jesus says that you follow the money and you'll find your heart. That where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be. That's why it gets so tense when we talk about money. That's why conversations with people about money and how they spend money get intense.
Because there's an immediate connection between your wallet and your heart. So if I start telling you how to spend your money, what I'm telling you is, this is how you ought to have your value system line up. And immediately you're going to get defensive because your heart lines up with your money. So Jesus, he's getting in our business a little bit, isn't he? Okay, so that's where he's going to take it. That's where he's going to land it.
Let's jump back up to the top here in verse 22. And he said to his disciples, Therefore, I tell you. Just so you know, whenever you say therefore in scripture, it means you need to know what just happened. Because he's responding kind of in light of what was just said. So what was just said was, You're foolish if all of your money goes to you.
If you don't ever put any money towards long-term, eternal investments. You're foolish. Therefore, I tell you. Oh, and he says this to his disciples. So really, Jesus is talking to those who follow him.
So if you're in here today and just checking out this whole Jesus thing, this is something he turned and said specifically to those people who said, I follow Jesus. Now, the stuff is still true about your money shows you where your heart is. But some of where he's going to press us some today, specifically to those who say, No, I'm a Christian. I follow Jesus. I've had my sin paid for by him. He is my king and leader.
Therefore, I tell you, Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried, for all the nations of the world seek after these things. And your Father knows that you need them. That's beautiful. Like, that's a very encouraging thing that Jesus says. He looks at these people and he says, don't be worried about this stuff. Don't worry about what you are going to eat, what you are going to wear.
Look at the ravens. Look at these birds. They have no intentionality behind what they are doing. Like, they don't have barns. They are not punching the clock. And your Father knows them and feeds them.
How much more value are you than birds? That's beautiful. Like, there have been times before where I've sat in my backyard in the morning and just hear tons and tons of birds. My wife and I recently had pet squirrels that we found. So they were baby squirrels and we raised them.
And then we kind of let them out into the wild. And as they got older, they just kind of quit coming around so we wouldn't see them anymore. I was in my backyard. Probably hadn't seen any of those squirrels. I mean, you see squirrels, but you don't, you can't tell. Like, we didn't spray paint them to know which ones were out.
I was in my backyard on the phone and I looked down and there was a squirrel at my feet and it just ran, climbed up my leg, sat on my shoulder, climbed back down as a full-grown squirrel and ran off. And as I was reading this today, I thought, you know, that squirrel was raised by humans so it really doesn't have much of a chance at being a good squirrel. Like, it's, like, God's really got to be on that. Like, we were feeding them for a while and then they quit coming around and we didn't know if they lived or died or whatever. And what's beautiful is that God knows about that squirrel, cares about that squirrel, has been feeding that squirrel.
You can sit outside and hear birds chirping and God says, I know each of them. Jesus at one point says not, there's not a sparrow that falls to the ground that God doesn't know about. He knows each of them, cares for each of them, provides for each of them. And some of us today, that's what we need to hear. Life's tough. Christmas just points out to us how short we fall on things, how far behind we are.
And you need to know that. You're worth much more than birds and grass and God takes care of all of them, provides for all of them. So when he was talking to this crowd, this original hearers, that's mostly what he was pushing in on them a little bit. Was you're concerned about, you're anxious about, you're worried about these things because you're consistently asking, where's my next meal coming from? Am I going to eat? Is this going to work out?
How am I going to stay clothed? How is this going to work? Because for the majority of history and the majority of humans, even on the planet Earth now, primarily you eat to not die and you wear clothes to not have the sun cook you or the weather freeze you. I guess pretty much for the majority of people across the world, that's how that works. But for the majority of Americans, that is not how that works.
So for some of us, he's going to talk to us in the same way that he was talking to them, which was saying, don't be anxious about these things. God will provide for you. But when it comes to our anxiety for most of us, our anxiety around food and our anxiety around clothing is in a completely different place. And so he's going to be talking to us in a different area. Because here's the thing. Most of us don't ask the question, am I going to eat later?
Most Americans are asking the question, what am I going to eat later? Most of us are not asking the question, will I have clothes? Most of us are asking what type of clothes, how much clothes, what brand of clothes. That's kind of where we land on things. Because in the past hundred years or so, we started being able to produce more than we actually can handle. So it used to be you had about the same amount of shoes as you had feet.
But now we can make shoes so much faster, so people have to convince us that we need different types of shoes. And that our shoes tell the world about us. Isn't that with food? Most of us aren't worried about, am I going to eat? It's like, we're a little bit like, I've got so many Doritos, I don't know what to do with all of them. I guess I'll just eat them until I fall asleep.
Like, when it comes to food, it's a little bit like, I'm happy, so I'll eat. I've got something to celebrate, let's eat. I'm sad, so I'll eat. I'm depressed, I'll eat. The TV's on, I might as well eat. I have the whole day to myself.
I want to nap on an empty stomach. Like, that's kind of how we treat food. We've got way more than we actually need and our anxiety with it is in a different space. Same thing with clothes. Clothes to us, you don't pay more because your clothes has more material to it for the most part. You pay some more for different types of material.
Most of the time though, we're paying for the label that's on it and the place that we bought it from. You're spending more because they put a little stitch thing on the front. Like, it's not like you walk up to somebody and be like, long sleeves. I bet that sets you back. That's not how that works. Ah, purple.
Didn't know you were rich. That's not, that's not how, it's way more what's on the front and what do your clothes say about you. And I'll give you examples of this. Like, if you watch advertising, you'll pick up on this pretty easily. So as you walk around doing your Christmas shopping and you're out, you're going to see two to three thousand ads a day, the average American does.
Uh, and as we're walking around doing our Christmas shopping and seeing different things, like some, all right, so, uh, you're watching TV and a car commercial comes on. There are some car commercials that are going to sell you on features. Most of them are going to sell you on what type of person that car makes you. So it's just like a cool guy riding around in the car and he hops out and he's got a tuxedo and he lights up a cigarette and you're just like, I want to smoke and drive that car. Or like, uh, legitimately, car advertisement is hamsters dancing. My wife drives one of those cars.
I have no clue what that tells us about her, what kind of a person she is. She's the type of person who wants to dance with a hamster. Like, I don't know, but they don't tell you anything about the car. It's just like techno music and hamsters dancing and you're like, cool, that's the type of person I want to be. Uh, one of the best examples of this, you're walking around Christmas, please, if you're at the mall, look for Hollister bags. I've said this before because I think it's the best example of this.
Look for Hollister bags. I used to work at the mall. People would come through with Hollister bags. Okay, so Hollister is a clothing company. That means they're a company that sells clothes. On their advertisement is a picture of a guy torso-ish up with no clothes.
He is wearing nothing as far as we know in this advertisement and they are trying to sell me clothes. They are not selling me on our clothes will keep the sun from cooking you. They are not selling me on our clothes will keep bugs from eating you. They're selling me on our clothes are so cool you won't have to wear clothes. I don't even like, I wish I could be like that guy if I had one of those Hollister shirts I'd have abs. Like, I don't know how that works.
But it's obvious that they're no longer selling us that when it comes to our anxiety around food and our anxiety around clothing it's obvious that it's no longer where he was talking to them about. See, here's what happens. I want to show you where he takes this. Verse 29 And do not seek what you will eat and what you are to drink nor be worried for all the nations of the world seek after these things and your father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Okay, that gets a little confusing if we don't know what the kingdom is. because it seems like he just changed subjects. He's talking about money, possessions, he's talking about this rich guy not being, only being rich towards himself, not being rich towards God and then he says don't worry about clothes and food because God wants to give you the kingdom. So it's just a little bit of like, what, is the kingdom filled with clothes and food? Like I don't understand what the kingdom is. The kingdom is this, that Jesus, that when God created the world we rebelled against him and that we're sinful, we're broken, we're off, we don't love God, we don't follow God, we don't want to be a part of his system and that Jesus came, that's what we're celebrating at Christmas, that Jesus came to die for our sin, to pay our debt and when he did that he invited us back into his kingdom where he's the king and our debt has been paid, we have been set free from sin and we have become God's children, God's family, citizens of the kingdom and here's how that impacts money.
To a Christian, money is just money because we've been invited into the kingdom. So here's what's true. You don't actually love money. We said last week that we liked money. You don't actually love money. You love what money gives you.
You love what money provides for you. That's actually why we like money. Nobody in here is like addicted to collecting Monopoly money. None of you would work for Monopoly money. The only time you care about Monopoly money is for the seven hours that you play that game until one of you gets so mad at your grandmother that you flip over the thing and walk out. But we don't care about Monopoly money because it doesn't give us anything.
The reason we like money is because of what it provides. And what I mean by that is this. some of us in here if given a million dollars we would invest and we would put it in the bank. And our standard of living wouldn't change a whole lot but we would feel so good at night going to sleep thinking nothing can mess with me because I've got a million dollars in the bank. Like if I mean I can pay off my house I can be perfectly secure and if anything comes up if there's any problem and so money for some people is going to be security and control. You get to feel like by having money by having possessions that you have a level of control over your life.
You have a level of I don't have to worry I'm secure because I have finances and that's actually going to show you where your heart is. That's showing you what you worship what you value what you love. Some of us it's going to be comfort and you get money it's gone. Well I have money when I could have a cheeseburger. Well I have money when I could get a hot tub. Well I have money when I could go like it goes towards just us enjoying life.
That's the purpose of money is to have nice things in our house to have a nice couch to have a big TV because money brings comfort. Money brings vacations. That's what it represents to you. Some of us it's going to be power. Money gives you authority over people and things so you get really rich you can actually influence how political parties work, who gets elected, what happens, how things happen. You can show up at the school and your kids are in trouble but you got a lot of money so you can get them out.
What happens, how things happen. You can show up at the school and your kids are in trouble but you got a lot of money so you can get them out. For some of us though we're not going to have that much money so it becomes more like this. I'll help you pay for this and you're just doing it not out of generosity not out of love but it gives you a little bit of
Power over somebody so you see parents be like I hope you pay for your wedding if I'll give you that small loan if or even there's no if they don't say if but it's an included if because it just oh yeah my money works for me to elevate me in power. Some of us it's really just approval that's what he says
When he says that Solomon in all of his glory didn't look like the flowers it's really just money helps people know my status helps people know where I am that I've arrived that's why we say things like man I wouldn't be caught dead driving that because that that vehicle would not articulate my status to the world appropriately that's why if you're out
Somewhere like you went to Walmart at two o'clock in the morning you didn't think anybody was going to see you so you're wearing like really grungy clothes you run into somebody and you're like dang it I'm going to be on people at walmart.com and you're embarrassed because of
How you dressed just because because clothes no longer are just how to cover you but it actually says something about you it tells the world your status and so when Jesus said it's God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom it eradicates the need for all of those other things
Because Jesus stepped in to pay for our sin and when he did status and approval were forever taken care of that the God of the universe approves of us because when he looks at us he sees Jesus standing in our place money cannot buy a Christian approval approval approval approval
Has been given by the shed blood of Jesus on our behalf there is no higher status than a son or daughter of the king of the universe and that's already been given to us by Jesus that's the
Invitation into the kingdom and that's why it's God's good pleasure to give it to us and that's why it eradicates our need for these other things comfort we have an eternity to spend with the creator of the universe in heaven
I don't know if y'all know much about heaven it's nice and there's nothing that comforts our soul more than knowing that we have been secured forever by God and that that's where we are going to end up because of Jesus
Not because of us security and control you're in the hand of God and your security has already been won for you forever by Jesus because you've been invited into the kingdom by his work not yours and the ultimate most powerful
Being on earth loves you cares for you provides for you works for you serves you in the cross to give you life and joy and hope and peace and you get to rest in his powerful controlling hands that's why
Money gets to be just money for a Christian that's why it means nothing else to us it doesn't buy us approval doesn't buy us power doesn't buy us status doesn't give us control those all belong to God they all
Belong to Jesus and they've all been given to us freely in the cross that's why we get to look like we're citizens of a different kingdom that's why he starts talking about the
Kingdom I was talking to Raz recently he's from Australia so he thinks about things differently so we have different discussions about guns we have different discussions on taxes and social
Issues like how the government interferes with and works in society with medicine we're always on different pages the most recent one we had was we were here at
Glen Forest they were having a basketball game we went into the side just because we're used to being around here doing stuff when we were leaving we realized that we had not paid
And we were supposed to we were there for a few minutes so we didn't turn around and pay which maybe we ought to have but I was like oh we didn't pay and Raz was like
Pay we didn't pay to get in the game he was like y'all pay to get into games at a high school I was like yeah he was like no
He's like who pays I was like parents you gotta pay to watch your kid play a sport I was like yeah he said no I was
Like how do y'all pay for stuff he was like school fees I was like I don't think we really have those private schools
Do I guess he's like oh well public schools don't have sports I have in heaven as citizens of king Jesus and it changes
How we view money it changes how we view relationships we are secondarily american citizens australian citizen that's secondary for us primary is citizen
Of the king citizens of heaven and that's why he says it's God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom and that's how that
Affects our finances and our hearts that's how that actually steps in and changes so that when we see what Jesus has provided for
Us we no longer trust money to do that when we see the generosity given to us and what we celebrate at Christmas and
What we celebrate at Easter we're no longer so caught up in what finances can accomplish for us because we know that they're secondary
They're smaller that money is just money you can be generous with it and you can be good with it yeah you can buy
Some food and clothes with it yeah but God's got all that God's going to provide and we actually get to leverage our money
For his kingdom we actually get to leverage our money to be generous to be good to others and that's actually what he says 31
Instead seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you I'll provide for you follow me fear not little flock for it
Is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom sell your possessions and give to the needy provide yourselves with money bags that
Do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroys those of
Us who say we are followers of Jesus I believe that many of us will get on the other side of eternity and will
Immediately see miss the boat I failed to see how money was supposed to work on earth because I did not fully understand how
The gospel applied to my wallet because he says give be generous provide yourself with stuff that's going to last you can buy a
New car it's not going to be new forever you drive it off the lot value drops it's going to rust out you're going to need another
One you can get a new house it's not going to be new forever value that's going to increase most likely but not forever you can buy some
New clothes you need some more and what Jesus says is no no make an investment that lasts forever make an investment that's there
Forever where moths don't eat stuff up in heaven people don't steal stuff in heaven and then he says this for where your treasure
Is there will your heart be also here's why Jesus is going to talk so much about money because he knows that it is
Directly linked to our hearts and Jesus cares about our hearts sometimes you hear church talking about money and you think oh goodness Jesus
Really need my money like is he broke he had a hard time paying rent in heaven I guess the expenses up there are
Pretty good it is a gated community you immediately get cynical but here's the thing Jesus doesn't need your money you Jesus cares about
Your heart and that's why he's going to go hard after finances because he knows that it's directly tied to what we value and
What we love and so he's going to come after you because he loves us enough to do that you ever notice that some
Of the people that are most willing to get in your face call you out on stuff that are closest to you care most
About you that's why Jesus is going to talk about money because he cares about us and he wants our hearts to change that's
Why the Bible so often isn't going to go after behavior it talks about behavioral things but it talks way more about heart change
Here's the truth some of us in here can be like I'm generous I give to the church I give to other people and
Honestly all we've done is our heart hasn't changed we've just said okay so if comfort and control or whatever it is I'm seeking
If the best way to get that is to pay God off let me do that you're saying if I give to God he'll
Bless me cool let me do that our heart hasn't changed we're just using God we're just paying him out to get what we
Want I'll be a part of this church thing I'll give as long as my kids are going to turn out okay I'll give as long as I won't
Be late on on payments and stuff because you say God will bless me heart hasn't changed that's why the Bible is going after
Our heart so often because our behavior indicates where our heart is and especially when it comes to money so specifically every month we have a
Limited amount of resources and where we're willing to put money shows us what we actually value what we actually care about very clearly
Very clearly here's how this ought to work here's how this does work and here's what it ought to look like if we took everybody in your
Social economic status same bracket tax bracket everybody in your neighborhood all of your co-workers that are around the same level as you and we begin
To show with no names exactly where everybody's money went over the past month over the past year it should become obvious to us
That's a Christian because you can see their heart and how their money spent should become obvious if you print out your bank statement and lay it
Down because you can go to Jesus and you can tell him all the stuff that you love I love you I love this
I love that he goes okay bank statement not because he wants your money could care less about it cares about your heart and
Where your money is where your treasure is where your possessions are is where your disciple of Jesus you ought to look poorer because
You automatically have places where you want money to go that your neighbor doesn't you automatically see the world you're investing in eternity your
Neighbor is not you're selling your possessions and giving to the needy your neighbor is not you're providing paying for mission and stuff taking
Place at local churches at local places that give things away you're paying for stuff it's just money because of what Jesus has provided
For you so Jesus says we want to know where your heart is let's look at where your treasure is let's look at how you
Spend your money that'll tell us what you love every time he doesn't he doesn't give caveats he doesn't beat around the bush he says
Where your money is that's where your heart is I don't want us to just move past this I want us to sit with
This for a second so here's what we're going to do and I'm going to come back up and talk about some other things
We're going to talk specifically about our give project this year I want us to sit and I want us to think just a little
Bit about what you're willing to spend money on there's some things that you spend money on you don't have to think about there's
A no brainer to you of course I'd spend money on that there are other things you've got to think about I don't know if I want to give money to that so there's some stuff in the past week that time to spend money on you didn't even cross your mind because you have value on high school I want us to just think for just a second, where's my money go? What's it say about my heart? What is it I actually love? Do I actually, if you looked at my financial records, would it say, would it scream? This person knows the gospel. This person loves Jesus. This person absolutely has had their heart wrecked by the grace that has been offered to them in the cross.
They know that everything's been given to them by Jesus. So I just want us to ask some questions. Sit and think. What am I most willing to spend money on? What am I least willing to spend money on? Some of the times we'll say things like, well, if I just made more, I'd be more generous. But the problem is making more money doesn't change our heart. Jesus does. It's actually good for us. It's God's grace to some of us who do not handle money well and use it to chase after things other than what we ought to. That God hasn't given us more. He's being gracious to us. He's allowing us to mismanage a small amount of money as opposed to a greater amount. So I just want us to sit and think. God, where am I most willing to spend money? Where am I least willing to spend money? What is it that you have to work with me on to actually give towards? And I'm going to come back up and we're going to talk about some other things.
But I just want us to think through our budgets. Think through how we allocate money and what that says about our hearts and what we actually care about. And I'll come back up and we'll talk about our gifts. Don't be afraid of God. It's true. Don't be afraid of Maharaj's помощь. The power of Yahudi and Eisenhower Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is one of the areas where most often the Bible is going to talk to us about your heart changes and then your behavior changes. And that's true. The Bible says our hearts are deceitful, they're messed up, and that Jesus is going to give us a new heart through the Holy Spirit and he's going to change us and that's going to change how we act. And you can see that in normal life with everybody. It's like he loves this now, so that's why his time goes there. When I started dating Anna, I quit hanging out with all my other friends because what I cared about had changed.
My heart had changed. And that's true. But this is one of the few instances where we can actually intentionally move our hearts. So we can start sliding our treasure over to a different place and our heart will go with it because where our treasure is there, our heart will be. Here's what that means. You buy some stock. That's the only little thing you're looking on on the ticker because that's where your money is. That's the one you care about. You bet on a game. If you're watching a game, like a football game, and you don't even care who's playing, bet. Put $5 on it. You will care. Here. I'll be like, all right, I got $5 on the team with the orange helmets. Syracuse? Okay, I'm a Syracuse fan now for the next two hours. Because when we start shifting where we send our money, where we put our treasures, where we have our possessions, it's going to move our heart with it.
It's one of the few instances that that's true. So that's why we do the Give Series the way we do it, where we're going to intentionally seek to be generous, intentionally go out of our way to follow some clear, direct teaching that Jesus has on being generous, on giving, on moving our hearts with our treasure. So here's what we're going to do. We announced this last week. I know some of us weren't here, and I'm going to have to say a good bit to make this clear. And like with everything we do, we exist in church families. So if something is confusing, as soon as we're done, you just ask somebody and we'll clarify. Here's what we're going to do. We went on Thanksgiving and handed out about 270 meals. We gave out 200 in the Gentle Pines apartment complex in West Columbia. And while we were there, we asked them, is there anybody here who needs assistance for Christmas with small children?
And we just prayed beforehand. We were like, God, send us the amount of people you want us to have for us to handle. And 77 children were signed up for us to help give assistance for Christmas. Majority of them Hispanic. And we got what we have on these. Each one of these represents a child in our city that needs some help. Their parents need some help for Christmas. We're going to follow what Jesus says, which is give to the needy. Give to those who need help. We've got over there on some of these. I wrote some of these down. There's a three-year-old girl named Jocelyn. She'd like a soccer ball. She lives in our city. And I don't believe outside of us stepping in and helping, that's going to happen. Does she deserve a soccer ball? I don't know. Does it matter? Absolutely not. We're called to be generous. We're called to love. We're called to share.
And our church is called to make our city better by being here. Because we're a group of people who've been changed by the gospel, which changes how we interact with everything, which makes us bless everyone that's around us as best we can. There's an eight-year-old boy named Christian, and he needs some shoes. And there's a six-month-old named Dana. They've asked for some clothes for her. And we, because we know Jesus, get to step in and help. Because Jesus paid our debt, we get to help with others. Because Jesus gave us the greatest gift we'll ever receive. Because Jesus completely turned our value system upside down. Money's just money to us. Everything's already been given to us. Nothing can be taken for us because it was given to us by Jesus, and it's kept by Jesus. It's held secure for us forever. So we get to step in and be generous because we're citizens of a different kingdom.
So here's what we're going to do. So we're going to continue to play some music. And I expect this to be loud because there are going to be some conversations that need to be had. You're going to need to talk to your spouse. You're going to need to look at one of your friends. You're going to need to say, you may need to call somebody. You might want to talk with your community group. But we're going to try to get all these children off of here. And here's what we're going for. Those tags over there have a couple of different things I need to explain to us. They're going to have a name, an age, and a gender at least. And if that's the case, it's basically, okay, it's a three-year-old boy named Michael. And I get to get him whatever I'd like to give Michael. I get to just be, what do I think a three-year-old would like? And you just get to be generous to this kid.
Some of them are going to have name, age, size, and a request for clothes. Some of them are going to have name, age, size, request for shoes. Some of them will have name, age, gender, request for toys or maybe a specific type of toy. And we're just going to go out of our way to inconvenience ourselves to bless other people, which is what Jesus did for us. So that's what we're going to get to do this year to celebrate Christmas as part of how we celebrate Christmas as a church. So what you're going to do is if you pick a child off of the thing, you're going to keep that because that's going to tell you how you ought to, what it looks like for you to bless them. You're going to grab one of the sheets on the table with some more specific information about what kind of gifts are okay, not okay. And then on that table back there, you're just going to write your email address and name next to the child that you picked.
And they're all numbered on the back. So the number on the back will match up with the number on one of those sheets, and you'll just write that down. And our church family is going to go out of our way to bless children this Christmas. And the goal for us is that we would bring the gifts back in some sort of a bag because we've had different people say they'd like to give one certain type of thing to each child, and so we want to be able to just stick that in their bags. Bring it back in some sort of a bag next week. So this week we want to try to get the gifts, and honestly, I hope that inconveniences us a little bit. Because the more I'm inconvenienced, the more I have to press into the gospel. I know that's true for me. The more I have to remind myself why it's worth doing and what Jesus has already accomplished for me. And then on our Christmas gathering, which will be the 21st, we're going to go over there.
We're going to load up some vans and go over there and give them out. And anyone in our church family who wants to go do that gets to go do that. So you want to just go help knock on doors, say Merry Christmas, hand somebody a bag full of stuff, which is a lot of fun. We want to do that. Come on. Goal being to spend about $15 to $30 per child because most of them are in sibling groups. The majority of the kids came from sibling groups, three to four plus per household. And we don't want to have a big disparage between like one kid in the house gets $50 spent on him and one kid gets $10 spent on him. We kind of want to keep it in the $15 to $30 range. And if you want to sponsor more children, do that. I'm going to pray for us. We're going to continue to play some music. Actually, we're going to continue to play some music. And go ahead and start having conversations.
Go ahead and start grabbing those. Go ahead and start writing your name down. And then I'll come up and pray for us and we'll close out. And then we can still grab names and children after that. So wide open for anybody who wants to go grab a name, grab a kid, write some information down. If you need to make phone calls, you need to talk to people, whatever you need to do. If you know you can't figure it out right now, you're going to be able to do it. But you want to talk and grab one later, we can do that as well. We'll be wide open for it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Charlie. If you wanted to sponsor a child and all the names are gone, just talk to somebody. Talk to somebody in your community group. Ask how you might be able to get a gift for a specific child. If you need to, if you need to, if for some reason you know you wouldn't be able to bring the gifts back by next week, even though that's our goal, just get with somebody.
We'll see if we can't have somebody bring it over for you. That sort of thing. God, we thank you. God, we thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That because of your grace. God, we thank you. Thank you. And because you intentionally planted us here. God, we thank you. That 77 children in our city are going to get gifts this Christmas that may not otherwise have been able to. That 77 children in our city, whether they know you or don't, are going to be impacted by what you've already done, are going to be loved because you love, are going to be given to because you've given to us. God, we thank you. We thank you that these small gifts pale in comparison to what you've given us. We thank you, God, that you will work in our hearts as we go out of our way to be generous to change us. God, I pray that this is one of the first very small steps for us as a church family, us as individuals, in stepping into what it looks like to be generous in a way that is completely impacted by the gospel.
We praise you, Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.
What is it I actually love? Do I actually, if you looked at my financial records, would it say, would it scream? This person knows the gospel. This person loves Jesus. This person absolutely has had their heart wrecked by the grace that has been offered to them in the cross. They know that everything's been given to them by Jesus.
So I just want us to ask some questions. Sit and think. What am I most willing to spend money on? What am I least willing to spend money on? Some of the times we'll say things like, well, if I just made more, I'd be more generous. But the problem is making more money doesn't change our heart.
Jesus does. It's actually good for us. It's God's grace to some of us who do not handle money well and use it to chase after things other than what we ought to. That God hasn't given us more. He's being gracious to us. He's allowing us to mismanage a small amount of money as opposed to a greater amount.
So I just want us to sit and think. God, where am I most willing to spend money? Where am I least willing to spend money? What is it that you have to work with me on to actually give towards? And I'm going to come back up and we're going to talk about some other things. But I just want us to think through our budgets.
Think through how we allocate money and what that says about our hearts and what we actually care about. And I'll come back up and we'll talk about our gifts. Don't be afraid of God. It's true. Don't be afraid of Maharaj's помощь. The power of Yahudi and Eisenhower Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is one of the areas where most often the Bible is going to talk to us about your heart changes and then your behavior changes. And that's true. The Bible says our hearts are deceitful, they're messed up, and that Jesus is going to give us a new heart through the Holy Spirit and he's going to change us and that's going to change how we act.
And you can see that in normal life with everybody. It's like he loves this now, so that's why his time goes there. When I started dating Anna, I quit hanging out with all my other friends because what I cared about had changed. My heart had changed. And that's true. But this is one of the few instances where we can actually intentionally move our hearts.
So we can start sliding our treasure over to a different place and our heart will go with it because where our treasure is there, our heart will be. Here's what that means. You buy some stock. That's the only little thing you're looking on on the ticker because that's where your money is. That's the one you care about. You bet on a game.
If you're watching a game, like a football game, and you don't even care who's playing, bet. Put $5 on it. You will care. Here. I'll be like, all right, I got $5 on the team with the orange helmets. Syracuse?
Okay, I'm a Syracuse fan now for the next two hours. Because when we start shifting where we send our money, where we put our treasures, where we have our possessions, it's going to move our heart with it. It's one of the few instances that that's true. So that's why we do the Give Series the way we do it, where we're going to intentionally seek to be generous, intentionally go out of our way to follow some clear, direct teaching that Jesus has on being generous, on giving, on moving our hearts with our treasure. So here's what we're going to do.
We announced this last week. I know some of us weren't here, and I'm going to have to say a good bit to make this clear. And like with everything we do, we exist in church families. So if something is confusing, as soon as we're done, you just ask somebody and we'll clarify. Here's what we're going to do. We went on Thanksgiving and handed out about 270 meals.
We gave out 200 in the Gentle Pines apartment complex in West Columbia. And while we were there, we asked them, is there anybody here who needs assistance for Christmas with small children? And we just prayed beforehand. We were like, God, send us the amount of people you want us to have for us to handle. And 77 children were signed up for us to help give assistance for Christmas. Majority of them Hispanic.
And we got what we have on these. Each one of these represents a child in our city that needs some help. Their parents need some help for Christmas. We're going to follow what Jesus says, which is give to the needy. Give to those who need help. We've got over there on some of these.
I wrote some of these down. There's a three-year-old girl named Jocelyn. She'd like a soccer ball. She lives in our city. And I don't believe outside of us stepping in and helping, that's going to happen. Does she deserve a soccer ball?
I don't know. Does it matter? Absolutely not. We're called to be generous. We're called to love. We're called to share.
And our church is called to make our city better by being here. Because we're a group of people who've been changed by the gospel, which changes how we interact with everything, which makes us bless everyone that's around us as best we can. There's an eight-year-old boy named Christian, and he needs some shoes. And there's a six-month-old named Dana. They've asked for some clothes for her. And we, because we know Jesus, get to step in and help.
Because Jesus paid our debt, we get to help with others. Because Jesus gave us the greatest gift we'll ever receive. Because Jesus completely turned our value system upside down. Money's just money to us. Everything's already been given to us. Nothing can be taken for us because it was given to us by Jesus, and it's kept by Jesus.
It's held secure for us forever. So we get to step in and be generous because we're citizens of a different kingdom. So here's what we're going to do. So we're going to continue to play some music. And I expect this to be loud because there are going to be some conversations that need to be had. You're going to need to talk to your spouse.
You're going to need to look at one of your friends. You're going to need to say, you may need to call somebody. You might want to talk with your community group. But we're going to try to get all these children off of here. And here's what we're going for. Those tags over there have a couple of different things I need to explain to us.
They're going to have a name, an age, and a gender at least. And if that's the case, it's basically, okay, it's a three-year-old boy named Michael. And I get to get him whatever I'd like to give Michael. I get to just be, what do I think a three-year-old would like? And you just get to be generous to this kid. Some of them are going to have name, age, size, and a request for clothes.
Some of them are going to have name, age, size, request for shoes. Some of them will have name, age, gender, request for toys or maybe a specific type of toy. And we're just going to go out of our way to inconvenience ourselves to bless other people, which is what Jesus did for us. So that's what we're going to get to do this year to celebrate Christmas as part of how we celebrate Christmas as a church. So what you're going to do is if you pick a child off of the thing, you're going to keep that because that's going to tell you how you ought to, what it looks like for you to bless them.
You're going to grab one of the sheets on the table with some more specific information about what kind of gifts are okay, not okay. And then on that table back there, you're just going to write your email address and name next to the child that you picked. And they're all numbered on the back. So the number on the back will match up with the number on one of those sheets, and you'll just write that down. And our church family is going to go out of our way to bless children this Christmas. And the goal for us is that we would bring the gifts back in some sort of a bag because we've had different people say they'd like to give one certain type of thing to each child, and so we want to be able to just stick that in their bags.
Bring it back in some sort of a bag next week. So this week we want to try to get the gifts, and honestly, I hope that inconveniences us a little bit. Because the more I'm inconvenienced, the more I have to press into the gospel. I know that's true for me. The more I have to remind myself why it's worth doing and what Jesus has already accomplished for me. And then on our Christmas gathering, which will be the 21st, we're going to go over there.
We're going to load up some vans and go over there and give them out. And anyone in our church family who wants to go do that gets to go do that. So you want to just go help knock on doors, say Merry Christmas, hand somebody a bag full of stuff, which is a lot of fun. We want to do that. Come on. Goal being to spend about $15 to $30 per child because most of them are in sibling groups.
The majority of the kids came from sibling groups, three to four plus per household. And we don't want to have a big disparage between like one kid in the house gets $50 spent on him and one kid gets $10 spent on him. We kind of want to keep it in the $15 to $30 range. And if you want to sponsor more children, do that. I'm going to pray for us. We're going to continue to play some music.
Actually, we're going to continue to play some music. And go ahead and start having conversations. Go ahead and start grabbing those. Go ahead and start writing your name down. And then I'll come up and pray for us and we'll close out. And then we can still grab names and children after that.
So wide open for anybody who wants to go grab a name, grab a kid, write some information down. If you need to make phone calls, you need to talk to people, whatever you need to do. If you know you can't figure it out right now, you're going to be able to do it. But you want to talk and grab one later, we can do that as well. We'll be wide open for it. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Charlie. If you wanted to sponsor a child and all the names are gone, just talk to somebody. Talk to somebody in your community group.
Ask how you might be able to get a gift for a specific child. If you need to, if you need to, if for some reason you know you wouldn't be able to bring the gifts back by next week, even though that's our goal, just get with somebody. We'll see if we can't have somebody bring it over for you. That sort of thing. God, we thank you. God, we thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That because of your grace. God, we thank you.
Thank you. And because you intentionally planted us here. God, we thank you. That 77 children in our city are going to get gifts this Christmas that may not otherwise have been able to. That 77 children in our city, whether they know you or don't, are going to be impacted by what you've already done, are going to be loved because you love, are going to be given to because you've given to us. God, we thank you.
We thank you that these small gifts pale in comparison to what you've given us. We thank you, God, that you will work in our hearts as we go out of our way to be generous to change us. God, I pray that this is one of the first very small steps for us as a church family, us as individuals, in stepping into what it looks like to be generous in a way that is completely impacted by the gospel. We praise you, Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.
Eternal Perspective
Transcript
Well, good morning again. I walked up here without a Bible and then didn't know what to do, so I'm just going to walk back down. This is important for what we do on Sundays. I need one of these. Good morning. Okay, so what we're doing, we're starting the first week of our Give Series.
Very excited about our Give Series. We'll talk more about that later. It is Christmas time. So I don't know about y'all. Most people, it's like you gear up for Christmas after Thanksgiving. So I know that my brother went to Bob Jones University, which if you're not familiar with it, imagine a Christian school and a military school.
And if they had a kid, it would be like a militant Christian school. And you're close. It's something like that. They had a rule in their handbook that you could not play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I think that's intense. And I also think that's a pretty good rule just for life in general.
But most people, after Thanksgiving, start gearing up for Christmas. Now, if you're in retail, it's like, oh, Halloween's coming. It's Christmas time. That's how retail works. But for most people, it is now Christmas time.
And I'm a huge fan of Christmas. I enjoy Christmas. I enjoy all the stuff that comes along with it. I like getting together and celebrating with family. I like the ridiculous decorations. I like Christmas trees.
I like real Christmas trees. I love the smell of Christmas tree. I get Christmas tree candles. And I light them. And I put them everywhere. And my wife, who is like over halfway pregnant.
She's whole pregnant. She's over halfway. I don't know the amount. Four months pregnant. Something like that. Five months pregnant.
She, apparently, it makes you smell better. Like you, you can smell. She smells good. That's not what I mean by smells better. She's good at smelling. And so the other day in our house, we had a Christmas candle going.
And she was like, are you trying to kill me? Turn, blow that out. Like apparently, I was just getting whiffs of it. And it was like crawling into her nasal cavities and trying to murder her. But I love, I love Christmas.
I love real trees. With an exception, my wife and I have a white Christmas tree. A white plastic Christmas tree that we got from the family dollar in Clinton, South Carolina. Unless you're from Clinton, then you call it Clinton. In Clinton, South Carolina, when we first got married. So we've had it for five years.
It cost us $20. It has now cost us $4 a year. So I feel like we got our money's worth. I love that tree. So it's white.
We cover it with colored lights and silver tinsel. Because we're classy. And I don't usually like fake trees. But I love my white tree. And I think the reason is it never tricks me. Like you don't walk in my house and go, oh, a Christmas tree.
Is that real? Is that a balsam? Like you don't do that. You don't walk over to that tree and smell it and see that it's plastic and get angry. You're like, that is fake and ridiculous. And I'm in the house of a redneck.
But what are you going to do? So I love my Christmas tree. I love Christmas things. I'm not one of these anti-Christmas people. I'm not going to stand up here and say that if you rearrange the letters in Santa, you can spell Satan. Like I'm not, I don't land there.
I do think, though, that in our culture, we can get swept up. And as Christians, we can celebrate Christmas in a distinctly non-Christian way. I think that is true. I think we can get caught up in all of the Christmassy, Christmassy stuff. And we can celebrate Christmas in a distinctly non-Christian way. And so one of the things that we shoot for, that we're going for every year around Christmas, and we are friends with Midtown Fellowship.
I did some stuff there. We stole this from them. But in the spirit of Christmas, they generously gave it to us. We received it. We take this series called Give, which is around this time of year, we're going to intentionally seek to reorient our hearts towards generosity, towards remembering what Christmas is actually about. And it's about the greatest gift that was ever given to humankind.
And we want to, as Christians, celebrate Christmas in a distinctly Christian way and reorient our hearts towards generosity. And so that's what we're doing in our gift series. That's what we're shooting for. That's what we'll be doing for the next three weeks. And so I just want to start us off with what we just read, what David just read up here. What we're celebrating at Christmas, and it gets drowned out.
Like we get excited about other things. What we're celebrating at Christmas is that God, the eternal God, became a human, became an infant, like had to be carried places, was dependent on other people to keep him alive. My brother has a one-year-old. She's not producing much. She's not really carrying her weight around the house. They pretty much have to follow her around everywhere to make sure she doesn't kill herself.
That's what God became an infant. And we just gloss over that. Like I get more excited that sugar cookie eggnog is a thing now. Like that comes out around Christmas. If you don't know about sugar cookie eggnog, it is amazing. I don't know why they print like the nutrition facts on the back.
I don't know why they do that. If you're drinking sugar cookie eggnog, you don't want to see that. But like a glass of that is the equivalent of like drinking a sleeve of Oreos. But it's amazing because it's eggnog that tastes like sugar cookies. And I know, I know that we've all been eating sugar cookies and thought, I wish there was a quicker way. There is.
It's called sugar cookie eggnog. You don't have to chew. You just swallow it. Now you can eat pie and drink sugar cookies. We get more excited about those kind of things. We get more excited about all the Christmassy stuff than what actually has happened at Christmas.
That God became a human with the intent on dying. Came to earth specifically to die for us. That the most miraculous, mind crushing thing happened at Christmas where God took on flesh and weakness. And we miss that. We gloss over that. And so what we're seeking to do and what we're going to do for the next three weeks is this.
Specifically knowing that Jesus is the eternal God. Creator of all things who stepped into history on our behalf. We are going to look at what he says about money and finances. So as we celebrate Christmas for the next three weeks, we're going to look at what the eternal God, when he became a human, what he had to say about possessions, about generosity, about how we view money and finances. Who's excited? Exactly.
Let me just tell you something. Can I say something? I love money. Can I say that? Can I tell the truth here? I think most people here are a fan of money.
It has intrinsic value. If you're thinking of a way to make friends, giving people money is probably a good start. Like I think that would be like, I know that would work for me. It's like, here's 20 bucks. I'd be like, I like this guy. He seems pretty alright.
Like there's just something about us that we like money. We guard money. We defend money. We defend our possessions. There's something in us that likes money. And so the eternal God becomes a human and he talks about money a lot.
He talks about possessions a lot. He does. Like he is the creator of the universe. Knows how we work. Knows how we view things. Knows where our hearts are oriented.
And the first most, the topic that he covers the most is the kingdom of God. But the topic that he covers second most is money. About 15% of everything he says is going to be on money and possessions. And the reason is, is because we don't view it correctly. It's become too big to us. It's grown too much for us.
And so what we're going to do as we walk through our gift series for the next three weeks, we're just going to look at what Jesus, who specifically came to give himself to us. Who is the ultimate authority on generosity, the ultimate authority on humility, and who is the eternal God, which makes him the ultimate authority on really everything. But in coming to earth and dying on a cross proves his love for us, his desire for good things for us, and his generosity and charity towards us. And so we just want to see what he has to say about possessions, what he has to teach us about finances. It's just a little bit of like when you're going to talk to somebody about money, you go to talk to someone who like has it and handles it well.
Like if you're working on a budget, you don't talk to the guy who's consistently getting his power turned off. That's just true. You don't go, hey man, I notice that you're always asking people for money. Can you help me set up a budget? You don't do that. You talk to somebody who seems like they mostly keep it together.
And so we're going to actually get advice on finances, the way to view finances, wealth, generosity, charity, through the ultimate authority on all of those topics. This is what we're seeking to do for the next three weeks. So I'm going to pray and then we're going to hop in. We'll be in Luke chapter 12. God, we thank you. Thank you for your grace.
We thank you for your love. We thank you for your generosity and charity towards us. And we ask that as we take this time of the year to intentionally seek to reorient our hearts towards generosity, that you would bless that, that your Holy Spirit would teach us, guide us, and point us in the right direction. Amen. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Okay, so Luke chapter 12, Jesus has grown up. So what we celebrate at Christmas is that Jesus came as a baby. We don't actually know when Jesus was born, but this is the time of year that we celebrate it. And so at this point, he's grown up. This is the eternal God, and he's just teaching people about a lot of different things. And so we're going to kind of jump into the middle of this story where he's teaching and see what he teaches on some of that possessions and finances.
So we'll be in Luke chapter 12. It's on page 566. If your Bible looks like this, it's on some other page, most likely, if it does not look like this. All right, so he's teaching and he's talking about a completely different subject. And then we jump into verse 13. And so it says, someone in the crowd said to him, teacher.
So he's talking about a topic. The guy raises his hand. Yes, the floor is yours. And he says, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. So basically, this guy is like, I'll go to Jesus because if Jesus tells somebody to do something, he should do it.
It's just a good general rule. I bring Jesus in. If Jesus agrees with me, I win. And so that's what he says. That's what he's going to do. So he goes and he says, I'll get Jesus to tell my brother to share with me the inheritance, which apparently is his brother's.
His brother received an inheritance. Parents passed away. Most likely his brother's an older brother went to him. So this guy doesn't have an inheritance or has a smaller inheritance and he wants his brother to share. And Jesus is always talking about being generous and sharing and stuff. So I'll go to him.
He'll say, share. This will work out really well. And so it does not. Verse 14. But he said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?
Which means like, why is this my business to hop in and play referee between you and your brother? And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not exist in the abundance of his possessions. That went poorly for that guy. So he raises his hand.
He says, tell my brother to share with me. And Jesus says, no. And hey, while we're on the topic, don't be like that guy. Like it just, it went poorly. Like Jesus immediately is like, oh no. Like I didn't see that playing out quite that way.
He says, be on guard against all covetousness. So covetousness is a word that we don't use very often. We would probably use the word greed or greedy. Although they do have different meanings. And I think Jesus specifically means covetousness. So covet is to want something that is not yours.
Specifically to want something that someone else has. So you want something that is not yours. Specifically something that is someone else's. And so he says, be on guard against all covetousness. And so what he just said was, watch out for your desire to want things that aren't yours. Specifically things that are someone else's.
So his response to that guy's brother's inheritance is, don't do that. Because that's what he was doing. He was coveting his brother's inheritance. He said, don't do that. I just want to point this out to us. Because Jesus does this all the time.
We want to talk to Jesus about something. And he changes the subject. And I think it's very rude. Although helpful. But you'll go to Jesus.
You'll want to talk to him about something. You'll want to pray about something. And immediately he'll be like, no, we're going to talk about this. You'll be like, Jesus, my boss is an idiot. And he'll be like, let's talk about your attitude at work. And you're like, I intro to the subject.
Let's not talk about that. And so I just want to help us all see this. And in this specifically what he did was he took this topic and he immediately, it says he addresses them. And so he turns it on everyone. And that's what Jesus does. He doesn't say, hey, you, look at that guy.
He says, hey, you, look at yourself. That's what he does. That's how he turns it. So as we talk about this, as we walk through talking about money and finances and covetousness today, it's really easy to think about someone else who has that problem and to not let it sit on you. It's more comfortable and very easy to do. Don't do that.
We automatically get defensive when we talk about wealth, possession, finances. We get weird when we talk about money. It feels very private to us. We get, we want to, you'll want to battle this the entire time. Don't do that. Just let it sit.
Let Jesus talk to you. Let him deal with you. It actually indicates something to our hearts. Just know that when we get defensive automatically about money, that indicates something about us in our hearts. So like if every time the chicken song came on, you know, I can't, I can't, I can never pull songs out of my head because I'm not musical at all.
But you know the chicken song where you do this or whatever. Yes, every time that came on, like if every time that came on, you like started twitching and crying. You have a problem with the chicken song that we need to deal with. Like there's something off. Like you had a bad experience. Like a chicken attacked you when you were little.
Like we need to talk about this. And there's something about us as Americans. When we start talking about finances, we immediately get like, don't do that. Realize that that indicates that there may be something a little bit off in our hearts because we're like that. And let Jesus actually speak to us this morning. So here's what he says.
Verse 15. And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. So he's basically going to say two things. He's going to say, we have a problem. And then I'm going to tell you why it's a problem.
So this is the issue because. That's kind of how he's going to say it. So the first issue is covetousness. That we want things that aren't ours. And what he says is be on guard. We are not on guard against covetousness.
We aren't. Because our economy runs off of it. We don't call it covetousness. We call it advertising. Like you don't go to greed 101. You go to economics 101.
Like I studied business in school. I did honors research in economics. I love how it works. And the basic system of like capitalism is this. You're going to look out for you. So that if I sell a product and it's terrible, you're not going to buy it.
I'll go out of business. Some other guy who sells a good product will show up. You'll buy that. And the amount of people buying it and the amount of cost of the product. He's going to look out for himself. You're going to look out for you.
And that's how you'll figure out what the price should be. That's how economics works. Our entire system is based off of self-interest. And our desire to want things that aren't ours. And we do this all the time. And we don't notice it.
It's very simple. I'll give you two examples. From college. Simple ones. We went to school at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. And there was hardly anything there.
But there is a KFC Taco Bell. Which is a beautiful restaurant. It is half KFC, half Taco Bell. Also a classy joint. That's where I got the idea for my white Christmas tree. But the thing about it was you can eat like a king at Taco Bell for like $5.
But you would go in there and see biscuits and it would mess you up. Like it was like I came in here to get four burritos that are wrapped in cheese. And now I see biscuits and I'm going to have to get biscuits. I could only get Taco Bell if I went through the drive-thru where I couldn't see biscuits. But they would show these late night like 69 cent burritos.
And we'd be watching TV at like 12 o'clock at night. And they'd be like, Taco Bell, open late. Five layer burrito, cheese, meat, beans. And we'd be like, Matt and I were roommates. And we'd be like, you want to go to Taco Bell? Yes.
What that was was coveting. We wanted the cheesy thing that we just saw on TV. And it immediately made us get in our vehicle and drive to Taco Bell. And that happened repeatedly. And the beautiful thing about Taco Bell is they can get your order wrong and you've still got the same thing. They only have five ingredients.
Just eat it. It's the same thing you ordered. So anyway, we would go to Taco Bell. That happened all the time. The other thing that happened to me in college was I had a roommate my freshman year. And he had a little like black tube television with like, I don't know, it was like a 20 inch thing, 10 inch.
It was somewhere. It was small. It was this size-ish, which is really helpful if you're listening to this on the Internet. And so we had one of those. And our dorm neighbor had a flat screen, but it was a big TV. So it was still like a tube TV, just the screen was flat.
I don't know if anybody remembers that awkward transition stage, but that was a thing. And so it was high def. And so we would go watch games in his room. We would play video games in his room. We would watch football games specifically in his room. And it was a much better TV.
And then I would walk back 10 feet to my dorm, and I would walk in, and I would hate the television that was in my dorm room. I'd be like, you are so terrible. You're the worst TV ever. My roommate moved, took his TV with him, and I went and bought the exact same TV that my dorm neighbor had. Because sometimes his door was locked, and I couldn't just walk in there and watch his television. So I got my own.
That's called covetousness. And that's what made me make that purchase. But that's normal to us. Later in life, I had that TV stay with me for years. Got invited to someone's house, and they had a flat screen television that was like skinny and wider. And I would go home and be mad at my television for how fat and stupid it was.
You couldn't tell. It was in a cabinet. But I knew it was fat behind the screen. I knew. Like it was embarrassing me. Like if someone broke in my house, they wouldn't even want to steal that.
And they couldn't unless they had a teammate because it weighed like 75 pounds. And I was ashamed and mad at my television. So I got a skinny one that's like 42 inches. And then you go to someone else's house, and they got like a 65-inch TV. And now they have the ones that like bend and like actually take you there. And like people spit on you.
And like if there's a fight, you get wet. Like it just is whatever. And immediately we go home, and we're like mad at our stuff. Like we no longer because we've begun to covet. We've begun to want something that is not ours. That's normal.
That's how advertising works. So you talk to someone about a sale. You see someone in some really snappy clothes. You ask them, hey, where did you get that? Oh, I got this at this place for $12. And if you get this, you can go get it.
Sweet. And you're there the next week. It's normal for us. You go to your friend's house. He's got Netflix. He explains how that works.
You go home. You get Netflix. Because why wouldn't you? And here's what he's saying. Be on guard against desiring things that are not yours. Have your radar up for covetousness.
And all I'm saying to us is we do not. That's not on our radar. It's not something we think about. We have community groups. We get together. We talk about sin struggles.
We pray with each other. We talk about issues that are going on. We're always on war against sin in our lives. But that one's never come up. Never been sitting around with a group of guys in my house talking about things we're struggling with. Praying with each other.
And had someone be like, guys, I just feel like I covet a lot. I just feel like I see things that I don't have. And then I want them. And then I get them. I feel like I get excited around Christmas because I know of some stuff that I feel like I need. And I want to ask.
It's not on our radar. We don't see it. And he says, be on guard against it. It just doesn't show up. And here's why, though. Here's what he's going to say.
Be on guard. Take care. Be on your guard. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Okay. One's life does not exist in the abundance of his possessions.
We believe that. Ish. Like, we can say that and we would all agree we would not. Yes, true. Super smart thing to say, Jesus. Like, we feel that.
Because we watch Christmas movies and stuff. And the whole time they're freaking out about getting the perfect gift and having the perfect Christmas. And Arnold Schwarzenegger is fighting somebody so that he can get a toy. And, like, we have that. We see that. And then at the end, it's like it turns out all we needed was each other.
Like, their house burns down. And then they're just hugging in the front yard. And it's like, Dad, all I needed was you the whole time. I didn't know that, child. And then they hug and music plays. And, like, there's a dog in the background.
Single-tier Rondo. And we nod. We're like, hmm, yes. We believe that. But we don't actually.
We don't actually. That doesn't sit with us. We don't really feel that. Anna was on Facebook the other day. And she said, Ted Turner just sold or put up to sell his private island off of the coast of South Carolina. I was like, really?
And she said, yeah. And then she looks at me and goes, you want to put a bid in on it? It's like, yes. I do. But we won't get it.
There is something inside of me, though, that believes life would be enhanced by owning an island. I believe that. It feels weird to say it to all of you. Because most of the time we don't voice those things to one another. But I believe that.
And in much smaller things, I consistently believe that. And we consistently believe that. That life comes from the abundance of things. And you hear it all the time. Oh, man. Must be nice.
God, I wish I could. Oh, if only I was one of the. And whatever we follow that up with is what we think in life so that we see. Man, if I could just. If we could just have two vehicles. If my family could just have two vehicles.
Because this one vehicle thing is killing me. If my family could just have three vehicles. Because now our kids are getting older. And this is. We can't keep. If I could just make 10% more.
If I could just have that position. That title. Man, if we could just be in a bigger house. If we could just have a larger yard. Like, across the board. We're saying consistently.
The opposite of what Jesus says here. Which is that life somehow will be found. In the abundance of possessions. If I can just get this new gadget. If I can just get this iPhone. But my iPhone doesn't talk to me.
And Matt's iPhone does. And so we're riding around. And Matt will just pull his phone out. And he'll go. Siri. Call Peter.
And Siri will be like. You want pizza? And it's like. No. So it doesn't.
I don't really want Siri too much. Because she never understands what he's saying. But. We do that. We consistently think that life will be enhanced. By just having a little more.
Just by getting a little bit extra. Because there's something in us. That every time we buy something. Like if we'll be honest. We're a little creepy. Every time you buy something.
You're like. Yes. It's so beautiful. And new. This will make my soul feel warm at night. Like we really get weird about like.
And you thoroughly enjoy it. The first time you wear that new jacket. You're just walking around like. Take that. Cold weather. Not only am I not cold.
But I look really good. And the next year. You're going to. You want a new jacket. Because I've had that one for so long. And the cold weather is no longer impressed with me.
We somehow believe that possessions. Will fill us up. Will make us whole. Will give us life. And it's just not true. And we do this all the time.
And we see it across the board. That's what Pinterest has been to me. So I don't have a Pinterest account. I just use my wife's. Sometimes to look at things. Because I'm a self-respecting male.
But that's. Like I get on every once in a while. To see like do-it-yourself projects. Because like we want to like. Redo our bathroom. And there's different things.
I like to build out of pallets. And every once in a while. I'm like I wish my whole house. Was built out of pallets. Although it doesn't make any sense. I want to do that.
And like. I get on there. And like looked at bathroom remodeling things. And all it is. Is just like me coveting. And believing that somehow.
Life would be better. If our bathroom looked remodeled. Because I don't like. And it gets weird. Like you sit there. And you do this long enough.
And then you walk into your bathroom. And you're looking around. And you're like. This stupid wallpaper. This is terrible. I hate having to pee in here.
This is so lame. Like you just get mad. And all it is. Is this lie. That Jesus. Because he is eternal.
And because he is gracious. And because he is loving. Is going to step in and say. Don't. Don't believe that. Don't let your heart chase after that.
Don't feel that that is true. Kids. Love. Face paint. They do. If you're anywhere.
And there's someone who will paint a face. And there are children. There will be children. With painted faces. Because they love it. There will be little princesses.
Or like Elsa looking blue. Swirls all over little faces. There will be a little boy. With like a Spider-Man face. And you're as a parent. You let your kid get his face.
Drawn up like Spider-Man. Because it washes off. But you would not let him get. A Spider-Man tattoo. On his face. Because that stuff.
Doesn't even look good on Mike Tyson. And here's why. You have a perspective. That your child does not. You know. That having Spider-Man.
Draw on your face. Isn't going to be cool forever. When he hits middle school. That's going to be weird. He's going to get some nicknames. That he used to think were cool.
In third grade. That are no longer cool. And you have that perspective. And so you're going to say. No no. You're going to guide.
How he views that. And what he does with it. You're going to guide him through life. And Jesus is the only one. With an eternal perspective. Who's going to step in.
And try to guide us. When it comes to finances. When it comes to possessions. When it comes to how we view money. He's the only one with the perspective. To say.
Hey guys. You're thinking about that wrong. The way you believe that works. Isn't actually true. And it's out of his love. And his grace.
And his goodness. Towards us. That he does that. And so. To help prove this to people. To help explain what he's saying here.
He tells a story. To help show what he's talking about. So here's what he says. Verse. We'll start back in verse 15. And he said to them.
Take care. And be on your guard. Against all covetousness. For one's life. Does not consist. In the abundance.
Of his possessions. And he told them a parable. Saying. The land of a rich man. Produced plentifully. So this guy was already wealthy.
He has land. It does. It produces. Plentifully. It's. It's.
He's very wealthy. And that would be. They were a mostly agrarian. Agricultural economy. So that.
What it means is. Like it's. Guy. Worked in the stock market. Was very rich. And was just booming.
It was working really well for him. Um. And he thought to himself. What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. So he's got barns.
He's got silos. But they're full. And his. His crops do so well. That he's got to fill them up more. And he has no word to put it.
And he said. I will do this. I will tear down my barns. And build larger ones. And there. I will store all my grain.
And my goods. And I will say to my soul. Soul. You have ample goods. Laid up for many years. Relax.
Eat. Drink. Be merry. But God said to him. Fool. This night.
Your soul. Is required of you. And the things you have prepared. Whose. Will they be? Me.
So Jesus says. Be on guard. Against covetousness. Against greed. Against selfish desire. And he tells this story.
And he says. There was a rich guy. Who had. Great wealth. And he used his wealth. To make greater wealth.
And once he had accumulated. So much wealth. He said to himself. Self. Which I love that he said that. Like the guy's like soul.
And soul's like what? And he's like hey. So anyway. But he. Says to himself. Great.
Now I don't have to work anymore. Now I've made it. Now I've arrived. Now I'm set. Now I've found.
Life. And God. Says to him. Fool. Tonight your life's required of you. Here's what's very interesting about this.
And especially when we talk about this topic. He does not say. You wicked person. He does not say. You evil sinner. What he says is.
Fool. Fool. You just don't see it. You've missed it. Life doesn't come from that. So Jesus in coaching us up.
Isn't going to jump in and say. Stop coveting. Because it's super sinful. And it makes God mad at you. That's not where he takes this. Coveting is sinful.
It's in the top ten. Ten commandments. Coveting's in there. So we shouldn't. But the point that he's making here is.
You're foolish. You're not seeing it right. You don't. You haven't viewed it appropriately. Like he just failed to see. The reason he was blessed.
And why he was blessed. And what he could have done with it. He just handled it foolishly. So we look at this guy and say. Man he's done very well. He's very.
He's very smart about his money. And God looks at him and says. No he's foolish. And here's why. 20. But God said to him.
Fool. This night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared. Whose will they be? So is the one.
Which just means. It's the same way with everyone. So so is the one. Who lays up treasure for himself. And is not rich towards God. That's very interesting.
He calls him foolish. And says it's the same way with everyone. Who lays up treasure for themselves. But is not rich towards God. Which means two things. One.
Our treasure. Possessions. The things we're blessed with. Are not meant. To simply terminate on us. And.
There is a way. To be rich towards God. There is a way for us. To roll our money up. And to somehow. Give it to him.
To roll our possessions up. And somehow give it to him. And I'm going to steal a little bit from next week. Next week we're going to go through. The rest of what he says here. We're going to jump down to 33.
And it's going to be on the screen as well. I just want to help answer. What it means to be rich towards God. So he says. The sell your possessions. And give to the needy.
Provide yourselves with money bags. That do not grow old. With a treasure in the heavens. That does not fail. Where no thief approaches. And no moth destroys.
What he just said. Was there's a way for us. To be rich. Eternally. Eternally. And he's the only person.
Who can speak on that subject. Because he's the only eternal person. Who's ever returned. From that side of eternity. So we all go to eternity.
But none of us have ever. Been to eternity. And come back. Regardless of the books. That are out. So it was like.
When I was in middle school. And I dyed the top of my hair. Bleach white. That's correct. I looked as good. As you are imagining.
That I looked. And I had an older brother. Who's in high school. And it was so helpful for me. To have an older brother. Who's in high school.
Who would coach me up. And be like. Hey that's cool. Don't do that anymore. Before. And he would help me.
All the time. Because he was in high school. He'd been to high school. And he would tell me. Hey. Hey.
Yeah. Girls aren't going to like that. And I'd be like. Oh. Well I'd better stop. Because I like girls.
And I want them to like. The things that I'm doing. And he would. I would say a joke. And he'd say. That's not funny.
And he would help me. Because he knew. About this world. I didn't know about. Which was high school. And Jesus is the only one.
Who's come out of eternity. Stepped into history. And said. Hey. You're thinking about this. Incorrectly.
The way you think about finances. And the way that. Everyone else is going to say. Is good and smart. Is wrong. Because there's actually a way.
To be rich. Towards God. To be eternally. Wealthy. What does that look like? I don't know.
What is treasure in heaven? I have no clue. But I can tell you this. It's better. Than what we have here. What we have here.
Does not provide life. Does not fill us up. Does not make us whole. And what we get there. In eternity. For those who follow Jesus.
And have been saved. From sin. By him. There is eternal treasure. And you think. Is it selfish for me.
To be generous here. Just to get eternal things. Apparently not. Because that's what Jesus says to do. It'd be really selfish. For me to just get eternal blessings.
So I'll just spend money on myself. It's like. No. He's. It's actually good. Be eternally selfish.
And be radically generous here. That's what he says. That through giving. Away what we have. Through being generous. In another place.
He says that if you give. Even a cup of cold water. To someone who is his disciple. You will in no way. Lose your reward. So even in tiny things.
For people who are just. I'm going to bless this person. Because they're in ministry. I'm going to bless this person. Because they're a Christian. I'm going to bless this person.
Because they're part of my church family. And then here he says. Sell your possessions. Give to the needy. I'm going to bless this person. Because they need it.
He says it's actually. Sending it on the head. For eternal. Reward. Where nobody steals. Things don't get old.
Or go out of style. And you have it forever. And that's what he says. Is wise. Is it not. Foolish way to view.
Finances and money. We're going to keep talking about this. For the next two weeks. And here's what we're going to do. Matt. And Bianca.
And Raz. And Josh. Are going to come back up here. And we're going to. Sing. Here in just a minute.
As we prayerfully. Think about this. But I just want to. Help us see this a little bit. I just want to help us. Diagnose a little bit.
So he says. Don't. Be on guard. Against covetousness. And so the first question. I have is.
How do I do that? How do I start being on guard. Against that? I think. I think we have to start paying attention. To the things that we want.
That are not ours. Which would be most of the things. That we want. I mean. I like the stuff that I have. But I don't usually think about wanting it.
Think. That we need to be aware. Of the. Effect. That advertising has on us. The effect.
That certain people have on us. When we get around them. And they have things. That we don't have. But I think we also get to be.
Intentionally generous. So we get to intentionally. Try to turn our hearts. Towards the opposite of that. We get to intentionally. Start saying.
I'm going to send. Some of my treasure. On ahead. I'm going to start. Working for. Eternal things.
So I think one of the questions. We get to ask is. Does my treasure. He says. So it is with anyone.
Who's only rich. Towards themselves. Does all of my. Finances. Do all of my finances. Do all of my possessions.
Serve me. Am I the bottom line. When we look at our family's income. Does it just end with our family. Because Jesus is going to say. If that's the case.
We're foolish. If there's no. Area in our budget. Where we're being generous. Where we're giving of our possessions. If all of our treasure.
Just gets. Compiled. And piled up. And given to ourselves. We're foolish. And that we can be.
Intentionally. Generous. To try to turn this. And so here's. Here's what we're going to do. As a church family.
For our give series. So our give series. Again is. Every time. Every year. Around this time.
We're going to. We're going to pause. And we're going to try. To intentionally. Be generous. We're going to try to find.
Some need. Some area. That we can give to. That we can rally. Our church family around. To make a difference.
That we can bless. And here's what we're going to do. This year. This past Thursday. We. Went to.
The gentle pines area. North brown area. Of West Columbia. Which is just a. A lower income area. In our city.
Where there's some higher crime rates. And some. It's about 60% Hispanic. And so it's a good bit of people. That don't speak English. That live in.
Single unit housing. With just a bunch of families. In there. And so what we did. Was we just went. We got up early.
On Thursday morning. For Thanksgiving. Many of you were there. And we cooked. And peeled. A thousand potatoes.
I didn't count. But that seems right. And. Handed out. 201 meals. At first.
And then another. 60 or so later. With what was left over. After we ate. And so some other people. Just went around.
And went from house to house. And went into downtown. And so we handed out. About 270. Pre-boxed meals. Just because we wanted to.
To seek to be generous. On Thanksgiving. And I was. I was. Be proud of our church family. Because there was.
I think the mathematical term. Is a pile of people there. To serve. On Thanksgiving day. And it was just a lot of fun. To see all the people there.
That wanted to serve. And wanted to help. And I know other people have. Family and stuff. That you had to go do. And that's.
Not an indictment. Be excited. And so. But what we did. While we were handing out meals. Was we talked to people in that area.
And we asked. Can we help you for Christmas. If you have children. Usually Angel Tree. Goes around that apartment complex. They did not this year.
Angel Tree. Is the people that. Basically help. People in the area. Give Christmas gifts. And so we just ask.
As our church family. Is there a way that our church. Can help. This year. With you and your family. For Christmas.
If you have small children. We had 77 children. Sign up. So when we can. Just so we can actually look at it. So what we're shooting to do.
This year. As a church family. Is provide Christmas gifts. For 77 children. In the North Brown area. Of West Columbia.
If you are good at math. That is about the amount of people. Who are a part of our church. Which means that this just got serious. Because that's how many people signed up. And so what we're going to do.
As a church family. Is figure out a way. To reorient our hearts. Towards generosity. As a first step. Towards laying up some treasure.
In an eternal place. By just giving to those. Who need. Many of which were Hispanic. I know a little bit of Spanish. And one of the things.
We just basically said. Tell us age. Gender. Size. And if you have a small gift request. And the number one thing.
That was written down. Was zapatos. Which means shoes. The number one thing. Requested for Christmas. For the children in that area.
Was shoes. And yeah. We want to be a part of that. We want to be a part of being. Intentionally generous. Around Christmas.
Reorienting our hearts. To send treasure on ahead. Because Jesus says. That's what's wise and good. For us to do. You're not signing up for anything today.
We're going to begin praying about that. We're going to begin talking to our. Talking with your community group about that. And next week when we get together. We're going to give some specific instructions. On how we're going to go about that.
And actually let people begin. Signing up for. And saying. We'll take this many. Children. And we want to get gifts for.
So I'm going to pray. And then we're going to sing. Father we thank you. For your grace. We thank you. That in your wisdom.
And your love towards us. You didn't show up. And say it's wrong. To have nice things. It's bad. To do.
Nice stuff around your house. You're wicked and evil. What you just said was. No it's foolish. But you do bless us.
And you do give us good things. To enjoy. But you want us to know. And to intentionally reorient our hearts. Towards generosity. And God.
We ask. That your Holy Spirit. Would empower that. In us. That the gospel. Would impact us.
In such a way. To be generous. That you would change us. Because too many of us. Have normalized coveting. Too many of us.
Are okay with. The belief. The belief. The lie. That life comes from the abundance of possessions. We far too often think that's true.
So God. We ask that you would lead us to repentance. That you would lead us to change. And that ultimately. You would lead us to be generous. As you are generous.
Charitable. As you were charitable. Gracious as you're gracious. Jesus. We love you. And we praise you.
And we thank you. And God. We ask for wisdom. In our finances. In Jesus name. Amen.
The Fiery Furnace
Transcript
My name is Matt. I'm one of the pastors with Mill City Church and I'm really excited to share with you our message for today. I got the privilege to open up the Bible Story series and actually get to close it for us this morning. And I think it's been a fun and enjoyable series for us as a church. And the question we've been seeking to answer along the way is, who is the Bible actually about? Is it about us or is it about Jesus?
And along the way we've had to ask other questions like, okay, how do I read the Bible? Am I supposed to learn a moral or am I supposed to learn some facts? Do I insert myself into the story or do I kind of sit off as a third person just viewing what's going on? And as we've walked through this series, what we've been able to see is that the purpose of the Bible is to reveal God to us. It's to tell us about God, specifically through the Revelation of his son, the person and work of Jesus. And that's what we've been looking at.
As we've been walking through this series, we've been trying to answer that question, who is the Bible actually about? And as we've walked through it, another thing that we've been able to see is that because we know the end of the story, it impacts how we read the beginning of it. So since we know what God's ultimately going to do through Jesus, it impacts, changes how we walk through the Old Testament, how we read the Old Testament. It's very similar to the way that you'd watch the movie Titanic. Okay? We know the history of Titanic before the movie in the 90s came out.
We already knew what had happened. And so the whole time you're watching this movie, as you're watching Jack play cards for the tickets to get on the ship, and he's hoofing it. He's hoofing it to try to get on the ship, and he gets on, and you're just like, no, that's not going to end well for you. And he and Rose fall in love. The whole time, you know what's going to happen. You know that the ship is eventually going to strike an iceberg.
It's going to go down. Jack and Rose are going to end up in the water. Well, Jack's going to end up in the water. Rose was on the door that both of them could have fit on. Rose was super selfish. She looks at Jack.
She goes, I'll never let go. I'll never let go. And then she, like, wakes up from her cold stupor and pries his dead hand from hers and lets him sink to the bottom of the ocean. Rose was a liar, guys. But because we know the end of the story, it impacts how we watch the whole movie.
The same thing is true of the Bible. We know the end of the story, so it impacts how we read through the Old Testament. And as we walk through stories like Adam and Eve in the garden, as we looked at Noah's ark, the journey of Joseph, last week David versus Goliath, we've gotten to see how they each give us glimpses into different aspects of the gospel, what God is ultimately going to do through Jesus. We've seen righteousness. We've seen how sin can be taken care of. We've seen grace.
And we've seen victory. And today, as we bring our series to a close, we're going to be looking at one of my favorite stories in the Bible. We're going to be looking at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. And I'm really excited to share it with you this morning. But before we hop in, I just want to pray that God would use this Old Testament story to reveal himself to us.
So you guys join me. Let's pray together. God, we are asking that you would speak to us this morning. In our own ability, we do not have the capability to look at your word and understand on our own. And so, God, we are asking that by your Holy Spirit, you would speak to us this morning. God, that we would hear from you, that we would understand in a greater way who you are and how we are to live in relationship with you.
In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, our story from today comes from the book of Daniel, chapter 3. So if you've got your Bible, go ahead and grab it. If you don't have one, we've got the blue and white Bibles on the seats. It's going to be page 480. And you're going to want to have it today because we're going to read all of chapter 3.
Scripture is not going to be on the screen. If you're with us this morning and you don't have a Bible, we would love for you to take one of these with you. We have plenty of them. We want everyone to be able to have a Bible. So go ahead and grab one of those and take it with you.
Now, in our series, three out of the five stories that we covered came from the book of Genesis. So we could have called it Genesis plus two more stories, but we went with Bible stories. And last week, we made a pretty big jump from Genesis all the way to 1 Samuel. And I want to take a little bit of time because we're moving even further down the timeline to get from the story of David versus Goliath to the story that we're looking at today. So if you've got those Bible stories handout cards that Raz was talking about at the very beginning, go ahead and grab those.
They're in the seats behind you or directly in front of you. Grab one of those. Take that with you. That's a helpful study resource. Raz is one of our community group leaders. He's a seminary student at CIU.
Just did a wonderful job putting that together so that you could actually see the chronological timeline of the Old Testament because it helps you as you're reading through to know where to actually place the story in the history. So go ahead and grab that. All right. Let's see if I can do this for us. Last week, we looked at David. We looked at David and Goliath.
And David defeats Goliath. And eventually, he's going to become the king of Israel in place of a guy named Saul. And David was a good king. He's known as the quintessential king of Israel. And he had his own flaws. He had his own shortcomings.
But David was a good king that led the people in following the Lord. After David comes his son Solomon. Solomon's known for his wisdom. He wrote several books that we have in the Bible. Solomon also got the opportunity to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem where God's presence was said to dwell. So he was very wise.
And he had lots of riches. And he had a lot of wives. And I don't know how wisdom and wives work together. I guess that's where riches came in. I guess he was able to take care of them that way. But after Solomon, that's when things start to go south.
The kingdom splits in two. Splits between one of Solomon's sons and one of the commanders of his army. So we have a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. And as generation after generation passes, the people begin to abandon God. The kings lead them in worshiping foreign idols and making sacrifices to foreign gods. And God in his grace sends prophets like Isaiah, like Micah to come and to warn the people.
To tell them to repent and turn back to God. Or they're going to be conquered by another nation and sent out of their homeland as exiles. That's what the prophets were saying. And while there were some kings along the way that heeded that wisdom, heeded that prophecy, over time they become more and more depraved and move away from the Lord until eventually the northern kingdom is going to be conquered by Assyria. And then after that, all of the known world in that time is going to be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire. And that's where we find ourselves in the story today is with these exiled Jews in the land of Babylon that survived the destruction and are now living in captivity.
Now, I want to take just a second to paint that picture up for you. Because when it comes to reading the Old Testament, it doesn't seem real to us. It seems tall tale-ish or like it's a fable. This was real. It's not just the Bible that supports this. Historical documents from the time tell us that this actually took place.
This actually happened. So just go there with me for a second. Imagine that you're an Israelite. You're one of God's chosen people in the promised land. And a bigger, badder empire from the east comes in. And they go into your holy city and they destroy the temple where God's presence was said to dwell.
Most of your family and friends, they're killed. And those of you who are left are carried off to a country with a culture you don't understand. A language you cannot speak. And God's that you do not serve. Welcome to Babylon. I swear these exiles are.
They're living in captivity. And the other side of the prophecy did say this. That there would come a time that after these Jews had been exiled from their homeland, there would come a time where they would repent and God would rescue them out. And they would get to return to their homeland. So that kind of gives us a little bit of the background.
And now we can jump into our story a little bit. So now in Daniel, we're going to look at chapter 3. In chapters 1 and 2, what we see is that this, as the exiles are coming into Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar wants to take all the best of the young people, all the elite people, and he wants to bring them into the palace. And here's what it says. This is like his gauge on what he wants coming in. He says, Youths that were without blemish, good-looking, skillful in wisdom, and endowed with knowledge.
So didn't you feel kind of bad that you didn't get to go to the palace? Like, oh no, not only am I not smart, I'm not good-looking either. But the reason that King Nebuchadnezzar wanted these youths was to train them, to teach them culture and language. This was an expansive empire, and he wanted people who knew different areas to be able to rule over them. And eventually what we see is that some of the Jewish exiles actually find favor in King Nebuchadnezzar's eyes. Daniel, who wrote this book, and three of his friends whose story that we're going to look at today, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they rise to power, and they're put over top of different provinces, those three specifically over the province of Babylon.
And while they're in the worst possible scenario for them, while they're in the worst possible situation, we see that God's still with them. God is still with them in this scenario. So Daniel, Daniel chapter 3, verse 1. A lot of setup for us this morning. Go ahead and turn there. Verse 1.
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth 6 cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Okay, we don't know a whole lot about Nebuchadnezzar at this point. This is kind of our introduction to him. But what we see is that Nebuchadnezzar has an image set up that's 60 cubits high, 6 cubits wide, and is made of gold.
The most powerful man in the known world at this time is flexing his muscles just a little bit. And we talked last week about what that measurement of a cubit was. It was a rudimentary measurement of fingertip to elbow, and it was about 18 inches. Or if you're me and have T-Rex arms, it's more like 14 inches. But the standard man was about 18 inches, which means that this statue is 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide.
It was made of gold. And this thing was real. There are Babylonian documents from the time that actually talk about this statue. This wasn't just a made-up thing. It was actually real. And those documents nor scripture actually tell us what the image was.
Some people think that it was an image from a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had back in chapter 2. Daniel actually interprets that dream from him. You can read that story. Others think it was an animal, which would have matched up with other religions in that area of the world at the time. But regardless, this image had an intended purpose.
And we get to see a little bit of it in the next verse. Verse 2. Verse 3. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors. Okay, at some point, do you feel like Nebuchadnezzar's just giving out titles to all of his friends? I'm pretty sure he made satrap up.
That's not a thing, right? Like he's going around the room. He's like, okay, Frankie and Steve, you guys are going to be counselors. Johnny, you'll be a governor. And Rufus, you'll be a magistrate. What about Carl?
Carl? I didn't forget Carl. See, Carl is going to be a satrap. A what? A satrap. What's that?
Shut it, Carl. You're a satrap. I don't know. There's all these different titles within the provinces. But it continues on.
Continuing on in verse 3. The justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the most powerful man in the known world summons everybody from every part of his empire. And it was huge. This empire would have stretched from the bottom of Egypt to the Persian Gulf.
It was huge. He summoned everybody, even the people with made-up titles. Everybody's coming. And I want you to imagine no expense spared Woodstock style. Because it says he set it up on the plain of Dura. He set this thing up on a level piece of ground so that as many people as possible could get to it, could see this image.
And now they're all standing. They're all standing in the shadow of this image. And it continues on. Verse 4. All right.
Time out. You guys know that I'm a musician. So that any time scripture expressly points out something about singing or about music or about instruments, I'm automatically drawn to it. And so you go back through this list and you're clipping along. Horn. Yep.
Pipe. Yep. Liar. That would have been like a stringed instrument, very similar to a guitar. Trigon. Don't know what that is, but it sounds cool.
Harp. That's an interesting choice. Bagpipe. Bagpipe. In the middle of all these Eastern instruments, who snuck the Scottish guy in? Wes William Wallace.
I'm really sorry. That's a terrible Scottish accent. That was terrible. I apologize. And speaking of terrible, this would have sounded terrible. I'm serious.
If you look, it was a horn and a pipe and a stringed instrument and a harp and a... I guess they were trying to scare them into submission to make them bow down. I don't know what the intended purpose was here. But all these different instruments, and in verse 6, And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe... Let's just call them the band, the really terrible band.
The band and every kind of music. All the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So they assemble all these people, and at the sound of the band, everyone's to bow down, or they're going to get thrown into a fiery furnace. Bow down or die. So all the people, including the Jews who had been exiled from their homeland for doing this same mess, have to bow down at the sound of the music to this inanimate object that's made by human hands.
The herald just said that King Nebuchadnezzar had it set up, which means that the elements would have been melted down and poured out by human hands, cast by human hands, shaped by human hands, lifted into place by human hands, could not move on its own without human hands. Bow down and worship. That's what's facing all the people that are standing beside this image. And it continues on. Verse 8. Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.
Okay, Chaldeans would be similar to southerners. It was a regional designation, so these were people from Babylon. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree. You, O king, have made a decree. Lost my place.
That every man who hears the sound of the terrible band and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Okay, so there is likely some type of jealousy going on here.
Scripture does not tell us that. But these are hometown boys. And they are talking about the Jewish exiles. And this is a slap in the face to the king. Not only are they disobeying him, but these aren't even his people. These are conquered exiles.
These are people that he treated graciously and had them trained and gave them food and shelter and clothing. And now they're not bowing down to the image that he set up. And they're doing it in front of the entire empire. Nuh-uh. Not happening. And Nebuchadnezzar is hot.
Jump back with me. Verse 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in furious rage, commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now, if you are ready when you hear the sound of the band and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.
But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? So Nebuchadnezzar brings them in and he's going to give them another chance. But it's an ultimatum. Either you bow down or you're going to die. Bow down or I'm going to throw you into a fiery furnace.
And verse 15, the tail end of verse 15 really gives us a picture of what's going on here. Basically says, if you won't worship my gods, which God do you think is going to save you from the fiery furnace that I'm going to throw you in? And we get to see how they respond. Verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace.
And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. And I love that. Don't you love that? That's why it's one of my favorite stories in the Bible. The king says, I'm going to kill you.
And those guys aren't fazed by it. They simply answer the question to which God could save them. And they say, our God, our God can save us. But even if he doesn't, we'd rather die than serve your idol. Don't even bother striking up the band again. You're going to have to kill us.
We won't bow down. You see what these guys are saying here? Don't miss the beauty of what's going on. Here's what they're saying. They're saying, our God can deliver us. He will deliver us.
But if he chooses not to do so, we still trust him. Even if we are to die, he is still in control and has a greater purpose. That in the midst of the worst possible scenario, they have placed their full trust in God. And let me just say this. It's not because these guys had super faith. Nobody's arguing that these guys had incredible faith and courage and trust.
But it's not even that they had faith that everything was going to turn out all right. They have faith in God no matter what the outcome is. They trust him. Him. Period. And that goes so far beyond our understanding of trust and faith.
So often with us, our trust and faith is very circumstantial and can be very conditional. So a lot of times it goes like this. God, I place my faith in you if... Fill in the blank. God, I trust you as long as... Fill in the blank.
We have fill in the blank faith. It's circumstantial. It's conditional. That when things in our lives are going well, when we're up on top, God, I trust you. I have faith in you. And as things take a turn for the worse, as we're like these guys and we're facing death and we're facing suffering, our faith and our trust begin to diminish because we're thinking about our trust.
We're thinking about how much faith we have rather than the trustworthiness and the faithfulness of our God. And that's what we're seeing in the story. These guys look at Nebuchadnezzar and they say, he's completely capable. He's infinitely good and wise. And whatever happens to us, it's inside of his plan and control. We trust him.
Verse 19. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.
Now, it looks like Daniel is super fond of lists. Okay? But the Bible doesn't just throw out random facts for no reason. There's a purpose in that. We're going to come back to it. We're going to see it.
Verse 22. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Well, that didn't go well. These guys stood up for their God and they still get tossed into the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar was so enraged that he had the furnace heated seven times more than it could be.
I don't even know how they were supposed to measure that. That they had them bound in their clothing with ropes. And the mighty men of their army went to take these guys and throw them into the fire. And it was so hot that it killed the guys who were throwing them into the fire. And they're tossed in. And it seems like that should be the end of the story, but it's not.
Pick it up. Verse 24. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. He answered and said, But I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire.
And they are not hurt. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar's mind is blown because he looks into the burning fiery furnace. And instead of hearing screams of agony, of pain, seeing men riling around in pain on the ground, he sees men walking around. Unbound. Unharmed.
And he goes to count. One, two, three. How many men did we throw in there? And I'm looking at this man. He can't even describe what he's saying because he says, The fourth looks like a son of the gods. He looks like a divine being.
Verse 26. Pick it up. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace. He declared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out. Come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
What else was he supposed to do? Nebuchadnezzar runs as close to the fire as he absolutely can. And he yells for him to come out. They're walking around inside. What else is he going to do? Come out.
Come out. And this is like a movie. It's like one of those movies where the hardcore guys go into the abandoned warehouse and they wreck shop and they're, you know, killing people. And they're coming out. And the warehouse is like blowing up behind them. And there's fire.
And there's smoke. And they're walking out with the gangster truck. And everything's blowing up. Don't act like that's not the music that's going on in your mind. When you imagine yourself in that story. And they come walking out of the fire.
Verse 27. And the satraps. Good. Carl's back. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not sensed.
Their cloaks were not harmed. And no smell of fire had come upon them. All the fire was able to do was burn the ropes off that they had used to bind them. When they walk out of the fire, they don't even smell like smoke. I think that's why Daniel included those details. Hats weren't messed up.
Garments weren't messed up. They didn't even smell like smoke. God had delivered them. And Nebuchadnezzar's reaction is priceless. Priceless. Verse 28.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrath, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him and set aside the king's command and gilded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any God except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree. Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrath, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. Nebuchadnezzar says, Bump that. I'm switching teams. I'm on that God's team.
And anyone who speaks a word against the God of Shadrath, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to shreds. Whoa, take it easy, king. Their houses will be leveled. Goodness. Moses. Holes cutting their favorite t-shirts and their favorite goldfish drowned.
How are you going to drown a goldfish? Shut it, Carl. You're a satrap. Figure it out. He loses his mind. He does a complete 180.
The most powerful king in the known world says, Nobody will speak a word against these guys. And verse 30. Then the king promoted Shadrath, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. And we get to the end of the story and we're pumped. What a story. These three guys in the face of imminent death placed their full trust in either God's deliverance or his providence.
And they're thrown into a fiery furnace. But that's not the end of the story. Nebuchadnezzar looks inside and he can't even explain what he's seeing. He goes to count. He says, one, two, three, four. One of them looks like a divine being.
One of them looks like a son of the gods. And we're getting a glimpse into what God is ultimately going to do in the gospel through his son as Jesus steps into the fire on our behalf. We get a picture of it. Right there. In the middle of this story. What God is ultimately going to do through Jesus.
And Nebuchadnezzar is puzzled and he's looking inside. He doesn't even know what's going on. He says an angel. The translation of that is a messenger. So whether it was an angel or a messenger that Nebuchadnezzar saw or something else completely, entirely different, one thing remains constant.
God is with them. And once again, we get a perfect picture of the gospel in this story. We're once again reminded that the Bible isn't about us. What we see, what we see in the story is that the God of the Bible, the one true God, the God of Israel, the God that these men refuse to dishonor and to disobey, he doesn't just deliver them out of the furnace. He joins them in it. We get a glimpse of his character here.
Why he's so trustworthy. He doesn't just keep them from harm. He walks with them in it. And as we continue to read, as the story of the Bible unfolds, this isn't a God that just calls for faith, that just calls for obedience, that sits far off and expects greatness from his people. No. He would join his people.
That Jesus would step out of heaven and step into the furnace. That Jesus would become a human. That Jesus would face temptation. That he would live and love perfectly. And he would go to a cross. And he wouldn't leave unscathed.
He was brutally murdered. See, what we see in this story is that three men step into an execution, and they're joined there by their God. And they're delivered. What we see in Jesus is that Jesus goes to a cross, and he switches places with us, and he dies. And we're the ones that walk out of the furnace free. We get a glimpse into the gospel in this story.
But the cool thing about it is that Jesus doesn't stay dead. Jesus walks out of the grave three days later to defy the furnace, to defy death and punishment and offer life. What we see is that these men have faith, and they're joined in the furnace, and they're granted life. And we're offered the same thing. We're offered the same thing. That we're offered to join a God who isn't unfamiliar with pain and suffering, a God who died in our place on our behalf, who took our execution.
The character of God is fully revealed to us in Jesus to show us that he is trustworthy, that he is faithful. And the cross ultimately proves that. Jesus stepped in, and through his death and resurrection, he proves that. And just like with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the purpose of their suffering was to bring glory to God. These three guys were in the face of death and suffering. And when they're thrown into the fire, they don't know what's going to happen.
But as they're brought out, Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree that no one can speak a word against the God of these guys. God's name is made known throughout the entire empire. And in the same way, in the suffering and the death of Jesus, God had a greater purpose. That through the sacrificial death of his son, the debt of our sin would be paid for. And that as Jesus dies on the cross, we who are sinful get to walk away. And so, how much more do we, on this side of the cross, understand God's faithfulness and his trustworthiness in the midst of our trials and sufferings?
How much more can we claim, just like these guys, that our God can deliver, he will deliver, and even if he chooses not to, in my present circumstances, we ultimately know that he delivers us from sin, death, and hell through the cross. That as we go through hard times, as we go through suffering, he doesn't sit far off. He joins us in it. And so, since we know that God is ultimately going to deliver, we get to face trials and sufferings, realizing that he might not change our present situation. You see, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire, it wasn't the strength of their faith that could save them.
It was the object of their faith. It was that God was faithful. God was trustworthy. And they knew that it might not mean that God would change their situation. And the same thing is true for us. He might not change the present situation that we're going through.
The oncology report might come back and you still have cancer. You may go through the third month and not be able to pay your bills. Work may continue to be a living nightmare because you have a boss that constantly demeans you. And what we see in this story is that God is faithful and he's trustworthy. That no matter what happens, our hope is not in our circumstances, but it's ultimately in the fact that God will deliver us. That he joins us in the furnace to walk with us through it and that in the end it brings glory to his name.
How much more do we on this side of the cross get to say, I know that my God's going to deliver me. It doesn't matter what I'm walking through right now. That I can endure suffering. I can endure trials because I know that he's faithful and I know that he's with me in it. He joins me in the suffering and ultimately it brings glory to his name. Raz, Bianca, and Josh are going to come back up.
The response this morning is to place your faith in Jesus and not in your present circumstances. Some of us in this room are walking through really difficult life situations right now. And you're asking the question, God, where are you? Where are you? I don't feel you. I don't see you.
Everything that's going on in my life is a mess. Where are you? Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were joined in the fire. We know perfectly how willing Jesus is to step into the furnace on our behalf. That ultimately Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show us what it looks like to walk in relationship with Jesus because we have a God that endured suffering for us. And that we don't look at the flames.
We don't look at the furnace. We're not looking at our present circumstances. We're looking to the God who's faithful and who's trustworthy. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego look to the guy on their left. We look to the cross. The cross proves that God loves us.
It settles that so that no matter what we're walking through, we can trust God. And listen, I don't know why suffering and trials happen the way they do. I don't. I don't know why that situation may not change. I don't know why that relationship hasn't gotten any better. I don't know.
But what I do know is that God is good. And He's for our good. And He loves us. And He's got a plan. He's got a purpose in the midst of our suffering and our trials. And we look to Jesus as we walk through it.
Because He's with us. And ultimately, He delivers us. Place your faith in Him because He's faithful. Trust Him because He's trustworthy. We're going to stand and we're going to sing praises to Jesus. And I'm inviting you, if for the first time, to let go.
To stop looking at the flames and to look to the cross. Let's pray. God, we praise You that You are not a God who sits far off, that leaves us in this mess by ourselves, but You join us in the suffering. And in doing so, You swap places with us. That we can place our faith in You for the forgiveness of our sins and for salvation. God, I'm praying that all across this room, Lord, that You would awaken that within us.
Instead of looking at our present circumstances and our trials, God, give us a picture of the cross that proves Your love for us. God, awaken faith and trust within us because You are faithful and trustworthy. In Jesus' name, amen.
David and Goliath
Transcript
So my name is Chet, I'm one of the pastors with Mill City Church, and what we're doing, we're in our fourth week of our Bible story series, and what we're doing is we're walking through Old Testament Bible stories, stories that we've heard, stories maybe we've grown up hearing, or at least in our culture we're familiar with, and we're just looking at them in light of the rest of Scripture. We're looking at them in light of God's full story. So what we know about God is that He declares in the Old Testament, He says, I'm the God who declares the end from the beginning. And so when we think about history, we usually look at what came before an event to find out what caused it.
So like when you study World War II, you're going to look at World War I, you're going to look at the aftermath of World War I, and you're going to see how did this lead up to World War II. But when we look at the story as God unfolds it to us in Scripture, what we understand is that He in some ways is like an architect or like a city planner who is working everything out towards His given end, His desire for how things ultimately are going to work out. So when we look at an event in history, in biblical history, we not only look at what led up to it, but we also look at where God was going to take it eventually, because He's in charge of how everything plays out. And so one of the things we've said as we've gone through this series is that in some ways as Christians who have the New Testament, who know that God becomes a human, that Jesus comes to earth and lives on our behalf and dies and then rises again, that we have the end of the story, and so we can't ever read the Old Testament the same way again.
And so what we've said is it's kind of like the movie The Sixth Sense. Have you seen that movie? It came out in like 1999. If you haven't seen it, it's got a really intense twist on the end, and I'm about to ruin that for you. But the main character, Bruce Willis, is dead the entire time, and the kid can see dead people.
And so you don't know he's dead, though, until the end. And so if you watch The Sixth Sense the first time, it blows your mind. And then when you can never watch it the same way again. And so that's the same way we approach the Bible. We go through the Old Testament, and we're looking at its unfolding, and then we see how God's going to bring everything together. We see the twist on the end of the story.
And we can never read the Old Testament the same way twice. My wife and I, she had not seen The Sixth Sense, but she had seen a movie that talked about the end of The Sixth Sense, much like I just did here, where it says that the guy's dead the whole time. But she didn't realize it was Bruce Willis. She thought it was the kid. So we watched the entire movie, and I told her it was really good.
We watched the entire movie. We get to the end, and I was like, what did you think? She's just staring at the credits like, she looks at me and goes, the kid was dead the whole time? And I was like, no. But it messed up her ability to even watch it.
So it's helpful for us to know what the end of the story is, so that as we go through the text, as we go through these Bible stories, we get an understanding of what God's doing and how we're actually supposed to understand what the story means, what we're supposed to do with it, how we're supposed to understand it. So today we're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 17. We're going to be talking about the story of David and Goliath. I'm very excited that we get to talk about David and Goliath together today. It's a story I think most of us are familiar with. It shows up all the time, even just in the way people talk about stuff.
They'll say, it's a really David and Goliath story, that kind of thing. And we just really just did the video just for fun. So if Christians can't get together and have a good time, I honestly don't know who can, because we've been rescued and redeemed by Jesus and we're set free. And so we want to have fun together as a church family. I'm going to pray. If you have one of these Bibles that are in the rows with you, it'll be on page 154.
And that's not a typo. We'll go through 1 through 54 on page 154. So, okay, I'm going to pray and then we're going to hop in and look at this. God, we thank you that we get to gather today to study your word. And we ask that you would speak to us. That as we read through the text, as we see this story, we pray that you'd give us the ability to understand more clearly.
That you would help us see vividly how you work in history. And ultimately what you were doing on our behalf. And so, God, we praise you. We thank you. And we love you. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Okay, so chapter 17, verse 1. Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Soca, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Soca and Azekah in Ephes-Demim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them.
Okay, we're going to stop there for a second. Let's paint this picture up a little bit and get a clear understanding of what's going on. And the Philistines were a coastal people, so they were kind of near the Mediterranean Sea, and they were kind of where the Gaza Strip is. And they had consistently given Israel fits. And so where we left off last week, we went through the book. But we were in Genesis last week talking about Joseph.
And so we had spent three weeks. We had talked about Adam and Eve. We had talked about Noah. And we talked about Joseph. And so if you were kind of keeping track, we had only been in Genesis as we're talking about. We're going to go through the Old Testament and talk about Bible stories.
So maybe if you were doing math, you're thinking, it's going to be a 92-week series. No, it's only going to be like 73 weeks. I'm just kidding. This is the fourth of five. And so we've jumped ahead in history. And so where we went was Joseph settled his family in Egypt.
They multiplied. The Egyptians enslaved them. And then Moses shows up, and he sings this song about letting his people go. And God moves through ten plagues and sets them free. And then they wander in the desert for 40 years. This is all outlined on those sheets.
If you want to grab one on your way out that we've got that Raz made of the biblical timeline. But they wander in the desert for 40 years, and then Joshua leads them into the promised land. And they do a decent Job of taking over the promised land, but did not completely have autonomy over it. And throughout the course of the book of Judges, they just have people who are Judges who kind of lead over them, rise up at different points to set them free from enemies that have taken over. And you see them fighting with the Philistines throughout the book of Judges. And where we are now, they came and said, we want a king.
We want to have a king. We want to be like the nations around us. And they were really just some tribes that kind of lived together. And God was supposed to be ruling over them as a king. And he says, okay, you can have a king. And so they choose King Saul through a process where a prophet leads them through that.
And what we know about King Saul was he's just kind of a big farm boy. He was about a head taller than everybody else. So they liked that about him. But it wasn't a real, they like rolled dice to see who was going to be king. So it's an interesting process, but God kind of oversaw it.
And so Saul's king. And he's done a decent Job up until this point. But he's not a king the way we think about kings with like a castle and stuff. Because they were just figuring this stuff out. So they were basically like, okay, Saul, you're our king.
Sweet. All right, everybody go home. That's pretty much what they did. And so he wasn't set up with like. And so at this point, all he's done is try to fight a few times, lead a couple of battles. And what we know about the Philistines is that they outman the Israelite army.
They can overpower them. The Israelites didn't want to fight them in open country because the Philistines had chariots. And the Israelites were mostly on foot. But the Philistines had horses and chariots. And so when you got in open country in a battle, chariots would just ride through your ranks and tear them up. So one of the reasons they're up in the mountains in a hill country is because Israel is trying to fight a defensive battle.
We also know that in 1 Samuel 13, we're told that the Philistines would not allow Israelites to have blacksmiths. So they had some authority over this territory. And the reason they wouldn't let them have blacksmiths is because they said that they were afraid that they would make spears and swords for themselves. And it would be easier for them to rise up against the Philistines. And so when the fighting with the Philistines begins, we're told that Saul has a sword and his son has a sword. And everyone else is using farm equipment.
They're outmatched, outmanned, and easily overpowered by the Philistines. And they had won some victories. And so we can assume at this point that they've grown some as an army. More men have joined. They've been able to start getting some weapons together, but not much. And so what we see is the Philistines on one side.
And they're in Israel's territory. It says that they're in Soca, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was one of the tribes of Israel. So the Philistines have marched in on Israel. And Israel is trying to defend themselves. I think sometimes when we picture biblical stories, especially ones that have some fantastic things to them, we always picture them a little bit cartoony.
So it's like there's like happy little cartoon things going on. And so like even when you picture David and Goliath, Goliath walks out and he's like he's mean, but he's kind of cute, like cartoony looking. He's got a big head, you know, and so it makes it easier to hit with rocks. But this is real. This is real events that happen to real people. This was a tense situation.
There's an army on one side of a mountain. There's a valley in between them and there's an army on another side. So picture more along the lines of what you would view when you think about Braveheart, where the English were coming and they were more powerful, had more to them, and there was a ragtag bunch of people trying to defend themselves. That's kind of the situation we find ourselves in. And so there would have been camps set up, campfires, tense conversations, grown men ready to do battle. And that's where we are.
Verse 4. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath. So a champion kind of is one of their greatest warriors and at times would do what we're about to see that he does, which is he says, I'll fight on behalf of my army. You send someone out to fight me on behalf of your army and I'll fight on behalf of mine. So a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
So a cubit, they didn't have rulers and stuff. Cubits, fingertips to elbows, that's about 18 inches. Span is the width of your hand there. And so six cubits and a span, the guy was nine foot, nine inches tall, roughly, depending on how big the arm of the person who measured him. And you're wondering, how did they measure him? Well, it doesn't go well for him.
So he was just kind of laid out for a while and they were able to walk up and be like, how tall is this cat? How tall was this cat? Somebody put his head back on. Let's see. Let's see how tall that was.
Okay. So anyways, nine foot, nine inches tall. He had a helmet of bronze on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail. And the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
And his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron. And his shield bearer went before him. This is an impressive, scary man. He was a champion of the Philistines who were good at fighting, had a good sized army, which means that he was good at killing people. And he was a giant. Nine foot, nine inches tall.
So Shaquille O'Neal is 7 foot 1 and at playing weight. So not his Icy Hot commercials, but back when he was playing, he was 325. Andre the Giant was billed at 7 foot 4 and 540 pounds. So assuming that Goliath of Gath had a little bit of weight to him, nine foot nine, he was probably somewhere between 600 to 750 pounds. And he's a massive, scary man who walks out and declares that he'll fight on behalf of his army. It says that he has a shield bearer, which couldn't, I mean, I don't know how tall that guy would have been compared to him carrying his shield for him.
So we don't know if he was like had weak knees or something. Historians have postulated that he had really effeminate legs that he wanted to hide. That's not true. But so he has a shield bearer, comes before him, carries his shield for him. So here's what we see.
This is the situation for the Israelites. They're outmanned. They're in a bad spot because they're fighting against the Philistines who have more armor, more people, more equipment. And now there's a giant on the other team. Verse 8. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel.
So he walks kind of out into the valley, walks down the hill a little bit, looking up to the army of Israel. Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. One of the questions I've always had as I've read this story is, why didn't the Israelites just say, no, not going to do that. We'll just have our army fight yours.
And as I was studying this and reading about this, what I realized is the Israelites didn't want to fight, period. They were in a defensive posture. They're up in the hills. They're trying to defend their territory. They're outmanned by the Philistines. And so the Philistines have the position of power in this whole situation.
And they're basically saying, well, let Goliath fight on our behalf. And then less people will die. We're going to win regardless. But we might as well just let our champion fight and we'll get this over quickly. Less of our people will die and we'll have more servants and slaves on the back end of it. And so that's why they kind of sit in this stalemate for a while.
Because the Philistines are in the position of power and Israel really doesn't have the ability to just fight them and win. At least it doesn't seem that way. Wouldn't it be a real good tactical move? And so what it says is that when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. They knew this was not going to go well for them. They did not have anybody who could go out and fight.
They didn't have anybody that was immediately like, oh, we'll send our champion, Greg Akiah out there. Like that didn't happen. Called him Greg for short. Verse 12. Now David was the son of Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah named Jesse, who had eight sons in the days of Saul.
The man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn and next to him Abinadab and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul. But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
For 40 days the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening. So when the Bible says for 40 days, that's an idiom. It can mean this happened for 40 days. Like exactly 40 days. But it's also just kind of a phrase they use that means a long time.
So like if I saw a friend and I said, man, I hadn't seen you in a hot minute. It actually hadn't been a hot minute. That's just a term I would use that means it's been a long time. Or like when you're talking to a really old country guy and he goes, boy, I've been chewing tobacco since I was knee-hide to a grasshopper. Which just means he started chewing tobacco when he was like six or something. He was never actually that short.
But we need to talk to him about his tobacco issue. That's really early. So it says for 40 days, it just means a long period of time. And so what we see though in this story is that we've now introduced a new character. We're talking about David now in this story. And so we already know about David if we've been reading through Samuel.
David already knows Saul. He comes and plays music for him. And David was musically gifted and wrote a lot of the Psalms that we have in the Bible. At this point though, David had already been anointed king. And so we don't know much about anointing. What had happened was Saul had led well for a time.
And then had kind of turned away from God and done some stuff like directly disobeyed some of the stuff God had told him to do. And so God basically said, well, I'm sorry I made you king. You're not going to be king anymore. And he says, I'm going to pick someone else. And so he chooses David. And David is anointed king.
It wasn't a big ceremony. It was something that a prophet went to his house. He was the runt of the family. They didn't even think he would be one of the ones. Like the prophet shows up and says, one of your sons is going to be king. And Jesse says, cool.
And takes his oldest, biggest boy and goes all the way down the line. He gets to the end. And they're basically just standing around like, you said one of my sons. And so Samuel said, do you have any other sons? And they're like, oh, yeah, David. Totally forgot he existed.
But he's watching sheep. And that probably he's not the king, though. And so they go get David. And he's anointed king. And so he's kind of like a president who's been elected but isn't president yet. But I don't even know if Saul knows that.
So that's who David is. He shows up. He's sent by his dad. So verse 17. And Jesse said to David, his son, take your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. Also take these ten choice cheeses to the commander of their thousand.
See if your brothers are well and bring some token from them. So he says, take this to your brothers and give their commander some cheese. I don't know if they're trying to get in with their commander. Be like, hey, man, remember when my dad gave you that cheese? Think I could have a day off? So I don't know.
I don't know what that was. He's just being nice, maybe. So 19. Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. It means encamped, lined up for battle. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him.
And he came to the encampment as the host was going to the battle, to the battle line, shouting the war cry. OK, so they've apparently been lining up in formation every day for a long period of time. And every day the same thing happens. Goliath comes out and challenges them and they all get scared again. So at some point you think their war cry is going to get slowly more lame over time.
Like the first day they genuinely were like, let's go do this. And then now they're like, ah. Did Goliath die in his sleep last night? He twists his ankle like waiting to see if this is going to work out differently. And it never does. And so they go to the line shouting the war cry, though, getting all hyped up and talking smack, but they don't have any ability to cash that check.
So let me see where I lost my place here. Where are we at? 21. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with him, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before.
And David heard him. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. That means every single man who was in the military, including Saul, who was supposed to be defending Israel, did not want to fight Goliath. They each and every one of them fled from him. And the men of Israel said, have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel.
And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. That means you don't have to pay taxes anymore. And David said to the men who stood by him, what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him in the same way. So shall it be done to the man who kills him.
Now Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men and Eliab's anger was kindled against David. And he said, why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart. For you have come down to see the battle. And David said, what have I done now?
Was it not but a word? And he turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way. And the people answered him again as before. So David shows up and he hears Goliath and immediately is like, who's this cat? Who's this guy that's coming out and defying the armies of Israel, the armies of the living God? So David has an understanding of God's on our team and God's not afraid of nine foot nine guys.
He really isn't. God doesn't even need a shield bearer. He's the guy who helps this dude breathe. So God's not afraid of him. Who is this guy? And he begins to ask, wait, what's going to happen for the person who defeats him?
So David immediately is like, I know how God works. What happens for the guy that steps in? And his older brother hears him. And we don't know much about the story between the relationship with him and his older brother. But I always just thought that was interesting.
His older brother hears him and immediately is like, hey, David, shut up. And David's like, what? I just asked a question. It just seems like brothers to me. It was just like, oh, that's cool. Like I remember when I hang out with my older brother in high school and he would tell me, hey, you can come hang out with my friends.
But here's the deal. You don't talk. And I was like, sweet. I can do that. And he actually helped me develop a sense of humor because I would mumble jokes. And if they were stupid, he would go, huh, like that.
And if they were good, he'd go, hey, say that out loud. And so he helped me practice. And since then, so that happened throughout high school. Since then, I've consistently wished that he was still around for me to run some jokes by. Because every once in a while I'll just pop off with something and be like, dang it, I wish Logan was here. He would have told me not to say that.
Anyway, so anyway, so you get to see this interaction between him and his brother. But verse 31 says this. When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul and he sent for him. So Saul, the king knows David, sends for him. And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
David doesn't even bat an eye. He says, I'll go fight. And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. For you are but a youth. And he has been a man of war from his youth. But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep for his father.
And when there was a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he rose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them. For he has defied the armies of the living God. And David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with you. It was a convincing conversation. So David shows up and says, I'll fight him. And Saul says, no, you can't. And David says, I killed lions and bears, which is a really intense story. When a lion would come take a lamb from me, I would go hit him and get the lamb back.
And if that ticked him off, I would murder him. That's what David said. Like, if he wanted to leave, cool. Like, I hit him, get the lamb, we cool, we cool, all right. But if he came at me, I'd grab his beard and kill him.
And he's like, Goliath has a beard. He will die. Like, it's just a very intense conversation that he has. And so Saul says, okay. And David basically is saying that I know that God, I'm immortal as long as God is with me. As long as God's fighting on my behalf.
As long as God's working. He saved me from lions and bears. He can save me from a Philistine. Then it says this, and we're going to take a second here because I think this is often at least depicted incorrectly. So it says, then Saul clothed David with his armor.
He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off.
Okay. Every time I've ever watched a David and Goliath, like story, video, cartoon, every time I've ever watched it, I feel like they get this wrong. I feel like this scenario is played out in a dumb way. And so if you've never watched one, then this won't help you. But for the two people who've watched that and been annoyed by it, this is for you.
So when I watch movies and shows and stuff, I get really annoyed with stuff that doesn't make sense. So any of y'all watch The Walking Dead? Anybody see that show? Okay, just me, some nods. Okay. So in The Walking Dead, there's a guy who uses a crossbow to kill walkers, which is zombies.
Crossbows take forever to reload. And he just runs around being like, pating, pating, pating. And the other thing that annoys me the most, though, about that show is not like the never-ending ammo guns that they have, is how often zombies sneak up on people. It's obnoxious. Because every time they show a zombie in the show, they're dragging their feet and going like this. Unless you're in the woods and not looking at them.
Because they'll be standing in the woods, and I guess the zombies behind them are going like this. And as soon as they turn around, like, I don't know. So I watch shows and stuff, and I get annoyed. And every time I've ever seen this, this is what happens. They have this little runt David guy come in, and Saul's like, here, wear my armor. And puts it on him, and he looks like a dad, like a kid, and his dad's close.
Like, Saul puts this ridiculous armor on him. The helmet slides over his face, and Saul's like, go fight. If Saul wouldn't have done that, that doesn't make any sense. Like, Saul wouldn't have outfitted him with ridiculously oversized armor, and been like, best of luck to you, kid, where the sword's dragging on the ground. Like, it annoys me every time I've ever seen that. Saul was actually trying to help him out.
And he gave him armor. Now, if it was Saul's personal armor, they would have tightened it up and gotten it to where it fit. David doesn't say this doesn't fit me. What he says is, I haven't tested them. I'm not used to this. I feel clunky and uncomfortable.
I'd rather go the way I'm used to going. I'd rather go just the way I've always gone as a shepherd when I fought a bigger lion. So that's all he says. So don't picture that in your head. Like, Saul put this ridiculous armor on him, and he, like, fell over. And Saul was like, good luck.
That's not what happened. He actually tried to outfit him, but David just says, no, this isn't going to help me. So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hands. So he took his shepherd's tool, and he chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch.
His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. Okay, now this just got crazy because they've got these two armies lined up, and the Philistines every day are lining up, walking out with some swagger as they send Goliath out in front of them to defy the armies of Israel. But this day, something different happens. This day, an unarmed-looking shepherd boy walks out. So the ranks of the Israelites separate, and they're like, something's happening.
Men begin to move out of the way, and then a shepherd boy walks out holding a staff and begins to head down into the valley. And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. So he's mad that he's young, and David was good-looking, which also ticked Goliath off. He's like, you're young and pretty, and I am mad. And the Philistine said to him, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?
He can't even see how, like, you're not even worthy to fight me. This is ridiculous. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the fields. So he said, you want to fight me?
I'll feed you to animals. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear.
For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. When the Philistine arose, the Philistine says, I'm going to feed you to the birds of the field. And David says, I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to feed all your friends to the birds. It's going to go worse. Like, just so you know, as you die, all your friends are going to die too. That's step two.
When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, so he got angry. He's like, all right, we're going to fight. He starts charging forward. David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet the Philistine, and David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him.
There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran over and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistine saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah arose with a shout. This one sounded good. And pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shuram as far as Gath and Ekron.
And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. That took a quick turn for the worst for the Philistines. So just imagine that you're in the Philistines' army. You're in a pretty nice spot. You're really just waiting for the Israelites to make a move.
If they want all of you to join in in killing them, cool. If they'll let just one person die by the hands of Goliath, cool. At the end of the day, though, we're going to take over some territory, and we're going to gain some slaves. Goliath every day, you just line up. Goliath every day walks out and defies them. And we're here if something fishy happens.
And on this day, a shepherd boy comes out. At least something's happening, and this is not going to go well for the Israelites. Your champion Goliath charges forward and falls on his face, dead, before they've even met each other. They hadn't even gotten into a fight. Goliath is dead. David walks over, cuts off his head, holds it up, and everybody on the Philistines scatters, because they were not ready for that to happen.
And the Israelites pour down the valley and up the hill. Thousands of men charge forward with farm tools and begin to destroy the Philistines. Now, here's the way we're told this story. Here's the way, when you hear this story, when you read this story, here's what happens. Here's what we read, see, think about, and the way we seek to understand this story. We're told this.
You're David. And your problems, your struggles are Goliath. That you're David. And the issues that you're facing, that's Goliath. That's the giant that stands and defies you. You're debt.
You're rebellious children. Your relationship and your marriage that's not going well. Your need to be loved and accepted. Your need to have success in the workplace. That's Goliath. And if you'll trust God, if you'll be like David and have courage and faith and know that God is capable of all things, then you can go be victorious over all the Goliaths.
Whatever your Goliath is, whatever your struggle is, whatever your pain is, you get to be David. And as long as you trust God, the giant will fall and you will raise his head victoriously. The problem with that, when we look at this story, what if that's not what happens? What if your first stone misses? What if your second stone misses? What if your giant of debt doesn't fall and they foreclose?
What if your spouse doesn't repent and they pack their stuff and leave? What if you walk out on the battlefield with courage and faith and your kids don't stop rebelling and you don't even know where they are anymore and they won't answer your phone calls? What if you have courage and faith and it doesn't work out? You don't get your grades up. Your abuser doesn't stop. Did we not have enough faith?
I walked out into the battlefield. I said the stuff that David said. Did I not believe it well enough? I knew that God could fix this situation. I've seen him do it other places. Was my faith not good enough?
Did I not muster up enough courage? Because I stepped into the situation. Does God just not listen? Is he just not there? Is this a made up children's story? See the problem with trying to understand the story that way is that that's not how God's story plays out.
That's not the story of the Bible. Jesus doesn't show up and say come to me all you who are courageous and brave. All you who can be victorious. All of you who are willing to step in to the battle to be great. Now Jesus shows up and says come to me all you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
You see in this story we see the Israelites terrified. Outmatched. Outmanned. and unable to fix the situation. And then we see that there's a champion for the Israelites. That a shepherd shows up doesn't look like he'd be able to fix this situation and he marches into the valley on their behalf as their representative and he defeats the giant for them. You see when you line that up with the story of the Bible I have very good news for you.
We're not David. Jesus is our David. Jesus is the one who showed up and slayed the giant on our behalf. He's our champion that goes before us as our representative to face the enemy that we couldn't defeat. You see sin stands in defiance against us. Death laughs in our face and our enemy our accuser Satan mocks us because we have problems we can't fix and we're weak and we're heavy burdened and we're afraid.
And Jesus shows up and says those of you who are weak and those of you who are afraid all you need to do is stand aside as I walk out before you as your champion. See the Israelites moved out of the way David walked down into the valley and he defeated the enemy of Goliath and the victory that he won was applied to them. They got to run behind him victorious and they got to loot the camp. That's us. We get to move out of the way as Jesus doesn't walk into a valley but walks up a hill. David took a staff and a sling Jesus carried a cross.
And Jesus died in our place as our champion to pay for our sin our shortcomings our weakness our failings our fear and then he rose again from the dead victorious. And the victory gets to be applied to us. We just get to run behind him victorious. Do you know what qualified the Israelites to have a champion? Do you know what allowed David to show up and win on their behalf? Weakness frailty fear It's the same for us.
When we see our sin when we see things that we can't overcome when we're faced with obstacles that look like giants to us when we have sin and death staring us in the face it's not muster up the courage to weigh into the battle. It's not go face everything and you automatically win. It's be weak and move out of the way as Jesus steps in who is strong and is a champion on our behalf. Matt, Megan and Raz are going to come back up and we're going to sing together and here's what I know some of us in this room feel like and maybe have even been told this by the church you feel like you're in a room with a bunch of people who are here because we're courageous because we get it right because we're moral because we have it together.
That's not what the church is. That's not the call that Jesus makes. See, we have a champion in Jesus because we're weak and we fall short and we fail because we haven't kept it together we weren't brave enough and we couldn't defeat the giant. That's why we're here. So I have very good news for every person in this room this morning.
Some of you are tired. Some of you are worn out. And the call from Jesus is not keep it together be brave enough. The call from Jesus isn't plan ahead be prepared make good decisions show up and you'll win. The call from Jesus is I already stepped in in one for you. The greatest battle you'll ever face has already been handed to you as a victory.
That's what we have in Jesus. Some of you are tired. Some of you are afraid. Some of you feel absolutely weak to face all that you're facing. You're qualified for a champion. that's all that makes it capable for us to move out of the way and let Jesus show up. And here's what we know.
Stuff doesn't always work out in our favor. Sometimes the quote unquote giants in life beat us. But what we do know is that we do have a champion who has already rescued and redeemed us and made us right with the God of the universe. by paying for our sin. And that nothing and no one can take that away. And that we are right where God wants us as he holds us in his hand as he's rescued us through Jesus. So everyone today gets to come to Jesus who are weak and heavy laden.
Who are burdened and afraid. We get to come to Jesus who's our champion who's gone before us and we get to rest. You get to charge out in a victory that's already been won. So we're going to stand up and we're going to make much of Jesus as we sing. And I invite you if you've never talked to Jesus about following him and allowing him to be your champion and your victor in your place. Do that.
I'm going to pray. God, I thank you that I don't have to be David. I thank you that I don't that the call of the Bible isn't be courageous be bold and you'll win. But that you've called us to step aside and to trust the champion that goes before us. That we like the Israelites don't put our faith in ourselves but we put our faith in the champion the shepherd who's already gone out. God, I pray through your Holy Spirit you'd help us to see that and to feel that today.
We love you. In Jesus' name, Amen. Y'all stay and listen.
Joseph
Transcript
Hey everyone. It's good to see you this morning. My name is Raz. And if you're here for the first time, you've come in at the midway point of a five-week series called Bible Stories. And in this series, we're looking at a bunch of Old Testament stories that everyone's at least vaguely familiar with. And we're zooming out and we're looking at the big picture of the whole Bible and what God's story says about those stories in the Old Testament.
Now, it might be your first time hearing this. If you haven't been with us so far in this series, it might be your first time hearing this. And I'm sorry that I might be the one to break your heart first thing on a Sunday morning. But the Bible was not written about you. I know that it's very easy to want to see ourselves in the Bible. It's very easy to want to picture ourselves as the hero of many stories.
But the Bible isn't about you. The Bible isn't about me. And I think I would be a great main character. But I'm not. And Jesus, luckily, is the main character of the Bible. And if anyone's going to be a better character than me, it may as well be Jesus.
Today, we're going to be looking at the Old Testament story of Joseph. The story is 13 chapters long. It cripples my soul. I'm a perfectionist. And it cripples my soul that we're going to have to skip bits. And it pains me to skip bits.
I love to dig into every individual word to find out what that word means in its context. But we're going to have to skip chapters at a time. We're going to have to summarize chapters. We're going to have to read just certain specific points. But we've got to power through because it's a 13-chapter-long story.
And we're going to cover it all today. So be aware that there's going to be summarized chunks. We're going to be skipping chunks. If you have one of these little timeline aid things that Chet was talking about earlier, if you don't, you can just feel free to go walk and get one now. There's a bunch of them up the back. Like, Joseph is kind of near the top.
Joseph is still in Genesis. And last week we looked at Noah. Noah's right up there under Adam. Joseph is 13 generations after Noah. So we don't know exactly how much time that was, but we know it was 13 generations.
And the biggest, most important thing that's happened between last week and this week, between Noah and between Joseph, is Abraham. Abraham made a covenant with God. You can read about it in Genesis 12 and Genesis 15. God promised Abraham three major things. He promised him he would have a big family, that his family would outnumber the stars. And that was a big promise given that Abraham was super old and had no kids at the time.
He promised the promised land to Abraham, which we know of as kind of the Israel area. And he promised that God's blessing would flow through his family to the nations. And as we look at the story of Joseph today, we're going to see a little bit of that blessing as it kind of sinks down through his family. Before we jump into the story of Joseph, I'm going to pray for us and then we can open up to Genesis 37. Let's pray.
Father God, we thank you that you have a great main character of your story and that we get to learn about him week to week in our community groups and on Sundays as we gather together. We pray in thanks that you love us enough to send a savior in the form of your son. And we pray that you can teach him, teach us about him today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Now, this first bit of the story is probably the most familiar. We're going to be looking at Genesis 37 to begin with. And this is, for you musical fans, the section where the whole Joseph and the Technicolor dreamcoat kind of kicks in. It doesn't stick around for very long, though, as we'll learn. We're going to start in 37 verse 2. It's on page 20 if you've got one of these Bibles.
If you don't own a Bible for yourself, these Bibles are kind of scattered around the place. You're free to take one of these. We want you to have a Bible. So if you don't own one, just grab one of these and go home with it. We won't mind. We're going to start in verse 2.
It says, These are the generations of Jacob. Jacob is Joseph's father, and he also has the name Israel. So in a moment, he's going to turn up and he's going to be called Israel. It's the same guy. It's Joseph's dad. Joseph, being 17 years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers.
He was a boy with the sons of Bilhar and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Okay, so we've got a weird family already. There's multiple wives. Joseph has 10 older brothers, and they're spread across all the different wives. And Joseph, our boy, brings a bad report of them to their father.
He is a tattletale. He's got 10 older brothers, and he rats them out to their dad. He's not starting well. Verse 3. Now Israel, that's his dad.
That's Jacob. Same guy. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made for him a robe of many colors, also known as a technicolor dreamcoat. But when his brothers saw that his father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
So we've got a frustrating family. A family that most of us would not want to be a part of. There's actually four wives, four mothers. That would be tough. He picks favorite sons and gives them gifts that the other sons don't get. And the sons hate him for it.
This sibling rivalry playing a part. Joseph doesn't help his cause by being a tattletale. Kind of shoots himself in the foot there. He's probably not the most popular kid around, and we're going to read just now about how he makes his problem worse. Verse 5. Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more.
Good Job, Joseph. He said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around my sheaf and bowed themselves down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us?
Or are you indeed to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Nice one, Joseph. Crushing it, playing the younger brother card, and telling your brothers that they're all going to bow down to you, metaphorically from a dream. Killing it, Joseph. You're working yourself up.
It's just kind of sad to see him dig a hole that he's already dug even deeper. Now, Joseph, he has a second dream after this. We're not going to read about it. He does have a second dream. And the second dream is similar to the first one, except he dreams that the sun and the moon and 11 stars all bow down to him. And then he doesn't tell it just to his brothers.
He tells it to his whole family, including his moms and dad. And they complain to him. And they say, So what? You think that our entire family is going to bow down to you? And they rebuke him, tell him to can it, and to sit in his hole and be quiet. Now, time passes, and the ten older brothers are out.
They're shepherds. They're pasturing the flock. That means that they're out sending the sheep out and looking after them out in the wilderness or whatever. They're not necessarily close to home. They didn't really have fields like we do. And so they're out shepherding the flock, pasturing the flock.
And Jacob, which is the dad, sends Joseph out to check on his brothers, to see that they're doing okay, to bring back a report, let him know if everything's going okay. We're going to pick this up in verse 17. It's at the top of page 21. In these Bibles, anyway. It says, So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar.
And before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him. And we will see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben heard it, Reuben is his eldest brother, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness. But do not lay a hand on him. That he, that's Reuben, might rescue him, that's Joseph, out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the Technicolor dream coat, the robe of many colors that he wore, and they took him and threw him in a pit.
The pit was empty. There was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat, and looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, myrrh, and they were on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our brother, our own flesh.
And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite trainers, Midianite traders passed by, and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Joseph's brothers, his family, hated him so much they were ready to kill him. But as soon as the opportunity arose, they decided they weren't going to kill him.
Instead, it would be better to make money off of him instead. And so they sold him to be a slave in a faraway country. This is sibling rivalry to the absolute extreme. Joseph is stabbed in the back, square in the back, by his brothers, his older brothers, ten of them. The guys who are supposed to love him the most are the ones who betrayed him. Can you imagine what it feels like to sit in the bottom of a pit after your brothers have just beaten you and thrown you there and overhear their conversation about how and when they're going to kill you?
And then they pull you up out of the pit and decide not to kill you, and you're relieved. And then you're heartbroken again when they tell you you're going to be sold as a slave and sent to Egypt. Well, the brothers, they've committed this crime. They've committed this sin against Joseph. But they've got to do something about it to cover it up.
Joseph is the favorite child. Jacob is not going to be happy about his disappearance. So they take his coat, they take the coat of many colors, and they cover it in animals' blood. And they take that home to Jacob and they say, look, Joseph has been killed by a wild animal. And they convince their dad that Joseph is now dead. So they hate their brother, they betray him, they sell him as a slave, and they cover up what they've done by convincing their dad that he's dead.
And we're going to pick the story up with Joseph. He's now in Egypt. And we're going to skip to chapter 39. It's at the bottom of page 21 in these Bibles. He's now in Egypt, and he's been sold to a guy called Potiphar. Verse 1 says, Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had brought him from the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there.
The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. Okay, that's important. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, even though he was a slave. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became successful. Now, Joseph, as a successful slave, impresses his master, Potiphar, and we're going to pick it up at verse 5. It says, From that time he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had.
The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field, and he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, because, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate, which is kind of interesting. You elevate this guy, who was a slave, and you say, You can control everything over my house, but you better not tell me what to eat. I'm going to eat candy for breakfast, and you cannot stop me, Joseph. That's what he says. Now, the plot kind of thickens.
It gets a little weird. Potiphar has an interesting wife. We don't learn her name, but she plays a pretty significant part of the story. In our society, we've kind of got a crass name for ladies like this. Cougar. Potiphar's wife is an incredibly blunt one at that.
Read on. It says, Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. He's 17. And after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me. Subtle, right? But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern of anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.
He is not greater than I am in his house, nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her or lie beside her or be with her. Joseph is turning out to be an incredibly awesome dude. He's standing up under tough circumstances and sexual temptation, and it's possible that Potiphar's wife was hideous and that would be a good reason to reject her, but probably not. Potiphar was a rich guy.
He was influential. He had Pharaoh's ear. He probably had a cute wife. He was probably able to substitute her out for a younger model whenever he kind of got bored. What we see here in Joseph is actually that he's standing up righteously under really tough circumstances. Joseph's motivation might seem pure, and it is, and we read on.
Verse 11, But one day when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house were in the house, she, that's Potiphar's wife, caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. So the cougar sets up a trap and pounces, and then Joseph bails immediately. But he leaves his coat behind. And this is a side note. This isn't important.
Joseph is the only guy in the Bible to lose two coats. Do not lend coats to Joseph. It's not important, but I noticed it, so I thought I'd tell you. Well, Potiphar's wife, she doesn't like getting rejected. She doesn't handle rejection well, and she actually accuses Joseph to her husband of sexually attacking her. And she's got his jacket, so she shows him his jacket as evidence.
And so she accuses Joseph of sexually attacking her. And so Joseph gets thrown into prison as a result. So we're going to read from verse 20. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison. Now, that's got to suck.
Because Joseph didn't do anything wrong. In fact, Joseph did everything right, and not just to impress Potiphar, but he actually did it for the right reasons because he feared God. Now Joseph finds himself in jail for not committing adultery. It doesn't make any sense. Can you imagine how it feels at that point in time to be Joseph? Betrayed by your brothers and sold as a slave.
Finally, things look up and you're elevated to a reasonable status in that house. And then you get accused of something you haven't done when in fact you've done the right thing by your master and by God and you end up in jail. Verse 21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and he showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. When anyone else would be swimming in their well of bitterness, Joseph finds success. He seems like a trustworthy dude. He finds himself in prison, and even as a prisoner, the prison guards put him in charge of all the other prisoners because the Lord is with him. He's a prisoner with integrity, and especially for one who ought to be a bowl of tears, who is crying and whining because life has it out for him. Now this next little section, it all happens in chapter 40.
I encourage you to read it. I'm going to summarize it for us because it's a little bit wordy. Two guys end up coming to prison with Joseph. Joseph's in charge of the prison. Like, he's still a prisoner, but he's in charge of everything that happens in there. And two guys get thrown into prison.
One of them is the cupbearer to Pharaoh. A cupbearer's an important Job. He makes sure the Pharaoh doesn't get poisoned. And the other guy's a baker for Pharaoh. So the cupbearer and the baker get thrown into jail with Joseph.
And they start having some weird dreams. They're having funky dreams, and they don't understand them. They don't know what it means for their lives. And Joseph, who's in charge, notices that they're distressed. And so he goes up to them and asks them, and they say, we're having these dreams. We need someone to explain them to us.
And Joseph says, all right, I can explain them to you. So the first guy, the cupbearer, says, I've been having this weird dream. Tell me all what it means. And Joseph says, actually, the interpretation of your dream is positive. We really, this is good news. You, you're going to be reinstated as the cupbearer to the king.
And the cupbearer is stoked. He, he gets to go back to his job. He gets to go back to being in Pharaoh's good books, and he doesn't have to be in jail anymore. And Joseph says, hey, make sure when you get out there and you have Pharaoh's ear again, remember, remember what I've done for you. Remember me. I'm kind of wasting away here in jail.
Don't forget me. And then he turns to the other guy, and the other guy, the baker, tells him his dream. And, and things get awkward pretty quick. The baker tells him his dream, and, and Joseph suddenly starts like, loosening his collar, standing out of the sun, and says, hey, bro, I've got some bad news for you. Just as the other guy was elevated back to his position, your head is going to be elevated from your shoulders. And for some reason, he tries to make a weird, poetic kind of illustration of that to be a graceful way to tell the other guy that he's going to have his head chopped off.
Nice, Joseph crushing it again. He, he tells the other guy that he's going to, that he's going to be executed in three days. And lo and behold, everything that he predicts in three days times happened. The cup bearer gets elevated back to his status, and the baker gets killed. And then we read in the very last verse of that chapter, 40 verse 23, it says, yet the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. And it really begins to start feeling like Joseph is life's punching bag.
Because he does everything right all the time and gets the tough end of the stick. He's following his dad's instructions, gets sold as a slave by his brothers. He follows Potiphar's instructions righteously and chooses not to commit adultery with his wife and gets thrown in prison. And he does right by these two guys and explains everything correctly to these two guys and then he gets forgotten. Even though he said, don't forget me. Two years go by.
Joseph has been in jail for two years. And the pharaoh himself, the ruler over all of Egypt, he starts having weird dreams. And you would think the cup bearer who's right next to him would be like, hey, I know a guy, but he doesn't. The pharaoh calls all of the wise men of Egypt, he calls all of the magicians in Egypt, anyone who might be able to tell him about his dreams and calls them all into himself and he says, guys, tell me what these dreams are all about. And they all say, we don't know. And then at that point in time when Pharaoh's losing his mind, his cup bearer says, oh, yeah, there's this guy that I promised him I wouldn't forget about him.
It was a couple years ago. Pharaoh, he's chilling in the jail. Maybe he can help you out. His name's Joseph. And so Pharaoh says, all right, give him a chance, brings Joseph up and Joseph comes before the pharaoh himself. Pharaoh explains his dreams to him and Joseph says, I can tell you what they mean.
He says, you're going to have seven good years. Seven years of plenty is what he says. And in the seven good years, you're going to have lots of crops, going to have lots of water, going to have all your animals and cattle and livestock are going to do really well. Seven really good years. And then, after the seven good years, throughout all the land is going to be seven bad years. Seven years of famine is what they say.
So there's going to be no crops, no animals, no water. There's going to be seven bad years. And what you need to do, Pharaoh, this is what Joseph said, what you need to do is put someone good and wise and knowledgeable in charge during the seven good years so that they can store up food and they can prepare for the seven bad years that are going to come later. You need to be prepared for that, otherwise everyone's going to die. And Pharaoh says to Joseph, this is chapter 41, verse 39. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has shown you all of this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are.
You shall be over my house and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. So Joseph has gone from favored child to slave to ruler over Potiphar's house to prisoner to ruler over prison and now he is set second in charge over all of Egypt. It's a bit of a rollercoaster of a story but it's actually only now that the story gets super interesting. We're going to sum to summarize the next couple of chapters actually.
The next couple of chapters tell the story of Joseph's family. They're back in Israel. They're back in Canaan, kind of the area on the eastern bank of the Mediterranean and they've run into this seven years of famine. No one was prepared for it. They just had seven good years and then suddenly famine hits and no one was prepared. So his family, which is quite big at this stage, Jacob is still alive.
He's the father. There's about 70 descendants in the family. So his kids have had kids, have had kids and there's 70 people in total and he's trying to look out for his family and he's trying to buy food off his neighbors but no one in the area has got food and they hear that Egypt has some food. So Jacob sends the ten older brothers of Joseph down to Egypt in search of food. And then they come down to Egypt and Joseph is in charge. And so they come before Joseph himself to beg for the right to be able to buy food.
They beg Joseph for the privilege to buy food from him because Egypt is the only place that was prepared. They walk into a room with the younger brother they betrayed years ago and they don't even recognize him. They have no idea that he's the one standing in front of them. He's a whole lot older. He's probably decked out like an Egyptian. They sold him as a slave.
They think he's either dead or serving some master in a house somewhere. And they don't even recognize that this man in front of them this powerful man who has the ability to let them die or give them food they don't recognize that's their little brother that they betrayed. But Joseph recognizes them. Joseph was never going to forget his older brothers. The ones who betrayed him and sold him as a slave. How could he forget them?
I can only imagine what would be going through my head if I was Joseph at that time. Revenge. Look at these guys. They've come in and they're bowing before me just as I had predicted. They're weak. You're weak and you're pathetic.
I should crush you. I should do back to you what you have done to me. You have made my life miserable and here's my chance to pay you back. Now I'm strong. Now I have power.
You're weak and you're pathetic. I should crush you. I should do back to you what you have done to me. You have made my life miserable and here's my chance to pay you back. Now I'm strong. Now I have power. Now I have influence and I can do whatever I want to you and I can repay all the evil that you did to me. And we read we read about Joseph and the situation that he's found him in this bizarre tone of events where he can now crush his brothers
And we're cheering for him saying get him Joseph get him lay into him get him back they betrayed you man they stabbed you in the back kill him and then he he doesn't at exactly the point in time when you would expect Joseph to repay evil for evil he chooses not to and in fact he has nothing but forgiveness and mercy and compassion
For them he sends them back to get their whole family bring the whole family down to Egypt where he can set them up for life he hooks them up he not only forgives them he sets them up so they can have the good life from there on out we're going to skip a couple chapters we're now in chapter 47 starting at verse 11 it says this is now on page 27 in these Bibles it says then Joseph
Settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt in the best of the land in the land of Ramesses as Pharaoh had commanded and Joseph provided his father his brothers and all his father's household with food according to the number of his descendants Joseph had the power he had the authority and he would have been completely justified in that moment in punishing his brothers for what they'd done to him and yet instead
He does everything that he can to look after them now soon Jacob that's the father of the whole clan Jacob that's Joseph's dad he dies and with the death of the dad suddenly all the brothers get this renewed sense of paranoia they know that Joseph was Jacob's favorite child and so Jacob loved Joseph Joseph loved Jacob back and with the death of the father
They get this renewed sense that suddenly Joseph's going to change his mind and want to punish everyone and so they send him a letter the letter's not truthful but they send him a letter and we're going to skip to the end of chapter 50 this is now on page 29 this is right at the end of Genesis in verse 15 it says when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said it may be that Joseph will hate us
And pay us back for all the evil that we did to him so they sent a message to Joseph saying your father gave this command before he died say to Joseph please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sins because they did evil to you and now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father so they admit that they had done a whole lot of evil
To him and they expected it to be paid back Joseph wept when they spoke to him his brothers also came and fell down before him and said behold we are your servants but Joseph said to them do not fear for am I in the place of God as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good
To bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today so do not fear I will provide for you and your little ones and thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them now Joseph Joseph has perspective Joseph has righteous perspective and what I mean by that is that Joseph is able even in the midst of everything that's happened to zoom out
And see the entire story for what it is he sees the bigger picture and we get caught up in the details we get caught up in the pain and the hurt and the betrayal and we want we want to be justified in him taking that out on them we want justice in that and Joseph sees the bigger picture because he has perspective we would completely expect Joseph
To want to repay that evil that's our mentality we have this mentality of an eye for an eye and that's justice and yet Joseph has this higher perspective the bigger picture and he says you meant evil against me but God meant it for good it doesn't matter to Joseph that his brothers sold him as a slave because he realizes that that had to happen for him to end up in Egypt and he realizes
That once he gets to Egypt he had to rise to power and then end up in jail so that he could meet the king's cupbearer and he had to meet the king's cupbearer so that someone could tell Pharaoh that Joseph knows how to interpret dreams so that when Pharaoh has bad dreams Joseph gets to meet Pharaoh and he had to meet Pharaoh so that he could become second in charge of all of Egypt so that he could save everyone he doesn't get caught up
On the little details he sees that everything happened so that he could come to power in Egypt and keep everyone alive and this idea of perspective zooming out and seeing the bigger picture that's kind of our goal in this entire Bible stories series we want to zoom out from each individual story and see it in the grand scheme of God's story because the Bible is God's story and each one fits into it and so if we look at this story
With perspective it changes the picture see we're tempted at every stage in the story to want to be the hero we want to be we want to be like Joseph we want to stand up under sexual temptation even though that's not a reality for us we want to we want to be patient in affliction like Romans 12 says and yet that's not at all us we want to be merciful we want to have forgiveness we want to do all of these things
That we see in Joseph but it doesn't really reflect us at all and that's because that's not at all what's going on in this story if you think about it with some perspective if you zoom out like we've been talking about you see the bigger picture Joseph he suffered at the hands of those who were supposed to love him so that he could eventually save those people
Who betrayed him Joseph was able and justified in administering punishment to those people and instead shows mercy and kindness and grace to them Joseph was condemned but God required that for good and while we want to see ourselves as Joseph we want to see ourselves
In this story it doesn't sound a whole lot like us instead it sounds a whole lot more like Jesus but we still want to play a part in stories even though we shouldn't force our way into stories we still want to play a part but if we see it with this perspective if we
See it in this bigger picture we kind of play a role in the story if anyone in that story is us it's the brothers the ones who betrayed the guy who's ultimately going to save them that's us and it's it's sad it's not fun
To think about but we're we're Joseph's older brothers we betray the guy who saves us but chapter 50 verse 20 it's a game changer it's going to come up here it says as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good
To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today is there a clearer picture of the gospel than that but Joseph and this whole story is just one little man in a little region thousands and thousands
Of years ago who saves his family it's kind of a small story on the grand scheme of God's story what Jesus does for us is infinitely bigger than the story of Joseph as Joseph's brothers meant evil against
Joseph mankind as a whole meant evil against Christ to our very bones we are rebellious we consistently place our own desires our own wants and our own thoughts above that of
God and we betray him day after day after day it was mankind that crucified Jesus it was under mankind's hand that Jesus suffered unrighteously unjustly sorry not
Unrighteously and and yet God uses all of that evil that mankind did to Christ so that he could eventually die on the cross to save mankind the evil that mankind did to Christ had to happen so that
God could save everyone to bring about the many people should be kept alive that's how God's sovereignty works that's what God's plans do they happen the way that he means them
To happen and sometimes in the case of Joseph and in the case of Jesus and in the case of many others suffering has to happen for them to get from A to B suffering is the way that God gets them from Canaan to Egypt to slavery to ruling over everyone so that they
Can save everyone else's lives Joseph he he mercifully rescued his own family from starving and Jesus is completely different he's completely bigger Jesus rescues all of humanity from the consequences of their own
Sin eternal death Matt's going to make his way back up here and as we kind of land the plane there's any number of beautiful responses that we can have to a story like this
This story is a massive picture of the gospel and we can respond in many ways but I want us to zoom out and see the bigger picture I want us
To respond in light of God's plan for all of salvation you see I think we're so exposed to the idea that we are
Sinful and that God forgives us and that Jesus paid for our sin on the cross we're so exposed to that it kind of
Just washes over us in a way where it doesn't hurt anymore we don't feel the pain we don't feel the betrayal we don't
Feel the agony of it and yet we read a story like Joseph's and suddenly it's a human character it's not God anymore it's
A human and we can relate to how it feels to be betrayed we relate to how it feels to be punished when you
Don't deserve it and then we suddenly understand how crazy it is to receive mercy we understand how crazy it is to receive mercy from the
Person that you betrayed most and yet we zoom out and we realize that our situation before God is immeasurably worse than the brothers
Before Joseph we've separated ourselves from God and creator who made us to live in perfect relationship with him and we sin against him
Daily and yet he offers the same mercy to us our sin and our betrayal is immeasurably worse and his mercy and love is
Immeasurably greater and so when Joseph's brothers are given blessing and freedom even when they don't deserve it how much greater is the blessing
And freedom that we receive even though we don't deserve it how much more blessed are you in light of knowing Jesus mercy know
That he has every right just as Joseph did to punish you for your sin every right to punish me for my sin every
Right to punish all of mankind for sin yet he chooses not to instead he chooses to free you from your guilt to free
You from all that you are struggling with in life there's no more pain there's no more burden and there's no more guilt because
Of the mercy that he's shown you and you get to live a life that is set up for success you get to live
A life as he plans as you respond to him the same offer that Joseph gives to his brothers Jesus gives to us and
I pray that we can accept his offer let's pray father God we know that we know that you are powerful beyond measure and that we've sinned
Against you we pray we pray we pray that we can live according to your will for our lives we pray in thanks that
You show mercy to us when we don't deserve it we pray we repent of our sin and we pray that you will continue to bless
Us in this life so that we can become more and more like Christ who pours himself out for us so that we can
Live and so that we can live the good life we praise you we thank you and we love you amen
Noah
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Chet Phillips. I'm one of the pastors here. It's good to see everybody. We are in the second week of our Bible stories series. And so what we're doing during this series is we're looking at Old Testament Bible stories.
And we're looking at them in light of the totality of Scripture. We're looking at them in light of what the Bible says overall. And the reason we do this and the reason we get to do this is that in the Old Testament, God says that he's the God who declares the end from the beginning. And so if we were actually just looking at history, so when you're studying history and you want to see why something happened, you only look at what happened before that. So you look at what precipitated that, what led up to it.
But in Christianity, we actually get to look because God is the God who declares the end from the beginning, who's actually leading history. We actually get to look at what is he doing. So when we look at the Old Testament, we get to look at the New Testament to help us understand where God was moving history, where he's taking it, where he's guiding it, because he's in control of what happened. So when we look at the Old Testament, we know God ultimately has a plan. He's ultimately working to accomplish something. And so we get to see the New Testament to help us understand what God was doing in the Old Testament.
And so one of the ways that Matt talked about this last week was if you watch like the movie Titanic, you know the ending before you even start watching the movie. And so Jack gets a ticket onto the Titanic and you're like, that's not going to go well for you. And then you're watching and like the rich people are being super jerks and you're like, yuck it up, you're going to drown. Hope you know how to dog paddle. This isn't going to go well. And another example of that is The Sixth Sense.
So if you've seen the movie The Sixth Sense, and Matt totally ruined it for us last week. He just told us how it ends, that Bruce Willis had been dead the whole time. Really, I don't think it's fair because it only came out in 1999 and we really need some time to be able to see these movies before Matt just gives us spoilers. But if you've seen the movie The Sixth Sense, when you watch it the second time, you can't watch it the same way. You know the whole time the twist at the end. And so you're going, oh, okay, so that only makes sense because of how this was going to work out.
And the Bible is the same way. Once we've read about the fact that God's going to become a human, that he's going to die on our behalf on a cross, we can't see the Old Testament the same way anymore. We can't view it the same way anymore because we know ultimately what he was coming to do and going to fulfill and accomplish in Jesus. And so what we're doing is we're just going to take a few weeks to look at some Old Testament Bible stories, one that we're familiar with, one that maybe you grew up in Sunday school hearing. Maybe you had a flannel graph Noah that got stuck up on. If you know what flannel graph is, like our kids get to, in Kid City, they get to watch videos.
They get to do some stuff. They don't know anything about flannel graph. Flannel graph is just sticky things, I guess. It's like Velcro Noah. And so if you never got to enjoy flannel graph, you really missed out on not a whole lot of anything. But even if you didn't grow up in Sunday school or grow up around these stories, our culture is familiar with them.
And so today we're actually going to be looking at Noah's Ark. And so we'll be in Genesis chapter 6. There's a bunch of Bibles out on the rows. If you don't own a Bible, that's our gift to you. Take that with you. And it'll be on page 4, I think.
Page 3 and 4, but we'll start on page 3. And so we'll be looking at Noah's Ark. And here's the funny thing about Noah's Ark. Children's ministry has kind of hijacked Noah's Ark and made it like a fun, lovable, cute children's story. And it is not cute or lovable, really. It's terrifying.
The story of Noah's Ark is that God looks at Earth and sees that humans are evil, and we'll talk more about that, and then has a flood that drowns everyone and all the animals except for Noah and the animals that made it onto the Ark. But because there's animals, we make it a children's story. So it's like, hey, boys and girls, we're going to talk about Noah's Ark. And there's rabbits, and there's squirrels and chipmunks. And the reason that there was a giant flood is because humans were evil. Can you say, I'm evil, Timmy?
Yes, that's good. That's called total depravity. Yes. And so on the Ark, there were elephants and giraffes, and there were all these floating dead bodies. Like, it's not a cute story. Even though we've made it cute, it's not cute.
And so we're going to spend some time today looking at Noah's Ark, and really what happens in the story of Noah's Ark. We talked last week about Adam and Eve, and here's what we see in the Old Testament. Here's kind of the tension throughout the Old Testament. God creates everything, and He says that it's good. He says that it's right. It's the way it ought to be, and that Adam and Eve are living in relationship with Him, and then they rebel.
They sin. They want to be like God. They'd rather have themselves be God rather than worship God as God. And what happens after that is it gets progressively worse. So that they sin and rebel, and then their sons, one of their sons, kills the other one over jealousy.
Like, immediately. Our first parents sin, fall short, and then it just keeps going. And so that by the time we get to Noah in Genesis 6, it says that everyone is corrupt. And the tension and the story that we see throughout the Old Testament is, what is a holy, just, and righteous God going to do about sin? That's the big question throughout the Old Testament, is what is He going to do about sin? How is He going to remain holy?
How is He going to remain just? How is He going to remain righteous and allow sin, allow pain, allow death, allow rape, allow murder, allow genocide? How is He going to be okay with that and remain holy and good? How is He okay with His creation completely rebelling from Him and destroying each other? That's the question throughout the Old Testament. So we as Westerners read the Old Testament, and God throughout the Old Testament doesn't immediately crush people.
So there are people who do evil and wrong things, and they may deal with consequences, but He doesn't immediately just eradicate them. And so what we're seeing throughout the Old Testament is grace and grace and grace and grace. And then we'll see in the Old Testament some spots where God speeds up the death of everyone, where God does enact into history. He opens up the ground and swallows people, which has got to be super intense. He has a flood and drowns people, and we see the moments where there's justice, and we have a problem with that. But the bigger question, that's not the problem that the Hebrews would have had as they walked through this.
The problem is, what is God going to do about sin? And why hasn't He destroyed everyone yet? That's the bigger issue in the text. Not that God sometimes steps in and Acts justly and righteously and defends His holiness. The question is not that. It's how on earth are all these evil people still here?
What is He going to do about this without just destroying us? And so we get a picture of that in Noah's Ark. How God responds to sin. What God does when creation rebels against Him. So I'm going to pray, and we're going to hop in.
God, we thank You that we get to open Your Word. That we get to study it together as church family. God, I thank You that we stand where we stand in history, so that we know the end of the story. We know ultimately that You're going to join us in the suffering. That You're going to go to the cross on our behalf. And so that we get to look at the Old Testament in light of what we know about Your nature and Your character.
Your love and Your sacrifice. We ask that Your Holy Spirit would speak to us today as we study Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, Genesis chapter 6, verse 5 is where we'll start. It says, The Lord, so that's God, the Creator God of the world. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Okay, theologically, that is called total depravity. And what that means is that humans are fundamentally off. That we're broken when it comes to how we ought to relate to God and creation and how we actually do. It does not mean we are as evil as we could get. It just means that we're all fundamentally broken. That the thoughts of our hearts are wrong.
I'll give you an example of this. My wife is pregnant. She's halfway there. So she's 100% pregnant, but also half pregnant. And I don't really know how that works. But she's halfway there.
And here's what we don't really know the sex of the baby yet. We know they said that they thought it was a boy, so we think it might be a boy. But they were like, don't paint anything blue yet. This isn't your official response. So it's like, okay.
So we think it's a boy. But there's really only two things we know about our unborn child. It will be a human. And it will be a sinner. That's what we know. That humans are born sinful.
No one is going to have to teach our child how to sin. He's going to do that all on his own. That will be ingrained in him. I won't have to sit him down and be like, let me explain to you how selfishness works. I won't have to tell him that his favorite word is going to soon become mine. He's going to do that on his own.
I'm going to have to explain to him what sharing is and why that's good and why that's helpful and why he shouldn't hit other children and take things from them. That's the way that's going to work. I'm not going to have to explain to him how to lie. I'm going to have to try to instill in him the value of honesty. Kids are automatically, fundamentally going to be born sinful. For any parents in here, parents of young children, I hate to break it to you.
Your child is sinful. I know you think they're an angel and that one time that they bit that person, that was a fluke. No, your child is sinful. There's something fundamentally off in them. That's what that means. That's what since Adam and Eve fell, that's been ingrained in us.
We have been born sinful. We'll actually have to take our son and train him in how to love what is right and good and holy and just. We are a little bit afraid that we'll have a son that takes after my wife and a daughter that takes after my side of the family, which will be really terrible and terrifying. That's what that means. And so here's what happens. Even as we continue to grow and we continue to learn what is right and good, there's still something wrong with us.
There's still something that's off in us. I'll give you an example. I, the other day, decided to, this is really weird, I had a little extra money, odd, and decided to do something nice with it. I know, it's crazy. And so I just went to Krispy Kreme and I bought donuts and I was just going to ride around and give some people donuts in the area that I just was trying to just bless with carbohydrates. Because I feel like that's how you bless people.
It's like, here you go. Eat this. Fall asleep at your desk. Like, that's, that's, that's, I was doing that. And so I'm just genuinely was like, I want to do something nice. And I think this will be fun, a fun way to do something nice.
And then I'm riding and I realized that I just had the thought, I wonder what they'll think about me after I give them donuts. And I was like, that's really messed up. Like, I genuinely was thinking I was doing something nice and have immediately turned it into, I'm the guy who gives out donuts. That's best friend material right there. Like, like immediately I had turned it into something selfish. I had turned it into something that was going to make me, and realized, I was like, Lord, help me.
Like, that's, that's wrong. And so that's, that's, that's what God looks down. And it says that he sees, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it says, and the Lord was sorry, this is verse 6, the Lord was sorry that he made, had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Okay, that's a very interesting thing that the text says there. It says that the Lord was sorry that he made man, and it grieved him to his heart.
The Hebrew word there is used later in the Old Testament as the way a woman feels when her husband leaves her. It says that God looked at earth and was heartbroken. He was shattered over the way that humans were treating creation and treating each other, and how quickly everyone had gotten evil and selfish, and had no desire to honor him, to worship him, but wanted to be chief among all things. And it grieved him to his heart. Now, here's what's interesting about that. God doesn't need us.
He is completely and perfectly self-sufficient. He has existed since eternity in a Trinitarian relationship with himself, which is really weird, but it's hard to understand. But God has existed as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit since eternity. That's why one of the reasons the Bible says that God is love is because in his very nature he is loving because of how he relates to himself inside of the Trinitarian Godhead. He doesn't need us. He didn't make humans because he was bored or lonely.
He made it because of that's what his nature is like, that he is loving, that he is good, that he is a creator, he is creative. And so he creates humans. He doesn't need us, but he chooses to intertwine his life with ours in such a way that when we're hurting, when we're causing problems, when we're wreaking havoc, it hurts him and grieves him. An example of this, a small example of this, would be like the relationship between a husband and wife. I was in high school. I was coaching powder puff football, which is when the football players coach girls on how to play football-ish.
You get the gist of it. And I was doing that, and there was a girl on our powder puff football team who was going to be playing wide receiver, and I was helping coach the wide receivers. And when I met her, I thought, she's cute. I bet she'd be fun to date. I was really deep back then, guys. So she's cute.
I bet she'd be fun to date. And I had a girlfriend at the time, and so that didn't bode well for that relationship. And so that was my first thought. I later found out that this girl that I thought was cute and would be fun to date, that her first thought about me and her first words that she said about me out loud to a friend was, I don't like him. And those of us who have met both of us would agree that that was a good assessment of character off the bat on both of our parts. And so I started trying to talk to her and follow her around and eventually got her to go on a date with me.
And we kept dating through college and got married five years ago. And I really, as one of my high school coaches told me, outkicked my coverage on that. Like I really won that deal. So, and here's how this works now. We did not have a relationship prior to us choosing to have one. We were not, it wasn't like we were having to be around each other, that we were forced into this relationship.
We chose to intertwine our lives. We chose to give love to one another. And so the way that works now is that if something happens to Anna, it's like it happens to me. If somebody says something insulting to Anna or if someone says something mean to me, Anna feels hurt and offended if someone says something mean to me in the same way I would feel for her. Like you want to pick a fight with Anna, you just pick the fight with me as well. That's just how that works.
So that like someone could ask me, and this had happened recently, this is a perfectly normal way to respond to a question. Hey man, how you doing? Doing okay. Anna's been sick, you know, with being pregnant, but she's feeling better. And so I'm doing pretty good. And all I did was respond as to how Anna was doing, but because of our relationship, it's the same for me.
If she's doing well, I'm doing well. If she's doing poorly, I'm doing poorly. And that's what the text just said about God. That he looks at his creation and he feels what we feel. That he chooses to care about us. And so sometimes we feel like God is distant and God's far off.
He is not. He has chosen to love us and to intertwine his life with us. So here's what it says. We'll start back in verse 5. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intentions of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth.
And it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land. Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. For I am sorry that I have made them. So God's response to sin is justice.
His response to rebellion is justice. So we're getting a picture here because the question in the Old Testament is how is God going to respond to sin? What is he going to do about this problem? And his response is justice. Now here's the thing.
We love justice. We do. We love it. There's a commercial on TV. I don't even know what it's about. But this woman's like cooking and she goes, honey, what do you want for dinner?
And he pops up behind her wearing a Batman outfit and goes, justice. Like we love justice. And you know this by like the shows that we watch. So you got Bones and NCIS and CSI for every place in the United States. And you've got criminal intent and criminal minds. And I mean all of these shows.
You got Law and Order. And there's like different Law and Orderers. And you got all of these shows. And what they are is basically a bad person does something wrong. Good people hunt them down and bring them to justice. And we love it.
It happens inside of 40 minutes and we're like, get them. Get them. We love it. There's just something in us that craves for wrong to be punished. And for righteousness and for goodness to happen. And for justice to take place.
That's one of the reasons that we love superhero movies. We love the idea that some supernatural being would show up and bring people to justice. My wife and I have recently been watching the show Arrow. Which if you get the chance to watch it, it's hilarious and terrible. But we thoroughly enjoy it.
Because it's like getting to watch people learn how to act and read lines and stuff. And so we like it. But the whole point of that show is this guy shows up in the city and he's super rich. But he's mad at all the other rich people because they're doing bad stuff. And so he runs around. And when I'm watching this show, he's got a bow and arrow.
He shoots henchmen all the time. He'll just pop into a place and shoot like four guys into the chest and they just all die. And I don't care because they were henchmen and they deserve to die. There's nothing in me that was like, maybe they were living under the poverty level and they really needed to have that job. I don't feel that. Maybe he's got kids.
I'm like, get him. Justice. How you like that arrow, son? That's the way we feel. There's something about us in the Avengers when Hulk picks up Loki and just smacks him on the ground like seven times. You're just like, that's beautiful.
That's how the world should work. Bad guys should get smacked on the ground. And so we feel that. We feel the need for justice. If you were watching one of these shows like Law and Order and they had open and shut case, caught the guy, red handed, had all the evidence, took him to court, presented their stuff. You know, it's like Law and Order.
Dun, dun. And they present everything to the judge. And the judge said, yeah, obviously you're guilty. Everything here. I mean, there's no way that this wasn't you. Cool.
Case dismissed. You guys go home. Have a nice day, man. And then the credits roll. We would lose our minds. Like what on earth just happened?
We were right there at justice and we missed it. Like people would be calling. They would cancel the show. Like it would, the internet would shut down. Like there's something in us that craves it. And here's what happens though that gets really weird.
We read the Bible and God gives justice. It's the Bible says that God loves justice. That he loves what is right and what is holy and what is true and what is good. And he brings justice to those who have rebelled and broken his creation. And as soon as that happens, we go, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I like Batman.
I don't like God doing that. I want God to only be loving, only be good, and only in the way that I define that. I want him to fit into my grace box. The way I define love. I don't want him stepping into the realm of justice. I love justice, but I don't want God there.
And here's part of why I think that's the way that works. We like Batman because we feel like we're on his team. The only person who doesn't like Batman is like the Joker. Doesn't like Batman. He's not a big Batman fan. We like Batman because we're on his team.
But when we start reading the Bible, we realize that God is set apart. That he's holy and right and good and just. And we're not on his team. That we're fundamentally flawed and broken. And so when he steps in and says, I'm bringing people to justice, immediately we go, that doesn't sound like a good idea. Because I don't feel like I'm on your team by the nature of how I act, feel, think, worship, follow, serve, love.
This isn't good. But here's what happens a little bit. I just want to point out some of how we, when we push back on the idea of God being just. So we read the story of Noah's Ark and we go, is God allowed to do that? I think you'll hear people say, how on earth can you worship and follow a God who just kills people? So I just want to, I want to help us see a little bit of where that's inconsistent in our thought processes.
First of all, what we're saying is, I can love justice, but God can't. I can care about what's true and right and good and holy. I can have moral indignation. I can be outraged, but the God of the universe cannot. And that does not make any sense. To assume that my idea of justice is greater than his falls really short.
Let me show you this. The reason we hate things is because it comes against what we love. So the reason I will get furious over things, and sometimes it's good things that I love, and sometimes it's bad things that I love, but my ability to love is what helps me hate. So that when I was in, doing some training stuff with Midtown Fellowship, which is in downtown, and was in the recovery program, and sat in a room, and we went around a circle where guys were there talking about what it kind of brought them there and why they were seeking to walk with Jesus. And multiple times, guys in the room said that they had been sexually assaulted by a family member.
And as we came around the circle, I was growing more and more furious. And I wanted punishment. And I wanted justice. And I didn't want that to have happened. I didn't want someone to have taken advantage of a small child, an eight-year-old boy. I didn't want that to happen.
And I was angry. And I felt perfectly right and justified in that. And then when we say that God looked out on earth and saw all of the murder, and all of the rape, and all of the hatred, and all of the human hearts, that every inclination of their heart was towards evil all the time, and he brought justice, and we say, no, no, no, no, no, that's not okay. What we're declaring is that it's okay for me to love justice, but it's not okay for him. Or that my sense of justice is greater than his. And that is not true.
He perfectly loves all of his creation, which makes him most capable of hatred, wrath, and anger of the things that seek to destroy it. The second thing that we're a little bit confused on, I think, a little bit inconsistent, is that to assume that we have a sense of justice without God isn't logically coherent. It doesn't make any sense. To think that the way we believe justice works comes without a foundational, actual justice, a true justice. So when we talk about math, and I say two plus two is four, and you say, no, it's seven, I get to say, no, it's four.
Because that's how math works. Math is real. It's a true thing. There's actual math that works that way. We get to have that discussion. When it comes to justice, if we remove God from the equation, if we all just exploded out of chaos, then there is no set and true justice.
There is no set and true right and wrong. It's just us arguing over opinions. So in this room, we would say, you're supposed to protect children. You're supposed to care for animals that are under your care. You're supposed to take care of the elderly and show them respect and love them. And we all know that's true.
That's why we throw a fit when Ray Rice's and Adrian Peterson's have this stuff going on. Because we know that's true. You shouldn't do that to women or children. We know that, right? They don't, in other parts of the world, know that. In China, male boys are worth more than female boys.
And they know that. They know that's true. In the Middle East, women are property. They know that's true. And so all we can say about our sense of justice, if we remove God from the equation, if we don't believe that our sense of justice and moral indignation comes from the actual true one, that it's derived from God, then all we're arguing about is our opinion. And we at least have to admit that.
You at least have to admit that your argument over what's right and true and good, if it doesn't come from God, comes from you, and it's valid as your opinion, but don't bother trying to change the world and say sex trafficking is a bad idea. Because they think it's a good one. So you can be angry all you want, and you can raise some money if you want to, but you can't say that you're right. You can argue that you agree with yourself. Cool. The third thing I just want to point out is God has the prerogative over his creation.
He has creator rights. So I like drawing periodically or painting. I'm very artsy, for those of you who don't know me. That's not actually true, but I do like drawing and painting periodically, and sometimes I'll be working on something, I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like, and it just doesn't happen. So it's like, I'm going to paint something, and it's going to be beautiful, and it's going to change the world, and people are going to see it and cry.
And I'll start, and I'll be like, this is terrible. I get halfway through, I'm bored, and I'm just like, this is a bad idea. And so I have the ability to just throw it away. If I don't like it, if it doesn't live up to what I wanted it to be, I just get to throw it away. I can do that. I've been drawing things before, and I'll be like, this is stupid, and throw it away, and have people be like, you can't do that.
I say, yeah, I can. I drew it. I didn't like it. I'm throwing it in the trash can. That's what I get to do. Now, if I was working on something, and you walked in, and said, that's terrible, and ripped it up and threw it away, you would be a jerk, and you're not allowed to do that, because I have creator rights, and you do not.
That's just how it works. It's the same rule of like, you can't spank other people's children. They're their kids. You don't agree with how they behave. Okay. But you can't just be like, I'm sorry, ma'am.
Time out. I know we're in the line at the grocery store. This is terrible. I'm just going to take your kid out for just a second. I'll be right back. I'm going to fix this.
Well, you can't do that. They have like parental rights over their children. God has creator rights over his creation. So when we look at the Bible, and we ask the question, is God allowed to speed up the death of everyone on earth? Yes, he is. He is allowed to speed up death if he decides to.
Because God has the ability, he has creator rights, the prerogative over that. So here's what we see. God looks out on earth, and he sees brokenness that's wreaking havoc on his good creation. And he decides to bring a great flood. His response to sin is wrath and justice. But that's not the end of the story, thankfully.
Also, just spoiler alert, we're all here so he doesn't kill everybody. Okay. So, yeah. I know, right? Verse 8. We'll do verse 7 again, sorry.
So the Lord said, The word favor there is the Hebrew word chen. We don't make that noise in English, so it's kind of hard. It's like hen, but you got something stuck in the back of your throat. Like chen. It is the first time in the text that the word for grace shows up. The word there means that a greater party gives unmerited, unearned favor to a lesser party.
So what it says is God decides he's going to destroy everything, and then he gives grace, unearned favor to Noah. And Noah is a human inside of the greater group of humans who are all evil. So Noah is one of the all evil humans that God decides to give grace to. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. So he was given grace by God, unmerited favor in the eyes of the Lord.
And these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Jepheth. So it says that he was blameless, he was righteous, and he walked with God.
The way the Old Testament uses that, it does not mean he never sinned. We see later that that's not true because when he gets off the ark, so like they go on the ark, flood comes, he gets off the ark when the flood subsides, and he plants a vineyard. And then in Genesis chapter 9 goes like full redneck. Like gets really drunk and naked. He's in his tent, but he's drunk and naked. And that's a sinful thing to do.
I don't know what it is about alcohol that's like, this tastes good. This is wonderful. Oh my goodness, this is so good. Pants are terrible. They're getting on my nerves. They're really slowing me down.
Like I don't know how alcohol does that. But it happens to Noah so that he gets drunk and naked and then leads to sin in his family. Even when the flood subsides in Genesis chapter 8, 21, God says, I'll never again flood the earth even though man is evil even from their youth. So it did not fix the problem. We'll talk about that in a second. Noah was still sinful.
His family was still sinful, but they were given grace by God. What it means when it says he was righteous, blameless, and he walked with God, it means that he agreed with God about his sin. So God comes to him and says, I'm going to flood the earth. You need to do this. And Noah agrees. Okay, I will follow you.
I understand I'm sinful. And God grants him through his grace, righteousness, blamelessness, as Noah walks with him. So verse 11 is, Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it. Its length of the ark is 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. A cubit is about 18 inches. Make a roof for the ark and finish it to a cubit above and set the door of the ark in its side.
Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breadth of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die, but I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind.
Two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him. And so his righteousness, again, comes from God talking to Noah and Noah agreeing and obeying.
Hebrews chapter 11 says it was his faith that saved him, that God spoke to him, said this is what we're going to do, this is how I'm going to bring salvation to you and your family. And Noah said, I agree with my sinfulness, I agree with my need for your grace, and I will obey and follow you as you bring salvation. So God loves goodness, righteousness, peace, and he hates everything that comes against it. As he goes through and it says, the whole world is corrupt, what God says is, it's a play on words in the Hebrew, God basically says, they're destroying my good creation, I'm going to destroy them.
He uses the same word. He says, basically, I'm going to destroy the destroyers. Those who are tearing this apart, I'm going to do the same thing to them, but you and your family, I'm going to save. And here's how I'm going to save you. And he gives specific details on how that's going to play out. So we say a lot, you'll hear the phrasing, love the sinner, hate the sin.
That's true. It's incomplete. It's true. It's not a Bible verse. Although people say it is. Gandhi said it.
And it's a good thing to say. And the Bible does say that God loves sinners and he hates sin. But the Bible also says that he hates sinners. God is capable of loving and hating someone at the same time. He hates sinners that bring about sin and destruction and pain on earth. I'll give you one example of this.
Psalm 5, verses 4 and 5. And we're going to show it on the screen. It says this. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes.
You hate all evildoers. We say, no, no, no. God's supposed to love everyone. He does. But he also hates evil and he hates sinners who destroy his good earth.
And he looks at Noah and he says, the earth is corrupt. It's broken and they're destroying it. And I'm going to destroy them but I'm going to make a way for you. Okay. So here's what happens.
God makes a way and Noah follows. And here's how we usually tell this story. What we usually say is Noah was good so God saves Noah from a flood. God saved Noah but the text says that everyone was corrupt and that when Noah gets off the ark he and his family are still corrupt and that Noah sins and leads his family into sin. And so what actually the story is is that Noah was evil but God gave him grace. And God didn't save Noah from a flood.
God saved Noah from God. God saved Noah from himself and his righteousness and his justice towards sin. So here's what happens. We see this story and what we're completely is outlined for us in the Old Testament is how is God going to respond to sin? When they get off the ark sin is not finished. It continues.
Noah multiplies and there's still sin. There's still brokenness. There's still pain in the world. But we know how God's going to respond to sin. We see in the New Testament Jesus shows up and God is actually responding to sin in the same way. In Matthew 24, 37-39 Jesus says this For as were the days of Noah so will be the coming of the Son of Man for as in those days Son of Man is Jesus for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
So Jesus says when he returns it's going to be like when Noah was on earth. There's going to be a return of Jesus and there's going to be justice just like what happened with Noah. But here's what's beautiful as we get to see this picture and as we get to see it play out in the New Testament God's response to sin is the same justice wrath and grace God provides a way for people to be saved. It's a greater wrath as it is an eternal wrath not just the speeding up of death and it's a greater Savior and a greater salvation. That God does His response to sin is the same in the New Testament and what we get to do is be like Noah.
We get to agree with God about our sinfulness and the salvation that He has provided is not an ark that will save us from a flood of water it's a cross that saves us from the flood of God's wrath. That Jesus came and went to a cross on our behalf to pay for our sin and corruption to pay for our rebellion and where we fall short so that we can have salvation given to us freely forever. It's a greater condemnation it's a greater justice it's a greater wrath because it is final and eternal and it's a greater Savior and a greater salvation. Jesus took on the flood of God's wrath on our behalf so that we can have life and salvation and hope in Him.
And that's what's freely offered to us. And so the truth is for us today it's the same as if God when He went to Noah and said I'm giving you an opportunity I'm going to spell out how salvation will work for you. Build an ark. I'm telling you what to do and this is how salvation will work and how I'm bringing by grace salvation to you. It's the same thing that's offered to us. That we like Noah get to hear what God does to bring salvation through the cross as Jesus pays for our sin through His death and when He rises again He takes our sin with Him so that we can have His righteousness applied to our account.
We get to respond like Noah does. We get to receive grace because it's not about our ability to earn it or our ability to be good or our ability to accomplish something and we get to step into what God has provided for salvation that Jesus took on the flood of God's wrath on our behalf and that we like Noah get to agree about our sin and follow Him into the salvation that's freely given to us. That's where we sit. That's what we get to do. And it's beautiful that God is a just God. If God does not punish sin we have to.
If God does not bring wrath we have to. See, most of the people who have a big issue with God being just have not faced a whole lot of injustice in life. Have not faced a whole lot of people wreaking havoc and oppression and genocide. There are other places in the country where other places in the world where people wake up and go, oh, they're cutting everybody's heads off today. And it's beautiful that God is a just God who stops that. It's beautiful that He takes up the sword so that we don't have to.
And we have a just and good and righteous God who both punishes sin and makes a way for sinners through the cross. So that we can place our faith in Him just like Noah places faith in God and followed. We get to do the same thing. So we're going to continue to sing. We're going to make much of Jesus who offers us free salvation through the cross. And I would invite you to respond as Noah did.
Agree with God about your sin and follow Him in faith. Father, we thank You for how good You are. We thank You for the grace that's freely offered to us through the cross. God, I pray that You would help us to appropriately see our sin so that we can agree with You. That we can know that we have fallen short and that we have been active participants in the rebellion and the destruction of Your good creation. That we haven't loved as we ought to.
We haven't been generous as we ought to. We haven't been good and right as we ought to. We haven't loved justice as beautifully as You have. And God, I pray that through Your Holy Spirit You would help us to see the salvation freely offered to us through Jesus. We love You. We praise You.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Adam & Eve
Transcript
We're really excited about this new series. I'm Matt. I'm one of the pastors of Mill City Church. And so I hope you enjoyed the video. If you came in late and you weren't able to see the whole thing, we will be putting it up on Facebook and we'll send it out through Twitter so that you can view that. And you've got the handout, so you want to keep that handy.
You can stick it in your Bible. Or again, we've got the paper copies for you over there on that table. For most of us, we grew up with some type of familiarity with the main stories of the Bible, right? So whether you grew up in church or you didn't, these stories are not even unfamiliar to our culture. So even in our culture, there's TV shows, there's movies that are made, there are even musicals.
So an example of that would be Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. If you've seen that, I'm sorry. If you haven't, don't Google it. It's interesting. And then they just made a movie about Noah starring Russell Crowe, who was the main actor in Gladiator, which I've heard that's an amazing movie, but about the only thing it has in common with the story of the Bible is that there's a guy named Noah. There's a flood and a boat.
And then we're all kind of familiar with the story of David and Goliath, which I love that story because I played defensive line in college, and I'm kind of short. And so I was always going up against guys who were like 6'4", 6'5", and so it was always like, I've got a channel on my inner David, and I can take all of these guys down. But that's what we're going to be covering in this series are some of the main stories of the Bible. And most of you know this, but I grew up as a part of a church, and so I heard these stories all the time. I heard them in different places. One of the places I heard them was in Sunday school.
Some of you might have grown up in Sunday school, which is the worst name ever. Like, kids don't like going to Monday through Friday school. I don't know how Sunday school is going to make it any better. And then you had the week-long adventure during the summer called Vacation Bible School. Again, words mean things, so I don't know who got to come up with all of these names. But one of my favorite places to study the Bible and to learn Bible stories was on Wednesday night, and this group met in the gym, and it was called the RAs.
Oh, some of you are nodding your head. Yes, the RAs. That stands for Royal Ambassadors. Fancy, I know. No, for real, we had a pledge. You look at me like this isn't fancy.
As a royal ambassador, I will do my part to help old ladies with liberty and justice for all. See, I even remember the pledge from when I was in the RAs. So I heard these Bible stories in all kinds of different places, and I don't think this is going to surprise any of you, but growing up, I was referred to as a husky child. And so there was always some kind of incentive to pay attention when the teacher was talking. And in fourth grade, I had a Sunday school teacher that had this big brown bag full of flavored Tootsie Rolls. Let's just say I learned a lot in that class, got a lot of questions right, and my fourth grade picture tells the tale.
I mean, it's just... And even in RAs, the best one in RAs was, if you guys will listen for 10 minutes, we'll go outside and we'll play football. Deal. I'll listen for 10 minutes if we get to go outside and play football. And most of the time, we were studying the main stories from the Bible. So basically, the teacher would begin.
He would tell the story, or we'd read the story from the scripture. And then he would ask us questions, and the aim of the questions was to take us towards some kind of moral application. So you may be familiar with the story of Job and all the terrible things to happen to Job. Well, the moral of the story in Job is that we just have to have patience and wait on God no matter what's going on. Or maybe you've heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three guys were thrown into a fire because they refused to bow down to a statue.
And they walk around in the fire, and they aren't hurt by it, and they come out. And so, of course, the moral of that story is you need to keep your faith in God no matter who picks on you. That's kind of the moral application. And then the one you're probably most familiar with is Jonah and the whale. And so the moral of that story is if God calls you to do something, you better do it or you can get swallowed by a fish. And nobody wants to get swallowed by a fish.
And so I grew up hearing these stories, and here's how I was taught to process them. What's the story? What's the application? And so I get in conversations with people sometimes, and they ask me, How am I supposed to read the Bible? Am I supposed to glean some kind of moral truth from it? Or am I just supposed to be kind of learning the facts?
Am I supposed to insert myself into the story? Or am I supposed to kind of like step out and be a third person and just learn stuff? How am I supposed to read the Bible? And the aim of all of those questions is what leads us to what we'll be addressing in this series, which is how do we properly read and understand the Bible, especially when it comes to some of these big stories. So we're going to be beginning, if you want to grab a Bible, we're going to be beginning in Genesis chapter 3, which is on page 2 in the Bibles that we have for you on the seats.
But before we do, I just want to pray that God would speak to us during our time. Let's pray together. God, thank you that we don't have to wing this, that our faith is not dependent on our ability to somehow figure out who you are, but you've actually chosen to reveal yourself to us through your word. And God, we praise you for that, and we thank you for that. And what we ask for this morning is that your Holy Spirit would open us up to understanding who you are and how we relate to you as it comes from the story of Adam and Eve. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen. So again, our story is going to be in Genesis chapter 3, which is on page 2. But since we're at the beginning of the Bible, I want to give you a quick back story of chapters 1 and 2 to kind of get us to the main story that we'll be talking about today. So you can kind of follow along in your Bible if you want to. But what we see in Genesis chapter 1 is that God speaks and things begin to happen.
God says, let there be light. The God of the universe speaks and creation begins to happen so that light separates from darkness and land separates from water and he creates plants and animals and ultimately humanity. And he does it over the course of six days. And at the end of six days, he says that it's very good. And then on the seventh day, God rested. And as it moves into chapter 2, what we get is just a zoomed-in picture of part of God's creation.
So in chapter 1, we see that God speaks creation into existence. But when it comes to humanity, we get a much different picture. As you can kind of see in verse 7, it says that God with his hands takes dust and he forms man and he breathes the breath of life into him. And I want you to get that because it's really cool. God speaks creation into existence except for humanity. God sets the stage for the intimate relationship he desires with humanity, even in creation.
It's just a really cool picture. And Adam exists in relationship with God. And God takes Adam and he puts him in the midst of a paradise in a garden called Eden. And Adam gets to live in relationship with God. God gives him things to do. He has dominion over creation and he's to work in the garden.
There's even parameters to how he relates to God and the things that he does within the garden. God says you can eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except for one, just the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don't eat that or you'll die. And Adam's like, that's a sweet deal. I can do that. I can handle that.
And in relating to God, God wants to find a helper suitable for Adam. He doesn't want Adam to be alone. It's not good for Adam to be alone. And so God gives Adam the responsibility of naming all of the animals. I mean, you got to picture that for a second. The Adam gets the responsibility of naming all the Adam.
So go with me there for a second. First animal. Adam's ready. Okay. First animal comes in. Rhinoceros.
Sweet. Got it. Nailed it. Next one. Keep them coming. Flamingo.
Next one. What in the duck-billed platypus? We'll call this one. And I guess Adam got bored after a while. There's so many. It's just kind of like cat.
Next. Dog. Next. How many of these things are there, really? I mean, how many animals? And obviously, Adam was speaking English.
Duh. So that's what he called those things. So just erase all of that from your memory. Because obviously, he wasn't speaking English. But at the end of naming all of the animals, there's not a helper found suitable for Adam.
No helper is found among the animals that's suitable for Adam. And so what we see in 21, if you've got your Bibles, it's the same page that you're on. So we might as well read it. Starting in verse 21. It says this. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.
And while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife. And they shall become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So what happens is that God puts Adam to sleep, takes the rib, with it creates a woman. And he brings the woman to Adam. And in the original language, Adam sings. That's what that is. Adam is so pumped up about the creation that God had just brought to him that he, homeboy, sings.
He's so excited. And it says that they became one flesh together and they existed in this garden. And I love that God paints the picture from creation of what biblical marriage gets to look like. One man and one woman joined together in covenant relationship with God and with each other. And it was perfect. In the midst of a paradise, there's Adam and Eve enjoying each other, enjoying God's creation.
And they were naked and not ashamed. Amen. Let's pray. I think that's the end, right? That's where we want the story to stop. It's like, oh, don't go further.
But the problem is we actually have to go further because the Bible does. So while we want to stay in paradise where everything's good, we're going to move on to chapter 3. So now I want you to go ahead and grab your Bible. The verses are not going to be on the screen. So I want you to have it in your hands.
It's looking at Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. I'll give you a second to flip there. Verse number 1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman. All right, it's already getting weird.
We've got talking snakes. Hang on to that. We're coming back to it. He said to the woman, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Now, we don't get this right off the bat. We don't, but we should have known something was up when Eve starts talking to a snake. And what we find out from context is that this is Satan in the form of a snake. And what we see in scripture is that Satan was a created being who rebelled against God.
And it's going to use descriptors like the father of lies, deception, schemes, tricks. And so we shouldn't be surprised that when Satan shows up in the garden, he does so in the form of a disguise to talk to Eve. And he comes to Eve and he says, did God say that you couldn't eat of any tree that's in the garden? And Eve responds, no, just not the one that's in the middle, because if we eat of that one, we'll die. And Satan deceptively says, you won't surely die. At least not immediately.
And the reason that God doesn't want you to eat of the fruit is because you'll be like God. You'll be like God. And God doesn't want that. He doesn't want you to be like him. So, so yeah, yeah. It's just the knowledge of good and evil.
He just wants you to be like him. It's really not that big a deal. It seems like Eve takes the bait. Okay. Verse six. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And see, now you understand the reason why I wanted to stop at the end of chapter two, because humanity made it two chapters and then blew it. That's what we see in this story is that Eve falls for the deception of Satan and takes the fruit and she eats. And then she gives some to her husband who is standing passively by while she's talking to a snake. That's another sermon for another day.
And he eats of it. And it says immediately their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked and ashamed. Have you ever had that dream where everything's going good? And then all of a sudden you look down, you're no longer wearing clothes and you're in front of all your friends and families. You ever had some of you are squirming in your seat like, no, that's the worst dream ever. However, they feel that shame for the first time.
And here's why. Because when they, God had commanded Adam, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So that when he ate, he knew the difference between good and evil. And for the first time, humanity felt the weight of rebellion against God. Adam and Eve knew that they had sinned. It wasn't just that they were naked and ashamed.
They knew the depth of their depravity at that moment because they had rebelled against God. And so they made loincloths for themselves. Pick it up in verse 8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?
And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit. She gave me fruit of the tree and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done?
The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. So God shows up again. He walks in perfect relationship with his creation and God's looking for his creation. And he calls out to them. And Adam says that he's hiding because he was afraid because he was naked. And God says, who told you?
Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to? And Adam just dodges the question. In fact, Adam has the audacity to say, the woman that you, the woman that you put here to be with me, she gave me the fruit. So Adam actually blames God and he blames the woman.
And then God turns to the woman and he says, what is this that you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. And what we're going to look at in the rest of this story is that because there has been sin, because there was disobedience to what God commanded, there's ultimately discipline and punishment. And so what we're going to see in successive order is the punishment that's handed down to the serpent, that's handed down to Satan, that's handed to Eve, and then it's handed to Adam. Jump back with me to verse 14. The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field.
On your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. To the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.
And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return.
So there is punishment. Because there is disobedience to God's word, there is punishment. And the punishment for the serpent is that it would be the lowest of all creation. And we see that with Satan. That he is cast away from God. The furthest from God.
The woman would have pain in childbearing. Yes, ladies, you get to thank Eve for that. That she would have pain in childbearing. And ultimately there would be struggle within the marriage relationship. Where the man would abdicate his God-given role of leading in the family. And the woman would fight him for it.
There would be struggle within the marriage relationship. And for men the curse is that he would work his entire life toiling, struggling by the sweat of his face. And very little would be yielded from it. And what we see in the rest of the story is that God makes clothing for Adam and Eve. And he walks them out of the garden. And that's the end of the story.
Now, I want us to time out for a second. And just zoom out. Take a breath. Because the room got heavy. Because we feel the weight of the story. I want you to take a breath for a second.
Remember, the point of this series is to figure out, What am I supposed to take away from this story? So growing up, again, the way that I began to read the Bible was this. What's the story? And what's the moral application? And more often than not, whether it be in Sunday school or RAs or even hearing it preached, This is the way I was taught this passage. Here's the moral application.
The first part is this. The way that we exist in relationship with God is by our actions. The things that we do. That's how we relate. Our actions. The second part is the actions that we can choose.
So we can, God has rules. The second part is we can either choose to obey those rules or rebel against those rules. And the third part is this. If you accept God's commands and you follow his rules, you'll be blessed. And if you rebel against his commands, you will be punished. So let me break it down just a little bit shorter.
God has rules. We obey them. Or there are consequences. And so in the story of Adam and Eve, what we see is that God has rules. They disobeyed God. And so there were consequences.
Everything was going good until they screwed up. And then after they sinned, it was never the same again. And so the application for me was that God has rules. And I have to do good. And I have to be good to exist in relationship with God. Because it's on me to do what I have to do to be in relationship with God.
That's what I got from the story. And so I grew up scared. Scared that I was going, that not if, but when. When was I going to screw up? Scared that I had to earn God's favor or to face his punishment. That in the end, God actually cared more about my behavior than he did about me.
So I started looking at life like it was all a series of tests. Tests to see that if I would honor God. And so that if I was doing well, if I was doing the things that I was supposed to do as a Christian, that God would be blessing me and that I would have an overall good life. But when I screwed up, when I messed up, there would be punishment. And life as I know it would begin to diminish more and more each time. That in the end, I was going to let God down.
And some of us feel that. Some of you, that's the way you understand Christianity to be. So that you feel this burden that you'll never be able to achieve what God has set forth for you. That you're going to screw up. You're going to mess up. You think that the way that you relate to God can only be through your actions.
And if you sin and you're disobedient, that ultimately, you're just going to be punished and cast out. And the truth is, if we read the Bible like it's about us, that's what we'll get out of it. But here's something that's absolutely beautiful about the Bible that we get to see this morning. The Bible is ultimately to reveal God to us. So that the aim of Scripture is ultimately to point us towards Jesus.
The truth that can set us free this morning is that the Bible is about Jesus, not about us. And so from the very first story in the Bible, God's going to set the stage for how we understand Him. And understand how we relate to Him. And I know you're thinking, yeah, but what we just saw was that it's based off of our action. That's how we relate to God, right? So if we're doing good, we're in good stead with God.
If we're doing bad, we're not. I want us to jump back into the story and see the good news that's actually here. So grab your Bibles again. We're going back to the story, to verse 14 and verse 15. Now what we're about to look at is referred to by theologians.
This actually has a name. It's called the Proto-Evangelion. All right, I know, big word. Proto meaning first, like prototype. Evangelion meaning good news. So theologians, guys that study the Bible refer to this as the first good news.
And I know you're already looking at it going, wait, wait, wait. This is the curse of Satan. This is the curse to the serpent. How in the world is this good news for us? How does this teach us about how we relate to God? Jump back there with me.
Verse 14, the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So again, this is the curse of the serpent.
It starts off, it says you're going to be cursed. You're going to crawl around on your belly. Dust you're going to eat all the days of your life. So in comparison to Satan, the lowest of all creation. And then in verse 15, it begins to take a turn. Look at it again.
It says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. So it says enmity. Enmity between you and the woman, between the serpent and the woman. Enmity, another word for that would be hostility. Yeah, we would agree with that. We would agree that there's hostility between us and Satan, the offspring of Eve.
But it seems, if you keep reading, that it's being a little more specific here. Look at the last little bit. It says, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Who's he? I thought we were talking about the serpent and Eve. But now all of a sudden, there's this he.
And if you jump back in the verse, it says that there's going to be enmity between you and the woman. Okay? Between your offspring and hers. And what we begin to realize is that it's not just talking about any offspring of Eve. It's actually pointing towards a very specific descendant of Eve. And if you think about this, what it's saying, it says, you will bruise his heel, but he will bruise your head.
And if you think about it, if a snake were to strike at the heel of a man, it could hurt. But the heel of a man to the head of a serpent would kill it. And what we see is that this very specific descendant of Eve is going to do this thing. And here's what's cool about the Bible. It works together. It connects.
And what we see in Luke's gospel in chapter 3, he's given us a little family history of Jesus. And he's tracing Jesus' line back and back and back. And this is how it finishes. Son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God. So it traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to being a descendant of Adam and Eve.
A very specific descendant of Adam and Eve. And what we see in Isaiah chapter 53 is this. When Isaiah is writing about what he sees, what is to come with the Messiah, the one who would save, the one who would redeem, it says this, he would be bruised for our iniquities. It says he would be bruised for our sins. And as we begin to put the story together, it's like, wait, no, no, this isn't just a curse. God is setting the stage for what he's ultimately going to do.
That Jesus would go to the cross carrying our sin and carrying our shame. And Satan thought he had won when Jesus went to the cross. He thought he had killed him. But Jesus would walk out of the grave three days later conquering sin, death, hell, and Satan stomping the head of the serpent. And what we see is from the very beginning, from the first rebellion of man, that God is setting the stage for what he is ultimately going to do. That this story is not ultimately about the fact that we're going to screw up, that we're going to mess up, we're going to be punished and cast out.
It is ultimately pointing us towards what's true about what Jesus is going to do. This story tells us that it's not about our action. It's not ultimately about our action. It's ultimately about what Jesus would do on our behalf. And it sets the stage for the whole scope of the Bible to be able to point us towards what's true about Jesus and the gospel. And since that's true, that becomes the lens by which we read the entire Old Testament.
It's not what is this story, where do I find myself in the story? It is what does this story ultimately teach me about Jesus and the gospel. It's not how do I need to act, behave, respond, work it out on my own to earn God's favor. It is how do I grow in understanding what Jesus has already accomplished for me and how does that impact the rest of my life as I live with him. Because if we read the Bible without Jesus as the main character, we'll miss the point. And as Christians, we get the benefit of knowing the end of the story before we ever start reading the beginning of it.
And that's a little bit of what we're starting to see in this story. I want you to think for a moment about the movie Titanic. Okay? We all know about the story from history, and you've probably all seen the movie before. You cannot watch the movie Titanic without knowing that the ship at the end is going to sink. Think about it.
So you're watching Jack in one of the opening scenes. Jack's sitting there. He's playing cards. He's playing cards, and they're all throwing in their bets and stuff. And then two White Star Line tickets hit the table. And you're watching.
You're going, oh, no. Uh-uh. That's not good. Jack wins, snatches the tickets, throws everything into a bag, and heads out the door. And you're like, oh, man. Oh, no.
No, that's ain't good. Maybe he'll trip. I don't know. Maybe he'll get hit by a car. Oh, maybe he won't make it to the ship. Maybe the ship will pull away.
Ship, go. Go, Titanic. Go. Oh, he's on the ship. Okay. Great.
Because we know the end of the story. And all along the way, as Jack saves Rose, as Jack and Rose fall in love, as there's betrayal, as the ship strikes the iceberg, all along the way, you know the end of the story. And it informs how you watch the beginning of it. And you know that ultimately, Jack and Rose are going to end up in the water. And Rose is going to say, I'll never let go, even though she does let go. And really, Rose was super selfish.
Because if you watch the movie, there was room for both of them on the door. It's absolutely ridiculous. A little selfish. Right, Rose? I mean, maybe both of you could have made it. But you can't.
You can't watch that movie without knowing the end of the story. The same thing is true of the movie The Sixth Sense. When you've watched the movie The Sixth Sense, you realize that the character that Bruce Willis was playing the entire time was dead. He was dead the whole time. And if you've never seen The Sixth Sense, I'm sorry. I just blew that for you.
But you can't watch it the same again. And the same thing is true for us as Christians. And I want you, let that seep in for a minute. You cannot read the Old Testament without knowing ultimately what Jesus is going to accomplish on our behalf. And we get a picture of it, even in this story. A story where we think that it's all about our action and what we've done in condemnation.
And we get this beautiful picture of ultimately what Jesus is going to accomplish on our behalf. And so as we flip the moral on its head, what we see is this story isn't. This story isn't about the fact that God has rules. And that Adam and Eve sinned. Therefore, they had to be punished. And even though there was this vague forgiveness type thing, that life was never the same.
Chapter 3, verse 15 tells us that the ultimate idea of Scripture is this. In the end, Jesus is the hero. Jesus steps in and through his life and death and resurrection forgives us of our sins. Takes away the debt of our sin and offers us a way back into relationship with God. In fact, it's his perfect relationship that's applied to our account. Paul's going to pick up on this in the New Testament.
When he's writing to the church in Corinth and to the church in Rome, he's going to draw this comparison between Adam and Christ. This comparison between Adam and Jesus. And he's going to say that through one man came sin. Through Jesus came grace. Through one man came death. Through Jesus came life.
So much so that when you begin to think about it, you begin to understand that Adam's disobedience in the garden led to sin entering the world through a tree. And that Jesus ultimately would accept his father's will in the garden and would take our sins with him to a tree. And there he would pay for them. And what we begin to see is that the grand narrative of scripture is to point us towards God's redemptive act that he accomplishes through Jesus. Raz and Josh and Bianca are going to come back up and we're going to spend some time responding and thinking about what we've heard this morning. If your understanding of Christianity has been that it's about your action, that the way that you relate to God is through your action, whether good or bad.
So whether that's you doing really good things, really moral things to earn God's favor, or sinning and rebelling against God, therefore facing his punishment. My encouragement to you this morning is to let the truth of what we've talked about set you free from that. Realize that the story of Adam and Eve isn't ultimately about our behavior and God's punishment. It's about the fact that though we are sinful and rebel, Jesus steps in and saves us. And it's not about our ability to do good things or to act right. And so my invitation to you this morning is to surrender.
To stop. To realize that you have a God that loves you so much that he would send Jesus to take your sin to a cross to die for you so that that could be the way that you get to relate to God. So the invitation this morning is to realize that you get to place your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and for salvation. And so I'm going to pray for us and we're going to stand and sing and respond. Let's pray together.
God, thank you that that's true. Thank you that ultimately it's not about us. God, knowing, you knowing that we were going to rebel, that we wouldn't be able to follow your commandments, you step in and save the day. And so that when we stand before you, we're not pleading our case, we're not pleading our morality or our ability to do things well, we're not condemned because of our actions. But this morning we get to stand and we get to place our faith in you for the forgiveness of our sins and for salvation.
God, and I know in this room people come with all kinds of different backgrounds and experience. And so God, while we may know that the gospel is true, that Jesus saves, that even we live our lives in a way where we don't believe that to be true, where we still think we've got to earn it, or when we mess up we feel condemned. But God, ultimately, we are brought into relationship with you by Jesus. And we thank you. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Return of the King
Transcript
And so if we're going to say that Jesus is a good king, we're going to spend a little bit of time looking at his kingdom. Now, I know that as soon as we say, all right, we're going to turn to the book of Revelation, there's a little bit of like, okay, this is about to get weird. Like there's just, I don't think we always appropriately view the book of Revelation. And here's how I know this. When you talk to Christians, there's kind of a, people lean one way or the other. So it's like people, you talk to Christians, they're like, yeah, I've read the entire New Testament, except for the book of Revelation.
Like it just kind of a tagged add on thing. It's like, I've read all of it, but not that one. Or you'll talk to people and they've been like, yeah, I read the New Testament and I've read the book of Revelation 47 times. And I've got a chart in my house and I know when he's coming back and I've got a really cool picture of a dragon. Like, it's like, okay, all right. So there's just a little bit of what are we doing when we're reading the book of Revelation?
And so I just wanted to give us a little bit of an understanding of the book of Revelation so that we can actually read it, understand the text, and not be thinking random thoughts the whole time. So Revelation was written by the Apostle John. He's the same apostle who wrote the book of John. He wrote 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, and he wrote the book of Revelation. He was exiled on the island of Patmos. And it says he was, this is all at the beginning of the book, but he says he was praying.
It was the Lord's day and Jesus shows up and basically takes him and has an angel at different points take him and shows him things that are going to happen. He speaks at first to some churches that are currently in existence and then shows him some things that are going to happen. And so he writes, it's a book of prophecy, much like when Isaiah wrote a good bit of Isaiah, there was prophecy when Jeremiah wrote, Jeremiah was prophecy, and it was about things that were going on then and things that were going to happen. And so most of that has been fulfilled, all the Old Testament prophets where they prophesied things about countries or things that were going to take place when Jesus came.
Book of Revelation, most of this is not completed yet, hasn't happened yet. So we're still kind of in the, this is prophecy for stuff that's going to come. Now, here's where, what happens with the book of Revelation. John has shown things that I think sometimes are just, he's actually seeing what's going on. So he gets to see a glimpse into the future and he writes it down as best he can.
This is going to happen. There are other times where I think he's shown images that represent things that are going to happen. So kind of like in the book of Daniel, people have dreams and Daniel interprets them and there's like a giant statue with clay feet and he tells them, oh, the clay feet means this. So there's some of that that happens in the book of Revelation. And John, a good bit of seeing things and he just writes as best he can what it is. So there's one point where he says it sounded like, his voice sounded like the rushing of many waters.
So he's just as best he can. He's like, I heard a voice and it was kind of like if a waterfall could talk. That's what he would sound like. So it's just, he's, he's writing as best he can what, what's going on. And so what we're seeing in the chapter we're looking at in chapter 21 is I believe John is seeing a real thing and writing it down as best he can. So it's not imagery of something that's going to happen.
It's actually a picture of it taking place and he's writing down for us what's going to happen. And so we get, we get off in the book of Revelation. We focus too much on the images and they'll, we'll, you'll, you'll, you think that the book of Revelation is about like a dragon and a beast and the number 666 and the Antichrist. Fair? Like you heard all this out of the book of Revelation? Okay.
Just so you know, just for your own brains, this is free. Antichrist isn't even mentioned in the book of Revelation. I know, right? He's mentioned in John and never shows up in the book of Revelation. So the book of Revelation is about Jesus.
So I'm going to read you, we're going to start in 21 in a second, but I'm going to read you some of the stuff from the first chapter just to help us know what we're looking at. Revelation 1.1 starts this way. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation is the revealing of Jesus. It's when he comes back. 5 through 7 says this.
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom. Priest to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.
And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. Amen. So that's how the book of Revelation begins.
And what it's saying is that this book is about what it's like when the king returns and sets up his kingdom. And so that's what we're looking at in the very last pages of the Bible. We're looking at what that kingdom looks like when Jesus shows back up, sets up his kingdom, and begins his rule and his reign on earth. And so we're going to take a little time. We're going to study that this morning. And so I'm going to pray and then we'll hop in.
God, I pray that you would help us to correctly see what your kingdom looks like. The fact that you are a good king and that you have invited us into your kingdom here on earth. And that one day you will return. Everyone will see you and you will set up your kingdom because you are the ruler of the kings of the earth. And so, God, we pray that we would, through your Holy Spirit, get a glimpse into that this morning. We love you.
We praise you. We thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right.
Revelation 21 says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. Okay.
A couple of things. The Bible uses heaven in three ways. It refers to heaven as the place where birds fly. So that's like in the heavens. It refers to heaven as the place where stars are. That's in the heavens.
And then it refers to heaven as the place where God exists and where you go when you die. Those who are God's people go when you die. And so we're going to be looking at heaven, and we're going to be looking at eternity. And so since we're going to be talking about eternity today, this will be point one of 47 for those of you who are taking notes. I want to talk for a really long time to help you feel the weight of eternity. I'm just kidding.
So anyway, but we're going to be talking about eternity. And here's the thing. We will not spend, you will not spend eternity in heaven. You may be thinking, speak for yourself, sinner boy. I'm going to heaven. No one spends eternity in heaven.
What it just said was that the new Jerusalem comes out of the clouds, comes out of heaven to the new earth. And so it says that he saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Now what we don't know, because there's other passages in Scripture that talk about this, if the earth we're on now is just completely gone or if it's renewed, if it's restored. We don't really know, and the text doesn't really clearly say, but we know that we have a new earth or a renewed earth and that heaven comes out of the clouds to meet it. And so it says this, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, that's verse 3, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away. On the new earth, in Jesus's kingdom, there is no death. There is no pain. There is no mourning.
Prior to this in the book of Revelation, it talks about when Jesus shows up. And when Jesus shows up, what happens is he conquers his enemies. Chief among those are Satan, sin and death. The Bible says that Jesus takes Hades and throws it into a lake of fire. And that he takes death and throws him in the lake of fire. Jesus kills death.
Now, I don't make the rules. But if you can kill death, you're in charge. That's just how that works. Like, they didn't ask me. I just know that's how that works. The guy who is scarier than death is scarier.
That's just how that. So, there is no death in the new earth. There's no pain. There's no mourning. Now, think about how beautiful that is. You don't lock your doors on the new earth.
For those who place faith in Jesus and who are rescued and brought into eternity, you don't lock your doors. You always tell the truth because, first of all, you have nothing to hide. And no one is going to use anything against you. There's no one who's going to maliciously seek to use any information you have to hurt you or to posture themselves up or to take advantage of you. Like, our government has a secret service, has CIA, FBI, because we have things to hide. And we don't want our enemies to know stuff about what we're doing and how things work.
Like, every time, like, you watch a movie and there's, like, a great invention and they're always like, this is beautiful. But if it fell into the wrong hands, it could be used for great destruction. Like, every movie ever where they invent something good. And that's just the way that works. Like, we invent the internet, we invent computers, and then people take the time, spend intelligence and effort to come up with viruses for computers. I don't know why.
You think they could do the same thing to make it productive? Anytime we come up with some sort of technology, it's used for pain, for hurt, for destruction. That doesn't happen on the new earth. There's no crying. There's no pain. There's no mourning.
There's no death. You don't go to funerals on the new earth. Every tear is wiped away. There's no cancer. There's no bad news. There's no fear about what's going to happen in the future.
Perfect peace and perfect rest because of it in God's kingdom, in Jesus' kingdom, where sin has been conquered fully by Jesus on the cross. There's nothing to worry about. Nothing bad can happen. Now, here's the thing. Now, here's what we know about that. First of all, that's beautiful.
We all want that. We all have that imprinted in us. We've said this before, and I've checked the statistics again. Ten out of ten people still die. You can Google that. Science.
And here's the thing. Here's what's true about that. Every time someone dies, there's something inside of us that screams, this isn't how this is supposed to be. This isn't how this is supposed to work. There's something in us that knows that this is wrong, and we don't know why. We don't really have, because it's, it happens to everyone, and so you'd think that humans would be used to it.
You'd be like, oh yeah, of course. That's where we're all headed. And, see, you'd work on Monday. Like, that's not, like, that's not how that works. There's something in us that just knows that this is fractured, this is broken, this falls short. So we know, when we read this, that there's no pain, there's no suffering, there's no cancer, there's no disease.
We were talking in my community group on, this past week, Bone and Kelly were in our group, and Kelly was talking about her son. She's got two sons. One's older, one's younger. They were at a clinic, like a, like a doc in a box, you know, and the older son dared the younger one. He was, they were sitting there, like, in the waiting room, and he dared the younger one. He said, I bet you won't lick this chair.
And so the younger son, being wicked smart, like, was like, oh, yeah, I will. So he licked the chair, won the bet, and then the next week they had to come back because he had two earaches, a stomach virus, and bronchitis, and was sick, like, deathly sick for two weeks, which is just the greatest story I've ever heard. I was trying to cook when they told me that. I got to laughing so hard, though I had to step away so I wouldn't catch myself on fire. Here's what we just read. That doesn't happen in heaven.
In heaven, her son can lick any chair he wants. So we read that, and we know that's beautiful, and then here's what happens to us. We immediately go, I don't know how that works. Like, immediately, our brains can't even fathom, comprehend what it looks like where there's no pain and mourning and suffering and fear. Like, even for us, I got into a discussion this week, even for us, pain is good. Like, fire can burn me, so my hand getting hot and me pulling it away is a good thing for me because if I didn't feel pain, I might have just set myself on fire.
Fear is good because bears can kill me, and so if I see a bear, I'm not just like, that guy looks huggable. Like, I have an appropriate amount of fear. Now, in heaven, so where there is no pain and no fear and no destruction and no death, we immediately just don't even have a way to process that. We just don't have a category for, okay, what does that mean? So you immediately get in things like, so does that mean that you won't hit me with a hammer or that if you do, it'll tickle?
Like, how does that work? Like, does it just mean that we won't do bad things because then it would be like, I guess we don't have freedom. We're like robots in heaven. Or does it mean that there is ways to get hurt, but you don't get hurt? You just like bounce back and laugh about it. But immediately, we have no framework for what this is going to look like.
And so here's what happens to us. It does two things to us. One is it makes us, when we think about eternity, it makes us not think about it too much because we just don't have categories for it. And it also kind of pushes back on us so that when we think about spending eternity, for those of us who are believers, and we think about heaven, and we think about spending eternity with God, we just kind of make it faker, ghostier, more vapory. Like, I might have feet, but I don't know why because I'll be floating everywhere. There's just something in our brains that can't handle this.
And so I just want to point this out to us. As we read through this text, it says this, then I saw a new heaven. Okay, so we know about heaven. And that's, and a new earth. So it's a new earth that's being created.
What I said, we don't spend eternity in heaven. We spend eternity on the new earth. Verse two, And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God.
It doesn't say that the dwelling place of man is with God. And we know that he's more important, but I think it's intentionally worded that way. I think what we're being told very clearly is that God makes a new earth, and he joins us here. So when we think about heaven, we think about like, glittery, vapory, like I would hug you, but we would just like, go through each other, and it'd be weird. Like, we just don't have a category for it, but what it's saying is that it's a new earth. So actually, what we already have in creation is a picture, a fractured, broken, messed up picture, of what his original design was.
When God created the garden, when he created earth in the first place, it was good, and he said it was good. Sin, death, destruction messed it up. The goal isn't him then looking down and going, okay, the best we can do at this point is just suck your souls up, and y'all can float around with me up here. No, he renews it, recreates it, and starts it back off the way it's supposed to be, so that we get to spend eternity in a real place. Real as in it exists, and real as in it's a tangible thing. Now, it's different, because there's no pain and no fear and all that.
It's different, but we'll have real bodies. Corinthians 15 says that like a seed is to a plant is what our bodies now will be to our new bodies. So like your body now is a seed, and your glorified eternal body is like the plant that comes from that seed. I have no clue what that means, but it sounds really cool. He talks about the fact that plants, like seeds are kind of similar, but plants look really different. So we'll have some form of body though, some form of tangibleness to us.
Philippians 3, and we'll read more of this section later, but it says, our lowly bodies will be like his glorious body. So Jesus, after he died, had a body. Like people touched him, he ate food, like he ate fish, it didn't just fall through and land on the chair awkwardly underneath him. Like he had feet, he walked places. He also like went into a room where all the doors were locked. So he can do something that we can't.
Like I don't know how that works, but I don't think he was outside jimmying it. Like pulled out his ID and slid it through and busted in. Like I don't think that's what happened. But we have a real body. Here's what this means though. We think sometimes that earth, like that spiritualness makes things better.
So to think about heaven in an earthy way, like that dirt is good, somehow makes it less than. And that we need to spiritualize. And it's like, no, we're just, we float and it's pretty and there's harps and we're in this weird thing where everyone's a baby and wears a diaper and has a harp. And we have this picture in our minds. Like if you talk to a Christian, this is what you'd say. Do you believe in heaven?
Most Christians, because it's Christian doctrine, would say yes. Like yes, believe in heaven. That's a real thing. Or you believe you'll spend eternity with God. Yes. Will you like heaven?
Yes. Heaven's going to be great. Why? I don't know. Bible says it'll be good. Like we just have a little bit of a picture in our brain.
Like I just always think, yeah, heaven's going to be great. I have no clue why. Like I feel a little bit like it's like how you enjoy coming out of surgery. It's like a dopamine wee kind of thing. It's like, I would not usually think this was great, but woohoo. Like that's the way I picture heaven.
Is it like God's just going to hardwire our brains to like floating and that'll be the best. What have you been doing? Sitting. For how long? I don't know. Heaven's great.
Like, and you just, but there's nothing in me now that thinks that that would be great. I just know that the Bible says it'll be great. But when I think about the fact that it's going to be a new earth, you ever look at pictures of earth and you're like, you have this moment where you're like, this is so beautiful. This is breathtaking and captivating. And then you have this moment where it's like, I will never see this in real life. This may just be photoshopped.
I don't even know if this is real because there's like, I won't ever be able to go investigate all these beautiful places that I see. And what we get in eternity is not a floaty spiritual realm, but a new glorified body that's like Jesus's. And we actually have an earth to re, where he redesigns everything the way it was originally supposed to be. So is there pain? No. Is there mourning?
No. Is there sadness? No. Is there death? No. Cancer?
No. Rape? No. Do people take advantage of children? No. No.
How does that all play out? I don't know. Is it real? Yes. Can you touch it, feel it, smell it? Do you actually use your feet for walking?
Yes. Your glorified plant feet, I don't know how many you'll have. It'll be like Jesus's, so he had to. He looked normal-ish. So, so we don't, we don't get this, but here, let me, I want to, I want to keep reading. I want to show you something.
Verse five. And he who is seated on the throne, so kings sit on thrones, behold, I am making all things new. Also, he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. Okay. Spring of the water of life without payment is a picture of the gospel. It's the fact that we get life, fullness, completeness, joy, and eternity without payment. We didn't rescue ourselves. We didn't redeem ourselves.
We didn't moral ourselves into it. We didn't follow the rules really well. We were rescued, redeemed, and brought in because Jesus followed the rules. The law had to be upheld, and it was upheld by Jesus, not by us. And we're given life without payment. And then it says, to the one who conquers will have this heritage.
The one who conquers means this, those who remain faithful and continue to follow Jesus. Saying that you're a Jesus follower is great. Here's what happens a lot in the Bible. There's two sides to things. So there's the side that we see, and there's the side that Jesus accomplishes.
So the Bible says that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, which means that he started it and he finished it. He didn't just save you and say, all right, you got a clean slate. Now figure it out, and I'll see you at the end if you can keep it together. No, he finishes it as well. But on our side, there's faithfulness.
There's us continuing to pursue him, us continuing in the faith, us staying and sticking and following. That's what happens. A real Christian stays a real Christian, continues to grow, continues to follow, continues to fight. And so he says to those who conquer, those who stay in, I will be their God and he will be my son. Here's the thing. Christianity says very clearly, Jesus is the only way to heaven, the only way to eternity, the only way to the father.
Those who are on the new earth got there by way of Jesus. No other way. And so people will say, that's really small minded. It's really limited. You're being really exclusive. If we had control over it, then we could control the inclusiveness or the exclusiveness.
But this is a reality. Jesus is real. He is a real king. And he doesn't cease to be a king based upon our whims. It's one of the things we said early on. There are no runoffs or recounts for kings.
So he's a real king. And here's the other thing. This eternity is with him dwelling with us, where he's our father. It says that we would be sons. If you don't love Jesus, that's terrible. If you love Jesus, that's beautiful.
The next chapter goes and it says that there is no temple. There is no son. That all of that is fulfilled and completed by Jesus and by God, by the lamb. Heaven is about Jesus. It's about the king. The kingdom, the consummated kingdom is about the king, where we spend eternity with the king.
It's not about you and what you like. It's about Jesus. Who he is, what he's accomplished, what he's done for us. We're invited into the relationship that he has with the father, with the Holy spirit. We're invited into being on earth where we dwell with him in the relationship. We were meant to have with him.
You know, sometimes you feel like, I just don't feel like I've been walking with God. Well, I don't feel like I've been following. Well, I don't think I've been hurt here. It doesn't happen in heaven. It doesn't happen in eternity. That we relate to him perfectly because it's about him.
The next chapter says that his name will be on our foreheads. So in the old Testament, he told them to put the law, to bind the law on their foreheads. Here it says that his name will be on us. If you don't love Jesus, that's not something you would enjoy being marked by him forever. And if you love Jesus, absolutely. It reminds me of toy story where, uh, what he gets lost and every once in a while, like he'll roll up his big cloth foot and look at his shoe where it says Andy, where Andy wrote his name on him.
There's just a little bit of that in heaven where we're just forever marked by Jesus. That we belong to the King, not as a subject, but as a son. That's exciting. Now, here's the thing. We, we go through this. We, we see what it looks like for Jesus to be the King, for everything to be in, in heaven is enjoyable because it comes from Jesus.
That we enjoy what we enjoy in heaven because it, it, he's the fountain of joy. The floodwaters of, of everything that is enjoyable in heaven. And here's, when we read about this, when we think about heaven, there's a little bit of like, why does it matter? Why does it matter that we're going to spend eternity on a new earth? Why, why does it matter that this is what Jesus's kingdom looks like? What's, what's the point in us today reading about that?
Is it just for us to hear it and go, ah, it sounds neat. And if I ever get asked the question, will I spend eternity in heaven? I'll say, nope, new earth. Trick question. I win. Like, like, are we just learning it to be able to regurgitate facts?
Like, why does this, why does this matter? Um, Philippians three, and it'll be up on the screen. 20 through 21 says this, but our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. That's what we read earlier by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. The reason it's helpful for us to learn about our King and to learn about his kingdom is that that's where our citizenship is.
Philippians three says that our citizenship is in heaven is, is currently where Jesus is sitting on a throne, ruling and reigning where God is. What that means for us is that we behave like citizens of eternity. We function like we'll function when we get to the new earth where there is no pain, there is no lying, there is no deceit, there is no mourning. We get to know that heaven is a reality, that eternity is real for us, that the new earth is a place that we will spend eternity. It makes a difference. My uncle is, one of my uncles is from Nigeria.
He's a Yoruba people group. And when he came to the U.S., he was adopted by my grandparents. When he came to the U.S., he's a citizen of Nigeria. Like he thinks culturally like a Nigerian, does life like a Nigerian, sees life like a Nigerian. So like they were in West Virginia, he had never seen snow.
And so he, my granddad was having a hard time getting a trash can down his really steep driveway because it was iced up. And so my uncle sees him and is like, absolutely, this isn't okay. Like I've got to go help him. He shouldn't have to do this on his own. Take the trash out. I should be taking the trash out.
And so he just sprints down the stairs, sprints out the front door, meets ice, and goes all the way down the driveway, like out into the road. And my granddad was like, you got to learn what ice is. Like you can't, this is why this is taking me forever. But he's Nigerian. He told one time, he went back to Nigeria, met his wife, was bringing her back to the U.S. and he was trying to coach her up on like, Nigeria is different from the United States. One of the things he said was, and I'm going to do my Uncle Abel impersonation.
He, which by the way, whenever I talk about Cain and Abel, I don't say Abel, I say Abel. And that's a shout out to my uncle every time I do it, because he says, ah, if it was Abel, it would be L-E. It is E-L, that is Abel, which is what his name is. So I'm like, all right, you're right, Abel. Cain and Abel, got it. But he, I told him, I was telling the story to somebody, and I told him later, I talked to him, I said, I did my best Uncle Abel impersonation.
And he said, ah, you mean I do not talk like you? And then he went, I've been speaking English way longer than you have. You don't even speak it correctly, you speak American. You don't even know English. But he said, he told my aunt, BK, he told her, he said, if an American invites you out to eat, that does not mean they are paying for you.
You better have money. Because in Nigeria, if I say, hey, you want to go grab some food, that means I have invited you, I am paying for you. So he was somewhere, and there was a bunch of college students, they were like, yeah, I want to go eat over here. And he was like, yes, I do. Because he thought, free fruit, sweet. And they got there, and he goes, we get there, and everyone paid for themselves.
So I was like, oh. He said, luckily he had some money, he was able to pay for himself, but he told my aunt, I always have money, because Americans, you just never know. Like, sometimes they'll pay for you, sometimes they don't. There's no rule on that at all. But he was a citizen of Nigeria, and so he viewed the world like a Nigerian.
And the truth is, we're citizens of heaven, we're citizens of this eternity. We get to view the world like that. And that's why it's very helpful, and encouraging for Christians, to press eternity into our minds, to consider it, to weigh it. Paul in Romans 8 says, that he considers the suffering, of this present time, not worthy, to be compared, with the glory that is to be revealed to us. He said, he considers it like, he sat down and waited out. Thought about it.
It's helpful for us as Christians, to press eternity into our brains, and it's hard for us to fathom, but it's good for us. Because it frees us up, and it does a few things for us. This is why it's important for us, to not have just this vague, cloudy, heaven's gonna be good one day thing, but now have a grounded understanding, that that is the reality, of where those who've placed their faith in Jesus, will spend eternity. And, the other side of that, is those who haven't placed their faith in Jesus, haven't had their sin paid for by him, spend eternity in hell. Which is just as real, and eternity there is just as long.
And it's important for us as believers, as those who've been rescued and redeemed by Jesus, to have firmly fit into our brains, that eternity, with our king in his kingdom, is coming. Because it does a few things for us. It does a lot for us, but we're gonna talk about a few. One, we get to enjoy life more now, because eternity is real. There's just something about us, that thinks that enjoying life, to the fullest here, is somehow, earthy and wrong, because we're Christians, we should be spiritual. Because that's what we'll be like in heaven.
Spiritual. Someone will be like, do you want a biscuit? And I'll be like, no, this is heaven, I'm spiritual. No, it's heaven. Carbs don't count in heaven. They don't make you take a nap, you can take one if you'd like.
So, there's something about, the fact that eternity is real, and it's on a new earth, that means that as we enjoy things here, we were designed to enjoy things here, we get to enjoy more. We get to know that it's just a foretaste. That all of the beauty, and all of the fun, and all of the laughter, and all of the food, and excitement, and art, and nature, everything that we enjoy, everything that flares up in us, as we enjoy it on earth, is just a glimpse. Just a small window, into what the new earth will be like. Which means that we get to enjoy biscuits, we get to eat bacon, we get to go on a hike through the woods, and let that worshipfully roll up in us, in praise for our creator, and our savior, and our king, who invites us into something much better, for a much longer time.
It means we get to enjoy earth more now, we get to enjoy life more now, because we have a real eternity that is to come, and holiness for us, isn't a complete stepping away, from all things that are enjoyable. Now there's a time, when we fast from food, when we fast from some of the things, that we enjoy on earth, to remind ourselves, that this isn't all that there is. To help our souls hunger for what's true, and real, and eternal. There's also times, where we get to sit at a table, with family, with church family, and just enjoy, the fact that this is just a small window, into what it's going to get to be like.
Revelation says, that it's going to be the wedding supper of the lamb, that we're invited into a feast. That's what we're called into, when he returns, is a feast. There's something in us, that says that spending a lot of time, sitting around a table, and enjoying it with family, there's actually something, really spiritual about that. Really beautiful about that picture, of us enjoying food together, as family, because that's how we'll inaugurate, and start off the kingdom, when Jesus returns. That's what we'll be invited into. So we get to enjoy life more now, if we press eternity, the fact that we will spend, life on a new earth, into our brains.
Second thing that this does for us, is that we do not have to enjoy life now. We don't have to. There's an aching fear, in us, that I think continually grows. Am I enjoying life? Am I having fun? Am I having as much joy, and fulfillment as I could have?
Am I making the best use, of all my time? Am I, there's just something in us, that says, yeah heaven's going to be great, but if I'm going to enjoy a good meal, it's got to happen now. Heaven's going to be great, but if I'm going to, have a good adrenaline rush, it's going to happen now. If I'm going to travel, and see beautiful things, it's going to happen now. Heaven will be nice, I'm sure, but I've really got to do a lot now, because I've only gotten, a short amount of time, to really squeeze in, all the good stuff. There's something, that says that in us, and it's completely wrong.
Understanding that, eternity on the new earth, awaits us, frees us up, to not have a spectacular life now, to not be forced, to squeeze all the juices, out of it. And what that means is, you get to work a nine to five Job, love your family really well, spend your days in Casey, West Columbia, and that be perfectly beautiful, and good, in the eyes of God. Means you don't have to go see Europe, go if you get the chance. Europe's pretty lame anyway, that's why we made America. But, there's just something in us, that constantly feels like, we're missing out, and the truth is, we have an eternity, of better things to come.
And so we're freed up. It also means, that you're freed up, to not be a success, to give a lot away, to give a lot of your time, to those who are poor, oppressed, those who are sick. It means you're freed up, to go to another country, and nurse those, who have Ebola, back to health. And you're freed up, to get Ebola, and die. Because you've got an eternity, to come, of good things. there's just something, there's just something, about knowing that, and pressing that, into our hearts, that frees us up, to follow Jesus, in a way that we can't, if we forget, that that's what's to come. If we forget, that that's the culmination, of what he's doing.
The reason that he calls us, into really hard stuff. It's because he's already, accomplished everything, on our behalf, and he's got much better things, awaiting us. That's why Jesus, over and over and over again, is going to press into, the topic of money, and pair it with, the topic of heaven. He's going to say, don't care so much, about earthly riches, and earthly treasures, and earthly things, that you fail, to realize what's coming. The third thing, this does for us, is that we, see, we more clearly see, what is important. When this image, gets pressed into our minds, that an eternity, is to come.
A real one. Where there are, adrenaline rushes, where there is reality, where you do, inhale and exhale. Where things are tangible. Where it says, that we'll eat, and drink rich food, and the best wine. When we press that, into our souls, it helps us clearly see, what actually matters here. Here's the truth.
Every person in this room, when God designed creation, designed you to exist, for an eternity. And every person in this room, even though sin, has marred his original design, will spend eternity somewhere. And every person that you know, will spend eternity somewhere. And Jesus shows up, the king returns, and he claims his people, and he takes them home. And those who he hasn't rescued, and those who haven't placed, their faith in him, spend eternity, paying for their sin, and their rebellion against him. That's true.
And when eternity, is pressed into our hearts, it helps us see, what actually matters. When we weigh eternity, against what's going on, then it really matters, that 80% of the people, in this city, don't know, or follow Jesus. Then it really matters. It really matters, that that's true, for this city, so probably true, for where you work, and probably true, for the neighborhood you live in. And that matters. We clearly see, what's important.
When eternity, the reality of it, is considered, and weighed, and pressed into our hearts. Here's something, I've thought about some. It says that, for those who conquer, he says, I will be their God, and he will be my son. And I've got two brothers, and, I always think about, what life would be like, if there had only been, two of us. So instead of three sons, there had been two of us.
And I think about the fact that, when you have more people, it multiplies the joy. So I've got two brothers, Logan and Vince, and both of them are slap crazy. And I get to see, Logan react to a Vince joke, or Vince's nonsense. I get to call Logan, and talk about Vince's nonsense. I get to talk to Vince, about Logan's nonsense. They don't talk about me, because I'm awesome.
I get to call Logan, and talk about Vince's nonsense. I get to talk to Vince, about Logan's nonsense. They don't talk about me, because I'm awesome. Our lives are multiplied, by the fact that, there's three of us. I sometimes think about, what life would have been like, if there was four of us. That, that, I get to, Logan gets to see me react, to, to a Vince. There's just, there's something that multiplies, and if Vince wasn't there, I wouldn't get to see, how Logan would react to a Vince. I wouldn't get to see,
How Vince would, there's something about, more of us, that multiplies that. The only reason, it doesn't make sense on earth, outside of God, calling you to a life of celibacy, but for those who have family, those who are married, I was thinking about this, the only reason, like for my wife and I, she's pregnant, we're going to be having a son, and I'm very excited about, the fact that, that he's going to grow up, and have a personality, and I'm going to get to see, I'm going to learn more about Anna, as I get to see her react, and lead a son, and she's going to learn more about me,
And we're going to get to see, and grow more, and love for each other, as we grow in love for, for this kid, who's going to be, terrible and awesome, but the only reason, it doesn't make sense for us, to just have child, after child, after child, after child, after child, after child, is eventually, we're limited by time, and by finances, resources, so like, if we had tons, and tons of children, we probably wouldn't be able, to feed them all,
Run out of things, to name them, just start numbering them, 12, get over here, that's why, if you're going to have, a bunch of kids, don't do the thing, where you have to start them, all with the same letter, because that just seems like, it'd make it more difficult, for you, you just run out, and eventually, one would be like, Josephina, and Jose, and Joseph, and Josanna, and Gary, because I ran out of J's, but,
Here's the thing, those limitations, time limitations, and resource limitations, do not exist, in eternity, and so when God says, that I'll be their God, and they'll be my son, every time, that's true for a person, there's a multiplication, of joy, that we all get to be, in the same family, and we all get to grow, and see each other, and build with each other, and have connection, and life, and joy with each other, for eternity, that's why, that's why the Bible says,
That when a sinner repents, when someone realizes, that they're sinful, and hands that over to Jesus, and Jesus saves them, that the angels rejoice, every time, that hasn't gotten old, in heaven, because they understand, the weight of it, they feel, the eternity, that hangs in the balance, and they know, the multiplication of joy, when there's a new birth, that there's just something, about every time, a seat is added, to the table, of the feast, that there's joy, and that's why it matters,
And that's why, it's good to follow, this king, who invites us, into his kingdom, and that's why it matters, that people in the city, don't know Jesus, and that's why it matters, that our community groups, are on mission, where we seek, to go out of our way, to build relationships, with people, because every time, someone repents of sin, there's a seat, added to that table, and there's a family member, added to that table, and there's an eternity, of a multiplication, of joy,
That we don't even understand, but the angels do, and they celebrate, and we get invited, into that, because Jesus, paid for our mess, and our sin, and rescues us, and not into some, specter fest, where we float around, but a real eternity, where there's tangibleness, and he's our God, and we're his people, and we're his sons, and that's why, it's important for us, to press eternity, into our minds, to remind ourselves, of where our true family is, where our true hope lies,
What really matters, so that we don't waste our days, on things that are going to pass away, and fail to understand, the weight, of what is to come, Matt and Bianca are going to come back up, we're going to sing, and we're going to praise Jesus, and we're going to take communion, we've got it set up on this table, right over here, and communion for us, as believers, is a reminder, that the gospel is true, it's a reminder, of what Jesus accomplished, for us on the cross, that he had a real body, and shed real blood, that the God of the universe, took on human form, and for us today,
It gets to be a reminder, of not only what he's done for us, but what is to come for us, the fact that a new earth, where there's real flavor, real tangibleness, reality, with him forever, that as we as believers, partake in what he did for us, on the cross, that we as believers, will get to partake, in what he does for us, in eternity, it's the meal that reminds us, of the feast that is to come, he says he, in the last supper, with his disciples, he says, I won't taste of the vine again, until I eat it new, with you in the kingdom,
He's held that promise, he doesn't pick up the cup again, until we show up, and so we today, get to take communion, as believers, reminding ourselves, of what is to come, of the feast that will be for us, and an eternity, that will be for us, so that we get to be for him here, Father we thank you, we thank you for all, that you've done for us, for the reality of the cross, and the reality of the eternity, that we're invited into, by your grace, that as we place faith in you, you rescue us, you redeem us, you seal us, and that one day,
All those who have genuinely, repented of their sin, to have you rescue, and redeem them, will spend eternity with you, where it's about you, where our hearts are set on you, God help us, through your Holy Spirit, to press eternity, into our minds, and into our souls, lest we forget, we praise you, we thank you, in Jesus name, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,
An Unlikely Throne
Transcript
Good morning. We are going to be in Matthew chapter 27 today. We put extra Bibles out on the rows so that everybody could have one. So if you didn't bring one, we've got some on the rows for you to look at because we're going to be looking at a good bit of the text. We're going to be spending a good bit of time in Matthew chapter 27. So we are in our fifth week of our Kingdom Come series where we're looking at Jesus as king, where we're understanding that that Jesus is a king.
And here's the problem that we have with that. We don't like kings. Historically, as Americans, we haven't done so well with with kings. We don't have a very good track record with kings. So we might like kings in theory or we watch movies and it's interesting that there's kings.
But the truth is we don't like that idea. We don't like the concept of someone having that much power and authority, that a king can just do what they want so that when they speak things, they can speak things into law. There's nobody that like checks behind whether or not that makes any sense or is a good law. They just get to say, so we're doing right. It down. Boom.
Done. I just kinged it up like they get to do that. And we don't like that. We don't appreciate that to the point that anytime someone seems like they get too much power, we're just automatically suspicious of it. Like the mayor of West Columbia just kind of got into it with city council. So city council like stripped him of some of his powers.
So then he did something where we had to do like a runoff vote to give him more power that he wrote up. So the mayor was going to have not only the power that they took from him, but extra power. And West Columbia was like, no, you don't get more power. Quit fighting with city council about stuff like that was pretty much what happened. And so because we don't even want a mayor to have a lot of power. Like we would much rather diffuse power amongst a group of people because we think that's safer.
And the truth is that it is a safe way to operate when you have sinful people in charge of things. Anytime we've seen someone get ultimate power or a lot of authority, it tends to go poorly. And so we're automatically just kind of wary of this. But let me tell you what's true. We love democracy and we love a republic. We love the idea of being able to vote.
And but the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. Period. The best form of government is a wise and good king. Because then we don't have to have a bunch of elections and we don't have to worry about like if the king could actually be good. And the problem is we immediately go, yeah, but that's not going to happen. True.
But just go with me here. If the king could actually be good, if they were actually wise and benevolent and they were altruistic and they were just loving and made good decisions for the people, that's actually the best way to go. If they actually make things, it's not decisions that aren't just in their best interest, but in the interest of the people. I was talking to my cousin one time and I asked him what he thought was the best form of government. That's what he said. And I thought it was really weird.
But he said, yeah, benevolent dictatorship. That's what I'd be for. And it was like, I don't think that's a good idea. But I've thought about it more and I do think that's a good idea. The problem is you just wouldn't know if it was going to be benevolent. So dictators don't usually handle that well.
But that is the best way to have a government. So what we've looked at is that Jesus is a king. He is the king. The Old Testament prophesied eternal king. And so what we asked early on was, is he a good king? Like if he's a king and if his kingship is eternal so that it extends to us, is he a good king?
And more than that, like, because that's not really even the question. The question is, is he a better king than we are? Because our option when a king shows up, there aren't like dual kingships. When a king shows up, you're either under or over. Like you either submit or you fight. And so the question becomes, is he a good king?
Do we submit to him? Do we follow him in his kingdom? And so I just, thinking along those lines, wanted to talk about what makes a good king. And I've got some thoughts before we get into the text of what makes a good king. A king, a good king, takes on the plight of his people. So a good king knows what's going on.
He doesn't separate himself from his people. Like recently, I've seen a bunch of stuff about Kim Jong-un, who's been sick and I hadn't seen him for a while. And people are making jokes because he's got the best care that North Korea offers. And he's sick. And they're like, I don't know what's going on with the rest of the people in North Korea. But this isn't a good sign for them because he's separated himself so much from his people that he, what they go through isn't what he goes through.
But a good king is a part of his people and is among his people. There's a story, an old kind of story in China where they came to the king and they said, the people are starving because we're running out of rice. And the story goes that the king responded, well, let them eat meat. And I can just imagine the people being like, you don't have a clue, bro. Like, let me time you out for a second. We run out of meat before we run out of rice.
Like, if we're complaining about rice, meat's been gone for a long time. Like, that's not an option. It's not like there's people starving in China and somebody's like, bro, I need rice. And they're like, bro, just eat some meat. No, I don't want meat. I don't want rice.
And if you offer me meat, I'm just going to starve. I need rice. Like, that's not how that happens. And so this king has no idea what's going on with his people. But a good king does.
A good king isn't sitting in a palace eating all the fine luxuries and allowing his people to starve. A good king starves alongside his people. A good king maintains justice. You don't live in fear where there's a good king. You don't live worried where your property will be taken from you. It's not set up to where someone's bigger, stronger than you.
They just walk into your house and they're like, hey, I own this now. You're like, but I live here. Not anymore unless you want to be my slave. Like, that doesn't work under a good king. People are punished for their crimes. That's why we have a fit every time we see a police officer shoot someone who's unarmed.
Because it goes against our sense of justice. It breaks down the system as to how it ought to work. And there's always extenuating circumstances and things. But cops just shoot and shoot people who are unarmed. And I love, like recently there was some stuff and people came on and said, well, nobody's talking about all the people who are shooting each other in inner cities. And it's like, right.
Because they're not cops. That's how that works. Like a teacher jumps up and slaps a kid. You don't go, yeah, but the kids slap each other some. It's like, no. Like, the system's breaking down here.
And that's why we celebrate when cops get it right. That's why we're excited when justice is maintained. That's why we love the fact that if someone steals your property, you have someone to call and say, hey. I mean, recently Matt's truck got broken into. And they stole a guitar, which was Raz's guitar, which is great. So, like, Matt's like, my truck got broken into.
But don't worry. They only stole Raz's stuff. And so later on, a couple weeks later, we get a phone call. And we're working on stuff. And Matt gets a call. And he's like, it's the Lexington County Sheriff's Department there at my house.
And so I rode over with him because I figured he's getting arrested. I'm like, you know, I guess you got warrants. They only do house calls for a few things, man. And so, but we showed up over there, and they had the guitar. And so we didn't tell Raz about it. We pawned it and split the money.
But, no, but they gave his guitar back. And we celebrate the fact that they got it right because maintaining justice is something that happens inside of a good kingdom. And so a king, a good king maintains justice. A good king also offers grace. So he doesn't just destroy everyone who, all of his enemies are the people who don't agree with him.
He offers grace. He offers mercy. He helps people who are down. There's some form of welfare system for people who are down on their luck. Like a good king is gracious to his people. Gives what is unearned.
A good king wars for his people. That's why when you watch movies like Gladiator and Braveheart and The Patriot and basically any movie that has Mel Gibson in it, that's why the hero is at the front of the battle. Like he runs in with his men, and the bad guy is like up on a horse watching. Like if the commander of the good army is in the fray, and the commander of the bad guys is like watching, and he's like, well, I guess we're losing. Whatever, I'm going to leave. And he like rides off.
Or he just tells them to shoot arrows or cannons into his own men because he doesn't care because he's not a part of it. And so a good king actually wars with and for his people. Like I was recently watching another Mel Gibson movie. We were soldiers, and he was talking to them before they left, and he said, I can't promise that all of you will come back. He said, but what I do promise is that my boots will be the first one on the ground and the last one's off when we leave. And there's just this sense of like, yes, that is how that's supposed to work.
If you're going to lead, you need to be a part of, in front of, warring with your people and not having them fight and sacrifice for you. The other thing that happens with a good king is that they can be trusted. You don't always know what they're doing. That's the way it works with the White House. We don't have all the information that President Obama has. I don't wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning and have people brief me on what's going on in remote parts of the world, but he does.
And then he makes decisions based off of that. And we go to war, don't go to war based off of that. And with a good king, what you see is you see all these other things. You know that they maintain justice, that they don't have a sacrifice for them, but they sacrifice with and for us. And there's just this sense of, I don't know what they're doing, but I know we can trust them. And that's what it looks like in the kingdom with a good king.
I don't know why we're doing this plan. I just know that this king is trustworthy. And so we're going to look, and what we've asked early on was, is Jesus a good king? And today we're going to kind of look at and try to answer that question. We're looking to see if Jesus is a good king. So we'll be in the end of Matthew's gospel.
And what we know is that Jesus is the ruling, reigning, forever king. He's the king of the universe who's created everything and rules and reigns over it. And here's something we know about kings. Kings love their thrones. They do. It's like people with cars now.
So like, you know, the show like Pimp My Ride or whatever. Like kings used to do that with their thrones. So if you look them up online, there's some very elaborate, intense, cool thrones. Like King Ivan the Terrible, his whole throne was made out of ivory. So ivory's hard to come by, so he made his whole throne out of it.
Like there's the king of Denmark had his whole throne made out of narwhal tusks. Which narwhals seem like they're made up animals because it's like a whale unicorn thing. And so like you see him in the movie Elf and you're like, I'm pretty sure that's fictitious. And then you look it up online and they actually exist. Just for the record, narwhals are real. And he made his whole throne out of narwhal tusks, which is pretty gangster way to make a throne.
And so, yeah, the king of Ivan the Terrible had his whole throne made out of ivory. Solomon in the Bible had his throne made out of ivory and then coated in gold. So it didn't even matter. Like he just had to tell people, I don't know if you know this, but under all that gold, there's ivory. Like it just, you know, take your word for it. But it's like, but he had it coated in gold and he had it seated up six steps.
And there was two lines, gold lines next to it. And there were lines on every step that went up to his throne. Because kings love their throne. But here's what we see of Jesus. Isaiah 6 says that Isaiah sees God high and lifted up, seated on a throne, and that there are angels worshiping him. And then John tells us in his gospel, chapter, so y'all know who it's coming from, chapter 12, says that Isaiah saw Jesus.
So that Isaiah sees Jesus high and lifted up on a throne, ruling and reigning as the God of all creation. Philippians 2 tells us that he was equal with God, but did not see equality as a thing to be grasped, but rather humbled himself and lowered himself and came to earth. What we see in Jesus is that he doesn't love his throne, he leaves his throne. That the throne of a king is where their seat of power and authority is and that Jesus leaves it. And so what I want us to know before we get into this text is we're looking to see, is Jesus a good king? And we're also looking at the fact that as we read through this, I want us to have firmly set in our mind that this is the king.
Jesus is the ruling, reigning king of the universe. So when we watch movies and a king leaves his palace for a little while and goes and lives among his people, we're like, oh, look at this, like he's learning what it's like. When you watch Undercover Boss, it's that same thing where the CEO of a company is figuring out what it looks like to go pick up trash. And we're like, good, he needs to learn what that looks like. And what we see in Jesus is that he leaves his throne and he joins his people. And we'll read about him now in Matthew chapter 27.
I'm going to pray. We're going to hop in and we're going to look at the ruling, reigning king of the universe as he was in life on earth. God, I pray that through your Holy Spirit, you would apply your word to us today. That you would teach us, that you would firmly plant in our minds the picture of the ruling, reigning king of the universe as we read through this text. That we would not be able to escape the drastic reality of what Jesus deserves and what he receives. Speak to us today in Jesus name.
Amen. We'll start in verse 11. So this is Jesus after he's been arrested, after he has been taken before the Sanhedrin, which is the ruling body of the Jewish people. And they've taken him now to Pilate, who is a governor over Judea area. Now Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him, are you the king of the Jews?
Because that's what they brought him in saying he was the Christ. He says he's a king. So he says, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus says, you have said so. But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.
Then Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge. So the governor was greatly amazed. All right. I want us to picture this. Jesus is in front of a governor.
A governor of not even like a really well-to-do area of the Roman Empire. Colossians 1 says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn among all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or rulers, dominions or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And they exist by him, that in him all things hold together. So this is the creator of the universe standing in front of a governor to be sentenced.
On trial in front of a governor. Not even Caesar, which would have been humiliating, embarrassing, and laughable, but in front of a governor. Creator of the universe. And he doesn't defend himself. He sits in silence. John tells us that at one point Pilate looks at him and because he won't defend himself, because he won't make any argument against the claims that they make against him, even though they make a long list of claims, outlandish ones.
Pilate looks at him and says, do you not realize I have the ability to release you or crucify you? And Jesus responds, no you don't. Jesus says, you only have the authority that's been given to you by my father. You have no authority over me because Jesus is the ruling reigning king, but he stands before a governor to be sentenced. Fifteen. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release.
There's a big Jewish holiday going on. It was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, who do you want me to release for you? Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? So he just calls out the two prisoners that were most well known.
Who do you want me to release? Barabbas, this notorious criminal, or Jesus who's called Christ? For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man. For I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. So his wife had had a dream where apparently it was obvious to her that they shouldn't do anything to Jesus.
There's a spiritual reality to her dream, which is a real thing about dreams, not about all dreams. So sometimes my wife will wake up and she'll be giving me a dirty look and I'll be like, what? And she's like, you were doing a bunch of junk in my dream. And I was like, well, I was behaving myself while I slept. But his wife sends him a thing saying that God had spoken to her.
Something had happened through this dream. And she says, have nothing to do with this righteous man. For I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas.
Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said, let him be crucified. And he said, why? What evil has he done? And they shouted all the more, let him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but that rather a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, I am innocent of this man's blood.
See to it yourselves. And all the people answered, his blood be on us and on our children. Then he released for them Barabbas and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. So he stands in front of this crowd and he says, who do you want me to release? This notorious criminal who we know is an insurrectionist and murderer, Barabbas or Jesus, the Christ, the king. And they say, release to us Barabbas and kill Jesus.
And he says, why? What has he done? And they say, we don't care. Crucify him. His blood be on us, not on you. Crucify him.
Kill him. And to the point that a riot was breaking out. That they're beginning to realize that he's lost control of this crowd so that he placates them by killing Jesus. And what it says is that he scourged him, having scourged him, which means that he was beaten by Roman guards who had made a profession of torturing people. So having been tortured, Jesus was delivered over to be crucified, which means that they're going to take him and they're going to nail him from a cross beam through his hands or his wrist right here.
And through the top of his feet, they're going to drop that beam in the ground and he's going to hang there until he dies. A lot of times people were crucified without having been scourged. Jesus was scourged first, which means they took a cat of nine tails and ripped his back and flesh open so that you'd be able to see his ribs. And they would throw salt in it to burn the wounds, make it more painful, but also to stop the bleeding so that he would last longer for them to continue beating him. So that's the state Jesus is in.
The king of the universe. Beaten. Tortured. And heading to a cross. 27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
So every soldier there. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. So they take a crown of thorns and they stick it down so that it stabs into his head. And they put it on his head and they put a reed in his hand, in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews.
One of the only times Jesus was ever treated appropriately as a king was while he was being mocked by a mob of soldiers. You see, they gave him a scarlet robe. And the book of Revelation says that when he returns, he will have a scarlet robe, but it'll be a robe that's been dipped in blood. They gave him a crown of thorns, but the book of Revelation in chapter 19 says that when he returns, on his head, he'll have many crowns. Because he's not just the king of the Jews, as they mockingly say to him, but he's the king of kings. Meaning he rules over all governments, all kings, all rulers forever.
Including the Romans. They put a reed in his hand, but Revelation says that he'll have a sword coming out of his mouth, which is to strike down the nations. Which seems to be that he's going to destroy his enemies through the power of his word, which is how he creates and moves and works. And that he'll rule the world with an iron sepulter. So they give him a reed to hold in his hand, but he'll have one of iron.
And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews. And they spit on him, and they took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, that compelled this man to carry his cross. Seemingly because Jesus could only carry it so far, having already been tortured. Stayed up all night being beaten by Jewish people on their trial and then was handed over to the Romans in the morning.
33. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
And over his head, they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. That was the charge against him. He had declared that he was a king, and they killed him for it. He declared that he was Christ, and they killed him for it. Christ means leader, ruler, one who was going to set up a kingdom. They knew what had been promised.
They knew what was being said. They knew why he was being killed, and they labeled him as such. Jesus was appropriately labeled. The crime against him was true. He was the king of the Jews. But not just the Jews, everybody.
Jesus Christ, king of the universe, leaves his throne in heaven, is born in a manger, lives a perfect sinless life, and this is how he dies. Acts says he dies at the hands of lawless men. That he was destroyed, crucified, murdered. King of the universe. He didn't love his throne and hold on to his throne, but he heads to a cross. He deserves a throne.
He deserves praise. He deserves honor. He deserves worship. He deserves glory. And instead, he takes shame and defeat and torture and pain and leaves his throne and heads to a cross. So the question is, is Jesus a good king?
Does he meet the criteria? As we read through this, is Jesus a good king? We said that a king takes on the plight of his people. And the Bible tells us that Jesus died to pay for our sin. That he joined us in our mess. That he didn't sit far off and declare to us, work it out, fix it yourselves, be really good.
But no, he joined us in our mess. That he walked through life and lived as we couldn't live. And that he died in our place. That he went to the cross because he is a good king who joins in and takes part in the plight of his people. That he doesn't have his people sacrificed for him, but he sacrifices for his people. He said that he maintains justice, that a king is just and fair.
The cross is a pure, unadulterated declaration of the justice of God. Because sin will be paid for. So much so that Jesus, God of the universe, would pay for it himself. You see, when we talk about a king has justice, that sin is paid for, that wrongs are righted, that crime does not go unpunished. And that he offers grace, we see perfectly in the cross that Jesus does both. Perfectly that he does both.
I'm going to read something from Romans chapter 3 just to put this picture in our brains. It says, That's all of us. All of us fall short. This is Romans 3. And are justified by his grace as a gift. Which justified means made right.
So Jesus makes us right by his grace. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation. Which means that he was destroyed on behalf of wrath. Of God's wrath in our place. That we deserve wrath, but Jesus took it. That's what propitiation means.
Propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness. Or another way to say this is justice. Because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It looked like, as we read through the Old Testament, that people got off. That people who sinned and deserved to be destroyed didn't get destroyed.
People who rebelled weren't. That justice wasn't maintained because God let people go. And what we see in the cross is that justice is maintained. Sin will be paid for. He had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time.
So that he might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. What that means is this. Every sin will be paid for. All rebellion will be paid for. The question is, will it be paid for by us or by Jesus? Every time someone has wronged you.
Every time someone's stolen from you, taken from you, abused you, hurt you. And there's that moment in you, there's something inside of you that cries out for justice and punishment. The cross adamantly declares that there will be justice and punishment. But there's also grace. That Jesus would take the justice and punishment that we deserve and he would take it on himself so that we can have freedom. So he does both.
And just for those of us in this room who've been hurt, who've been harmed, who've been assaulted, who've had people rob us. Know this very clearly. Justice will be paid. And it'll either be paid on them, on those who harmed and hurt us, or it'll be paid on Jesus. And for those of us in this room who are in rebellion, who have harmed and hurt, who have stolen from God, who have fought against him. Know this.
Justice will be paid. Either by you, either by us, or by Jesus. But we're offered free grace because of what Jesus accomplishes on the cross. So he's a king who maintains justice and offers grace. We said that he wars for his people, that he steps in, that he leads in the battle, and that's exactly what Jesus does. That he went to a cross on our behalf.
That he didn't sit far back and declare that we had to go work it out. Christianity following Jesus isn't about us warring for ourselves. It's not about us earning it on our own. It's not about us achieving anything. It's not about us being very moralistic or doing our religious duty or showing up to things so that God gives us points. We don't fight this battle for ourselves.
Jesus stepped in and fought it on our behalf. And we're brought in by his victory. That Jesus has already won the war in our place and we just get to live in light of what's already been accomplished for us. Because he went to battle for us. Ultimately, a good king can be trusted. We so often have no clue what God's doing.
When there's pain, when there's hurt, when there's harm, when we're confused, we have no idea what he's up to. But the cross answers the question of whether or not God can be trusted forever. We look at the cross and we know that God is good and that he's for our good and that he can be trusted. We don't know what he's doing all the time. But we know he's good.
We know he's for our good. So much so that he would die for us because he loves us and he cares for us, which means he can handle all the rest of it. But Jesus stepped in our place and can be trusted because he went to the cross for us. Where we see Jesus's power and authority is not a throne. Where we're given the clearest image and picture as we read through scripture to know that Jesus is in charge and that he rules and that he reigns. It's not him seated on a throne.
He doesn't sit on a throne and hand out edict after edict for us to behave. For how we should follow him. For what his good subjects look like. Where we see Jesus's power and authority is on the cross. Where he's high and lifted up and deserving of honor and glory and worship. The king of the universe isn't on a throne but on a cross.
That Jesus left his throne so that we could be brought back to him. And he went to a cross. That that is his unlikely throne. Because he didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom but he came to destroy our ultimate enemy of sin, death, hell, and Satan. And he went to a cross on our behalf. Then he was buried.
Three days later he rose again. And he is seated on a throne. He does rule and reign over all of eternity. And one day he will return. To bring his church home. And to pay for, to punish the rest of sin.
But we see him high and lifted up and glorified on a cross, not a throne. That he went to a throne by way of a cross. That the one God of the universe who deserved all honor and all praise and all glory and all worship and all followership forever. Took on our plight. Fought for justice to offer grace. Won the battle we could never win.
Proved that we can trust him. And was highly exalted on a cross. Not sitting in luxury. Declaring that we have to work really hard to follow him. And that we get to, by faith, follow him. As he pays for our sin.
The band's going to come back up. And we're going to praise Jesus. Who paid for our sin. Who is a good king. And who is worth following with everything that we have. With all of our lives.
Forever. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for the love that is offered to us through Jesus. God, I pray that you would continue to teach us how to worship and follow you as a king. As the ruler of all creation. Who, instead of destroying us when we rebelled, joined us and was destroyed on our behalf.
We praise you. We thank you.
Kingdom Parables
Transcript
Well, good morning. Jesus is a king. Jesus is the king. And that's what we've been spending the past several weeks talking about is that Jesus comes as a king, that he comes to us through history as the eternal king. So the Old Testament is going to say that there's a prophesied king who's going to come in the line of David.
And then the New Testament is going to say that king is Jesus, the eternal king that is the king of kings, that princes will rise up and bow down to, that is in charge of everything, is Jesus. And so what we've been doing for the past several weeks is we've been looking at what it means for Jesus to be king, for him to be a king, the king of our lives, of the universe. And what does it mean for him to have a kingdom and what does his kingdom look like? How does it work? And so that's what we've been spending some time doing. So the first week we looked and said that you can't have two kings.
That's not how kings work. And so some of you may have read, you know, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and you said there are two kings in that one. That's a made-up story. That's never happened. And there's talking animals there. Like there's other things going on.
You can only have one king. And so Jesus shows up, says he's king. Herod, who is a king, tries to kill him. And that we basically have the same options. We can get off of the throne and quit trying to be king of our lives. Or we can try to fight Jesus.
We said, so you can't have two kings. Then we looked at how we respond to Jesus' kingdom, that we respond in repentance, that he comes and we change to him because he is in charge of everything. And then last week we spent some time talking about the fact that since he is an eternal king, he deals with eternal problems. And his kingdom is a kingdom of light that advances against the domain of darkness and that we actually, as church, family, get to be a part of that advancing kingdom. So what we're going to do today is we're going to be in Matthew chapter 13.
And we've been spending some time in Matthew. Pretty much this whole series has been in Matthew. So we were in Matthew chapter 1 and 2. Then we were in 3 and 4. And we spent some time in 5. And so we're jumping on ahead into Matthew 13.
And Jesus, a good bit of his ministry, would tell stories. And we know them, we call them parables. Which just means, and I said early on, that he told confusing stories. And some of them are. Because sometimes he just says, the kingdom of God is like this. Or following God is like this.
And he'll just tell a story. And he just, he doesn't explain it. He's just like, it's like this. Boom. And he just walks away. And you're like, well, what are you talking about?
What does that mean? And so, so we're looking at some parables. And we're going to look at just a few short ones in Matthew 13. That where Jesus says, this is what my kingdom is like. This is what the kingdom of God is like. And so, the two things we're going to see as we look at, we're going to look at four parables.
But they kind of come in chunks together. Two main points Jesus is making is that the kingdom of God advances. And that the kingdom of God is priceless. And so that's what we're going to be looking at today. I'm going to pray. And then we'll hop in and look at Matthew 13.
God, we just thank you for this opportunity to gather together as church family. Pray that you would, through your Holy Spirit, teach us, lead us, and help us to continue to grow in what it looks like to be a gospel-centered community on mission in our city. Thank you for your grace and your goodness towards us. In Jesus' name, amen. Matthew 13, page number is up there. If you're using one of the Bibles that's in the pew, one of those blue and white Bibles.
If you don't own a Bible, take that with you. That's our gift to you. If you do own a Bible, leave that here. Unless you know of someone you can give it to. Matthew 13, 31 through 33 is the first one we're going to read. And it says this.
He put another parable before them. And so what we said is that a parable is just an illustration, a story, where Jesus is going to basically, like we would say a simile. It's going to say this. The kingdom is like this. And so he put another parable before them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree.
So that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Okay, so he's going to tell two back to back, and that's the first one. And what he's saying is that the kingdom advances. The kingdom of God advances. And what we're going to look at, we're going to kind of look at it in two different ways. But Jesus has a bunch of people around, and then he would just teach.
And sometimes he would just teach with authority, which just meant that he didn't have a text. So synagogue leaders would open the Bible, and they'd say, they'd read it, and they'd talk about it, and they'd say, this is what it means. Jesus would just be like, you know how the Bible says this? I say this. And it's like, you can't do that. Are you allowed to do that?
And so people would follow him around, and he would teach with authority. And then he would teach parables. So he would just say, the kingdom of heaven is like this. And sometimes he would explain them to his disciples, and sometimes he wouldn't. And here's what's great about this parable. First of all, we hear that, and we're like, okay, good.
The kingdom of parable is like a mustard seed that a guy planted. And I know all of you are like, yes, mustard seeds. I know so much about them. Like, I mean, I had to Google stuff, because I'm like, I want to find out how big mustard seeds are, what mustard plants are like. Because the most I know about mustard is French's is the best kind. That's about what I got when it comes to mustard.
But here's what's great about this parable, is that Jesus undersells the kingdom, it seems like. So if he had looked at them and said, the kingdom of heaven is like a cedar from Lebanon. All this Jewish audience would have been like, mmm, good. Like, that sounds great. Like, but he says the kingdom of heaven is a mustard seed. Everybody was like, what?
Run that by me again, boss? Like, how does that work? What are you talking about? It's kind of like, and he doesn't explain it, and we're going to kind of unpack it. But it's kind of like the, you know, ogres are like onions kind of thing.
It's like, why? Because they have layers. Well, parfait has layers, and it's better. And so that's kind of what I think they were hearing. It's like, mustard seeds, you're going to have to do a little more here to explain what you're talking about. But let me just unpack a little bit of the story here.
So he immediately, when he says this, everybody's like tracking because it's like this was a weird thing for him to say that the kingdom is like. Mustard seeds are tiny. So that if you took a mustard seed, you could pinch it in between your fingers and play that which hands the mustard seed in kind of game. Like, and let someone guess because they're really small. If I held one, it would just kind of could sit right there about as small as a BB, if not a little bit smaller. Mustard seeds are really small.
And so when he says they're the smallest of all seeds, he means all the seeds that they were familiar with. He's not speaking scientifically as the creator God. He's speaking in context with the people he's talking about because there are smaller seeds than mustard seeds, but not that they would have been familiar with and used. And he's talking about in the context of a garden. So what he's saying is mustard seeds are the smallest seeds y'all use to plant in your gardens.
But here's what happens. Once you plant it, it grows into pretty much a small tree. So that it becomes the largest garden plant. So large that birds come and make nests in it. That's his parable. That's what the kingdom is like.
And so what he's saying, first of all, is that if you got to choose, no one would pick the kingdom based off of how it's going to get started. That it's going to be so epically underwhelming when it starts. So that Jesus is walking around. He has a ministry for about three years. This is the God of the universe has a ministry for about three years. When he dies, 120 people.
God of the universe plants a church. Three years. 120 people. Like I've read books that would be like, we need to coach that guy up. He's doing some things wrong. Like there was 6,000 at one point and he told them to eat and drink his blood.
That's poor strategy. He freaked everybody out. Like Jesus, when big crowds would come, he would say really hard things to him. And so what he's saying is that his kingdom is going to be very small, very seemingly like it's not going to do anything. So that when he dies, he dies and then three days later he rises again and there's 120 people that are following him.
And you wouldn't think, well, obviously that's going to take over the world. Obviously that's going to have massive impacts on world history. Obviously this guy who spent most of his time with 12 men, one of whom betrays him. So even that gets cut down to 11. Obviously that's going to turn the world upside down. But it does.
And that's his point. Is that the kingdom advances externally. And that's the way we're going to look at it today. Is that this first one we're going to look at is it advances externally. Which means that more and more and more people are going to become believers. Are going to follow Jesus.
And that's exactly what happened. So there was 120 then. There are now in the world 2 billion people that follow Jesus. That claim him as king. That submit and surrender their lives to him. 2 billion.
120. I read this quote. And I think it's interesting because I don't understand mustard. Basically mustard plants, once you get them going, are hard to get rid of. And they spread and they grow in unlikely conditions. So that when we were looking up some of the places that mustard grows, it's like Russia and Africa.
And Egypt. And Australia. Like it was all these. It's like, so it's not a regional climate type thing. Mustard is a hardy plant that grows well. And once it gets to growing, it's hard to get rid of.
It says this. The point in other words. This is John Dominic Crossan. The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbial small seed and grows into a shrub of 3 or 4 or 5 feet in height. It is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted. That it tends to get out of control.
That it tends to track birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, Jesus said, is what the kingdom of God is like. Like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover properties. So mustard can grow in unlikely situations and grows well once it gets going. One of the best examples, I think, in modern examples for us is the Chinese church. So the church in China under Mao, Mao Zedong, in 1949, he decided he was going to get rid of the church.
He's one of the guys who called it the opiate of the masses. And he wanted to stamp out and get rid of the church. So what he did was there's about a million believers in China. He sent away 10,000 missionaries. So there were 10,004 missionaries in China and about a million Chinese believers.
He sent all of the 10,000 missionaries out. It was referred to as an unwanted Exodus or undesired Exodus. So that was 1949. So it was about 60 years later in China. The estimates, because it's not really legal to be Bible-believing following Christians in China. There are some state-sanctioned churches, but they kind of have regulations on what they're allowed to talk about.
So there are a lot of underground churches. But the estimates on how many believers there are in China now, 60 years later, under a very repressive attempt to stamp out Christianity and religion, is somewhere between 50 and 100 million. So it was a million, and he was like, well, let's get rid of them. And it didn't work. Because that's what Christianity is like. It's like a mustard seed that's very difficult to get rid of.
They estimate that about 10,000 people become believers every day in China. So he got rid of 10,000 missionaries, and there's 10,000 added every day now to be missionaries to China. Because that's the way the church works. Because that's what the kingdom is like. It's like a mustard seed that starts off really small and underwhelming, and then grows and grows and advances and moves and becomes really hard to get rid of. That's why we get really excited about church planting.
That's why we get really excited about community groups and why we want to launch community groups all over our city, why we want to plant community groups all over our city, because a handful of believers in Jesus genuinely following him as king is a dangerous thing. A beautifully dangerous thing when it comes to being a part of his kingdom advancing. Because the kingdom does advance. And it will advance. And so one of the things we need to know as believers, and especially as we try to build with people and we're trying to build relationships and trying to help people meet Jesus and show what it looks like to follow Jesus, and sometimes that can be discouraging, Jesus says the kingdom advances.
Period. Matthew 16, Jesus says, I will build my church. Which means that all of our effort, all of our energy is worth it, because he is going to advance his kingdom. All the energy you put into building relationships with your coworkers, all the energy you're putting into trying to just be a good neighbor and love and bless people in our city, with the hopes that some might would meet Jesus and with the hopes that some might would just be blessed by the fact that you know Jesus. It's worth it. Because the kingdom does advance.
And that's why we care about and get excited about things that look small and like not super likely like they're going to do great things, because that's what the mustard seed is. If you laid them on a table and said, all right, we're going to grow the biggest plant and let kids pick which one they wanted, or if you didn't know anything about them, not a lot of people are going to be like, oh, this tiny one. Duh. It's going to be great later. That's why we get super excited about it. I was having a conversation with my grandmother.
She's a sweet lady. This is a fun conversation. But I had a conversation with her on vacation this year, and she said she, she, my granddad had been a pastor, so she was asking questions. She always asks them questions about the church, church plant, what, what it is, what we're doing, what a church plant is, because she's just kind of, you know, it's a new idea to her. And so she said, she said, let me ask you something. I said, what?
She said, if God called you to a church, would you go? I was like, what? She said, if God called you to pastor a church, would you? And I said, well, if God told me to, sure. She said, really? I said, yes, ma'am.
And she said, well, I'm going to pray that he calls you to a church. And then she said, cause I just, this thing you're doing, I don't really know what it is. And I was like, I was like, okay, well, just caveat conversation I had to have with her, which was if God calls me, sure, I'll do what God wants me to, but I don't think he's going to. And if a church just calls me, no, for several reasons. One of which being that they don't have good sense. And that sounds like a bad idea.
If those are the kind of decisions they make. So anyway, but that's why we get super excited about what we get to be a part of. That's why, that's why it's worth the energy and the effort we're putting in to start something new in West Columbia. And, and why it's amazing and exciting that we have five community groups and the options and the opportunities to have more eventually. Because Jesus doesn't need much. And he actually likes to show off with something really small and seemingly insignificant.
Because he gets a lot of glory from it. That's why I get real excited that we're a ragtag scrub team. Because it's like, Jesus, you're going to have to show up for this to be good. And he can, and he does. And he says that his kingdom does advance and will advance. And then it says, all right, so first, that's the first one.
And we were looking at him. He's saying his kingdom advances. We're looking at him in two different ways. Kingdom advances externally. So people will meet Jesus.
More churches will be planted. More groups will be launched. 33. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened. Again, just kingdom of heaven's like this.
And he doesn't explain it. It doesn't go through. Just, that's what it is. I just want to time out for just a second. One of the things that I, it's very exciting just, just to kind of look at when he tells these stories. The first one is a man takes a mustard seed and plants it.
And the second one is a woman takes 11 and does this. And so even in just Jesus is telling parables, he's inviting everybody in to be a part of his mission. And it's just, it's just cool. So I just wanted to point that out. But the way we're going to look at this one, just mental image wise, and he's just saying the kingdom advances, but the kingdom advances internally as well.
So the kingdom advances externally and the kingdom advances internally. So you take a bunch of flour and he says that it's, how many measures? Three measures of flour, which was about 50 pounds, enough to feed about a hundred people. And so when Jesus first started and he was like the kingdom of heaven's like a mustard seed and some of our outdoorsy gardeny type people were like, I'm tracking. This sounds great. Like a tree.
Okay. Hmm. And then some of, some of us were like, okay. And now he's talking about bread. So I'm like, all right, all right, I'm listening.
Carbohydrates. I'm tracking. Tell me more about this lady with the bread. Do you have any samples that I might understand leaven better? But here's, here's how leaven works.
You take a little bit of starter, which is just like a gross ball of goo. And then, uh, you feed it. You can feed it flour and the starter stays together. And then you add just a little bit to the bread you're using and yeast spreads through all of it. So you can't have like half yeasted.
You can't, you can't have like, it's going to take over the whole thing. So when she adds yeast to this, she can't just have a little bit or she adds a little bit and it takes over 50 pounds of it. That he says it leavens the whole lump. And here's the thing. It doesn't look different. It just operates differently.
It doesn't have this magical external change. It's just going to work differently when you stick it in an oven. When you cook it, it's going to rise. It's going to have different internal properties. And here's what's great about that. What he, what we're looking at here is that the kingdom advances internally.
So some of you became believers. This is what Jesus does inside of our souls. Is that he takes over everything. And that's beautiful and terrifying. But Jesus takes over everything.
So some of us are in here like, man, I'm a Christian, but I just, I'm just not getting it right. Like I'm just messing it up. I feel like a lump. He leavens the whole lump. So if you're like, I'm a lump, good.
Leaven's going to take over the whole lump. That's what he's going to do. That's how that works. And here's the thing. If you become a Christian, you don't look different. It's not like people become a Christian and start smiling like an idiot all the time.
That's not how that works. Why are you so happy? Well, I'm glad you asked. That's not how that works. I'm a Christian. I love Jesus.
My face looks like this most of the time. Like, it's not what happens. It's not an external thing. He changes internally. He takes over our souls. My other grandmother, I just got grandmother stories today, but my other grandmother, when we were growing up, my parents would have to go out of town some and they would invite our grandparents to come watch us.
And so they would just come stay at our house and watch the three boys. And so at first it was just like, they would invite them in and they would be like, just, just hang out, watch, be grandparents, do your, do your grandparent thing. And, but my grandmother, her name is Ea, which is just Yoruba, which is African language means grandmother, but Ea can't sit still and not do things. So when they're like, come relax, just get to be a grandparent. She's incapable of that. So she would, she would get into everything.
So like before they came anyway, we had to like clean the house and hide stuff. And inevitably at the end of the week, she would have found it and been like, Oh, we're, we're reorganizing all this. She, she came one time for like four days when they came back, she had rearranged the kitchen. So that like my parents came back and would like open to get a plate and there'd be cups. And it was just like, why? Why would a person do this?
And the great part was that my parents were just like, we'll get used to it. Like they didn't change it back. It just seemed like too much work, but she didn't like the feng shui of kitchen organization. I don't know. I don't know what drove her to do that, but she just reorganized. So then what they had to do is this happened about once a year.
They started giving her jobs. They started when she was coming, they were like, Hey, we want you to watch the kids and paint these two rooms and do wallpaper. And it got to where they had a list long enough that it was like, do this first, this second. If you get to this until my grandparents would come watch us and like redecorate our house. But my parents had to like point them in the right direction because otherwise they were just going to get into everything.
Here's what happens though. Jesus does that in our souls. So for the most part, most of us, we want to become a Christian because we, we see a glaring need for Jesus here. Jesus, I want to place my faith in you because I need you here. This is a hot mess. I need you active here.
And he shows up and he does that. He changes us. He moves us. He rescues us there. And then you're like, thank you so much. Have a seat.
And he's like, Nope. It's not how that works. Jesus comes in. We talked last week. Jesus isn't a cat that just, we add to our life to add a little bit of comfort and a little bit of, when I feel sad, I get to hug and pet. And then he goes and kind of minds his own business in the corner.
Jesus is a king. And so Jesus leavens the whole lump. He takes over everything. So we'll invite him in because we need help with our children. And then, and then he's like, he helps you learn how, what that looks like and rearranges your view on parenting. And then he's like, you want to talk about, let's talk about finances.
And you're like, whoa, no. Hey, let's talk about your view on relationships. No, no, no. That's not, that's not why you were invited in. And then let me, let me just tell you this. He's going to leaven the whole lump.
C.S. Lewis said at one point that, that God loves us the same way that an artist loves a masterpiece in a lot of ways. And that by the time an artist is done with a masterpiece, that if the canvas could talk, it would be a very painful process because there would be times when he had to restart and re scrape and re, re begin what he was doing. And, and, and over time, eventually the canvas would just be saying, couldn't I just be a sketch? Couldn't you just like make me nice enough? And he says, no.
See, God doesn't have a sleepy love for you. He has an active love for us and that we're satisfied way more quickly than he is. So most of us reach a place and we're like, I feel pretty good. And he's like, no, we got, we got a lot of work to do because I care about you enough to continue working when it's difficult. Because he's going to leaven the whole love. He is going to take over internally.
So here, here's the thing. Romans says that we'll be conformed to the image of his son, that we're predestined to be conformed to the images of his son. Romans 8 says that. And so what's going to happen is that over our life as a Christian, if we've genuinely placed our faith in Jesus and are following him, he's going to continue to change our outlook on, on everything that our, our, our way we look at money is his, the way we look at relationships is his, the way we view marriage is his, the way we view sex is his, the way we view every bit of our time, everything belongs to him. And he's going to continue to take over.
And here's the thing we've said repeatedly that kingdoms only advance militantly, that a kingdom advances against the kingdom militantly. Jesus, because he loves you and is gracious to you is going to militantly take over your soul. And so a lot of times we draw lines in the sand and we hunker down and we say, all right, if you want this one, you're going to have to take it. We draw battle lines and we say, all right, Jesus, this is going to be a fight. Jesus wins. He's going to, and he cares enough about you to fight you.
And so some of you, maybe that's, that's your story. You became a Christian and you're like, man, this has been like a fight. Since I became a Christian. And Jesus cares enough about you to not stop, to not, not let you go and to continue to advance in your soul, his kingdom, because of his gracious love for you. And he's going to take over the whole thing. So.
Let me give some encouragement, because that is true. If you are here and you're saying, I just don't feel like I'm growing. Keep following, keep fighting, keep putting yourself in the right positions, keep trying to get as close to his grace as he possible. Gather with your community group, gather when we get together on Sundays, keep reading scripture, because Jesus is going to leaven everything. He is going to, his kingdom is going to advance in you. And if you've been fighting him, surrender as quickly as possible.
It's the best advice I can give you, because he is not going to be satisfied. There are no holdouts of your old kingdom allowed anymore. There are no areas that Jesus doesn't get to be. There are no dark corners and closets that he's not going to mess with. There are no places that his light isn't going to penetrate. And surrender as quickly as you can.
And ask him to help you surrender. So that he might continue to advance his kingdom in your soul. Because he's going to. Okay. So here's what we're going to do.
Oh, let me say this. As you become a Christian, a lot of times people think that I will sin less. And that's true. Ish. But that's not the predominant way that we grow as Christians.
One of the predominant ways that we grow as Christians is that we see our sin more. We see it more clearly. We see it more often. And so a lot of times you're thinking, oh my goodness, I didn't even realize that this whole aspect of my life was not in line with, I feel so terrible. And it's God's grace to show us our sin. That's one of the ways that he helps us grow.
And so as we continue to grow as Christians, we're just going to see more sin and have more areas we get to repent, more areas we get to surrender. And so sometimes people think, oh, I became a Christian. I was doing really well. And now I know that I've got this scenario and this scenario and this scenario. And the truth is, you had him the whole time. Jesus and his grace is now showing them to you.
And that is growth. And he is going to take over everything. Okay. Now we can jump down. Matthew 13, 44. So in between these sets of parables, he explains another one that he told earlier in Matthew.
And so we're just skipping over his explanation and jumping to 44. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Okay. Two stories, two parables.
First one, there's a guy in a field and he finds a treasure in the field. So we don't know why he was in the field, why he was digging in this field that he didn't own, but he's there. He finds a treasure. Maybe he just, the treasure was there and he covers it up. So he hides it.
He's like, Oh my goodness, I found a treasure. Like, have you ever thought about like daydreamed about finding treasure? At least when you were eight and wanted to be a pirate. Like, so he finds treasure and he covers it up. And then he's like, like, what do I do? And he leaves and he sees a for sale sign.
And he, dear diary, jackpot. Like, so he goes and sells everything that he has. He's just, just like, Hey, Hey man, I need to sell my truck. Like I need to, I need my, I got to sell my car. Like I got to sell everything I got. I got to sell my house.
And he sells everything that he has. I mean, nowadays he'd be like hitting up eBay, selling his lamp. Last thing, just so you know, if you're going to sell everything on eBay, sell your computer last. It's just a helpful tip. So, so he sells everything that he has. And his, his family, I just, could you can just assume that people around him think he's absolutely crazy.
And in his joy, he shows up and he's like, how much you asking for the field? And they're like, this much? And he's like, they don't know about the treasure. And so he buys the field, sold everything he had, buys the field in his joy. The second one is, uh, kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. So this guy's a merchant.
He buys and sells thing and it sells things. And he loves pearls. He loves fine pearls. Like, so he's, he's out merchanting, buying and selling. Uh, and he finds a pearl of great price. And, and it would seem from the parable Jesus tells, that he knows the value of the pearl.
And the other guy, apparently he buys it from knows it's valuable, but maybe not as valuable as it actually is. But he goes and sells all that he has. So he goes with his merchanting and sells everything he's got and comes over and buys that pearl. And that's what the kingdom of heaven is like. Real quick. How much does the kingdom of heaven cost?
The first guy. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man fell and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells. Yeah. All that he has. And he buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold. All that he had. And bought it. Here's what Jesus is saying. Well, here's what we see from the parables. The kingdom costs.
Everything. All that we have. That it takes everything. What this means for us as believers is that there is no non-radical form of Christianity. There is no normal run of the mill Christianity that when we become believers, everything is on the table. It's not, I'll decide where I'm going to work.
No, that's on the table. I'll decide what, what, what kind of, what I'm going to study in school and what, what I'm going to do with my life, what my goals are. No, that's on the table. I'll decide who, who I marry and how my relationships will work. No, that's on the table. When we approach Jesus, everything's on the table so that he gets to tell us where we live, where we go, what we do, how our life's going to play out.
Everything belongs to him that we show up and we submit to him as king. And everything is on the table because he is Lord. And so it's not, we read the Bible and decide whether or not we want to do this. Our choice isn't, is this good or is this bad? And is this what we want to do? Our choice is to submit and follow because he's Lord.
And it costs everything. What's beautiful is that's not the point of the parable. He says that, he says that it costs you everything, but that's not his point. And that's not the point he's making in the parable. So Jesus says earlier, he says that the kingdom is going to advance.
It's going to continue. It's going to move. People are going to meet Jesus. People are going to surrender and follow him. And that the kingdom is going to advance in your soul. And it's going to take over every last square inch of you.
And it's going to cost everything. But that's not the point he's making in this parable. Here's what's beautiful about this. The kingdom is worth everything. The point in the parable is that it's priceless. That these guys give up everything.
They sacrifice everything. And they don't feel like it's a sacrifice. I saw recently that there was a professional football player whose name I will not say because it's Samoan. And it's like, he and his brother both played. His brother had kidney issues and had to stop. And then when he found out that his brother needed a kidney, his immediate response was, he can have mine.
And he was a 99% match. And I was reading the article. And so the article was, professional football player has to stop playing football to give up his kidney. And so he sacrifices his kidney. He sacrifices his playing football. But at no point does that register as a sacrifice to him.
Yeah, he gets it. He had to lose weight to be in shape enough to give the kidney. And he's got to do rehab. And he can't play professional football anymore, which I'm sure is something that he has poured countless hours into. And in his brain, it's like, yeah, but that's my brother. So this is a sacrifice, but not really.
And that's kind of just a glimpse into what Jesus is saying about the kingdom. When we understand the kingdom, that yeah, yeah, it's a sacrifice. And yeah, we're giving up everything, but in our joy, because of the matchless worth, the immeasurable worth of what we're getting out of it. So what I find to be true is when, when I'm frustrated by the amount of work I'm putting into following Jesus, I feel like he's asking a lot. And I can't believe that I got to do this to be a Christian. I can't believe that other people get to live like this and do this with their, and I got to do this.
What, what I, what I've realized is I don't get the weight of my sin when that happens. I don't understand what's been given to me in the gospel. When my heart goes there, I've missed this parable because what I'm thinking is, yeah, it does cost everything. And what I'm missing is that it's worth everything and that we still get the better deal because it's priceless. That what's been given to us in Jesus has no value. You can't, you can't put a price tag on it.
It has, it's not even in the same category. So that, that they give up everything, but they don't see it that way. It's priceless. And that's what Jesus is saying. And that's what Jesus is saying. We need to understand about the kingdom is that it, yeah, it costs everything, but he's already accomplished everything for us.
So, um, I think it was last year, uh, a guy, the gas station I go to all the time called Murphy Express on Augusta road, which is right near my house. Uh, a guy won the mega millions lottery jackpot, $400 million, which is always fun. When you talk to people about someone winning the lottery, because they'll be like, yeah, but after taxes, but it was like 200 million. And it's like, bro, it's $200 million given to you for free. That's a horrible thing to complain about. Like you missed the point here, but he wins $400 million.
You ever sat and thought about, oh man, like when that happened, I thought, man, which it really doesn't matter. It was close to my house. Cause he just picked random Numbers, but it feels like it matters that it was close to my house. It's like, man, what if I won the lottery? Like you ever think about that? Like what you would do if you won the lottery.
And there's just this moment where it's like, ah, there'd be a lot of freedom with that. You wouldn't have to work. I mean, you could have, you wanted to, if you felt what you were doing fun, you wouldn't have to. Anytime your boss got on your nerves, you'd just be like, I quit. Cause you didn't need the money. You have to do what you want.
You wouldn't have to work. There's this immediate feeling of like, I wouldn't have to worry about my future. Like I'd be in control of circumstances because of the amount of money I'd have. I'd get comfort and rest. I just, I wouldn't, the stress and the weight that I carry just wouldn't be there anymore. That I just, I'd be free.
That's what, that's what you play out in your mind. And you may not add those words to it, but that's what you're thinking. When you go there about thinking about what you would do with $400 million, and you just think, oh yeah, I could put a roller coaster in my backyard. And I could pay people to run it. And that would be a good use of my money. Like you just, you go through and you think about all the stuff that you could do and the joy that it would bring you and the, the freedom that it would bring you and the comfort and the control and the power.
Like you just, all of these things that immediately you find rest in just this idea. This idea of what that would accomplish for you. And so what Jesus is saying in this parable is, God has the winning lottery ticket, but he's in the witness relocation program. So he can't go on TV. He can't go cash this thing in. It's not allowed to, but he's going to sell it to you.
Whatever you got. Here's my house. Here's my car. Here's everything I have. I'm going on an adventure. Here's my car.
Cause I'm just going to hold a ticket for a while that says I get $400 million. And I don't mind leveraging everything I have for this short period of time because of the great amount of worth that I'm going to get out of it on the back end. No brainer. And it'd be as if you couldn't talk to your family about it. So they thought you'd lost your mind.
I can explain a little bit about what's happening, but I can't tell you everything yet. You're not going to get everything yet, but just trust me. I know you don't see it, but just trust me. Jesus is saying the kingdom is that for our entire lives. That what he's accomplished for us in the cross, you don't have to work anymore. You don't have to prove your value and your worth because Jesus has already given it to you in the cross.
That when Jesus died, he took your sin. He took your debt. Some of you think, oh man, if I had $400 million, no more credit cards, no more credit card debt. I'd be out of debt. All my school loans paid off. Everything.
I just go pay cash for a house. How much? $300,000. This is going to be a while. Jesus paid our debt. Gone. And he didn't give us a clean slate.
He gave us his slate. He didn't put his back in neutral and say, go work it out. He gave us his righteousness. So we don't have to work anymore. You don't have to prove your worth. You don't have to earn it.
You don't have to be at the end of your life and look at Jesus and say, did I do well enough? He's already accomplished everything on your behalf. We know that regardless of how everything works out, there's a sovereign king in charge of the universe who's adopted us into his family and has perfect control over everything. That our hope and our security and our future is set because of what has already taken place on our behalf because of Jesus. That our invitation into the kingdom is priceless. And that every bit of everything that we give up for it is never wasted.
And at the end of the day, when we put everything, when we put everything on the line, at no point have we reached paying back what's already been given to us. At no point has it become an even trade. And that's why he says in his joy, he sells everything. Because he knows what he's getting. See, Jesus says that the kingdom is going to advance. More people are going to be brought into his kingdom.
And that the kingdom is going to advance in our souls. And that it's going to cost us everything. And that it's worth it. It's priceless. And that what we get out of it cannot be measured. Can't be counted.
That the value of the kingdom is uncomprehendable. So that when we think about what we're doing and what we're a part of, at no point does it tap out in our wildest imaginations of what has been given to us in Christ. At no point have we reached what it actually is. The band's going to come back up. We're going to sing and praise Jesus for the fact that through him, through his sacrifice on the cross, we get invited into his kingdom. That his kingdom does advance in us.
That it does advance in this city, in this world. And that it's worth everything. That what he's accomplished for us in the cross is priceless. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your love. Thank you for the hope that's been given to us in you.
We pray, Lord, that through your Holy Spirit, you would help us to see the pricelessness of your kingdom. The great value and worth of what you've already accomplished for us in the cross. And God, we ask that you would do what you promised to do. That your kingdom would advance in our souls. That we would repent of sin. That we would continue to follow you.
That we would, when we see our sin, God, we would praise you for your grace. That you've covered it. And that you've been gracious enough to show it to us. God, we ask for your kingdom to advance in this city. For more groups to be launched. More leaders to be trained.
More churches to be planted. More relationships to be built. That God, you would take mustard seeds all over the world and continue to grow them. That your kingdom would continue to grow. And God, we ask you that you would help us to see, to taste, to feel the pricelessness of what has been accomplished for us in the cross. That an unpayable debt's been paid.
That wealth and riches, eternal grace and love, favor has been applied to our account. That we've been welcomed in because of your sacrifice. We love you. We praise you. We thank you. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Kingdoms at War
Transcript
If you ask that question, what's wrong with the world in any group, no one says, what? Wrong with the world? I think we're good. Pretty sure we're crushing it right now. I'm pretty sure ISIS and Ebola is how things are supposed to work. I don't know why we would want to try to fix this.
Nobody does that. The truth is, everybody in this room may have a different opinion on how to fix the problem that we have, but nobody has a question as to whether or not we have a problem. Like, systematic, history-wide, worldwide problem. Right? So we're in our third week of talking about Jesus as king, that Jesus is a king and he's an eternal king.
And so here's what I want us to look at today. If Jesus is an eternal king, and if there is cosmic level problem, a cosmic level brokenness in the world, doesn't that kind of get put on his plate? Like, if he's an eternal king, if we're going to believe that, if we're going to say that Jesus is an eternal king that rules and reigns over creation forever, isn't this problem kind of his problem? That's how that works. So if you're a king and you're over a kingdom and your territory is fine and you're at peace, but everybody's dying from the plague, your kingdom's not doing so hot.
Or if everybody's well-fed but there's an army advancing, you can't, as kings, say, oh, we're doing good for another week or two until they get here. Like, you can't do that. And this is who we would take this complaint to, correct? It would be on his plate. So, like, nobody's gone to the mayor of West Columbia and said, what are you going to do about ISIS? What's your plan for fixing Ebola in Africa?
Nobody's saying that to the mayor of West Columbia, and if they are, he's going to be like, leave. Like, I have no, like, I've never sat down and written a letter to President Obama that was like, dear President Obama, what are you going to do about the ridiculous amount of potholes on the road to my house? Like, that's not going to make it to his desk because that's not his level of problem that he deals with. Does that make sense? So if we have a cosmic, worldwide, everybody agrees that there is an issue, that there's brokenness, that something is off, that this isn't how it ought to be, then doesn't that go to the king of the universe?
If Jesus is that king, doesn't that get put on his plate? So what we're going to do, we've taken the past two weeks and we've kind of looked at how Jesus' kingdom advances in a really personal manner. So we've looked at when Jesus shows up and declares that he's king, you can no longer remain neutral to that, just like if someone walked into your house and declared themselves king and owner of your house. You can't remain neutral. You can't be like, uh, all right, sounds good. Can I sit on my couch?
Like, you've got to address this problem. So Jesus shows up, declares himself king of the universe, and so we have to respond to that, and we said that we can respond like the wise men do in Matthew chapter 1 and 2, where they worship, or we could respond like Herod, where he tries to kill Jesus and defend his kingdom. Last week we looked at how we respond to Jesus as king, and that's through repentance, which is just acknowledging that we're sinful, that we're broken, and that we need him, that we need him to accomplish on our behalf what we can't accomplish, that we're not going to fix this problem, and that we need him to do it. So what we're doing today is we're zooming out.
We're going to take a very wide look at what the kingdom is, what Jesus came to accomplish, how he addresses this issue. I'm going to tell you that the Bible does agree with you that there's an issue, and it does say that Jesus addresses it, so it does actually get put to his desk. And we're going to zoom out. So if we were going to look at the kingdom, what we've kind of done is we've zoomed in on how it actually plays out personally. So if I was going to talk to you about the Roman Empire, we could zoom in on some random guy.
We could talk about Milanitis, the guy who sells horseshoes. And we could learn some things about the Roman Empire, but we wouldn't learn the wide scope of how it got started, how it ended, where its territory was, by just looking at this one guy. Just like watching Honey Boo Boo tells you something about America, but not everything about America. It's telling us something. You can learn some things, but just not everything that you would need to know, hopefully, about America. And so what we're going to do is we're going to zoom out.
I'm going to pray, and we're going to look at Jesus' kingdom as it affects, as it works on a bigger, more cosmic level. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather and to study your word. I pray that you would reveal to us, show us, teach us about your kingdom, about how it works, and how we are invited into and involved in it. So God, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, in Jesus' name. Amen. So we will be in Matthew chapter 4 and 5.
So we've looked in Matthew chapter 1, Matthew chapter 2, and 3, and now today we'll be in 4 and 5. But we're going to start, zoomed out a little bit further. So we're going to go to Colossians 1, we're going to show it up here. This is in the book of Colossians. We studied this over the summer, and I just want to point something out to us. So it says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
So in Jesus, we have redemption, which means He buys us back, He makes us His again, He forgives our sins, which means there's brokenness personally in our lives, and that Jesus forgives that, that He steps in and takes our place and forgives us our sin, and that through that, He invites us into His kingdom. So the first half of that says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Here's how the kingdom works. We've said this repeatedly, but a kingdom advances against another kingdom. Kingdoms are by their very nature militant. And so Jesus' kingdom, if He's an eternal king, is going to advance against a much larger issue than just the small answers that we would give to what would fix the problem.
So that if I was going to raise an army, if I was going to begin to take over territory, if I was going to begin to claim area, I would start with my neighbor's house because I can declare war on that. Like it's pretty even. I can go over to Mr. Kirchtoffer and tell him that I'm claiming his house. He's like 90, but he's been in like every war that America's ever fought. So I don't know.
I think I could take him, but he's scrappy. I can't declare war on Russia. I mean, I could. We could decide right now that I'm going to declare war on Russia. Y'all could vote. We could say we were doing it.
Russia wouldn't care. Wouldn't do anything about it. They wouldn't even show up on their radar. See, what happens is when Jesus shows up and declares that he's a king, they think, okay, militant advance against the enemy. And everyone in the room thinks, Rome. Jesus is going to overthrow Rome.
Here's something I know. When I asked earlier what the problem with the world was, none of you immediately thought Rome. They're the worst, but they're no longer existing kingdom and they're funny hats. And they're still showing up in our movies like Gladiator. If we could just get rid of Rome, we'd fix the problem. But that's what all the disciples thought.
When Jesus showed up and he said he was going to set up a kingdom, they all thought, okay, he's going to overthrow the Romans. But the truth is, three, four hundred years later, if he'd have showed up, everybody would have thought he was going to attack something else. He was going to handle something else. If he showed up a hundred years later, they would have thought he was going to handle something else. If he showed up today, we'd say, hey, here are the issues. Attack these.
Advance your kingdom here. And if he shows up a hundred years later, the answer would be different. So he's going to zoom out. He's going to see much larger issues than we see. Roman Empire lasts like 400 years. Jesus has bigger fish to fry.
You see, he has a kingdom that advances against the domain of darkness. When it says that Jesus, he's delivered us from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of his beloved son, what it's saying is that that's the war that is being waged. That Jesus is not advancing against the Romans because he's got much bigger enemies to deal with. Just like America could declare war on Russia and I can only declare war on Mr. Kirchstaffer, which now I'm thinking about it, I may need some allies, so we'll talk afterwards. You face enemies on your same level.
And so when they say, aren't you going to handle the Romans? It's not even on Jesus' radar for what his kingdom advances against. He's going to advance against the domain of darkness. So here's what's happened. When God created the world in the book of Genesis, he creates it, he says everything's good except for Adam shouldn't be alone, so he makes him a teammate to go through life together. He gives them both dominion, so he makes man and woman in the image of God and he gives them dominion over the earth and then he says that that's good, that he declares this good and right and then there's the creation that he has rebels against him and so that his good order fractures.
See, Satan shows up in the form of a snake in Genesis chapter 3 and he deceives Eve and her husband who was with her wasn't deceived but he joins in passively, lets her be deceived, watches and then just partakes in the rebellion understanding what he was getting himself into. Not fully, but he went tricked. And at that moment, God's good creation rebelled against him and there was a cosmic level brokenness and darkness enters into what was once light and good. And when Jesus comes back, when he shows up and he says he has a kingdom, he doesn't mean I'm here to overthrow the Romans, he means I'm here to reverse the effects of sin and brokenness in the world.
I'm here to advance against the domain of darkness that began with Satan, sin, and death. And can we agree that death is a bigger enemy than the Romans, than the Russians, than ISIS? Death's a bigger issue. Death wins, you just gotta wait a little while. So he says I'm gonna face a cosmic level enemy because there's cosmic level brokenness and this is I'm a cosmic level king, I'm an eternal king, so this is what I advance against.
So that's what Jesus comes to set up his kingdom against, that's what he comes to advance against. And here's the thing, so we would say, okay, hold on a second, hold on a second, so the world, we sinned, we rebelled against God, there was brokenness, Satan enters in their sin which just means that we no longer love Jesus like we ought to, we no longer love God, like they ought to, but they chose to make themselves God, they chose to care more about themselves than anything else and so we would say, well why doesn't God just get rid of evil? Like if he's God, if this is a cosmic level problem, we all agree there's something wrong with the world, why didn't he just fix that? Because he'd have to get rid of all of us because of the collateral damage at this point.
You see, when the United States gets into a conflict with a country like Iraq, or Afghanistan, which we've been over there hanging out for 10, 15 years now doing stuff, we have the capability to make that a black spot on Google Maps. Y'all understand that, right? Like the United States has the capability of creating craters where there used to be countries. we don't because of the collateral damage of the people who are a part of things that would get caught up in it. And so God could erase evil but he'd have to erase us because the truth is we've actually joined in the rebellion. We're selfish, we're greedy, we're a part of the problem.
Russ was very correct when he raised his hand and said he was. I am. We're a part of the rebellion and the brokenness, the sin that pervades the world. It's infected our souls. And so, God has an option, show up and destroy everything and get rid of evil. But he cares about us.
So what Jesus does is he comes to live a perfect life. So he doesn't rebel, he doesn't get infected, he doesn't join the domain of darkness but walks in light and then he dies in our place for our sins. So that he's headed to the cross and he's going to die so that darkness, our darkness can be put onto him and so that his light, righteousness can be given to us. So that our sin can be put onto him and so that his good things can be given to us. So that he who didn't deserve to die can die on behalf of those who do so that he can swap places with us.
He's advancing against the cosmic enemy which is sin. Ephesians 6 says this, it's a sister letter to Colossians. It says, For we do not wrestle and wrestle there just means hand-to-hand combat to the death. So it's not like WWE where they get to come back after they wrestle. It's like gladiatorial things where it's like, you lost, you don't exist anymore. Too bad.
So we don't wrestle, we don't have hand-to-hand combat to the death against flesh and blood which means our problems aren't worldly problems but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So that Jesus' kingdom advances against darkness wherever it shows up. And see, the thing is when we say that these are issues, when we name off ignorance, when we name off racism, when we name off all the things that cause problems in our world, those are just a part of how darkness shows up, how sin shows up and works itself out. But it's not the biggest level problem.
So, Jesus chooses to show up and handle the actual problem that we're facing. His kingdom advances not against the Romans but against darkness. He has a kingdom of light that advances against darkness. So, jumping to Matthew 4, we're going to look at Jesus walking around and doing some of the stuff that he does. and it helps make sense of a lot of what Jesus did while he was on earth. It helps clarify, at least for me, a lot of what Jesus is doing. So, what we've looked at is that Jesus has a cosmic kingdom that advances against a cosmic enemy, Satan's sin and death.
He came just for the sole purpose of going to the cross so that he could die and so that he could disarm, as Colossians says, that he disarms the rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame because he canceled the record of our debt. So, the enemy wants us caught up in this and he wants us to be destroyed. And Jesus pays for our sins so that he was destroyed on our behalf so that we don't have to be destroyed as we place faith in him. Here's what Jesus does, Matthew 4, 23, 25. We looked last week at verse 17 where it says Jesus showed up and from that time Jesus began to preach saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
So, he repents, he declares that the way we respond to the kingdom is repentance. Admitting that we're broken, admitting that we're wrong and we need him to show up and then he starts telling us what he did. And he went throughout all Galilee, this is verse 23, he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, that's where Jewish people gathered on Saturdays, not unlike this, what we're doing right now, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel, which means good news, the gospel of the kingdom. So, he's proclaiming, he's going around in Galilee, all this area, this area in Judea and he's proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, that he has a kingdom, that it is coming and that it is good news and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
So, his fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, which is spiritual enemies, epileptics and paralytics and he healed them and great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. So, Jesus walks around and I think most of us are familiar with this, Jesus walks around and he heals people, casts out demons, which the Bible is very okay with spiritual things. We're Westerners, we're not for the most part. Like maybe we like that show where they go around and they talk to ghosts or whatever, which I was watching that one time, they were in an ancient Chinese lair.
Chinese people have layers, tomb, I don't know what Chinese people have, but they were in one of these and they're walking around and they're looking for a ghost and they got like that little boom, boom, you know, ghost detector thing they have because they sell those, I think it's sharper image if you're looking for one, if you think you have a ghost in your closet or something, boom, boom, boom, and then this 2,000 year old Chinese ghost comes over and says, get out and they freak out and they run and you're like, oh my goodness, there's a ghost and then you're like, wait, that ghost spoke English. So that was weird. Like this Chinese guy, he's been dead for a long time so he's got time to read and he's like, I'm tired of all these Americans coming in and poking around, and I need to learn English so that I can freak him out because every time I whisper Chinese things, they're just like, what was that? So he learned English just to get rid of, but no, the Bible, we're not super okay with spiritual things but the Bible is.
Like this Chinese guy, he's been dead for a long time so he's got time to read and he's like, I'm tired of all these Americans coming in and poking around, and I need to learn English so that I can freak him out because every time I whisper Chinese things, they're just like, what was that? So he learned English just to get rid of, but no, the Bible, we're not super okay with spiritual things but the Bible is. The Bible is very clear that there are spiritual powers, spiritual things that we cannot see,
That there is an enemy on a cosmic level, that Satan is real, he was created by God, he is not as powerful as God, it's not a yin and yang thing but he is real, demons are real, the Bible is very clear about that, doesn't go into explaining a whole lot of how they work, what they do because the Bible is very focused on Jesus all the time and the Bible is very clear that Jesus has authority and power over these spiritual beings and at no point does the Bible get demon focused although they are there. So Jesus shows up though and he heals people and he casts out demons and he heals paralytics
And he lets blind people see again and I always just kind of thought this was like something he did on his way to the cross and it was just something he kind of, he did because he was God and he could and so while he was here he might as well heal people because it would be kind of rude not to because he can and so when people ask he should that's only, just good manners I always just kind of felt like it was that or maybe it was just he was going to show us that he was God and so like by healing someone
He shows us that he's God but I always felt like they were separate things I always felt like teaching, telling people about the gospel and healing people and even the spiritual warfare stuff which is what the stuff dealing with demons and stuff gets called a lot that they were separate things and that the kingdom was kind of somewhere over here but the truth is when Jesus heals somebody he's actually just pointing to the work that he's going to do on the cross when he casts out an evil spirit he's just pointing to the work that he's going to do
On the cross because all he's doing is advancing his kingdom against the domain of darkness which is sin and the effects of sin which is death and pain and brokenness and so when Jesus walks around on earth healing people when he walks around on earth meeting needs of those who are hungry and broken and outcasts when he walks around on earth welcoming people in who are isolated all he's doing is in every way advancing his kingdom against the bigger problem
Which is darkness pain sin Satan death so when Jesus raises someone from the dead it's not a parlor trick or just something to show that he's God it's actually what he's going to do on the cross which is reverse the effects of sin which bring about all these things so Jesus walks around doing this on earth and it's not separate from from the the kingdom
And it's not separate from his work on the cross so Jesus let me just this is helpful to understand Jesus when he goes to the cross inaugurates his kingdom when he walked around on earth he begins to proclaim that the kingdom's coming when he goes to the cross and he dies and then three days later rises again he inaugurates the kingdom which means that the kingdom exists now
And on that bumper video it said the kingdom is already but not yet that's a good way to say it the kingdom already is here but it's not yet fully consummated it's not yet fully rationalized realized pretty sure what I just said before that didn't make any sense but if it sounded good it did alright moving on that he inaugurated the kingdom it's already
But not yet but it's not fully yet realized which means that when he returns and destroys all of his enemies and welcomes those who've had their sin covered that at that point is when every tear will be wiped away from every eye there won't be pain brokenness sin anymore everything will be grace mercy love it'll be back to the way it's supposed to
So when Jesus walks around on earth and he heals somebody he's pointing to what he's going to do on the cross and he's pointing to how the kingdom's going to eventually work because there is no cancer in the fully consummated kingdom there is no brokenness death and pain in the kingdom and so he's saying when he tells somebody I'm healing you and the kingdom of God has come near he's saying this is what it's going to be like and this is what
I'm going to accomplish on the cross and that's that's how he advances against the actual enemy so he wasn't wasting time he was actually moving his kingdom forward every time he healed somebody every time he pushed the enemy back because he's advancing against the domain of darkness okay so chapter 5
Says that Jesus seeing the crowds he went up on a mountain and when he sat down his disciples came to him and then he says a bunch of stuff that we don't that seems the exact opposite of how we would understand the world to work so he says blessed are you who are hungry blessed are you who mourn blessed are you who are persecuted and it's like I thought blessed meant good stuff that sounds terrible
But what his point is is that his kingdom is working in an opposite way it's an upside down kingdom as opposed to the way we would think the world works that he didn't come to make everybody happy and whole now that he didn't come to fix everything now but he came to take care of our big problem which is that there is brokenness that there is pain in the world
And that it's caused by sin and he's saying blessed are you who are hungry now because you'll realize that there's brokenness pain and you'll turn and find me but verse 13 is what we're going to look at how we get to be involved in the kingdom you are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste how shall its saltiness be restored it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown
Out and trampled under people's feet you are the light of the world okay who's the light of the world who's the light of the world you are okay who's he talking to disciples people listening to him followers of his who else does the bible say is the light of the world Jesus yeah we're in church
That's the correct answer to most everything Jesus okay so Jesus is the light of the world and says that he's the light of the world and then at this point he turns and looks at his followers and says you are the light of the world Jesus is the light of the world his followers are the light of the world that's a pretty
Amped up promotion for those who would follow Jesus so that's an important role if it's what he fulfills as well and then he says that his church that the people that follow him are this he says you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand
And it gives light to all in the house in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven okay Jesus' kingdom advances against the domain of
Darkness and then he looks at his followers and says you're the light of the world just right after he's walked around healed he's gathered big crowds and he's shown how the kingdom advances against darkness he then looks at his followers and says you're a part of this this is what you're supposed to do
This is what this is supposed to look like you're the light of the world we're advancing against darkness you know there's something great about light before we get into that God cheats just so y'all know when he gives illustrations when Jesus gives illustrations about who he is and what he did he created everything
We're going to look at some parables he gives next week about what he's like see when we're going to give an illustration about something we have to think okay I guess it's kind of like a tree and we have to think about what already exists but when God was creating things he got
To make it however he wanted to so when he says you're you're like light or I'm light or I advanced against darkness he already set up how darkness and light work so it's really not fair does that make sense like he created it so it gets to work how he wants it to work when God says that he's lighter that he advances against
Darkness do you know what's beautiful about that light never has a hard time getting rid of darkness it just doesn't he don't turn on a light in a room and it's got to take five minutes for it to push the darkness out of the room that's not how that works darkness is the absence of
Light so Jesus's kingdom advances against a domain of darkness and his followers are a city on a hill and the light of the world that we actually have because of Jesus the ability to advance against the domain of darkness when he says they're a city on a hill in that day when you needed something
A city was a great place to go it had walls and there was safety in a city there were certain cities that were actually cities that there were cities of refuge so if something was bad was going on or you did something bad you could actually run to the city and it was basically like home base so like you made it in the city like I can't get me I'm in the city you got to have a
Trial now you can't just kill me out there in the street and that was what they did so you went to the city to have fairness to have rule to have law to have protection if you needed something you went to a city because the city would have it and so what he says is that the church is a city on a hill that can't be hidden and that good works are to point to the father that people should see the
Church's good works and point to the father and give glory to our father in heaven so what Jesus says is that he's got a kingdom that advances against darkness in all forms and he's got a church that exists on the mission to advance that that we get to be a part of the same advancement against brokenness against pain against poverty against hunger against the enemy's work to bring about strife and pain and hurt that's what the church gets to do
And he empowers that and he accomplishes it but that's us so very practically how does that work what do we get to do what does that look like as we join Jesus on his mission I just want to cover a few things just to make just to make this this very practical so it's practical so we can understand what it looks like for us to join him to be a part of advancing the kingdom against darkness so we see that he heals people we see that Jesus so he meets
Physical needs we see at different times where Jesus feeds people so he meets physical needs that way as well he talks to his followers about being generous about giving things to people who are in need he also deals with spiritual ramifications of things so he addresses sin he addresses spiritual enemies so like we get to join in all of these things as the kingdom advances first thing we do real practical ways we pray the church gets to pray which
Is just us understanding that we don't accomplish this that we need God to show up that we need Jesus to be a part of moving this kingdom forward that if this is going to advance against the domain of darkness if we're going to push back darkness in West Columbia and Columbia we're going to push back darkness where we live we're going to need Jesus to show up so we pray we understand that it's what he accomplished on the cross for us that moves things forward anyway so we pray as the church we pray we give generously
Which means that as followers of Jesus we realize that he left his throne to give everything on our behalf to die in our place for our sins and so that everything we have is now held with an open hand it's his and it's whatever he wants us to use it for and the Bible says that that we've already been given everything in Christ and you know what that means it means you have nothing to gain you've already been given everything in Jesus and you have nothing to lose because you've already been getting everything in Jesus and so Christians are generous we give generously we open our wallets we
Write checks we help pay for things for people we give to local churches we give to missionaries we we give we pay for food we give generously if we own something it we share it we serve just means we give up our time our energy and our effort to push back darkness which means that it's Christians run soup kitchens do hospice care run clinics because Jesus did that because Jesus met physical needs that way because Jesus said that he didn't come to be served but to serve and so we get to join in the kingdom advancing as we push back the tangible effects of sin which is sickness and pain and hunger so Christians get to join in and advance the kingdom in a small way when we do these
Things we fight for relationships it's sin that tears up relationships every relationship you've ever had go poorly is due to sin and nothing else unforgiveness saying mean things to each other being too prideful to to communicate once something went poorly and so Christians know that Jesus overcame way more to have a relationship with us overcame everything and so we fight for relationships we're not okay with awkwardness just so you know that's a rule for Christians that's a rule here we're not okay with awkwardness not awkwardness like man that person makes conversations awkward because they breathe through their mouth not like that awkwardness like there's something weird between us and we're not
Going to talk about it awkwardness like they hurt my feelings but I'm not going to say anything we don't we don't that's that's not okay amongst Christians because we fight for relationships because Jesus gave us the ability to overcome it means that we fight for relationships with people who don't seem to have friends we befriend them because we know that Jesus went out of his way to befriend us who weren't very friendly he did not sit in heaven and say man that chad is one cool cat I want to get to know him he didn't he didn't say it about any of you either he overcame it for us and befriended us and cares about us because he's great so we fight for relationships we tell everyone about Jesus so it starts off by saying that he went around proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and that's what we do we tell everyone about Jesus we tell
Everyone about the hope and the life that can be found in him we tell everyone about how he's affected our hearts on a very real basis we tell everyone about the fact that we're messed up we can't fix this but Jesus came live the way we were supposed to died in our place he lived the way we were supposed to and died the way we were supposed to so that we don't have to die the way that we that we were supposed to and that we can have his way that he lived applied to our account we tell everyone about Jesus it is not an invitation we talked about last week it's not an invitation to come be amazing it's not an invitation to come have good morals it's not an invitation to come be really good behaviorers it's not it's an invitation that repentance is I'm messed up I need Jesus okay so we pray we give we serve we fight for relationships and we tell everyone about Jesus and you want to know
What's true we can do that anywhere we get to be a part of the kingdom anywhere I was having a conversation earlier this morning God wants Christians to be contractors and to stay contractors God wants Christians to be doctors and nurses and to stay doctors and nurses God wants Christian bus drivers Christian school teachers Christian plumbers there's no hierarchy in Christianity when it comes to following Jesus so it's not like foreign missionary Pope I don't know where you come from Pope foreign missionary bishop pastor Sunday school teacher deacon others who follow Jesus and read their Bible some others who don't read their Bible like it's not there's not like categories for it and God isn't like if you do this you're more special that's not how it works now there's supposed to be pastors and missionaries and they're supposed to be leaders in the church but they're supposed to be Christians who go to school forever
And then go do something else that they learn how to do they're supposed to be Christians who go to school to learn how to do something and then go do something that has nothing to do with what they learn how to do and they use that job to pay off their school debt and that's what because we can do this anywhere we can be a part of the kingdom anywhere you can do that at work you can pray for your co-workers say my boss is an idiot we'll pray for him most bosses are idiots pray for your heart while you pray for him see how you can so you pray you pray for your co-workers you pray that Jesus would show up that he would work in your in your place of work you can give this hey let me take you out to lunch hey I brought an extra honey bun in my lunch you want it people love carbohydrates give be generous you can give you can go out of your way to serve people when you hear hey I realize you're having car trouble can I can I help with that you
Can serve so if there's car trouble and you know how to fix it you can serve if you don't know how to fix it you can be like here's 10 bucks good luck is the gas tank on empty no I'm out of my expertise level here's $10 talk to a pro like you you can serve you can hey I've realized you're coming up on a deadline can I stay late and help you do that you can fight for relationships which means you show up early you stay late you talk to people and not just the people that are going to help you advance you can you can when you have the opportunity for someone who nobody else at work likes which every work has those people if if your work doesn't it might be you you can go out of your way to talk to those people to to share a time with them to say hey to them to ask them how they're doing you can fight for relationships at work and you can tell everyone about Jesus when you get the opportunity to share about Jesus when you get the opportunity to tell them about
What you have in Christ and the truth is if you're doing those other things you'll get opportunities and if you're doing those other things people won't mind listening to it because it won't be like hey I know I don't know you and I've never talked to you but here's this pamphlet or let me shout things at you it'll be no that's just who I am this affects how I exist in the world let me talk to you about Jesus you can do that at school you can pray pray for your the other students you can pray for your your instructors teachers professors you can give you can hey notice you miss class you don't copy my notes you can serve you can go out of your way to help people hey I'm doing pretty good in this section I don't mind helping I don't mind helping you study this hey I'm doing terrible in this section will you help me study this which isn't serving
But you may need to ask somebody that some point fight for relationships you can sit with the people that nobody sits with you can talk to people in class that nobody talks to you can do this anywhere and God wants us to do it everywhere that we are the light of the world which means that where you are God has you there on purpose some of you think my job is terrible and I want a different Job and God's holding on to your collar and saying nope I got something more important for you to do than just make money I got something more real and eternal and long lasting for you to do than just get a degree I got way better things for you to do than just play a sport I've got you here for a reason and we can do that everywhere you want to know what's
Beautiful about what we talked about last week that we approach the kingdom through repentance we're gonna be terrible at that there are gonna be days where we're the worst at it we don't pray we don't give we don't serve somebody tries to talk to us we're like hey shut up I'm not here to be your friend and then we get to repent and God doesn't love us more on the days that we get it right and he doesn't love us less on the days when we get it wrong we get to follow him in repentance Jesus has already accomplished everything on our behalf for those of us who placed our faith in him he's already done all of this for us and he's invited us into a cosmic level world-changing mission you see the disciples when Jesus rose from the dead and they look at him in
Acts chapter 1 and they say at this time you're gonna set up your kingdom you're gonna overthrow the Romans now and he says not now I've got a mission for you more people need to be invited in because at that point Jesus could have set up his kingdom and he would have saved all the people who knew him at that point and he would have destroyed everybody else and he hasn't done that yet because he wants all of us that know him to be everywhere infecting the world with the truth that we have in Jesus and spreading the kingdom band's gonna come up and play we're gonna sing and then we get to go be the church we get to go be a part of God's cosmic level mission we get to be a part of pushing back darkness by sharing food by praying for people by building relationships by serving people in tangible ways we get to be a part of
The kingdom advancing in our city every day and it's beautiful that everything that you do gets to have a level of intentionality to it now that you didn't understand or comprehend or or know or fully think about all the time we actually get to be a part of the kingdom advancing in our city when we go to work this week when we're having a random conversation with someone this week I'm gonna pray we're gonna sing God thank you that you did not solve the problem of the Romans I thank you that you showed up to handle a cosmic level brokenness in the world that you have a better vantage point than we do so that you address sin God I thank you that you've invited us into that that in your grace you didn't destroy evil and in your grace you're not coming back just yet so that we continue to to serve and love and advance your kingdom
In tangible ways and point people to Jesus we love you we thank you I pray that your Holy Spirit would empower us to be that to be a city on a hill to be a light in the world and God help us repent as we follow you we love you we praise you in Jesus name amen house and let's go 감사합니다 you you you you you you you
Prepare the Way
Transcript
Last week we looked at the fact that there's a problem when there are two kings. And so we saw how King Herod existed and some wise men showed up and said, Hey, we want to see the king. And he was like, here I am. That's not in the Bible. I'm just assuming that's how he responds when people say they want to see the king. He's like, kiss my ring, whatever the kings get to do.
And they were like, no, no, not you. Capital K King, the prophesied king, the king that was to come, the king that that has been promised by prophets, the king that's going to be an eternal king. And so Herod basically tries to get rid of Jesus. He tries to kill him unsuccessfully. Later, Jesus will die. And that was also unsuccessful because he didn't stay dead.
But he tries to kill him. And basically, we looked at our responses. We have the same options. We can, like the wise men, worship and submit to Jesus as king. Or we can, like King Herod, do everything we have to defend our own territory. And what we said was that kingdoms are militaristic, which means they advance at the expense of other kingdoms.
And so, like, I live in a neighborhood. If my property line expands, it expands at the expense of my neighbors. That's how it works. So if I walk into my neighbor's yard and I'm just like, yep, putting a hot tub here, my neighbor would be like, no, you're not. That's my yard. And I'd be like, that's my yard now because that's where my hot tub's going.
We just talked about this. Like, pay attention. And that's kind of how kingdoms work. Kingdoms could only expand at the expense of other kingdoms. And so when Jesus is standing in the Roman Empire and he says the kingdom is at hand, that's automatically a militaristic statement. And what we talked about a little bit last week is that we don't understand how kings and kingdoms work.
We just don't have a good grasp on that. And so we looked at some kings throughout history. And the way kings work is that they have rule and reign and they have absolute authority. That's very interesting to me to look back at just some earthly kings and the things that they got to do. King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, he was a king in France. He built a palace at Versailles.
And this was like in France when they were wearing like knickers and like really awkward, uncomfortable clothes and stuff. And there's like pictures of him with like weird tight pants and like a giant fur thing hanging off of him. And so but what he did was he didn't like the sound of knocking. And so if you wanted to talk to him, you couldn't knock on his door. You had to use your left pinky finger fingernail to scratch. This is how you knocked on his door.
You scratched with your left pinky fingernail, which is just weird and arbitrary. But he gets to do that because he's a king. And so the people around him started growing that fingernail out longer so they could scratch better. And then you would scratch. This is a power play. You would scratch until he he let you in.
I look cool doing that. And that's what he's doing. He's just showing his power. They used to compete to see who would get to be the guy who would wipe sweat off of his face. It's like when he was out, like you was a good position to be King Louis XIV sweat wiper guy. That meant like he was showing you doing you a favor.
And he's just an earthly king. But that's how kings rule. They have authority and power and reign. And we don't get that. That doesn't fit into our American mindset where we're like, not no, heck no. Somebody going to sit here and make me wipe sweat and scratch on their door.
This is ridiculous. But that's how kings get to act. And so when Jesus shows up and says he's a king, what he means is that he has absolute authority. And so what we're going to look at is how do we respond to Jesus's kingship? If we are going to step off of the throne, if we are going to not like Herod fight for our throne, but we're going to be like the wise men and worship and surrender and step off of the throne. What does that mean?
How do we respond? And so we'll be in Matthew chapter 4, and then we're going to jump back to Matthew chapter 3. So, you know, just like you learned how to count 1, 2, 4, 3. We were in chapters 1 and 2 last week. We're going to be in 4 and then going back to 3. What we're going to look at, Matthew 4 verse 17, is what Jesus began, how he began his ministry.
So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to hop in and start looking at what the Bible says about how we respond to Jesus as king. God, we thank you. That we have the opportunity to gather together as church family and study your word. And we ask that your Holy Spirit would work in us to change us and to make us more like you. Help us to hear your word clearly today and help us to respond. Don't let us be cold towards it.
Don't allow us to hear your word and to walk away and to do nothing with it. And so we ask that your Holy Spirit would move and speak and change us. In Jesus' name, amen. Verse 17. So from that time Jesus, this is Jesus beginning his public ministry.
It says, from that time Jesus began to preach. He's proclaiming, saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And I think for most people in this room, we've heard something like that before. Or we've heard that said before. Or we've heard that kind of a statement before.
And I think for pretty much everyone in this room, we don't really know what that means. I know for me, like I hear that and I'm like, okay. All right, I don't know what to do with that. Like I don't know. I don't even really know what he's saying. So when he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
It's a lot like when they would send someone. Someone would go before a king. And we're going to look at that in a second. And basically it's, there's a kingdom coming. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And you need to respond.
And so I think for us, we don't really get what repentance is. Repentance kind of has a bad rap. Like we don't really fully grasp what it means, what we're supposed to do with that. So maybe our best, when we think of this declaration, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, is like someone holding a sign that says repent. Like repent, the end is nigh. It's like, well, I don't know what nigh is, but that doesn't sound good.
Or like repent or you will perish. Like those kind of signs. Like I'm dirty and angry. Like they usually look like pretty unkempt. There's, my favorite is the like, repent, you specific person of this specific sin that I happen to be most angry about. So it'll be like, repent, you long-haired hippies.
And it's like, why, why just them? Like why, what you got against those guys? Or like they'll go repent at a specific type of people or a specific, and we just are like, okay, that sounds weird. It's like most of the time I think of repentance. Sometimes I'll think of it in, I'll either think of it in kind of the context I have in scripture, but any outside understanding of where I've seen this kind of declaration, I think of people like angrily shouting on a street corner. And so what we're going to do, if Jesus shows up and the first thing he says is repent for the kingdom's at hand.
Repent for the kingdom is here. I think we need to take some time this morning and figure out, okay, if that's how we respond to Jesus as king, if his kingdom's here and our response is repent, let's find out what repentance is. And so Matthew, who's writing this, doesn't explain much about that. He just says that Jesus declares that. Part of the reason he doesn't explain that is because he's kind of already explained it in chapter 3. And so that's how Jesus begins his ministry.
That's how he begins to declare what our response is. And we're going to jump back to chapter 3. So the beginning of chapter 3, if you've got one of the Bibles on the rows, it should be the same page. If you don't own a Bible, grab one of those and take it with you. That's our gift to you. So this is John the Baptist.
In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I love John the Baptist. And we'll get to see why here in a minute, just from some different things. But he begins preaching in the wilderness.
That always just seemed kind of weird to me. Like someone rides into town and they're like, Hey, um, there's a guy. Like in the wilderness, like on my way in, he was yelling it. There wasn't a whole lot around. He was just yelling. Y'all want to go see what he's doing?
Seemed crazy. Could be fun. Like he's in the wilderness. And it really just kind of means not in the city. So like most people, when you had a message declared, you go to the city.
But he just stays out, kind of does his own thing. Luke's going to say that he wasn't a part of the religious establishment or the political establishment. He was his own thing. But he's in the wilderness declaring, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so this is very similar as what he's declaring is it's when a king would come, when a kingdom was coming, it basically, they would send people ahead of them. And so they would show up to another castle or another kingdom.
And they'd say, Hey, uh, surrender. Cause Xerxes is coming. And he's on his tour day, butt kicking. And you can either be along that tour or you can surrender now before he gets here. So surrender because Xerxes is coming.
And so that's kind of what he's saying is John is declaring, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This kingdom is coming. And this is how you respond. You get to surrender now or you get to, to fight against this. And so it says for this is he talking about John the Baptist who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. When he said the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
And I'm going to read that section of Isaiah to you really quick. It's an Isaiah 40. If you want to look it up later, I'm going to read verses three through five, just to give you the full extent of what it says when it's talking about John the Baptist, who he is. So in the wilderness, a voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up. Every mountain and hill be made low.
The uneven ground shall become level in the rough places of plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. So it was prophesied beforehand that, that John the Baptist was going to come and declare this. And what he is declaring is a king is coming. We've got to get prepared. You see, when, when kings would travel to certain areas in their kingdom, so it's inside their kingdom, they travel to certain areas, people would go before them and they would prepare the road for them.
So most roads, the Romans had some roads, but when they went to certain areas in kingdoms, there just weren't, there weren't good roads. So there was basically paths that people had walked down or maybe enough horses had ridden down and maybe some carriages. And it just, there were a lot of places where it was, you just kind of winded through what was the most easy way to go. And sometimes it was over things and sometimes it'd be a path. And all of a sudden there was a giant rock. And so people who were walking are going to move the rock.
They're just going to move the path around the rock and go down the hill and up the hill. And so what someone would go ahead into the area and say, a king is coming. We've got to prepare the king's highway because when he comes, he's not going up and down and around. He's got an entourage. He's got his army with him and we need to, to prepare the king's highway. And so they would go ahead of them and say, okay, a rough place places have to be smoothed out.
Big rock stones, trees got to be out of the way. We've got to build a bridge here. We're not messing with this. When the king shows up, we're not messing with having to try to go through this Creek the way y'all go through it. We're building a bridge here. And they would prepare the way for the king.
And so the first thing that we see about repentance, when, when they show up and say, repent for the king, for the king is coming. The first thing we see about repentance is that we actively respond, to Jesus as king, that we actively acknowledge Jesus as king. That's the first step in repentance, because they would show up and say, the king is coming. You change to him. He doesn't change to you. Your ways, your thinking, your system, your setup changes to meet his, not his to meet yours.
And so the first thing about repentance, the first way that we respond to Jesus as king, is we actively acknowledge Jesus as king, which means he's in charge. He has rule and authority and reign. And so you'll hear people say things like, well, God loves me just the way I am. And I love me the way I am. And so God wouldn't show up and make me change, because he loves me the way I am. And the truth is, that's true.
God does love you just the way you are. That's made evident for us throughout scripture. That's what the gospel declares, that God loves us the way we are, but he loves us enough not to leave us there. And so you're making a false dichotomy, to say that God loves me so much, he would never ask me to change, doesn't make any sense. That's not actually how love works. So parents that love their kids don't say, okay, four-year-old, nope, what do you want to eat for dinner?
Candy. Sounds great. That'll be good for you. Do you want to go to sleep? Nope. Cool.
Do whatever you want. That's not love. That's easier. That's not love. Love is, no, you're not eating candy, because that's not good for you. You can have some at certain points when it makes sense.
But that's not your whole diet. And you do have to go to sleep, and you do have to wake up, and we are going to send you to school, even though you don't like it. And when you come home crying, because school's terrible, we'll talk to you about, yeah, it's terrible. You're going back tomorrow. That's love. That's how love works.
And so, to say that God loves me so much, He would never ask me to change, no, what you're saying is, God actually has this vague, fuzzy love towards me that isn't real. No, God loves you so much that He's going to ask you to change. That He's going to step in and take away the candy sometimes, because of what's actually ultimately good for you. See, I heard somebody say this the other day, and I thought it was a really good way to think about this. A lot of times, we think about following Jesus like getting a cat. So it's like, I'm going to follow Jesus, I'm going to be a Christian, I'm going to be a believer, and it's like getting a cat, which is just, my life needs a little bit of something.
It's pretty good. It just needs a little something, a little bit of some warmth and comfort. And so, like you get a cat, like it's going to sleep here, go to the bathroom here, not really do anything else here at all. And then when I've had a bad day, I'll hold it in my lap, and I'll pet it, and it'll make me feel better. And, and then when it, when I don't want to pet it anymore, I'll just toss it to the side, and it'll kind of, we'll coexist. And a lot of people think that's what following Jesus is like.
He'll just be a good addition to my already pretty nice life. And, and when I'm feeling bad, he'll comfort me. And when I need a little bit of warmth, he'll, he'll add that and spruce it up. And I'll, I'll be one of those Jesus people, you know, like, like a cat person. And that'll be good. And it'll help me.
And if, if he starts to get on my nerves, well, I just won't pet him that much anymore or whatever. But Jesus isn't a cat. He's a king. And kings don't coexist. Well, they don't just provide warmth when you want it. It's not how kings work.
So I want to be, because I think it is helpful. If you get to decide what applies, if you get to decide from here, what's real and what's not real and what Jesus means and doesn't mean, if when the Bible is really clear and specifically talks about areas of sin, and you get to say, well, that's not really something I'm going to do right now. Or yeah, I get that the Bible says that, but, but God doesn't really know my circumstances or, or yeah, finances were different. Or yeah, if I had a little more time, if you get to do that, Jesus isn't king. You are. If, if I get to tell Jesus where he can and cannot operate, if I get to tell Jesus what I will and will not do, then he's not king.
I am. And the truth is, who I'm following, worshiping, proclaiming, and saying that is my king and is my Lord is not Jesus. So if on a consistent enough basis, you get to tell God what he will not do, what he cannot do, then you can show up here as much as you want. And you can be in a community group every time that y'all meet, every time y'all have normal rhythms to hang out and share food. You can show up here. And when we're singing, little tears can drip out of your face, but you're not singing to Jesus because he's a king.
I don't know who you're here worshiping, who you're here proclaiming. I don't know who you're acting like you follow, but if he doesn't get to set boundaries, if he doesn't get to tell you when to go and when not to go, if he doesn't get to lead, it's not Jesus. The first thing that happens when we begin to follow Jesus is that we acknowledge him as a king and a king has ultimate authority. That's why it's a very helpful question when someone wants to follow Jesus to say, okay, someone says, I'm ready to be a Christian. Okay. Are you ready to do whatever Jesus tells you to do no matter what?
If he tells you to move, you're ready to move. If he tells you to quit your job, you're ready to quit your job. If he tells you to follow him here, you're ready to follow him there. Because Jesus is a king. Kings don't coexist well. So the first thing we see is that we acknowledge, we actively acknowledge Jesus is king and we change to meet him.
We change our ways to meet his ways. Verse four. Now, John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. He wore a garment of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. The reason they say this is because this is weird. People didn't do this.
And his food was locusts and wild honey. Trader Joe's doesn't have anything on that. Like you think you're, you're green or you're like, I mean, I'm pretty sure that's gluten free right there. He's eating crickets. I don't think there's gluten in those. Like he, the first organic, there you go.
You want to be a proof text right there. If you need to prove to someone that it's okay to be like organic and farmer's market. There you go. Say John the Baptist. It's like John. Uh, so anyway, or belt camel's hair, leather belt, uh, ate locusts and wild honey, lived in the wilderness, yelled at people.
I just, I like John the Baptist. He's great. He probably looked like one of the duck dynasty guys, but more, more Jewish, darker, uh, then, uh, then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him. So everybody starts leaving the cities to go out to hear what he's proclaiming. They were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. So people would show up, they would go, they would hear him proclaim, repent for the King is coming.
You acknowledge him as King. And they would actually walk down into the river where he was. They would confess sin in front of people. They would say, this is where I'm off. This is where I'm broken. This is where I'm wrong.
This is where I need help. This is where I'm twisted. This is where I need a savior. And then he would baptize them as they confessed sin. And so the, it says that all these people are going out to them, confessing their sin. And when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, let me tell you who Pharisees and Sadducees are.
These are the religious elite. These were the respected Jewish leaders. These were the guys in chapter two, when the wise men show up and tell Herod, there's a King. These are the guys he calls in and says, Hey, y'all study the scripture. You know, these are the Bible trivia guys. Like these are the guys that when you were talking about something, they'd be like, actually Malachi says this.
Like they would, those were the, these were those guys. And these were the guys that you asked Bible questions to. These were the guys that were respected religious leaders. It says, when they came out to him, he said to them, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Um, when we read scripture, there is some cultural distance between us and the people in, in the text. Um, so just to help us out, brood of vipers is, uh, would be considered a, um, what's a cut down, like a mean thing to say to someone.
I know you thought maybe that was like how they greeted each other. Brood of vipers. What's up? Like, no, uh, it was a mean thing. What he was actually pointing to was they understood when he said, you're the son, you're the children of snakes. But there's children of a snake.
What he's saying is, uh, you know, in the garden of Eden when everything was perfect and then a snake showed up and, and led Eve astray and Adam followed. Um, yeah, he's saying, he's saying that was Satan. He's saying you're Satan's children. Automatic bad team. They didn't appreciate this because there's a bunch of people. And then the religious respected elite show up to check things out, to maybe even be baptized.
And he says, you snake babies, you brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee? I love that. Because it means that repentance isn't about our behavior. Can't be. If he yells at these guys, it can't be about what I do.
These guys would have had the old Testament memorized at least the first five books. They brought Jewish children in. They would teach them the first five books. They would memorize it. And if they were good at that, then they got to keep going in school. So the first five books, you know, the books of the Bible that you have a hard time reading.
You know, the books of the Bible that we get to and we're like, all right, I'm going to read the whole Bible Bible reading plan, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, no book of John. I'm going to the book of John. They had it memorized. They were the religious elite. They behaved. They were moral.
They were upright. They looked up to them. And so what we would think, what we think repentance is, is come behave. Come be really good little boys and girls. Repent. Stop, stop being a bad person and start being a good person.
And if that were true, when the Pharisees showed up, he would have said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the Pharisees would have shown up and he would have said, be like them. Follow them. They're the best. That's not what he says. He says, brood of vipers, who warned you?
And the air was let out of the wilderness. You know how the air can be let out of a room? It was let out of the entire wilderness. And what he declared was, it's not about behavior or good morals. Or being a good little boy and a good little girl. It's about something deeper and more real.
And that's what he says. He said to them, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit. This is verse eight. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father.
I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You see, they thought they were good because of who they were. That's why he immediately says, look, they said, no, no, we're Jewish. We're the good guys.
We're the ones who behave. We're the ones who are more. We're the ones who know our Bibles. We're the children of Abraham. They thought they were good because of their lineage, because of their behavior, because they followed really well. They obeyed really well.
They kept the rules really well. And what he says is, God doesn't need you to behave. He doesn't need you to be a certain type of person, because he can raise up those people from rocks. He says, God can raise up children from Abraham, from these stones. And he says, even now the, the ax is laid to the root of the trees. You see, repentance is a root issue.
The first thing we do is we acknowledge that Jesus is King. And then we have to understand that repentance is a root issue. It's not a behavioral issue. The call is not come be good. Come behave. The call is come be systematically, systematically changed, irrevocably altered.
He says, it's a root problem. We spent some time talking about this when we talked in our, uh, idolatry series. And basically Martin Luther, who was a, uh, theologian in Germany, uh, one of the reformers. What he says is when he looked at the 10 commandments, he said that we don't break any of the other 10 commandments until we've broken the first one. The first of the 10 commandments is that you will have no other gods before me. God says I'm God and there are no other gods.
And Martin Luther looks at that and says, okay, we don't do any of the other things. We don't lie. We don't steal. We don't cheat. We don't, we don't defraud people. We don't murder people until we first decided that something is bigger and more important to us than God.
You see, a lot of times we get caught up in sin and we think that the issue is the sin. I lie a lot and I shouldn't lie. That's fruit. The problem is the root. If you have a tree and it has bad fruit, it's not the fruit's fault. It's the root's fault.
You don't buy a better fruit and staple it to the tree. You get a new tree. And so what he's saying is like, so we could both lie. You could lie and I could lie, or we could, we could both lie and we could be lying for completely different reasons. And we could, we could sit in our community groups and we could say, don't lie. It's bad to lie.
You shouldn't lie. But here's the thing. All we're going after is fruit there. We're not actually changing our heart. We're not actually changing the root of the issue. So let's say you're at your house.
Somebody calls you up. I'm like, Hey man. Hey girl. Hey friend. How about that? They're at your house.
They call up. Hey, I'm really needing some help with something. I'm kind of in a tight spot. Are you doing anything? Can you come help me? And you are watching television.
And so you say, because you follow really well, you say, yeah, I've really got some stuff going on. I've got some plans. I'd love to help, but I can't. My schedule is swamped. And you're, you do have plans. Sitting on the couch.
Schedule is swamped. These shows aren't going to marathon themselves. Um, and so you lie and, and you can say, I shouldn't lie. But the truth is you're lying to defend your comfort. But let's say you're in your community group.
You're hanging out with your community group and people are confessing sin and they're talking about how they need to change. And you're just kind of sitting there. Sometimes you get to where it's like, this person's going to talk about where they need to change, where they need to repent, where they need Jesus, where they need the gospel. And it comes to you and you say, yeah, you know, I just, I've been having a hard time reading my Bible lately. And I used to read five chapters and now every day I only read like two. And I just need you all to pray for me.
That may be true. But in this particular situation, you also have a current issue with pornography. But you don't want to talk about that. And you're, you're lying, but you're lying to defend the approval of the people in the group with you. And so we can stand up here and talk about, and they could stand up and say, repent, behave really well, and go after, don't lie, be a good person. But the problem is, your root doesn't change.
So we could talk up here and you could decide, oh, well, if I'm going to be a good Christian, then I need to, to have the approval of all these other Christians and I need to be open about my sin. And so really all you're doing is continuing to worship. Approval is just in a different area. And so John the Baptist shows up and says, this is a root problem. the goal isn't to be really good. The goal is to have your heart changed. So one of the ways to tell us is if we get caught in sin, somebody knows about sin, are we frustrated that they know?
Are we, do we feel bad because people now know about the problem? Or do we feel bad? Do we feel guilty? Do we feel conviction because they're sin and we're broken over sin? Or is it just that people know now? Is it just a problem because, oh, now I got to talk to people about this?
Or is it actually heart level change towards Jesus? You see, they, they behaved really well, but that, that doesn't help. Because their heart didn't love God. it loved a lot of other things. People thinking they were great. People thinking they were smart. Being the best at stuff.
Behaving really well. Putting God in their debt. You know where this shows up? We do a lot of the, um, come to Jesus and he'll make everything great. If you follow Jesus, then your kids will be great little kids. Or if you follow Jesus, then your business will work out.
Then your finances will be good. And so there's some people who, who hop into the church because they're making a deal with Jesus. They're contracting him out. I'll hold up my end of the bargain. I'll behave. I'll be moral.
I'll do good things. I'll vote the right way. Whatever that means. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain. That's why you have a lot of people in the church really mad at God because he's not living up to the promises that he never made. They've just contracted him out.
Their heart doesn't love Jesus. They're not in awe of a God who would step in and rescue them. They haven't changed the route. They're just trying to contract Jesus out. And that's what they were doing. We'll behave.
We'll be good. We'll do these things. And then when God, you show up, you have to love us because we behaved so well. So some people were like, I burned all my bad CDs. I quit going to R rating movies. How could this happen?
I've been showing up every time there was a Sunday thing. And I even started going to that little group. They talk about all the time. And now this is going on. And we're frustrated with God because we contracted him out through our behavior. I'll be good.
And then you pay up. I'll be good. And then everything else gets to be smooth. And John the Baptist looks at those guys and said, brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee? So they needed to repent of their good works.
So they were using to put God in debt. And they needed to change root level, heart level change. Then it gets good. He says this. We're going to jump back up. Verse eight.
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root. And every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So what he says is bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Not bear fruit and that leads to repentance. Not bear fruit, do good things, have good behaviors. And that is repentance. What he says is bear fruit in keeping with it. So when we repent, when we change the root, we have different fruit.
So like in my backyard, I've got like cherry trees that aren't like good cherry trees. They just drop little red things all over my yard. And that's the kind of the fruit that they have. And if I want an apple tree, I plant an apple tree. I don't try to change this cherry tree. Cut out the roots, put a new one in.
And here's what he's saying. He's saying that repentance leads to joy. That root change leads to a fruit change. That's the third thing we're looking at when it has to do with repentance. And it rhymes, so you know it's really important. Root change leads to fruit change.
And so basically, we so often think that God wants good fruit from us, and we work really hard to behave. We work really hard to keep it together. But the root hadn't changed. And here's how fruit works. There is joy in fruit. It's a process.
Cutting out the root is hard. It's difficult. It's painful. Repentance is not easy. But there's joy in fruit.
We don't understand fruit. They use fruit as an example a lot. We don't really get it, because if my involvement with fruit is like, I want an apple, so I go buy them. Like how I pick fruit is I get one of those plastic bags. I'm going to go pick some fruit. And it's super easy.
Like I can get apples all the time. I have no clue when apple season is, because I can always get apples. So I'm pretty sure always is apple season. I know when watermelon comes in, because you can't always get watermelon. But we don't get fruit.
And so like my dad, he plants fruit trees. I was at his house, and he was showing me his fruit trees, and he was like, look at this, look at this, look at my pear tree. See, it's got pears coming in. And I'm like, those don't look like pears. Y'all aren't going to eat those, are you? Like that's not.
And he's super excited, because fruit takes a long time. And you get excited when fruit shows up. See, root change is difficult, it's painful, it's hard, and then you celebrate when fruit shows up. There's joy when fruit shows up. And here's the thing. You have two options when it comes to hanging out with a church family.
You can pretend, because we don't get to see root. Shows up every once in a while, but we don't get to see root. Root doesn't show up on a regular basis. Fruit does. So you can go to the store, you can fabricate what fruit should look like, and you can staple it to your tree, and you can maintain that for a little while.
Or you can go through the process of having your heart level, deep level, root change, and then fruit will come. Because root change leads to fruit. That's how it works. And let me tell you something, if you're in here, and your heart hasn't been changed to love Jesus, if you haven't had a root change, keeping up fruit is unbearable. And very, very difficult. But if your heart's been changed towards Jesus, it's a natural thing that happens.
That we begin to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. So some of you are saying, I love Jesus. Deep heart level, I want Jesus. Let me tell you something, growth is coming. The Bible says we're predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, which means you're going to slowly look more like Jesus. And so for some of us, you just need encouragement to know that growth is coming.
That the fruit's going to look weird and odd, and you probably shouldn't eat it at first. And then it's going to continue to grow and continue to come, and you're going to continue to look more and more like Jesus. And for the people in this room that are just pretending, just hanging out, just trying to behave, just being really moral to get God on your team, you're going to wear yourself out, and you can't keep that up. So repentance is acknowledging Jesus as King. It's having a root level change. And then fruit comes.
Root change leads to us bearing fruit, which means we actually do begin to obey. We actually do begin to love things that we didn't used to love. We actually do want to read Scripture. When before you became a believer, you had no desire to do that. We actually do want to confess and repent of sin. We actually do find joy in that.
We actually do want to be with church family. We actually do want to show up early in the morning to hang out because we've been changed. We enjoy being around these people. Fruit is beginning to come, and it's not anything that we're working at or doing. So here's what he says.
This is how this is beautiful. Verse 11. I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I. He's talking about Jesus. Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
What he's referring to there is that you will be changed by Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. You will be a believer, and the Holy Spirit of God will come rescue you and change you, or you will go to hell. That is what he is saying. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear the threshing floor. That's where they would have wheat.
And gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. The picture there is that wheat has chaff, and wheat is heavier than chaff. And so you would take a big fork and toss it in the air, and the chaff would blow away, and the wheat would stay. And you would sit there and do this. And then you would burn the chaff, and you would keep the wheat. And what he says is, Jesus the King is showing up, and that's what he's going to do.
He's going to keep the wheat and burn the chaff. And they're all together, and he knows the difference. That's what he says. And here's how this is beautiful and wonderful. So you look at this, and you say, well, repentance sounds hard and terrible.
And yeah, I get the fruit thing, but that's far off. And how do I get to this root issue? How do I change my heart? He baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He changes your heart. You see, John the Baptist did something really weird.
He baptized people. And that was really weird. We've got a baptism coming up, and we're doing this because John the Baptist did this. And because Jesus, after John the Baptist, did this. But he baptized people.
And here's why this is really weird. That's why he's called the Baptist, by the way, because he baptized people. It would be the same as calling him like John the Baptizer. He wasn't like denominationally affiliated, just so you know. They had baptism, but here's how baptism worked. I'm Jewish.
You're a Gentile. You want to be Jewish. You want to get in on the right stuff. You want to start following well. Here's what you get to do. You get to step into a river, and you get to wash yourself, signifying that you're cleaning yourself up, you're making yourself nice, and now you can come join the right team.
And here's what John the Baptist did. It wasn't just for Gentiles. It was for everybody. So Pharisees were invited to be baptized, and Jews were invited to be baptized, and Gentiles were invited to be baptized, and he baptized because he was signifying, you're not cleaning yourself up. You need someone else to step into this situation and to accomplish this for you. And he said he's coming, and he's going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.
He's not just going to signify. He's actually going to do it. He's going to change you fundamentally. You see, John the Baptist was pointing that you needed help. You needed someone to step into your situation and clean you up for you because you were never going to accomplish it. And if you were religious and moral and good behavior, you needed to repent.
And if you were a sinner and you were out, you were an outcast, you were pushed to the side, you needed to repent. Everybody needs to repent and have Jesus wash you. You see, Jesus stepped on the earth, and he lived a perfect, sinless life as a king, and then instead of headed to a throne, instead of setting up his eternal reign like they thought he was going to, he died on a cross. And we actually as believers are washed by his blood. We are changed by his blood that was shed for us. You see, what he did was he took our sin, he took our religion, he took all the things that we've tried to put him in our debt and all the things we've tried to use to run from him, and he died for them.
He was crucified for them. And that as believers, when we're baptized, what we're saying is, I was buried with Christ, just like he was dead and buried, and I was raised again up by him, not by me. I've been washed clean by him, not by me, that my sin died with him, and that I've been risen, and I've given new life and righteousness by him, that Jesus swapped places with me. You see, the call isn't come be good. It's come have Jesus change you. It's not come behave, it's come be changed, have the root changed by Jesus.
You can never accomplish this, you can never work it out on your own, Jesus can, and only Jesus can. That's what repentance is. And that's why there's joy there, and hope there, and life there, because it's not about our ability to be good at it. Because it's about what Jesus has already done on our behalf. That we acknowledge him as king, and then we have him change us fundamentally. You see, there were people that, in their understanding, couldn't be forgiven.
They were out. They'd already failed, they'd already messed up, and the only way they could be back, was to be good again, to work really hard, to change their ways, and some of them were just out, like there's no way back in for you. And that's why all of Judea, and Jerusalem came out to him, because he was proclaiming, everybody can be welcomed back in. That's why repentance is really good news. If there is no forgiveness, there is no repentance. So what he's saying is, it'd be like if you ran away from home, or strung out on drugs, and somebody came to you and said, hey man, I was at your house the other day, and I talked to your dad.
And he said he wants you back. And you don't have to pay him back. You don't have to clean yourself up, and get a job, and get off drugs, and show back up respectably. He just wants you back now. In debt, broken, messed up, and in need of a whole lot of help. That's good news.
That you're welcomed back now. Most of us feel like, we've got to clean ourselves up, work really hard, and show up in a respectable manner, so that God would welcome us. And those are the guys, that he calls brood of snakes. We've got a lot of weddings coming up, in our church. A good bit of them. And I'm pretty excited, I like weddings.
I get to do premarital counseling, which is a lot of fun. Because you just get to talk to people, get to know people, get to ask questions, get in their business, annoy them. It's great. One of the things we talk about, in premarital counseling is, we're going to try to have a whole lot, of really awkward conversations now, so that they're less awkward later, when you're married. So we're going to talk about, how to argue, we're going to talk about finances, we're going to talk about sex, and the next time, y'all have to have a big in-depth conversation, about finances or sex, you'll think, at least Chet's not here, and we're not sitting, at a waffle house.
It's just, all together feels better, as a way to have a conversation. And so, but I'm really excited about it, and here's what I know to be true. At a wedding, so we'll stand up, we'll be at a wedding, and there'll be groom, and bride, and they'll be like decked out, and looking, looking nice, and like sweating, and freaking out, and they have no clue what's going on. And so, they put all this work, and effort into making this wedding really nice, and then remember zero of it, because they're freaking out, and like hyperventilating and stuff. But here's what I know is true.
I got to do, my brother's wedding, Logan and Elise, are in my community group. I got to do their wedding in January, and no one, no one was sitting there, while we were performing the wedding, and going, look at how great, a husband, Logan is. Look at him, crushing that husbanding. Nobody was doing that. He was in the process of getting married. Nobody was looking at him, and going, look, he's wearing a suit.
Check. He's repeating those things, that that preacher says. He's crushing this husband thing. Nobody's doing that. Because that's not the test of a good husband. I wish it was.
That'd be sweet. Can you put on pants? Yes. Can you repeat after me? Yes. Word for word?
Almost. That's not the test of a good husband. A good husband is lifetime, devotion, work, effort, repentance, messing up, admitting that you messed up, messing up again, waiting longer, then admitting that you messed up again. That's what, that's what a good husband is. A husband is proven, not in an hour of cleaning themselves up, and repeating after somebody, but it's proven over the course of time. As they prove that they love, as they prove that they serve, as they, you get to see, does this guy love his wife, by his actions over time?
And so the truth is, in Christianity, what he's saying is that your heart will be changed by Jesus as you repent. The root will be changed. It's not your ability to clean yourself up and to repeat some words. That's not how it works. That's not what following Jesus is about. That's not, that's not how this operates.
It's you continually following as you're changed, as you love. It's not your ability to be dutiful. So no, no husband on their 25th anniversary, like shows up with flowers and it's like, honey, 25 years ago today, I repeated words. And I signed something that's kept at the courthouse. And so I've stayed married to you because I signed something that's kept at the courthouse. And I've tried to be a good husband because divorce is bad.
And I bought you flowers because husbands are supposed to do that every once in a while. And I guarantee that 25 years from now, I'll still be holding up my end of the bargain. You're welcome. There's not a female in this room who just got teary eyed. And some of us are acting like that's how we follow Jesus. Jesus, I read your rules and I've been sticking to them.
And I'm going to keep sticking to them because I'm supposed to. And that's good. You're welcome. No. That's not how it works. That's not what we're called to.
That's not how the Holy Spirit changes you. That's not what marriage looks like. Marriage is love. I did the right things. I stuck around when it was terrible because I love. Because I care about you.
Because I'm willing to fight for this. These 25 years, we've been married for 25 years. Eight good ones. And I'm here. And I'm going to be here. Because I've been changed by you.
I love you. I'm going to be here. I'm going to do for you. I'm going to work for you. I'm going to serve. I'm going to do.
And that's what he's saying, that you have a heart level, root level change, that you love Jesus. And you're like, this is difficult. And this is hard. And you're king. And I'm going to follow. And I'm going to be here.
Because you've changed me. Because you died for me. Because you've rescued me when I didn't deserve it. Because repentance is your grace that I can be forgiven. That I'm not out. And I'm not too far gone.
I'm not too broken. And that's what the call is to follow Jesus as king. He shows up and he doesn't coexist well, but he loves greatly. And he died to rescue us and to make us his. And that means we change. Because he changes us.
Because on our good days and on our bad days, he paid for our sin. Period. Period. And it's not about our ability to behave or to be good. It's about what he's done for us. And the invitation is for everyone to repent.
Band's going to come back up here and here's what we're going to do. We're going to do something differently from what we've done in the past than what we do on a regular basis. The invitation always, as we follow Jesus, is an invitation to repentance. It's an invitation to see where Jesus is king and where we're not following well and to change. To acknowledge that we're broken, to acknowledge that we're messed up and that we need him. And so we always have opportunities for repentance.
We gather together in our community groups for repentance. But specifically today, John the Baptist and Jesus both begin by declaring, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus is a king and he does have a kingdom and our response is repentance. Which is acknowledging that he's king. Acknowledging, confessing sin where we're broken and where we're off and knowing that we get to because of what he's already done. That he has died for us and that he will change us at a root level.
He won't just help you behave, he'll change your heart. And so the people in this passage came from their cities and they would stand on the bank of the Jordan and then it says they would come down into the water and they would confess sin and they would be baptized. And they were overjoyed at the fact that they were welcomed in. See, they thought they were out. They thought there was no way they could be good enough. Some of them were overjoyed that they'd been working really hard to prove themselves and they didn't have to.
That it wasn't about their ability to clean themselves up. So here's what we're going to do today that's different than what we usually do. We're actually going to, as we sing this last song, you're going to come out from your chair and you're going to come here and you're going to confess sin and talk to Jesus. So we've got a baptism coming up, Raz mentioned it earlier, we've got a baptism coming up October 19th which is where we're going to get together and celebrate that repentance is still offered to us and that Jesus died on our behalf and that we can have life and hope and joy in him. That he'll change our root and that we'll begin to bear fruit and begin to grow and begin to have joy as we follow him.
But see, they would walk down into the water and they would confess sin and I want to offer us the same opportunity to come down. If you come out from behind your chair and you walk up here, everyone in this room will know that you're a sinner and everyone in this room is a sinner who needs Jesus and we will celebrate that Jesus still saves, that he still rescues, that he still changes hearts, that it's not about our work or our effort or our goodness, it's not our ability to stick, our ability to be great and that we're not too far gone. So as we sing this next song, the invitation is to do exactly what they did over 2,000 years ago, which was to walk down and confess, I need Jesus. I'm a sinner.
I need help. I need to be welcomed back in. The invitation is repent for the kingdom is at hand. There is a king and he is good and he did give up his throne to go to a cross so that we could be welcomed in. So that's what we're going to do.
Maybe some Christians in this room and you need to confess, you need to repent, you need to talk to Jesus. There may be some people in this room who've been pretending, you've been working really hard, you've been taking all the time and effort it takes to staple fruit to a tree. You need to ask Jesus to change your heart. And then, on October 19th, we'll do exactly what they did and we'll baptize and celebrate that Jesus is alive and that he saves and that he works and that he does his will and that he changes us. So y'all stand.
Let's sing. And don't fight it. You need to come confess, you need to come repent. It's open. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. We are invited in.
God, we thank you for your grace. We ask you that your Holy Spirit would move, that you would continue to change us, to draw us to yourself. God, that you would keep us as you change our hearts, pull us towards you. Lead us all into repentance, God, as we respond to you as king. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
The Problem of Two Kings
Transcript
Good morning. How are you doing this morning? This side's doing good. Not hitting on much over here. My name is Chet Phillips. Excited to be hanging out with y'all this morning.
We're going to be in Matthew chapter 1. So if you've got a Bible, go to Matthew chapter 1. There should be some sitting on the rows. You've got some over there if you need one. And if you don't own a Bible, grab one of the ones on the rows or grab one of the ones on the table. And that's our gift to you.
Just snatch that on your way out. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 1. We're going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about Jesus as King and His kingdom. And so we've got to do a little bit of background work for us today to kind of set this, frame it up in our brains so that we can think about it correctly. So what happens is if you begin reading the Gospels, which are the accounts of what Jesus did while He was on earth, they're going to usually start, a couple of them are going to start with John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist is going to come before Jesus and he's going to begin to proclaim. They're going to say that he proclaimed, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then it's going to say that Jesus shows up and he begins to say the same thing. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And that sounds nice, but what are they talking about? Like what is the kingdom of heaven?
What do they mean by the kingdom of God? As Jesus goes through and He tells these parables, which are just confusing, illustrational stories. And so He tells parables about the kingdom and He's going to explain. Here's what the kingdom looks like. And He's going to do this over and over again. And so we're going to spend the next few weeks as we go through September and into October talking about the kingdom and unpacking what it is, how it works, how Jesus is a king, and what that means for everybody in this room and really everybody on this planet.
And so in order to do that, we've got to do a little bit of background work because we're ignorant, which just means we don't know. So it doesn't mean that you're dumb. So my dad used to, when I was growing up, he wouldn't call me dumb. He would just call me ignorant. And he said, ignorant. He'd be like, you ignorant boy.
And he was like, that's not offensive. You just need to learn things because you don't understand how stuff works. And so we're ignorant as far as how a king works. We just are. Like we base it off of maybe some books we've read, maybe some of our history classes that we had in school. So like maybe when you think of a king, you're going to think of King Arthur.
And he had like a round table. And he had some knights with him. And when you think of King Arthur, you maybe are going to think about a couple of different movies. Maybe Sean Connery is going to pop up in your head. Or you're going to think about the quest for the Holy Grail, which is a really bad understanding of who King Arthur is and what Camelot was like and all that kind of stuff. So we just, we don't get kings.
We don't. A good example of this is I was talking to Raz. He's one of our group leaders in our church. And he's from Australia. And I didn't know this. Australia still kind of fits under the Queen of England.
Did y'all know that? Like I didn't know that. The Queen of England can go to Australia and fire their elected officials. Just kick them out. Because she's the Queen of England. That's why.
That's why she gets to do that. And so I was like, wait, what? So like she actually showed up in I think the late 80s, early 90s and fired their prime minister and parliament. It was just like y'all are out. Or maybe it was just the prime minister and all the people around him. And then basically said y'all have to hold a new election.
And so immediately when he said that, like that was, that affronted my sensibilities as an American. Because it was like who on earth is going to travel over an ocean and tell us what to do with our government. So it was like immediately was like no, no sir. And so I was asking him more questions about it. I asked him. I said okay, do y'all pay taxes to Australia?
I mean to England. Does Australia pay taxes to England? And he said no, we don't pay taxes. And I said you're welcome. They learned their lesson on that one. Just when you see an American and you think about the fact that you don't pay taxes to England, just shake their hand.
Tell them thank you. But we don't get it. We don't understand how kings and kingdoms work. We just, as Americans, we don't have a place for that in our head. We don't have a place for the authority. A good example of this is how much we freak out about presidential elections.
I mean America loses it over presidential elections. We will elect a president two years from now in 2016. And they're already talking about it. They were talking about it when Obama got elected. They started talking about the next election. I heard a conversation recently.
They were talking about Hillary Clinton. And they were saying should she line herself up with Obama? Should she separate herself from Obama? And they're going into statistics of when and how the parties flop back and forth and who's going to be president. And that person is going to be president for four years in a limited government. They can't just do what they want to.
President Obama can't just walk out tomorrow and say here's how America's running from now on. No. There's Supreme Court. There's people that decide on laws. He's got to take things through Congress. Like he has a very limited position and we feel like the president has too much power sometimes.
We hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of what a king looks like. So for us to understand as we read through scripture and Jesus shows up and says he's a king and that he has a kingdom. We got to know what that means. We got to understand what he's declaring how they would have heard it because we don't hear that right. It's like, oh, you own a castle? You got a moat?
That's cool. I'd like a moat, but I don't want to have to like cut the grass around it all the time. Like we don't, it doesn't hit us right. We don't understand. So let me explain just a little bit.
We're just going to do a little bit about how kings work and how they would have understood how kings work. So a kingdom is the extent of the rule and the reign of a king. So you have a king. The king has a kingdom. So wherever his rule and reign exists, that's his kingdom.
And he can have that kingdom. You can have a kingdom as long as you can defend it and rule over it. So you can have a kingdom as long as you're able to protect it. And so throughout history, kingdoms have just swallowed up other kingdoms. So President Obama recently with this whole Russia-Ukraine thing, he said you can't, he said we know that you can't redraw borders at the edge of a gun.
So the countries that we have have pretty much been the countries that we have for quite a while. That's not how history works. In response to that, it's actually, no, actually you can. You can redraw borders at the edge of a sword or the edge of a spear or on top of a chariot or at the edge of a gun because that's how borders get redrawn throughout history. So we've been in the United States for a while and we don't have to fight with Mexico all the time about our border.
We did, but we don't anymore. And pretty much now we buy things from people. But that's not how it worked in world history, in human history. It was you had a kingdom and your kingdom was your kingdom until a bigger, badder kingdom came along. And then they just owned you. So kingdom shows up.
We have a kingdom. Kingdom shows up. We get to decide, okay, they're coming at us. Can we defend ourselves? If we fight, can we stop them? So we sit there and we talk about it.
We look and we say, no, if we fight, we will all die. Okay. We'll call that plan B. Plan A will be, let's have a convo. Let's talk to these guys.
See how they're doing, what they want. And so that's pretty much what kingdoms would do. You would fight and defend your kingdom. If you could rule over it, you could. If a new kingdom showed up and they were badder than you, you could fight and die. Or you could surrender and pay taxes and then their kingdom ruled over you.
So throughout history we see Egypt had a kingdom. That's what we showed up there a second ago. Israel goes in and kicks out a bunch of these smaller kingdoms and becomes one kingdom. And then Assyria swallows that kingdom. And then Babylon swallows that kingdom. And then Greece comes up and swallows that kingdom.
And then Rome swallows that kingdom. And it was just who was the baddest? Got to have a kingdom. So whenever we hear kingdom declared. When Jesus says, I have a kingdom. It's automatically going to hit the ears of those listening to him as a militaristic declaration.
Kingdom advances against another kingdom. That's just how they work. Let me tell you how kings work. They're in charge. Period. Throughout history, that's how kings work.
So some of you are like, I'm the king of my own castle. No, you're not. Because your wife is in charge. She may let you pretend. But kings were in charge.
They were in charge. Period. They were in charge of how everything played out. So a king could just make a declarative statement. And that's what happened. And so we see throughout scripture.
I'll just give you some examples. Okay. So there was a guy named Xerxes. He shows up in scripture in the book of Esther. Xerxes. In Esther, he's called Ahasuerus.
Which was his Aramaic name. But Xerxes is his Greek name. So that's how we know him from history. But his name was Xerxes. He had a throne that was ginormous. And he used to sit on his throne.
And his throne had a big red carpet on it. If you sat on his throne, you died. If you touched the carpet that his throne was on, you died. So it was like throne, no touching. Carpet, buffer zone for the throne, no touching. He had 10,000 soldiers called immortals that surrounded his throne.
When they went into battle, they carried his throne. He sat on it. His immortals sat around him. And then his army won. And he just got to watch. That's Xerxes.
Did what he wanted. All the time. There's a guy in the book of Kings. His name is Aboni Bezek. Or Aboni Bezek. Ann and I just found out that we're going to be having a baby.
And so I'm throwing that name in the hat. Aboni Bezek. That's a heck of a name. But anyway, this guy was in smaller kingdoms. He had captured 70 kings. In the book of Judges, he had captured 70 kings.
And he cut off their thumbs and their big toe. Which, just so you know, you need your big toe to walk around. Like, it's important. So it makes it hard to walk. So they didn't have big toes and they didn't have thumbs.
The reason humans are in control of the world is because we have big brains and opposable thumbs. These are important. If you've ever had, like, a hurt thumb, it makes it really difficult to do anything. He had 70 kings that he'd cut off their thumbs and their big toes. And their job was to sit around his table and pick up crumbs with these two fingers. So they walked.
And when he was done eating, 70 kings picked up crumbs around his table to show his dominance. Because he's a king and he does what he wants. And the truth is, like, 70 of them, but they're not holding an uprising. Because it would be like this awkward standing slap fight that they would lose really quickly. You slap them and they just push you down. They'd be like, now pick up the crumbs.
They'd be like, okay. Somebody help me up. There's a King Nebuchadnezzar. I love this story. There's a King Nebuchadnezzar. This is in the book of Daniel.
He's a Babylonian king. He has a dream that freaks him out. And when you're a king and you have a dream that freaks you out, you get to call on people to help you with your dream. When you're you and you have a dream that freaks you out, you get to tell your co-worker and they get to think you're weird. But when you're a king...
Man, I dreamed I was a clown last night. Dude, I don't want to talk about your dreams. Like, we're at work. When you're a king, though, he said he has this dream and he calls all of his advisors and wise men in to answer questions and his sorcerers and stuff. And he says, I had a dream. It freaked me out.
I want you to tell me what the interpretation is. And so they say, okay. Tell us the dream. We'll tell you what the interpretation is. And he says, no. If I tell you the dream, you'll make up an interpretation.
And I won't know if you're telling the truth. You tell me the dream and then tell me its interpretation. And they say, we can't do that. And he says, cool. Kill all of them. Because he's a king.
And kings do what they want. There are no re-elections. There are no runoffs. There is no impeachment. The way you get rid of a king is to kill him or to have a bigger kingdom that takes over his. That's it.
Otherwise, they're king forever. So we're freaking out that we're going to have a president for four years. And he's going to have a limited amount of power in our government. This king was king because he was born a lot of times. Or because he got an army and was really powerful. That's pretty much how it works.
So when Jesus declares that he's a king and when the Bible declares that he has a kingdom, it means something that we wouldn't hear. It means something to the people who were first listening that we don't get. It's like, okay, complete authority. Power. The ability to say, and it happens. It goes.
What you say is law and rule and final. And that your kingdom advances in a militaristic way. So that's how kingdoms work. So if you have a good king, you have a good kingdom. A generous king. A gracious king.
A king that fights on behalf of his people. A king that loves justice and peace. That's really good for the kingdom. If you have a ruthless, angry, bitter, psychotic king, that's a problem. Because a king rules over his kingdom with absolute authority. Okay.
That's just so that we get what a king and a kingdom is. Matthew chapter 1. I'm going to pray. We're going to hop into Matthew chapter 1. If you've got one of the Bibles on the rows, it should be page 523. So let's pray and then we'll look at Matthew chapter 1.
God, we thank you for this time that we get to gather as church family and open your word and learn about you. Pray that you would teach us. That your Holy Spirit would come and reveal to us truth about yourself. That you would draw us closer to you. We praise you. We thank you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Matthew chapter 1. The book of the genealogy is Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. This is Matthew writing a gospel about Jesus, writing a story about Jesus, telling us what he did when he was on earth. This is how he starts. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Genealogy just means his lineage, his family history, his granddaddy and that guy's daddy and his granddaddy's daddy, that kind of thing. In the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, we're going to come back to that, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the first Jewish person. And so what he has immediately declared is that David was the first, like, legitimate good king. Saul was there for a while and then David was, like, the king after Saul. What he just started off with was Abraham, the first Jewish guy, David.
And he's saying that his lineage, he comes straight from Abraham through David to Jesus. That's what he's telling us here. Let me just pause for just a second and tell you this because I think it's helpful, although it doesn't really apply to what we're talking about today. But I just think it's helpful for us to know as people who live in the United States. Jesus was Jewish. Super, super Jewish.
There's some discussion in the United States about whether he was white or black. He was Jewish. Abraham to David, Jewish. Like, recently, like, we get in this discussion about Santa Claus. Jesus isn't up for debate. He was a real person.
He had, like, he was Jewish. Like, you don't get to come to me and be like, hey, I just want to let you know we're transferring you. You're Italian now. Like, that's not how that works. Like, that wasn't chosen for me. I'm going to be, like, pasty Scottish Iris my entire life.
You're not transferring that. Jesus was Jewish. Like, around Christmas, they were talking about Santa Claus, and then one of the ladies on Fox News said, she said, Santa Claus was white and Jesus was white. Get over it. No, no. He's Jewish.
Like, look, just so you know, for all the people in this room, in this book, no white people. They're not here, guys. They don't show up. So if you're always picturing, like, curly-haired blonde people, they're not here. No white people here. No blue eyes.
Wasn't here. There are some Africans in this book, but finding a white person in first-century Palestine would have been like, I heard a guy say it was like, it'd be like watching Bigfoot ride a unicorn through the middle of New York. It's just not happening. Amen. So just wanted to help you out with that.
Abraham was the father of Isaac. So it's the book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. That had nothing to do with what we're talking about. That was just free for y'all. Abraham was the father of Isaac. And Isaac, the father of Jacob.
And Jacob, the father of Judah and his brothers. And Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez, the father of Hezron. And Hezron, the father of Ram. And Ram, the father of Amminadab. And Amminadab, the father of Nashon.
And Nashon, the father of Sam. And Sam, the father of Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth. And Obed, the father of Jesse. And Jesse, the father of David, the king. Whew.
Matthew coming out swinging with this names on names on names on names. Just so you know, if you take a creative writing class, they're not going to tell you to do that. That's not how you start a story. Really hook people. Give a list of names for your main character's genealogy. That's what people like.
Nobody was reading that going, oh my goodness. This is a high quality literature. This is almost as good as my other favorite book, the phone book. Like nobody was doing that. Because we don't get what Matthew is saying. Jewish people, which is who Matthew is writing to, just freaked out.
Now, when a Jewish person reads this, they said, oh, Matthew came out swinging. And he's not playing around with what he's just about to tell us about Jesus. Matthew starts off and says, let me tell you about Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And then he goes through his list and he says, he's the son of David, the king. And Jewish people just said, oh, no. This has gotten serious really quickly.
And here's why. Old Testament, God comes to David and promises David. The God of the universe comes to the king of Israel, David, who's David the king. That's why he's listed that way. King of Israel had a bunch of kings. Judah had a bunch of kings.
David is the king. When you were a little kid in Israel and you were swinging a stick at a tree, you were being David. Everybody had the David action figure. Every time you threw a rock at a bully, you were being David. Like little kids were David. He's the king.
And here's why. God shows up to David and promises him that you will have a king that comes from your lineage that will be a king forever. That will never fail to be a son of David on the throne. And it will be an eternal worldwide dominion. That's the promise made to David. So that happens in 2 Samuel.
I'm going to go through and tell you just a little bit about this king that is over and over and over again prophesied in the Old Testament. 2 Samuel 7. There's going to be a king who comes from, this is God talking to David, comes from your body. I will establish his kingdom. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.
Your throne shall be established forever. Jeremiah 33. Prophets are declaring about this king. A righteous branch will come out of David. And he will never lack a man on the throne. Isaiah 9.
Another prophet throughout Israel's history who's declaring that a government will be on this guy's shoulders. He will be called God. He will be called Prince of Peace. He will reign on David's throne establishing justice and peace and righteousness. Isaiah 11. The Spirit of God will dwell on him.
And he will judge on behalf of the needy and the poor. Isaiah 42. He will judge the nations giving sight to the blind and setting captives free. Isaiah 49. Says he will be despised. But kings and princes will rise up and bow down to him.
Daniel 7. Daniel 7. Says that he sees a son of man. Which is Jesus' favorite name for himself. Says that he sees a son of man who's given authority, glory, sovereign power over all people's nations. Men of every language will worship him.
And he will have dominion forever. And a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Zechariah 14. Says he'll destroy his enemies and be king over the whole earth. Malachi 3. Says that God will send someone ahead of this guy to declare that he's coming.
And then he says who will be able to stand when he shows up. But throughout the Old Testament, over and over again, after this promise made to David, it's promised over and over. This king's coming. He's coming. He's going to have an eternal dominion. All other kings are going to bow down to him.
He's going to last forever. He's going to reign with righteousness and justice and power. And he's going to be sovereign over everything. And so when Matthew starts off and says Jesus came in the line of David the king, everybody's ears perked up and said, what are you trying to get at? Where are you taking this? I know you're not about to say that he's the king.
The promised king we all know about. Matthew chapter 2. That's what Matthew's saying. Matthew chapter 2. We'll see how this works. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.
Okay, so Herod is the king of Israel. It's really interesting that he's called king because they're ruled over by the Roman Empire. He's one of the only people in the Roman Empire who's ever allowed to be called king. So it just kind of points to his ruthlessness and political savvy that he's underneath another kingdom and still gets to be called king. So he says that Jesus was born in the line of David the king, and now he's telling us about another king.
In Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying. So wise men, this is why at Christmas you'll hear the song. We three kings of Orient are. Just thinking about these wise men. They weren't kings. They were wise men.
But they're from the east, and that's the Orient. In that song. That was also free, just so you know what you're singing about. Wise men came to the east from Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose. So a new star shows up.
That's why in all the nativity scenes you see there's a little star at the top. This is over top of where Jesus was. A new star shows up. We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled. And all Jerusalem with him.
Yeah. Of course Herod the king is troubled. He's the king. And these wise men from the east said, Hey, we study the stars. We study astrology. And the king has been born.
So they come and say, We want to see the king. And Herod's like, I'm here. And they're like, No, no. The king. The one that's been born king. The capital K king.
The one who's been prophesied king. The one that creation bends to king. We came to ask you because we thought you might be able to help us find him. But you're not who we're looking for. Appreciate the autograph. You can put it back.
We want to see the real one. And so Herod's troubled because he's a king. And there's another king born. Just for the record, You don't have two kings. Kings don't coexist. They don't have tandem thrones.
It wasn't like a cute thing they used to do back in the day. One king. That's how he got to be king. No other kings. So Herod's troubled.
And that makes sense because they just said, Hey, we want to see the king, The prophesied king. The one that's going to rule over you king. The one that princes are going to rise up and bow down to king. The guy who's in charge of you, Even though he's an infant. Herod's troubled. And assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
He did not misunderstand what they were saying. He knew the prophecies. That's why he gets the people who study the Old Testament and says, Where is he going to be? Because they just said that he was born. That a star showed up for him. And he's here.
Where does it say he's going to be born? Because he knew exactly who they were talking about. The person we just read about. And assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they told him, In Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is written by the prophet, And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah.
This is Micah the prophet says this. Still talking about this king. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him. After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them, Until it came to rest over the place where the child was. The child's Jesus. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
Then going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, And they fell down and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, They departed to their own country by another way. Okay. So they come.
They say, We saw this star. We're wise men. We study these things. We saw this star. We know what's happening. We know the old text.
Where is he? And he says, I don't know, but we'll find him. And he says, When you find him, let me know, because I want to worship him too. Now Herod's lying, and we'll get to see that in a second. And so that's what they told. They were warned in a dream not to tell Herod.
And they just to leave. And so wise men show up. And what they say is, We've seen signs that this is the king. We've seen signs that this is who we're supposed to worship. And their response is to an infant worship. And they open up their treasures, and they give to him, and they worship him as king.
13 Through 15, we're not going to read it, but it just says that in a dream, Joseph is warned that Herod's going to try to kill Jesus. And so they go to Egypt. So Herod does what kings do. He defends his throne with absolute authority. He just declares, Go in there, round up all males, two years older, younger, kill them. And they do.
But Joseph's family had been warned, and so they had left. Herod was a bad dude. He was kind of psychotic. He killed a lot of people. He killed a lot of his wives. He had more than one because he kept killing them.
He killed a lot of his wives and a lot of his sons. And one of the emperors actually said that it's better to be Herod's pig than his son, which is a Greek joke because pig and son sound similar. And so he made a little pun about, a little joke about, because he's Jewish, so Jewish people don't eat pigs. So he's like, if you want to be safe and live in Herod's house, be his pig, not his son, because he's going to kill you if you're his son. Because every time Herod started noticing anybody around him getting a little bit of power, he got rid of them, forcibly. So these wise men show up and say, we're here to worship the king, the capital K king, the prophesied king.
And Herod says, yeah, me too. Oh, that'd be great. Tell me where he is. And then when they trick him, he just kills all the infants he can find. Wise men want to worship, want to bow down, want to give everything in submission to Jesus. And Herod, because he has some authority, wants to defend it.
Now here's what's true. Jesus is the king in the line of David, the king, who is an eternal king. Which means that his rule and his reign comes to us through history because he is eternal. See, Jesus died, but he didn't stay dead. Everyone in this room is going to die. I saw a statistic recently that death rate in America is hovering right around 100%.
It's like 10 out of 10 people. It's really sad. Everyone in this room is going to die, and I can tell you something about you. You're going to stay dead. We won't have your funeral and then eat with you a week later. That's what they did with Jesus.
That's irregular. It is. And then he ascended into heaven, and he exists still and rules and reigns. And he is the eternal king who has eternal dominion. And one day he will return, conquer all of his enemies. Scripture tells us this.
And then he will have his kingdom forever. We have the same options that we hear in this story. We can, like the wise men, submit, worship. Or we can, like Herod, fight and defend our kingdom. Those are the options we have. Everyone in this room, you're going to make that decision.
If you decide to not do anything with Jesus, you've made that decision. I'll be king, thanks. I'll be in charge, thanks. That's how it works. Let me tell you something that's very true. You love being king.
It's your favorite. You don't think about it a whole lot, but you really love being in charge of what you do. I love being in charge of what I do. That's why I love being an American. That's why I own, like, 12 guns. Because I get to be in charge of what I do.
And if someone tries to keep me from being in charge of what I do, up until a point, let's go. It's go time. We love it. Let me tell you something else that's true about you. You're a terrible king. You're the worst at it.
You love it, but you're bad at it. You make horrible decisions. You give yourself the benefit of the doubt a lot, but you're terrible. Most of us are like, no, I'm a good king. I know I did eighth grade twice, and I'm in debt because I can't manage a budget. But I'm a great king.
And that's just not how it works. So the question becomes for us, is Jesus a good king? Because he declares that he's king. When a king shows up and declares that he's king, you have to do something with that. He is the eternal king. And so the question becomes, is he a good king?
Good king, good kingdom. Bad king, bad kingdom. Is he a hero? Is he a tyrant? And the second question that fits underneath that is, is he a better king than I am? Is he willing to do things for me that I'm not willing to do?
Is he willing to step in on my behalf when I can't fix situations? Is he a good king? Is he a hero? Matthew 1, verse 21 should be on the same page or a page back, depending on what your Bible looks like. Matthew 1, verse 21 says this. This is an angel talking to Joseph.
Jesus' adopted father. And he's talking about Mary. He says, Good kings defend their territory, ride in, and are heroes. You see, when you're in a place that's being ransacked, that has enemies, that's being torn down, you don't have walls, you don't have a defense, everything. A king rides up and says, I will fight for you. You say, thank you so much.
This place is a hot mess. We need some rules. We need some help here. Thank you. And when you feel like you have some control and some authority and things are going pretty well, you don't do that when a king shows up. But here's what it's saying.
It says that Jesus will save his people from their sins, which means that we have an enemy that we're losing to. That ultimately our problem is sin. That's what has marred us as humans. That's what's caused pain and destruction and rebellion. That's what's broken up our relationships. That's what's hurt us.
And that Jesus will save us from our sins. And what he did was he lived on earth a perfect, sinless life and died for us. That's why Jesus went to the cross. He died for us to pay for our sin. And then he rose again, rescuing us. And so I can tell you very definitively that Jesus is a good king.
And for every person in this room, he's a better king than you are. But ultimately, we've got the same two options. Follow, worship, love Jesus as king, or do everything we can to defend our own kingdom. With logical arguments. With excuses. With just, I don't want to get into that.
I don't want to think about it. I just want to do me. See, it's the choices. That's how it works. We're going to spend the next several weeks as we walk through this series. Just looking at what kind of kingdom does Jesus have?
What kind of king is he? We know that he's a hero that saves his people from their sins. But we're going to investigate a little more about what his kingdom looks like. But I just want everybody to know that Jesus is an eternal king. He does rule and he does reign. He is a good king.
And we all have the same options that they have. The band's going to come back up. We're going to sing some more. We're going to praise Jesus as king. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you that you are a good king.
That you did die on our behalf. God, we pray that through your Holy Spirit you would lead us. To like the wise men bow and worship you as a good king. Even though we seek to do everything we can to defend our own kingdom, our own sovereignty. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
The Method
Transcript
My name is Chet. It's good to see everybody this morning. Excited to be able to meet here and excited for our second time being able to meet here at Glen Forest School. We are in our third week of Dawn of the Church. So we're finishing up today, which feels a little odd because we spent 11 weeks in the book of Colossians.
And so we've only been three weeks walking through the first couple of chapters of the book of Acts. And so it's felt a little short, but it's been I think it's been good. What we wanted to do is just spend a little bit of time and look at some family history. We wanted to look and see how the church started, what it looked like when the Holy Spirit first moved among a group of people, what it looked like for them to begin to follow Jesus, to begin to be the church. And so what we looked at was week one, we looked at the mission that we've been given as a church, that Jesus talking with his disciples says, this is what you're supposed to do.
This is what you're called to do. You're going to be my witnesses. And you're going to start here where they just killed me, which not many people get to say. Like not many people get to say that's where I just died. Like you don't usually get to tell people that you don't usually get to have this conversation. But Jesus had been crucified, he'd been murdered, and he didn't stay dead.
And so he says, you're going to start here where they just killed me. And then you're going to expand out from there. Then you're going to move to a place that you don't get along with these people. You have prejudice against them. And then you're going to move to the ends of the earth. And so we just looked at what the mission is that we're supposed to be witnesses of what Jesus has accomplished to the ends of the earth.
Last week we spent some time looking at the message that we're given to declare. So what the Holy Spirit actually, when he moves, what we point people to, what we talk about. And so today we're just going to look at the method by which that moves forward. The way that the mission, the message moves forward on the mission. And so it's kind of like this. This is a very simple way to think about it.
And so it's going to break down if you think about it too long. But think about it in a very simple way. And this can be helpful. So let's say we were going to make a sandwich and we were going to put some peanut butter on bread. And so that's the first part of what we're going to do. And we're going to put chunky peanut butter on the bread because we're going to eat the sandwich, not throw it away for bringing shame to sandwiches.
So it's going to be chunky peanut butter. And we're going to put that on the bread. And so in some ways the mission is that process. We're going to put chunky peanut butter on the bread. And it kind of answers the what's the overall goal and where. And so the overall goal is to get chunky peanut butter all over the surface of the bread.
And so that's what we looked at week one where Jesus says you're going to spread this message over the face of the earth. And so the message is kind of the chunky peanut butter. It's like the actual content of what's moving forward. And so what we're looking at today is the method, which would be like the knife that you used or the spoon that you used to spread the chunky peanut butter. Or, you know, like three fingers, depending on if you have roommates and or no one's watching. So, like, that's what we're looking at.
And so if the mission is spread the message all over the earth, and that's kind of the bread, that's what we looked at. Like, what are we doing and where is it going? The second week we looked at what's the content, what actually moves forward. And today we're looking at, like, how are we going to do that? How does the church actually accomplish this? And so we're going to be in Acts chapter 2.
I'm going to pray, and then we're going to start kind of looking at this and trying to answer this question. God, we thank you that you did come, that you did rescue us. And we pray that we would appropriately feel the weight of being called into your mission, that we wouldn't get complacent with what it is that we're supposed to be doing as we follow you. And, God, we ask that you would empower us through your Holy Spirit to continue your mission in this city. And we love you. We praise you.
Speak to us now as we have time to open your word and study. In Jesus' name, amen. So we'll be in Acts 2, starting in verse 41. I just want to point out in verse 38. Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. And so then 41 says, So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.
So, Peter says, repent, turn away from your sin, you'll be forgiven because of what Jesus has already done. It's not about what you do, but it's about what Jesus has done. And you'll receive the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit of God will come move and dwell among you. And then it says that 3,000 people became Christians. And so I said this last week.
That's like a logistical nightmare as far as, All right, cool. They had about 120. They're like, All right, we're going to start a church. We're going to do this thing. And then 3,000 people become Christians. And they were like, Okay, let's figure it out.
And so what we're going to look at as we look in this chapter, Luke, who's writing this story, is just going to describe what happens among the church when it first got started. So he's just telling us this is what it looked like. This is what they looked like as they first got started. And so in the Bible, there's prescriptive and descriptive sections of Scripture. So prescriptive is like a doctor gives you a prescription and it's, Go home, take these, rest this way, don't do this.
It's like, do, don't, this is what's best for you. That's like prescriptive. And so the Bible has some of that where it's like, Love your neighbors, be generous, be kind to one another, bear one another's burdens. Like it just straight up just says, do this. And then it has descriptive passages where it just says, It just tells a story, just tells you something that happened. And so sometimes we get confused when we're reading descriptive passages and think it somehow applies to what we're supposed to do.
So like there are times in the Bible, it talks about humans. So it talks about a bunch of messed up stuff. So Cain and Abel, Abel pleases God. Cain gets mad and kills him. And they're brothers. That's not a prescriptive thing.
That's not like the Bible saying, Here's how to handle your brother when he makes you angry. That's not what that is. It's not like, well, I'm going to go all Genesis 4 on this sucker. Like that's not what we get to do. It's just describing what happened. And so what this passage is doing is it's just going to describe for us what the early church looked like.
But in that we're going to get to see what the Holy Spirit does among a group of people that he's taking over, that he's moving in, that he's captivating, that he's changing. And so it's just the Holy Spirit moves in. And this is not. So we're going to look at it. It's going to describe the early church. And what it's not saying is, look at how well they organize themselves.
Look at the great leadership of the apostles. That's not what's happening. What it's saying is, look at what the Holy Spirit does when he begins to change, busted up, broken people, when he moves in and takes over. So we're looking at what the Holy Spirit does in believers as we read through this. We're going to see that the apostles mess stuff up consistently. They're in and out of jail because they're proclaiming the gospel.
So it's not that they're always being able to do great leadership stuff because half the time they're not there. Like people are having to pray, like let's get him out of jail. Some of them are going to be murdered. In Acts 6, they realize that they're not organized well. And so this isn't pointing to how to organize your church, how well it's what the Holy Spirit does among a group of people. Now, we should be organized.
That's one thing that we've seen as we've continued to grow is we're trying to organize ourselves better. We're trying to always train leaders and that sort of thing. So I just wanted to put a shameless plug out there. If you're good at logistical things, that's a Holy Spirit-empowered gift. Like if you can do spreadsheets, the Holy Spirit empowers that. That's a gift of administration.
I'm just letting you know. Biblically, there's a gift of administration. And so some people are really good at that kind of stuff and they feel like, well, I don't know how to really plug in and serve. That's actually how. And so they do try to get more organized. They're not organized yet.
And so we're right in line with Scripture being disorganized. But I want you to see that there's 3,000 new believers. Now, when we look in this section, we don't know how much time has passed. He just begins to describe the early church. So a couple days, some weeks.
Maybe he describes the first months of. Maybe he's describing the church in Jerusalem as a whole over the course of some years. But it basically says 3,000 people become believers, so 41. So those who received the word were baptized. And they were added that day about 3,000 souls. And then he immediately goes into.
And this is what they did. This is what they look like. So the majority of these people had been Christians for, like the apostles had only known and been following Jesus for three years. So think about that for a second. Some of us in here would say, I don't know, I've been a Christian for years. Some of you have been like, I think a couple of weeks-ish, give or take.
And that's what most of the people here were. The vast majority were like, I'm just trying to figure this thing out. And the truth is, that's the way the church should always look. There should always be people who have just become believers and are just trying to figure it out. And it's actually way more fun that way. It's way harder and way more messy.
Like, it's really nice to get 50 Christians who've been Christians for a really long time together and sit in a room. And maybe there's less mess, maybe they understand more, but it's way less fun. And so the whole time here, there's 3,000 new believers trying to figure out what it looks like to follow Jesus. And so it says, And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And so what we're about to look at is devoted themselves. What they devoted themselves to.
And so for us, devotion, like, I don't know if we understand devotion. I mean, we see it in certain places. Like, I want to talk to you about something very important. This week, football comes back. It's here, guys. Thursday.
Like, we got together. My community group meets on Thursday. And we got together and the discussion was, Who's got the SEC network? And somebody raised, We're going to your house. You're throwing a party. I don't know if you knew that.
You're going to be throwing a party because the Carolina game is going to be on Thursday. And you have the SEC network. And so we understand devotion a little bit when it comes to, like, being devoted to a brand. So you have people, like, devoted to Apple products. Who, like, always want to fight people who like Microsoft. Like, people who have apples get angry about it.
Like, I don't know. Like, this is better and I'm mad. Like, that's kind of their attitude. We see devotion when it comes to teams. So we have devotion, like a heart level loyalty.
Care about a team. You want to argue for why your team's the best. You want to argue against other teams. Like, if I see someone wearing orange, I just push them down. Like, that's just kind of how. No, we've got, we've got, I mean, in our church family, we've got people that are Clemson fans.
And every week, as we always do with everybody, we invite them to repent. And we've got Carolina fans that we were devoted. Like, we care about it. But I was talking to my wife's cousin who lives in Alabama. And he's a Clemson grad. And he said, I was talking to him about it.
He's an eye doctor there. And he goes, you know we're just kind of messing around in South Carolina when it comes to being devoted to teams, right? He's like, I'm in Alabama. And it's serious there. He said that he was, he's an eye doctor. He's about to perform surgery.
And he was standing in a room with about ten family members of this guy who's about to cut his eyes open. He said before this moment, he would always, like, have this conversation where it's like, okay, we're about to, y'all are about to have to leave. I'm about to wheel him back here. Does anybody have any more questions? Like, is there any clarification needed? Do you want to pray?
Like, he always just kind of opens it up for whatever's going to take place. And he said, they all just kind of stood there. And nobody asked any questions or anything. And then one by one, they walked by this guy. His name was Johnny. And they were going, Roll Tide, Johnny.
Roll Tide. Roll Tide, Johnny. Just, like, fist pumping and rubbing. He said, Roll Tide. Roll Tide, Johnny. And he said, like, 15 of them.
Roll Tide. And then they just walked out. And he was like, he said he wanted to be filming it, but he thought he might, like, get in trouble or something because he's a doctor. And so we have devotion there. We see devotion in, I think, I've actually gotten to where I like going to weddings. And I know that's weird.
I don't like, there's some things I don't like about it. Like, I don't actually like the whole process. Like, I don't like having to dress up. This past Easter, I was trying to dress up a little bit for when we did our stuff. And I asked Anna, like, how did I look? And she looked at me for a second.
And then she goes, you know, some people are supposed to dress up and other people aren't. And I think you're one of those aren't people. And I was like, that was very hurtful. But it's kind of true. So I don't like dressing up when I go to weddings.
I don't enjoy that process. But there's two things I kind of like about weddings. I like awkwardness. And weddings are awkward. So I always just kind of appreciate awkwardness.
And so when people are standing up doing their wedding, like, they don't know what to do. They don't know what to do with their hands. Everyone's sweating. I enjoy that. And then I enjoy the actual process of what we're doing. Weddings are intense.
It's two people standing up and saying, forsaking all others, I'm devoted to you. Like, it's me and you forever. Whatever comes, whatever's coming after us, like, this is going to be hard. And we're messed up and we're sinful. And this is going to be difficult. And it's not going to always be fun, but it's us forever.
And that's, I think, one of the best pictures we have when people genuinely take marriage seriously of what devotion is. And so what we're going to see here is not what the disciples did. We're actually looking at heart level change that the Holy Spirit did in them. Does that make sense? So it's the Holy Spirit moves in, begins to wreck shop, and changes loyalty and changes love in the hearts of these new believers.
Because it's not about how well they organized themselves and how well they disseminated the word and how well they did all these. It is absolutely, Holy Spirit moves in, 3,000 believers. There's no way this is going to be organized. And then the Holy Spirit changes all of them together to look this way. And so, as we read through this, last caveat, don't read through and think, oh, so that's what I do. That's what I do to work really hard to earn this.
No. This is what the Holy Spirit does in believers. And so if you're sitting in here and you're thinking, I don't really have a desire to do any of that. Some of that actually sounds kind of horrible. The response isn't, I'll work really hard, do those things, and then be a good Christian. No, the response is, repent of sin and place your faith in Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit does this in us.
Does that make sense? Is that fair? Okay. Four things they devoted themselves. Four things heart level change that the Holy Spirit made in them. It says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.
Alright, so what that means is that they were devoted to what the apostles were telling them about Jesus. What the apostles were training them in. And so the apostles were the people who'd been following Jesus around for three years, and the apostles were teaching them, here's what Jesus' kingdom looks like. Here's what it looks like for us to follow him. Here's how this plays out in the world. And so when the Holy Spirit moves in and begins to take over the lives of believers, they automatically begin being sold out to learning who Jesus is, what he did, what they'd been called into, what he'd accomplished on their behalf, what it looked like for them to be the church.
And so for us, that might as well just say, devoted to the Bible. That's why we would spend all summer just walking through the book of Colossians. That's why we study the Bible when we get together in our community groups, because we're devoted to learning and growing and understanding what it means to be Jesus followers. That's one of my favorite things to see this in people. So you see somebody who starts kind of placing their faith in Jesus, and then they'll suddenly start being like, hey, I was reading this in Scripture the other day.
Hey, I was looking at this, and I have a question about this. And it's like, oh, there's the Holy Spirit at work, drawing somebody in to read the Bible, because that's what he does. The Holy Spirit starts working in somebody, and we just want to read. I used to have conversations with Russ, who's one of the guys, one of the first guys to become a Christian as a part of our church. And he would ask me questions. Like one time he looked at me and said, he said, okay, you've got cancer, and your dad has cancer cure serum.
But then he says, I'll give it to you if you worship me. What the crap is that about? And I was like, what? Your dad sounds horrible, Russ. And so he was a very antagonistic approach to who God was, and I had to break all of that down, which was like, that's not at all what's happened here. Jesus came and died for us.
Like he took our cancer and died with it so that we could be cured, and then we would want to worship. So like we had to have those conversations. And then Russ became a Christian, and his attitude changed. So he always had like a bajillion questions about the church and about the Bible, and they were always kind of antagonistic. And then he became a Christian, and he started asking questions like, hey, what do we believe about this? And his whole response was different.
Like it was just like, oh, well, we believe this, Russ. And we would just flip to the thing. He was like, oh, cool. Okay, okay. That sounds good. And then there were other times he was like, really?
I don't really like that. And it's like, oh, yeah, me neither. But that's what we believe. We repent. You know, God's right. We're not.
And so we get to have those conversations. But there's just something that happens in believers that we change to where we're devoted to learning, devoted to reading Scripture, devoted to growing in it. And that's what happened among them. So they were devoted to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship. So they were devoted to each other.
That's great. Fellowship basically means friendship with a purpose, like community with a goal. So it's fellowship. It's friendship around something that kind of holds you all together. And so if you're Lord of the Rings fans, the first book in the Lord of the Rings is the Fellowship of the Ring. It was like a group of people that came together for a goal.
And so that's what they were devoted to being around each other. They made time for it. As we read through the rest of it, it says day by day they were gathering in large groups and they were gathering in smaller groups, meeting in homes. And so they were devoted to, took time out of their schedule to be around church family. They were devoted to each other. The Holy Spirit changed their heart to where they actually wanted to go out of their way to be around each other.
And I think we find this true if you've been a part of a community group. And it's easy to kind of get out of the rhythm of being around church family. And a way I think about this sometimes is when Anna and I first got married, we moved into this really sketchy house that like uneven floors. And if you ran the washing machine while trying to eat a meal, the table was going, and you could just bounce your stuff up and down on it. And we lived there fixing it up instead of paying rent. So it was like, we'll paint and like get rid of the snakes and most of the cockroaches and the mice and you don't make us pay rent.
And he was like, deal. So that was the house we lived in for the first couple of months of being married. And we were painting one of the rooms and it had oil-based paint. So we were painting over it with oil-based paint. If you've ever painted much, oil-based paint is pretty intense. And so we were in this room and we're painting.
And, you know, painting is not fun. So we're painting for a little while. And then, you know, the paint smells horrible. And then you kind of get used to, you don't notice the paint smell anymore. And then we both kind of were like grumpy. And then everything was hilarious.
And so at one point I'm sitting there, we're both like laughing hysterically about something that didn't make any sense. And I was like, that wasn't funny. And I was like, but I think it was funny. And I was like, maybe we should go outside. And so we went outside and that first breath of air, it was like, oh yeah, this is what oxygen is like. This is what this was supposed to have been like the whole time.
And so that's what church community, that's what church family is like sometimes. It's like we get out of it and we don't realize that what we're breathing in and what we're walking in on a daily basis actually isn't good for us and actually isn't healthy and actually isn't right. And then the first time we get back around church family, we go, oh yeah. Oh yeah, this is what this was supposed to be like. Oh yeah, this is what I've forgotten what it was like to be around church family and actually have people I can talk about real life with. And there's something that the Holy Spirit does in us that draws us into that.
And so they devoted themselves to fellowship. Which, isn't that just great though? Like if the Holy Spirit is going to do something in us, isn't it great that he draws us in to be around each other? A bunch of sinful people who know Jesus. And so like, you know I'm going to be sinful. You don't expect amazing things out of me.
And I don't expect amazing things out of you. We expect amazing things out of Jesus. And it's just a group of people to be in life with and be friends with. Like I'm just excited that that's what the Holy Spirit does. So the Holy Spirit draws us into fellowship.
And the Apostle, it so says, That is not what the breaking of bread means. It kind of means two things. And it happens in the context of fellowship. And we'll see it later. It says from house to house they were breaking bread in their homes. What it means is they were devoted to Jesus' presence.
They were devoted to the presence of Jesus. It's an active, intentional process of taking communion together. So they shared meals. Communion meals were meals. They shared meals. We see later in the book of something that Paul wrote that slips my mind now.
I think it's Corinthians. He fusses at them for some of them eating too much. And some of them not having any when they finally show up. And some people drinking enough to be drunk. And so like it's an actual meal that would have taken a while. And they would share meals together with the intense purpose of gathering around the gospel.
So Jesus on the last night before he was crucified said, This is my body. He took bread. He said, This is my body broken for you. And this is the blood of the new covenant which I pour out on your behalf. And so when it says that they were devoted to the breaking of bread, what it means is they were devoted to actively participating in the gospel together. That they intentionally gathered around the gospel.
They intentionally actively sought the presence of Jesus in their fellowship. So like sometimes my community group will get together and we say we're going to gospel each other. Which just means tell us what's going on in your life. And let's remind each other of how the gospel applies to that. Tell us what's going on in your life. And let's remind each other of how Jesus is at work in that.
And how he rescues us in that. And how the gospel works in that. And it can be really awkward sometimes. But it's just us saying we're intentionally going to press into the gospel. We're intentionally going to be centered around the gospel. And that's what happened.
They automatically became gospel centered people. They automatically began to devote themselves to the presence of Jesus. And so that these communities that gathered in homes were around the gospel. Their intense purpose was their intentional purposeful approach to walking. And what it looked like to have the gospel effect who they were. So they devoted themselves to the presence of Jesus.
And the prayers. Which just makes sense. They devoted themselves to prayer. That as the Holy Spirit works in us he draws us towards God. Because prayer is a couple things for believers. It's asking God to work.
To move. So as Christians what we believe is that we didn't fix this on our own. That we didn't rescue ourselves. But that Jesus did. That we needed help. We needed something outside of us to rescue us.
That's why we fill ourselves up with the Bible. Because it's not about finding our inner person who's wonderful. Like that's not what we're shooting for as Christians. I can tell you pretty clearly my inner person is not wonderful. So like y'all don't want to meet more of him.
You want more of the Bible filling me up. And we want more of the Holy Spirit working and moving. And so prayer is just us saying. This isn't up to us. This isn't about us being great. This isn't about us being moral.
This isn't about us being smart. And so we just pray and ask the Holy Spirit to move. Ask God to work. It's just active surrender. And so they devoted themselves to prayer. And all of this kind of happens in the context of community.
In the context of fellowship. They were devoted to each other. Devoted to learning with each other. Devoted to praying with each other. And devoted to intentionally building themselves around the presence of Jesus. And the gospel work in their life.
And that's what the Holy Spirit did in them. That's how the Holy Spirit began to work in them. And so the response again isn't. Cool. I'll do those four things. The response is the Holy Spirit does this in us.
And so if you don't have a desire for that. We just repent and become Christians. We place our faith in Jesus. And the Holy Spirit begins to work. So this is what happens.
This is what they began to devote themselves to. This is what begins to take place in a minute. And then it's going to tell us what they looked like. So 43. And all came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And all who believed were together. And had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings. And distributing to the proceeds to all. As any had need. And day by day attending the temple together.
So they got together in large groups. And breaking bread in their homes. So then they gathered in smaller groups. And shared meals together to be intentional about. The gospel taking place in their hearts. And it says this is day by day.
Breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts. Praising God and having favor with all the people. So we're going to stop there. So here's what happens.
It says. They devoted themselves to these four things. And then this is what they look like. They had glad and generous hearts. They were being generous to one another. People were selling stuff that they had.
So that they could give more to other people. People were receiving gladly. So here. When the Holy Spirit moves in. Jesus comes after our passions. He actually begins to change in us what we care about.
What we love. Where our loyalties lie. And so then you have a group of people that become generous. Wait. Wait. Wait.
Wait. The God of heaven stepped out of heaven. So that I could have good things. Like he gave up all good things to suffer on my behalf. And he died in my place. Where I deserve to be punished.
Where I deserve to die. He died in my place. So that I could have life. So that I could have joy. And eventually I could go to heaven. Like I could join him in heaven.
He stepped away from heaven. So that I could have good things. Well suddenly that group of people doesn't hold on to their possessions the same way anymore. It's like oh you need stuff? Yeah. I've got stuff.
Oh you need help with that? I can help with that. Because the God of heaven gave up everything. So that I could have everything. And since I already have everything. Everything I have is his.
And yours. That's what happened. They began to sell their possessions. And give things away. So it's like what I had designed in my brain was heaven.
Where I wanted to live. And how I wanted to design my life. And how I wanted it to look. And the possessions I wanted to have. Heaven isn't the same to me anymore. And so I can give these things up.
To be a part of this community that Jesus has changed. And so it says they were generous. They. Everything they had. They had in common. It was like you need this.
You can have it. It's all of the things I have. Are given to me by Jesus. And then it says that they. Distributing the proceeds to any as all had need. And day by day.
Attending the temple together. And breaking bread in their homes. They received their food. With glad and generous hearts. Not only were they generous in giving. And gracious in giving.
They were generous. And gracious in receiving. And so that's actually another way that the gospel works among this group of people. Among Christians. Is it is. Oh.
Everything I have. Everything I've ever been given. Was given to me by grace. So when someone else gives. I can just receive. Because I know how to receive.
By grace. The gospel has changed my heart to where I can receive. Like have you ever noticed that. That there's something in us. Automatically. That when someone gives us something.
We feel like we owe them. You ever notice that. Like someone serves you. Or does something nice for you. And you feel like they. That you owe them.
So like before. Somebody will give you a birthday gift. And you're like. Oh sweet. A birthday gift. Ah.
Crap. I'm going to have to remember your birthday now. So like people give me stuff. I'm like. Dang it. I am never going to remember your birthday.
So I just like. I'll thank them. And be like. Just so you know. I'm not reciprocating. Unless you remind me.
Like. But there's something in you. That feels that. Like when someone's generous to you. You want to. You want to be generous back.
And you almost feel like you owe a debt now. Because someone was nice. And what it says is. They received. With glad and generous hearts. That the gospel actually moves in.
To make people generous. In giving and receiving. To make people gracious. In giving and receiving. And so that they were able to just. Hey.
Yeah. I actually do need. The whole gospel is predicated on the fact. That we need. That we're broken. That we're busted.
That we fall short. And so it's like. Sometimes in life. It's like. I'm. Not only do I need the gospel.
To change me. And to save me. From my sin. But I actually need help. Paying bills right now. And the gospel is that I fall short.
Not that I'm great. Not that I can prove myself. And so the gospel actually frees me up. To walk through life. And get help. Walk through life.
And receive assistance. And not feel bad about it. Isn't that beautiful? And doesn't that just mess. With your Americanness? Doesn't that kind of annoy you?
It annoys me. It's like. No. No. I need to prove that I'm awesome. It's like.
Well the gospel says you're not. So like. When Jesus died on the cross. He definitively declared. Chet is busted. And he needs my help.
Because if there were some of us. Who were going to work it out. He wouldn't have had to die. Like if there were some of us. Who were just going to be good enough. On our own.
He wouldn't have had to go to the cross. And so when he went to the cross. He declared definitively. For everyone in this room. You need help. You're not going to work it out.
You need Jesus. To step in. On your behalf. And that applies to everything. And so then we actually become generous in giving and receiving. And that's what the church did.
It became a generous people. And it says they were glad. Isn't that great? It doesn't say the Holy Spirit came in. And 3,000 people became believers. And they all got really angry.
And mad about morals. And they gathered together. To fuss at one another. And to hit themselves with whips. And cry. Like that's not what it says.
It says the Holy Spirit moves among the people. And they became generous. And gracious. And happy. And that's cool. That's a beautiful thing to be true.
That that's what the Holy Spirit does. Because it wasn't the apostles training them to do this. It was 3,000 people being changed by the Holy Spirit. To follow him. And that's what he does among us. It was really cool.
Last week. I don't know if y'all have gotten to meet. Some of y'all may have been able to meet Billy Briggs. Who's kind of the facilities guy here. And this place has been really gracious with us. And good with us.
But we were talking to him last week. And it was funny. After we had done everything. We were cleaning up. And then there was just a handful. I mean a decent amount of people just hanging out and talking.
Because we always do that. We hang out in our church family and talk. And have fun together. And that's why we brought the cornhole boards in here. Because it was too hot last week to do them outside. So we want to be able to hang out and be church family when we're done.
And so we were doing that. And he was showing Matt and I like how to not tear things up. And how to get in the doors. And get out of the doors. And how to lock stuff. And he stops at one point and looks at me.
And Matt was over talking to people. And he goes, so you're like actually the pastor. Huh. And I said, I was like, well, yeah, Matt and I are. And he goes, okay. He's like, we didn't know.
Because we'd only ever seen y'all. But we thought maybe the pastor was going to show up later. Like riding in on a golden chariot. And y'all were like his henchmen or like lackeys or something. And I was like, I'm glad I threw off that vibe. That lackey henchman vibe.
And so it was like, yep, no, it's us. So I bet you regret your decision to enter into a deal with us now. Like I don't know what his thought process was. And then he was just talking about it. He goes, and we're sitting there. We were walking up.
And we see everybody just kind of hanging out and talking and laughing. And I mean, it's been, you know, 30, 45 minutes after we were done. And they're hanging out. And he goes, well, I think it was good. I think it was a good space for y'all. And I think they enjoyed stuff.
He's like, they're still here. And I was like, oh, this is what we do. I said, a bunch of us are going to go eat now. That's because we like food and each other. So like that's what we're going to do.
And he said, he said, man, that's great. He said, that's what churches should look like. He said, we've had them before, had to meet here in our facility. And like five minutes afterwards, people are flashing the lights. Like, back it up. This is what he said.
He said, flashing the lights like, hey, our God thing's over. The week's about to start. And I was just like, yeah. And like, you don't realize it. I mean, I get into this and feel like this is what it's supposed to be. And this is what the Holy Spirit does among people.
They become glad and generous and enjoy each other and are devoted to each other. And it's beautiful. And here's what happens. So what we've said is God's given us a mission to see the message move forward, which is that Jesus came and died on our behalf and that we weren't going to earn anything. We weren't going to save ourselves. We weren't going to accomplish this on our own through our good morals or our really smartiness.
It's wasn't going to happen. Our amazing religious ideas weren't going to happen. That Jesus had to step in and rescue us. And so the message that was declared is you're sinful. You killed Jesus. He had to die for you.
And he saves you. So he's Lord and Christ. Like he is the one who's rescued us. This is what Peter stands up and declares. And so we have a mission to move that out everywhere. To declare that message everywhere.
That we need Jesus. That we need Jesus. And then what we see is this is how it's done. When the Holy Spirit moves into a group of people, what we've talked about is what they automatically look like. But what he does is he makes communities of people just like this.
And that's actually how the mission moves forward. That's actually how the message gets spread is that there's communities of people just like this. That actually have the Holy Spirit working in them. 47. Well here we'll start at, we'll read the whole thing. Because reading the Bible is good.
42. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship. To the breaking of bread and prayers. And all came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings. And distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts. Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The way the Holy Spirit works in his people to move the message forward. Is communities of people who are changed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To gather themselves around the gospel. To intentionally practice the presence of Jesus. And to grow. To be in normal everyday life.
It says it was day by day God added to them those who were being saved. Day by day. Day by day. That more and more and more and more and more and more people became Christians. Got around and said no I want to be a part of this. Not only do I hear what you're saying about Jesus.
But I see it. I see generosity. I see graciousness. I see your ability to receive things. And I always feel like I have to prove myself. And I see that you don't feel that.
Why is that? Oh the gospel. I can't prove myself. So it would really be horrible to try to feel like I had to. I'm freed up by Jesus. So there's groups of people that gather around this.
And the communities of people that move this forward. And people get saved. That's how we walk on mission. Is allowing the Holy Spirit to change us. To move in us. And to move among us.
And day by day people become believers. As we devote ourselves. As the church devotes themselves. To growing and understanding what we're called into. Who Jesus is and what he's done. Devote ourselves to each other.
Devote ourselves to intentionally being about the gospel. Practicing the presence of Jesus. And to praying. To asking and begging God to show up. And to do what only he can do. Because it says the Lord added to their number.
At no point is it about how amazing these believers were. And at all points is it about what the Holy Spirit does among a group of people. As he begins to wreck shop and take over their hearts. And that is how God has designed his church to move forward. That's our family history. That's how it got started.
And that's what we get to be in this city. We get to be communities of people intentionally centered around the gospel. Devoted to Jesus and his church. To having the Holy Spirit work in our hearts to change us. That's us. That gets to be us because of the Holy Spirit.
Because of who God is. And it's beautiful. And it's fun. And it's important. To get to invite more people in to what's already been accomplished for us in the cross. Band's going to come back up.
We're going to sing. And then we're going to do this. We're going to be communities of people intentionally centered around the gospel. We're going to gather together in large groups. We're going to meet in homes. Share bread.
Intentionally be about Jesus and what he's done for us. We're going to pray. Because we need Jesus to show up. If those statistics are still true. 48,000 people inside of like a six mile radius. That doesn't include Columbia.
There's like 100,000 people within a five mile radius of the state house that don't know Jesus. We're just talking about the West Columbia area is 48,000. We're not getting into Irmo. We've got a group meeting in Irmo. We didn't even touch people out there with that number. We've been given a mission.
We've been given a message that's actually good news. And we've been given the means by which to do that. The method that God has designed that as communities of people changed by the Holy Spirit. I'm going to pray. We're going to stand up and sing. And then we're going to be the church.
As we respond to who Jesus is. As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. We've got communion set up. And communion is just. So they intentionally gathered together.
And they partook in. They broke bread together. They shared a meal that was an intentional communion meal. To remind themselves of what Jesus had accomplished. And one of the ways that we do that is we have some juice and some bread set up. Which is just to actively remind ourselves of the need for the gospel.
And so as a large group today we're going to do that. We're going to break bread together. In a very simple way. And then when we gather together in our homes. We're going to share meals together. We're intentionally remembering that we need Jesus.
So if you're a believer. And want to partake in communion. Want to remind yourself of your need for the gospel. Want to celebrate and actively participate in the presence of Jesus. We've got that set up at both sides of the room. If you're sitting here and you thought.
I don't really have a desire to be devoted to any of those things. Then the response isn't work really hard. And you can earn it. The response is realize that you need Jesus. That he actively works in our hearts. That he wants to change us.
And that's what happens among believers. We get to repent. We get to place our faith in Jesus. And he does this in us. God we thank you. For your grace.
And God we ask. As right now the believers in this room. As we devote ourselves to prayer. As we do what we do all the time. Where we pray together. God we ask that your Holy Spirit would.
Empower this in our souls. That your Holy Spirit would work in our hearts. To change us. To make us more. Like you. That you would help us be devoted to these things.
We praise you for your grace. And your love. In Jesus name. Amen.
The Mission
Transcript
It's basically we're going to take the next three weeks to look at some family history. We're going to look at how the church began, how the church got started, and we're just going to kind of investigate what that means for us. As far as we're a church plant, we've started meeting as one community group last March. We started meeting all together. We'd get together on Sundays. We started that last October, so we hadn't even been doing that for a year, and that was when we multiplied out to four community groups.
And so we're just kind of in the process of getting started and seeing what it looks like for us to follow Jesus in this city and what it looks like for us to be church family here and to plant a church. And so what we're kind of looking at is if we're doing this, if we're going to spend time, effort, we're going to sacrifice to start a church in this area, why? Why would we do that? Why is that important? And let's look back at what the original church did, the first church as it walked from what Jesus did on the cross and as he sent them out, what did they do? What did that look like?
And so we're just going to take three weeks to look at how the church began and what it looked like and what that means for us, how we then looking at some family history, at how the church originally began, how do we then apply that, how do we walk that out now and here. And so that's what we're going to be doing. Very excited to be able to do that. We're going to be in Acts chapter 1, and so we'll be in Acts chapter 1 and Acts chapter 2 for the next three weeks. One of the things that has puzzled historians as they've looked at the beginning of Christianity is just how quickly it grew. So historians who follow movements and look at how things progressed through history, they look at the early church and look at Christianity when it got inaugurated, and there's a little bit of confusion about how quickly it grew.
So Jesus would have been born right around A.D. 0. That calculation is kind of off, so he was within about three years of that, of A.D. 0. He would have been crucified on A.D. 30 or A.D.
33, Given Passover falling on a Friday. So A.D. 30, A.D. 33, right around in there he was crucified. He was in the grave for three days, came back on Sunday, back alive, was with his disciples for about 40 days, and then Pentecost happens 50 days after the crucifixion, after Passover, and that's when the Holy Spirit falls and the church officially kind of begins. And so then what happens, so that's in A.D.
30, A.D. 33. By the end of the first century, by A.D. 100, they went from about 120 Christians, and that's what Acts 1 says, there's about 120 of them who still said, no, we're going to follow Jesus, to about a million. That's an estimate, but over the course of about 70 years inside the Roman Empire, Christianity went from about 120 to a million. That is insane growth.
And that's why historians will look at the early church and say, I don't quite know why this happened. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And it didn't make a whole lot of sense because Christianity wasn't a very smart thing to join. It wasn't a good financial decision. Most people who became Christians ended up losing wealth and power. It wasn't a good political decision.
You were most likely going to be ostracized if not persecuted. And so the early church, a lot of them are killed. Romans ended up lighting their streets with Christians at different times, using them as street lamps, using them during the games to be attacked by tigers, and that sort of thing fed to lions. And it just wasn't a good move. There are only a few things historians will look back at early Christianity and say that they kind of had because it wasn't a good financial decision, wasn't a good political decision, wasn't a good power move. Like in the South, you kind of have to.
And in the United States up until recently and even still now, you kind of have to say, I'm a Christian. I believe these sort of things for the most part for political power. It helps you. It didn't help you at all. It was not a good move. So a couple of things they had was the way they treated the poor.
One of the Caesars said that Christians not only take care of their own poor, but they take care of ours as well. So they did treat the poor. They were the first diverse groups in history. So the first groups to have ethnic diversity, to have racial diversity, ethnic diversity, socioeconomic diversity, to have men and women serving and working alongside of each other. In history. So they had mass appeal, but you had to get over your own preconceived notions about how amazing your race and gender were before you could even hop in with Christianity.
So that's kind of helpful, but also not because everybody had to get over their own prejudices to even be a part of it. But really, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Christianity to grow the way it does, or the way it did. There's a... Kenneth Scott Latourette is a professor at Yale, and he says this. He says, So he says, So he says, So Christianity explodes. And this historian from Yale says, Is that something supernatural happened.
And so what we're going to do for the next three weeks is we're going to look at this explosion, and we're going to look at what it looks like for us to be a part of the same mission, the same history, the same family line. So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to hop into Acts chapter 1. God, I just thank you that we get to be a part of something that you began over 2,000 years ago, that you inaugurated your church, that you gathered a people for your name and for your glory to be a part of your mission. And so, God, I just pray that we would honor you as we join in that in West Columbia, South Carolina, as we join in what it looks like to follow you in your mission.
Give us wisdom. Speak to us tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Acts 1, 1 through 11, we're just going to walk through this passage. It's on page 591 if you've got one of the Bibles in the chairs.
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. Okay. The first book that he's referring to is the book of Luke. So this is Luke who's writing this. He was a physician, so became a Christian later in life, was relatively wealthy, prominent. Was a physician.
He was a traveling companion of Paul. And so that even in the book of Acts, at certain times when he's talking about what Paul was doing, he says, we. So he'll be like, we were shipwrecked. We got stuck on an island because he was with Paul. So he traveled around with Paul.
Theophilus, who he's writing to both in Acts and Luke, seems to be a prominent maybe political figure because he calls him excellent Theophilus at the beginning of Luke. And so basically what Luke says in the Gospel of Luke is, I'm writing you an orderly account. I've gone around. I've done some research. And I'm going to give you an orderly account so that the things you've been told about Jesus, you can actually know are true. I'm doing some investigative reporting.
And I'm going to give you that. And so then he writes him a second book. He says, in the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit. And so what he's saying is, I'm starting a new book to tell you more things, but this is what I told you in the first book. I want to point something out to us, though. He says, all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit.
So Jesus gave commands through the Holy Spirit, that Jesus operated as led by the Holy Spirit. So quick theological recap for us. God exists eternally coexistent as one God in three persons. I'll say that again because it doesn't make any sense, but it's biblically true. God exists eternally as one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So as Christians, we believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
They are Trinity, but they are one God together, co-eternal, co-existent, co-equal, but they operate in different capacities as God. And so God the Father is in heaven. God the Son comes to earth, lives on earth as a human, and is empowered for what he does as a human through the power of the Holy Spirit. So that Luke is going to tell us over and over again that he was empowered by the Holy Spirit, that he was led by the Holy Spirit. And so Jesus actually shows us what it looks like for a human to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so that's important because Jesus is actually going to say to his disciples in John, it's better for you that I leave because if I leave, I'll send you the Holy Spirit.
What that means is if Jesus wanted to join our church plant, we should tell him no. Now that just seems wrong, right? That's what he tells the disciples. He says it's better for me to leave because then I'll send you the Holy Spirit. We're better off as his church to be believers filled with the Holy Spirit than to be just people following Jesus and Jesus be a part of us. So if he came to Matt and I and said, hey, I'm going to start coming to your elder meetings, but y'all don't get to be led by the Holy Spirit anymore, but I, Jesus, will be a part of your elder team, we should say no.
Now you'd want to fire us, but biblically we're right. So what he says is, we see that Jesus is empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, and then he says he's going to send the Holy Spirit. So after he'd given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he presented himself alive to them after his suffering. So after he had been nailed to a cross, after he had been beaten, nailed to a cross, after he had died, been laid in a grave, he presents himself alive to them. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
So Jesus dies and then presents himself alive and hangs out with the disciples for 40 days. And it says he did many proofs. So he ate with them. Here in Acts it says he stayed with them. So he was around, he talked with them, he let Thomas feel his scars in his hands and his side.
He proved that he was alive and he was with them for 40 days, teaching them about the kingdom, helping them understand what he had come to accomplish, what he had done on the cross. So Jesus presents himself alive, verse four, while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you heard from me for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
All right, I just want to stop us there for a second. He's with the disciples. He's talking with them and they say, all right, are you going to set up your kingdom now? And I love his response. You don't get to know when I'm going to do that, but I have a mission for you. That's what he says.
So you don't get to know. That's not for you to know, but I have a mission for you. So just, just to help us out, just so y'all know, anybody who comes along and tells you that they know when Jesus is coming back does not. They don't get to know. We don't get to know. We're never going to get together and have a big chart with a really sweet dragon drawn on it to talk about all the things that have lined up with what's happened, what Ezekiel said in the 70 weeks in Daniel.
And so obviously on June the 21st, because we did Bible math, Jesus is coming back. We're not going to do that. Even if it's a really sweet picture of a dragon, we're not going to do it because we don't get to know. So what he says to him is you don't get to know, but I have something for you to do, but you have a mission. And so we're in the same place with the disciples that Jesus hasn't returned yet. He's going to, but we have something to do.
We have a mission to be a part of. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. First of all, Christians, we receive power from the Holy Spirit. We are led by the Holy Spirit. So it's to the point that Jesus says, don't, don't go do anything else until the Holy Spirit comes.
Now, depending on what kind of background you have, kind of the options are you come from maybe a church background where you're, you're sitting here going, finally, it's going to talk about the Holy Spirit. Finally, we're going to get into some of the good stuff. It's possible that you're in here from a church background and you're going, this is about to get weird. We're talking about the Holy Spirit. Things are going to get, going to get odd. I'm not quite ready for this.
Some of you are thinking, man, I can't believe I forgot my tambourine. Others of you are thinking, I hope nobody pops out with a tambourine. Like that's, that's kind of the, where we could be as far as when it comes to how we've grown up and understood the active role of the Holy Spirit. Some of you maybe have no clue what I'm talking about. Good. You get to be pretty neutral.
You get to just approach this in a good, helpful way. All I want to say is, and we're going to get to talk more about the Holy Spirit next week as we look at Pentecost. What I want to say is we are not afraid of the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to be actively involved in what we're called to do. That the Holy Spirit of the living God gives believers power to be witnesses to Jesus. And we're going to talk more about what that looks like.
We're not afraid of the Holy Spirit. We want the Holy Spirit. I know that the Holy Spirit does what he wants to. Jesus says he's like a wind that blows where he wants. You don't know where he's coming, when he's coming, where he's going. And I realize that freaks us out.
And we'd rather just open the Bible and have a passage and be really safe. We don't get to do that. We, we, we do believe in the Holy Spirit and he does do what he wants. And he does move in power for gifts and for miracles. We believe all of that. And we'll talk more specifically about some of that next week.
But it's not something to be afraid of. The Holy Spirit is good. He is God. And we just want to approach it in a helpful way, healthy way. So, but the Holy Spirit, you will receive power when he's come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So witnesses there, he means, well, they're going to testify to who Jesus is, to what he did.
A witness just tells of an event. So if a witness is brought up during a court case, all they're doing is telling you what happened, what they saw, what took place. You see, Christianity, and it's even how he starts. He says, in the first book of Theophilus, I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. Christianity is not a philosophy. It's not a set of teaching that we follow.
It's not a way of life that you can try out. And if you like it, good. If it works for you, good. But if not, try something else. That's not how Christianity works. Christianity is about a person.
It's about Jesus and what he did, what he accomplished on the cross. And so he says, you're going to be my witnesses because all they're going to do is bear witness to what he did, to news. It's not good advice. It's not good philosophy. It's not good teaching. The gospel is good news.
That's what gospel means. It means good news. It's just, we talk about an event that already took place. So it's not about what we do or how, how well we can work it out. He says, you're going to be witnesses. You're just going to tell people what I've already done.
And the truth is, we do this anyway with things that we like. We bear witness to things that we enjoy and appreciate. Just take Clemson and Carolina fans. They will both sit and tell you why you should like one over and against the other. One of them is right. Up top.
But one of them is not. But they have reasons for why LeBron James fans are, obnoxious is the word I was looking for there. Which, just for the record, any LeBron James fans, have you already swapped? Like, did you have to go burn all your heat stuff? Did you pull all your old Cav stuff out? Do they even have the same jersey types that they used to?
Do you have to fill out a form to swap bandwagons like that? Is there any kind of regulation on this? A buddy of mine is a Heat fan, and he loves LeBron James, but he said he's kind of glad that he left because now a lot of fans are leaving with him that were just LeBron James fans and didn't really care about the Heat. But we do this. I met a guy. I was at a party of a friend of mine, and one of his neighbors came over, and he was from Chicago.
And in the middle of a conversation, I was like, oh, you're from Chicago. Hey, nice to meet you. Have you eaten barbecue yet? He was like, yeah, he had gone to Little Pigs, and so I was like, that's a very good representation of barbecue, although I did make sure that he had gotten some mustard-based sauce because that's South Carolina barbecue, and it's like, I don't know, drinking magic. But it was, I mean, we were barely in a conversation.
It was like, oh, hi, nice to meet you. How do you feel about biscuits? Like, I immediately turned it to something that I cared about that I wanted him to be a part of, that I wanted to share with him, and the truth is, when Jesus says to the disciples, you're going to be my witnesses, this wasn't some sort of guilt trip thing. I used to grow up in church and felt like I was supposed to tell people about Jesus, but I always felt really guilty about it. I felt like I had to, or I was bad or wrong, and I had to come up with some really good ways to do it, or learn some kind of canned presentations, and to be able to talk to people about Jesus, and so when he says this to the disciples, this wasn't weird for them.
They were, yes, absolutely. You couldn't get us to shut up if you wanted to. We're going to tell people. So when he says you'll be my witnesses, what he's telling his followers is, the mission that I'm giving you is to declare what I've already accomplished, to tell people this good news, and they wanted to. One of the best ways I can describe this is, if you almost get a ticket, like if you almost get a speeding ticket, that actually makes your day better. Like if you're just riding, you just ride home, and you just make it home, that's nice.
If you're riding home, and you should have gotten a speeding ticket, and you don't, that's better. Like it just feels better. You feel good. Like you call people after almost getting a speeding ticket. Like you will call people up on the phone, like you won't believe what just happened. What?
I was doing 75 in a school zone. Got pulled over, got a warning. Like you, you do this. And my brother called me up the other day and said, hey, I just blew through a red light, made eye contact with a cop, who was stopped on the other side, and he didn't pull me over. Like he just called to tell me, that he should have, I think gone to jail. Like I, but he didn't.
And the truth is, that's the way I feel, about what Jesus has done for me. Like I want to share this with people. I deserve hell. I've rebelled consistently throughout my life against a holy God, willfully rebelled. And he should have destroyed me, but he didn't. He chose to come and live a perfect life and be destroyed on my behalf so that I can receive grace, unmerited grace, that affects everything for me, that changes everything for how I live and how my relationships get to work and how I get to walk through life without guilt or fear.
And I get to have joy and peace because of what Jesus has done. So when he tells the disciples, you're going to be my witnesses, they're saying, yes, absolutely we're going to be your witnesses. Absolutely we're going to tell people about what you've accomplished. You see, when they ask him, are you at this time going to set up your kingdom? See, beforehand, I say that in verse 6. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
When he was, before he died, they understood that he was going to set up a kingdom and they were going to have a, that Israel was going to be at peace because they were going to have a new king. And the Old Testament says that. What they didn't understand was they were still thinking that it had to do with their ability to earn it, with their ability to be on the right team, to do well enough, to follow the right person, to earn it. And they have these discussions with him all the time and he keeps telling them, it's not, it doesn't work in the same way as the stuff you're used to. And so after he died, they understood that he had to die for their sin.
They understood at this point that if God is going to set up a peaceful reign and get rid of all that causes problems, he's going to have to get rid of all humans because we cause problems. They understood that, that what messes up everything we get involved in is us. And so what they were asking him was, now that you've taken care of sin, because when he died for sin, he made it to where he could return, destroy evil, and not have to destroy us. So the disciples understood that. You've paid for our sins so you don't have to destroy us now when you destroy evil because our evil has already been destroyed on you.
Does that make sense? So when they're asking him that, they're saying, are you going to do this now? Is it going to be the 120 of us who aren't destroyed for rebellion? And what he says is beautiful. No. There's going to be a lot more of you.
There's going to be a lot more people that get invited into what I've accomplished on the cross. You're going to bear witness to the fact that I've already paid for sin and that they can have forgiveness and be reconciled to God through me. And so that's what the mission is, that we would see more and more and more people meet Jesus. That's what we want. If you're a Christian, you want everyone you know to meet Jesus. That's just how that works.
If you're in here and you don't know Jesus, I'm going to be very upfront with you. I want you to meet Jesus. I want you to repent of your sin. I want you to know Jesus. We've gotten in our mind today, culturally, that that's bad for us to want other people to believe things that we believe. As a Christian, it's not.
Because what I believe is that you have hope because someone else did good work on your behalf. And you have peace because someone else paid for your sin, your rebellion, your brokenness, and that someone loves you enough to rescue you. I want everybody to know that. I had a buddy of mine at work. I was talking to him and he found out I was a Christian. He said, oh, so I bet you want me to become a Christian.
And he said it like I think he was used to people calming down when he said that, like Christians being like, well, no, you can believe whatever you want to. And I said, yeah, I think that'd be great. I think it'd be great if you became a Christian and realized that Jesus is God and that he offers you hope and life and joy and rest in him. I think that'd be wonderful. And then I just like made awkward eye contact with him for a long time until he was just like, well, I just, okay. I don't know.
But it's true. That's what he says. So when Jesus says this, he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. See, they already had gods that they worshiped in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. But Jesus says, no, you're going to go declare who I am and what I've done.
We're not going to get together and talk about whether or not that's a tolerant. You're going to go tell people about me. And they said, yes. Just to point out what he's saying here, when he says Jerusalem, they were from Galilee. They were kind of up above Jerusalem and it was kind of like a redneck version of things so that Jerusalem was the city. But if you were from Galilee, they could pick up on your accent.
And so I had a teacher one time when I was coming through school, she went to New York and she said she was trying to shop and all the workers kept doing was going and getting more workers to make her repeat her questions because they thought she talked so ridiculously. And so that's kind of what Galileans were. You were in Jerusalem and you sounded ridiculous. Jerusalem also was not a happy place for the disciples at this point. Jerusalem is where Jesus had just been murdered. Before they went to Jerusalem, people had tried to stone them.
They had escaped. It said Jesus eluded them and they got away. I don't know. It's like swim moves. Pushed a guy. I don't know how that worked but he eluded them and got away.
Then Jesus says, okay, we're going back to Jerusalem and Thomas who gets a bad rap for doubting but Thomas says, well, let's go die with him. He looks at all the other disciples and says, if he's going to Jerusalem, let's go die with him. And so they understood what was going to happen when they went to Jerusalem. And Jesus died but the rest of the disciples didn't although some of them were going to soon. And so when he says go back to Jerusalem, it's not an easy place for them to go back to. But he says, wait, the Holy Spirit's going to give you power and you're going to be witnesses here.
He says, Jerusalem, all Judea, so it starts locally, starts where they are, then it spreads out all Judea and then to Samaria. Samaria were people they didn't like. So he says, you know all the people you have prejudice against? Yeah, you're going to go tell them about me as well and invite them in to the point that when Samaritans became Christians, some of the apostles went to make sure it was legit. They were like, we're not so sure they can actually become Christians and they showed up and we're like, oh, okay. Seems like it's the same thing for us.
Okay. And then to the ends of the earth. So it's going to start locally and it's going to continue to spread and spread and spread and move and move. Christianity is a movement and movements move. And so Jesus tells them, I want you to stay where you are until the Holy Spirit gives you power and then you're going to be witnesses everywhere. God has you where you live and work for a reason.
He's in control and knows where we are and the Bible says he set our boundaries. It says that in the book of Acts. He has us where we are for a reason for us to be witnesses. We're in the same mission that they're in. We're called to the same task that they're called to, to be witnesses until Jesus comes back, to declare that the gospel is true until Jesus comes back. And it continues to work itself out.
So as a church, we've pretty much just been in this area. We hadn't done any national mission trip stuff. We hadn't done any international stuff, although we are in some conversations with some people in Madagascar to try to figure out what it would look like for us to maybe support them, help them, at least be praying for them, just trying to talk with them. I don't get to talk to them much because I think they have to walk a couple days to the internet. But I was talking to somebody and he said that they were trying to get a group to go there, but to go partner with them, but it takes like four days just to get to where they are because it's like an airplane ride, a train ride, a bus ride, a canoe, and then you like climb a mountain.
And so I was like, well, I can't say much about our church plant right now, but I know we have people that will travel four days just to go somewhere. We got people in our church that do that kind of thing for fun. What did you do this weekend? Climb the mountain. Why? So I was like, we got people who would be willing to do that.
So we started that conversation with them and that's because we believe that we're supposed to be a part of this, that we're in this same mission to see locally people meet Jesus. That's why we've got, we're praying over four different areas in our city right now. We're looking at what it would look like for a group to kind of adopt University of South Carolina and just start trying to love those guys there. People start playing games with them, start trying to build with people there. We're looking at Midlands Tech, what it would look like for us to start building with them. We're looking at area in West Columbia, colloquially known as West Hell.
What it would look like for us to start partnering with them, start loving them. We're looking at Glen Forest, what it looks like for us to start because we believe that we're supposed to be witnesses here, that we're supposed to be like Jesus where it says that he, what all he began to do and teach, that we're supposed to be the same, that our lives bear witness to the gospel and that we with our mouths bear witness to the gospel. And so the disciples were called into a very big mission. Jesus looks at his apostles and says, you're going to proclaim this in the place that just killed me and all the places around it.
Then you're going to go to a place that you have prejudices against and then you're going to take this to the rest of the world. That's a big mission. But he says, you're going to be empowered by the spirit of the living God to do this, which is really good news for us as Christians who think I'm inadequate to accomplish this. yes, but God is not and we're invited to be led by him and to be a part of what he's doing. So it says this, when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. Okay, that just got weird. he's talking to them and then he just, he just, he just takes off and floats up.
Like, I always imagined, like, it's called the ascension, so people talk about the ascension. I always imagined that it was slow, like, just in my brain when I was younger. But it says a cloud hit him from sight, so if it was slow, that would have taken forever. Like, he's just slowly floating, bye, bye. Bye. Like, it took a really long time.
At some point, it would have been like, I honestly don't think that's what happened. I think he was talking to them and then it was just, you don't get to know when the kingdom's coming back, but here's what's going to happen. Stay here until the Holy Spirit comes. He'd already told him, when I leave, you're better off because I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, stay here until the Holy Spirit comes, and you've got a mission to see the rest of the world come to know what I've accomplished in the gospel. And then I think he just, took off. More like the guy from Matrix or Hitch or something where it was like sand blew in their faces and he was just gone.
And then they said a cloud hit him. So he just took off, which means that Jesus bodily ascended. He didn't spirit float away. He bodily ascended and he is at the right hand of God bodily now. So he ascends and it says that they're looking up into heaven and that would have freaked us out.
Like I imagine it says that a cloud hid them. When he had said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, so I imagine they're still just looking. And I think the only thing you could do is like look and then try to make eye contact with someone else like, did that really just happen? To see if everybody else was looking and be like, okay, I'm not the only one who saw that, all right. And so it says this, while they were, when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes. These are most likely angels, but two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. So Jesus says, it's not for you to know when the kingdom's coming and I've got a mission for you. And then he takes off and they're staring into heaven. And these two, it says men, but there was men in white robes, probably angels said, hey, hey guys, I imagine they were just staring for a while.
Like the angels are standing there like, didn't he tell them to go do stuff? Like, what are they doing? And I was just like this, it's like, should we help them out? Hey guys, hey, hey, look here, look here, eyes down. He's going to come back. Until then, you've got something to do.
And we're in the same spot that they're in. Our goal when we get together is not to just huddle up and stare up into heaven waiting for Jesus to return. That is not the posture of the church. Never has been, never will be. Our goal is not to build little Christian ghettos where our kids only learn Christian things and we only have Christian friends and we're only around Christian schools with a Christian government and Christian military walls that keep all the bad people out. It's not what the Christianity is designed for.
What he says is you're going to go to a place that hates you and that just killed me and some of you are going to die there. And then you're going to spread this all through Judea and some of you are going to die there. You're going to go to Samaria and you're going to take this to the ends of the earth. We're to go. We're to go. And that response to Jesus is yes.
It's always yes. None of the disciples looked at Jesus. You don't look at Jesus and say, I was kind of hoping for something like light. Maybe like easier. You don't look at the God of the universe who just came off of a cross and walked out of a tomb and tell him you want something light and easy. That's not how the mission works.
And so we as the church are commissioned to spread the gospel everywhere. And it's good news of the radical love and joy and peace offered to us through Jesus who paid for our sin, paid our debt so that we can have life and hope in him. And we're to spread that everywhere. And the answer to Jesus is yes. Whatever it is, yes. Whatever you want me to do, yes.
You've rescued me, you've redeemed me, I'm a part of your church, and yes. Nothing you ask of me is too big. If Christianity was based off of our ability to do things, our good work and our hard effort, at some point Jesus could ask too much of you. At some point, so if it's about how hard you work, at some point he's asking too much. But since Christianity is pure grace, that we've been redeemed and bought back, no effort of our own, no merit of our own, Jesus can never ask too much.
And the answer is always yes. So that's why Christians historically have done bizarre things. That's why they'll pack up, move to another country where it's dangerous. where they can't even tell people they're Christian because they're going to be killed and they have to build relationships with people and help people know the gospel. That's why Christians during plagues would head back into the city because there were people dying that needed to know the gospel and we've already been given life through Jesus. And so Christians, instead of fleeing plagues, would head back in and would be the nurses in the hospital.
Some of the first hospitals were started by Christians because they weren't afraid of getting sick. But they know that we've been called to minister to those who are dying and those are sick and those who are broken because we were dying sick and broken and Jesus came for us. That's why somebody goes to school and then heads off to rural podunk nowhere USA to be a pastor to 20 people. Because when Jesus calls, the answer is yes. Whether that lifts you up, makes people know your name. Do you know how many pastors are in the U.S. that no one's ever going to know their name?
Never going to live out the American dream of being famous. And they're being faithful to what Jesus has called them to. That's why we're called to live as everyday missionaries to our city. Your job is not just a job. You've been called into a mission that has eternal impact for you to be praying for your coworkers, for you to be following the Holy Spirit and what it looks like for people to meet Jesus in this city. I heard a pastor say that a good way to know whether or not you're following the Holy Spirit is if all of your prayers from last week were answered, how much would that have just benefited you and how many more people would be in the kingdom because of it?
That we pray as if the mission is somehow about our own comfort and not about more people being invited into what Jesus has already accomplished. The answer to Jesus is yes. That's why we as a church are, honestly it's why we're moving to Glen Forest because we think it's a better opportunity for us to be on mission in our city and we're always going to look and try to make decisions based off of mission. So yeah, we're going to have to get up early. Load-in is going to be harder and early. So like when we roll things in and set stuff up and put it down, it's going to be with a bunch of whole bunch of grumpy people at like seven o'clock in the morning.
And we're going to do that because we have more space for people to meet Jesus, more space for us to get together and bear witness and because we have the whole rest of the day to try to build relationships with our neighbors and our friends and our people in our city. For us to go to parties that our co-workers invite us to. For us to watch football and invite friends over and watch football. Because we're going to try to figure out what's the best way for us to be on mission in the city. That's why we carve out time during our weeks to hang out with our community groups. Because we think that's our best opportunity for mission to invite people to walk in normal everyday life.
We're just trying to figure out what it looks like to be on this mission that Jesus has called us into. See when Jesus calls us the answer is yes. I love this. I'm going to read you about a guy named John Patton. He was a missionary. They found a string of islands in 18 something and some people went as missionaries to that string of islands and they were there for about I think two weeks and then the inhabitants killed them and ate them.
So missionaries found string islands that we need to go there are people there we need to go tell them about Jesus. They were there for about two weeks before cannibals killed and ate them. So a guy named John Patton started feeling like God was calling him to go back to that island. It had been about 19 years since the last people went who were killed and eaten. And so when he was talking to his church family about it one of the elders said his name is Mr. Dixon.
He says the cannibals you will be eaten by cannibals. So when he says I feel called to this island to go tell them about Jesus that guy says cannibals are going to eat you. That's what happens on those islands. And in a letter he wrote back to this this elder John Patton wrote this Mr. Dixon you are advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus it will make no difference to me whether I'm eaten by cannibals or by worms.
And in the great day my resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. He and his wife went he had to talk to her dad about the fact that he may never see her again. He and his wife went and within a couple of weeks she and his baby died and he was there by himself. eventually that entire island met Jesus. But even if it didn't we have a mission and we have a God who's powerful and who's capable and who's good and in the cross prove that he's good and he's for our good and it doesn't matter what he asks from us. The answer is yes. It doesn't matter what the sacrifice is.
It doesn't matter what it does to our budget. The answer is yes. It doesn't matter what it does to our schedule and our time. The answer is yes. I get frustrated when my Christianity starts cutting into my budget and my time. And I have to repent constantly because when it comes to following Jesus the answer is yes.
Whatever the mission whatever the task whatever the call the answer is yes. And so some people in this room you may be supposed to go to another country where you can't tell people you're a Christian where we can't tell people what country you're in. And for some of us in this room it just means that we need to realize that when we go to work tomorrow we're not just punching the clock. We're bearing witness right where we are to who Jesus is and what he's done for us. That every day we're called into this mission. And for us as a church it means that everything we do is about this mission.
To be Jesus' people on his mission to see more people meet Jesus. Whatever that looks like and whatever that takes. Next week we're going to talk about how the Holy Spirit empowers us to do that and then two weeks from now we're going to talk about what that actually looks like practically. The means by which we move the mission forward. But we have a mission and for us as a church and for us as individuals the answer to Jesus is yes and we join him in what it looks like to bear witness to him wherever we are.
And we'll pray. Band's going to come back up and we're going to sing. God we thank you that you have rescued us. that we have hope and joy and rest in you that our standing before you isn't based off of our ability to be good witnesses. It's not based off of our ability to accomplish your mission that you accomplished everything for us in the cross and that you through your Holy Spirit empower us for mission. That we just get to join you in what you're doing. But God I pray that you would lead us to repentance in areas where we're fighting against following you in mission.
That God we wouldn't think it's okay to say we're followers and not follow. That we wouldn't think it's okay to say that you're our God and you're our Lord and not submit to you when you call us into what it looks like to follow you. God move among us empower us by your Holy Spirit to be witnesses in the city and may we say many many more people come to know that you are God and that you have life and joy and hope and peace and rest for them. We love you. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Missional Community
Colossians 4:1-18
Transcript
All right, well, again, I'm glad you guys are with us for tonight because we're actually coming to the close of our summer-long series, Colossians. It's all about Jesus. And it has just been so good for us to walk through this as a church family. And if you're adding up, we've covered Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3. And so tonight we're actually going to be looking at all of Chapter 4. So if you've got your Bibles, go ahead and grab them.
We've got much ground to cover tonight. If you don't have a Bible, if you just look kind of in between the seats, we've got some of our blue and white Bibles for you. If you don't have a Bible, we'd love for you to have that one. Take that one. That's our gift to you. And church family, if you know someone who doesn't have a Bible and you'd like to take one to them, please, that's what those are for as well.
Okay, so again, we've got much ground to cover tonight. But it has been so good, so good for us to walk through this letter as a church family over the summer. Wouldn't you guys agree? It's been good just for us to study this because Paul is writing this letter to a relatively young church and a relatively healthy church. And so it's been great to walk through because he's legitimately pointing them to the fact that it's all about Jesus and how that plays out in their personal faith and in their relationships. And so for us as a young, healthy church, we've been able to look at that and see how can we continue to grow and continue to move forward.
And we've gotten to grow in a couple of different ways. First of all, we've been able to grow in our understanding of the gospel. So if you think back over the last, over the first chapter and the second chapter, we see beautiful language where Paul basically makes us drink from a fire hydrant in terms of trying to understand about Jesus. He's going to use beautiful language like Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He's the creator of all things. He's the son of God.
He's going to talk about what Jesus does, that he reconciles all things to himself, making peace by the blood of his cross. And in light of that, the gospel being who Jesus is and what he's done, what does that mean for us? Paul's going to write and say that we were a people who were alienated, hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. We're incapable of fixing that relationship on our own. But based off of what Jesus has done on our behalf, it's going to use language like redeemed, transferred into the kingdom of his beloved son, qualified, forgiven.
And so we've been able to walk through that and grow in our understanding of the gospel. And over the last four weeks, what we've done is we've transitioned a little bit. And we've moved from this vertical idea of focusing on Jesus. And in light of that, in light of who we are, we've transitioned and started to look at, okay, in light of that, how am I supposed to live? So in light of who I am in Jesus, how am I supposed to live?
And basically we've seen the way that our faith impacts relationships. Paul's going to say things like seek things that are above, put to death sinful practices. He's going to talk about the things that we should put on, characteristics, marks of a Christian should be that we love one another, that we forgive one another, we bear with one another, patience with one another, that we should be open and honest with one another. We should encourage each other with the word of God. We should let the word of God dwell richly in us. And this past week, what we looked at is how the gospel impacts some of our most important relationships.
We talked about husbands and wives. We talked about parents and children. And we talked about masters and bond servants, whereas the way we looked at it, we looked at employers and employees. And so what we're going to see in chapter four is that Paul ends this letter with a resounding call. And what we're going to see is that churches that are focused on the gospel and are living that out in community, the natural outflow of that is going to be mission. And that's what we're going to be talking about tonight.
We're going to be talking about mission. And so I'm really excited about it. We've got a lot of ground to cover. And so before we jump into the scripture, I'd like to pray for us. You guys join me. Let's pray.
God, thank you for inviting us into what you're doing. Thank you for bringing us into a relationship with you, for bringing us into a church family, into a community of believers. God, my prayer is tonight that you would teach us what it looks like to be a part of your mission, to live on mission. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so if you've got your Bibles, we're going to be in Colossians chapter four, beginning in verse two. And if you've got the blue and white ones, it's actually going to be page 639.
Here we go, 4-2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. And again, we're going to start with the first couple of verses, so read it with me again.
Verse two, verse two and three. Once again, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison. I love this. I really do. All throughout the letter that Paul is writing to the church at Colossae, he is talking about prayer.
From the very beginning to the very end, he's encouraging them in what it looks like to pray. And he's encouraging them to be steadfast in prayer, and he's saying, pray for us. Now remember, Paul's currently in prison, and his prayer is not, Lord, help me get out of jail. What is he praying? Look at it again. He says, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ, to declare the gospel to those that are in.
I love that. Chapters one and two, we're going to use language where Paul says things like, I struggle and I labor in prayer. We're going to see that even later in this chapter. And every time I get there, it just strikes me. And I have to stop and think, man, when was the last time I struggled and labored for something in prayer? What about you?
And that just strikes me as odd, because I know that Paul and Epaphras and others that we're going to see later are in jail. And I'd be praying to get out of jail, but they're not. And the reason that they're not is they've realized that they get to still be part of the mission right where they are. They're not praying to get out of jail. They're praying that they would make the most of the opportunity that they have in jail to share the gospel. Because Paul, Epaphras, and some of these guys realize something that's hugely important for us as a church.
And I want us to grasp this. What we see in Matthew 16, Jesus says that he's going to build his church. And then he gives his mission to his church. And we're going to see that Jesus is going to send his Holy Spirit on the church to bring about repentance, to bring about change. And I'm going to use that word a lot tonight, so I want to make sure we unpack it. Repentance is realizing that we have sin.
It's confessing our sin, believing that Jesus can forgive it, and turning away from it. That is active repentance. So the Holy Spirit bringing about repentance. Paul realizes that he gets to be a part of the mission still. And he's asking for opportunities because he realizes that it's not about him. It's not his job to save people.
He just gets to be obedient. That's why he's praying for opportunities. And so Paul is pouring himself out for the gospel and for the mission. And since mission is what we're looking at tonight, I want us to have a good working definition of mission. I want us to really understand what it means. So think about it like this.
Paul is going to say in Colossians that it's all about Jesus. Everything. All of life is all about Jesus. It's all about the gospel. It's all about the Son of God who stepped out of heaven, who died on the cross for our sins, who was risen from the grave and gives his mission to his church. It's going to be all about the gospel.
And he gives the mission. Here's the mission. We see it in Matthew 28. He says, go and make disciples. So it's cool.
He looks at his disciples and he goes, go and make more. Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. So what we see is the mission is the people of God sharing the gospel in relationship with each other to make more disciples. It's relational. It's relational. It's disciples living in relationship with each other in community, going out and making more disciples.
So with that in mind, let's keep moving. Check out verse 4. And I'll tag it with a little bit of 3. That God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. Okay. So what we're talking about is making disciples.
We're talking about sharing our faith, sharing the gospel. And for some reason, when we start talking about this in church, all of us begin to get anxious. Our heart rate begins to raise. We just get nervous. I don't know about you guys. It's just one of those things.
When I start thinking about telling somebody about Jesus or sharing my faith, I just get nervous sometimes. Because it's hard. And our culture says be tolerant. And I want to share my faith. And what we see here is that Paul is saying that he wants to declare the mystery of Christ. And in verse 4, his prayer, he's asking them to pray that he would make it clear which is how he ought to speak.
And so for us as we're moving forward, as we're talking about how do we actually share the gospel with people, I want to give us just a few quick things. And if you're a note taker, you're going to want to jot these down. A few quick things that we can think about that will help encourage us in terms of sharing the gospel. The first thing is this. Paul asks for prayer that he would make it clear. So we get to do the same.
So when you're thinking about sharing the gospel, Paul asks that he would be able to make it clear, which is how he ought to speak. And he's talking about the mystery of Christ. And so what he's talking about there is the gospel. He's talking about the gospel of Christ that he would be able to make it clear. So part of our prayer as Christians is asking God, help me to grow in the gospel so that when I have opportunities to share it, that I will be able to make it clear.
This is why we talk about our community groups all the time. Because that's actually where we get to grow in how we share the gospel, how we speak the gospel to each other. Think about your community groups. When somebody has a prayer, we're going to encourage them with the gospel. When somebody's struggling with a sin issue, we're going to point them to what's true in the gospel. When people are making life decisions, we're not just going to give them wisdom or advice.
We're going to give them the gospel. So in our community groups, we get to grow in the first stage of sharing our faith, which is knowing, knowing the gospel, growing in it. So the second thing is this. We're going to mess this up. We're going to mess this up. There are going to be times when you're intentionally building a relationship with somebody, and you go to start telling them about Jesus, and you're going to get about two minutes in.
It's going to be great, and then a dog's going to start barking, and then your 12-year-old cousin with braces is going to walk over, and it's just going to, like, dissipate in front of you to the ground in a pile of ashes. And it's just going to be, oh, okay, well, that was good. Even in those circumstances, when it doesn't go the way you want it to go, you get to grow in your understanding of the gospel, that it's not about you. It's about the fact that Jesus does the work, and as you think about it, it's not over. You get to go back and have another conversation with that person. You get to try again.
The gospel is true for you. Third thing is the gospel is true for you. On all accounts, the gospel is true. It's Jesus that builds his church, and it's the Holy Spirit that brings about repentance. We're just, whoa, yes, resounding. We're just called to be obedient.
So realize that we get to grow in our understanding of the gospel. There's going to be times that we mess that up, but ultimately, we're just called to be obedient. And one of the most encouraging things for us is that as we begin to grow in our understanding of the gospel, the Holy Spirit will begin to use that and teach us what to say in conversations. Now, that's not always going to be this warm, hair-tingling experience where the Holy Spirit just takes over. It's not always going to be like that. Sometimes, yes.
Sometimes, no. Now, I'll give you a couple examples. I remember walking into work, and the first person I came in contact with, I just asked them how they were doing. And five minutes later, they have tears rolling down their face, and I just walked over, and I just shut the door. And we kept talking, and we talked for probably 30 minutes. And I got to, he talked about his family and about his job, and I just encouraged him.
I told him what was true for him in the gospel. I had been praying for this opportunity for months. I got to pray with him. It was unbelievable. And I walked out, and I can't tell you. I can't tell you what I said.
I cannot tell you parts of that whole conversation because the Holy Spirit just took over. It was amazing. On the other side, around that same time, I was having a conversation with a guy, and he was talking about his girlfriend and how, well, it wasn't his girlfriend. They were talking, as the kids say. They were talking, and she wasn't returning his phone calls, and he was texting her all the time. At the same time, he was getting passed over for promotions at work.
And the whole time he's talking, I'm sitting there praying, God, help me encourage him in the gospel. Give me the words to say. And we literally got to the end of the conversation, and he's looking at me, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, man, that stinks. That stinks. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'll pray for you. That's all I had. That's all I had. I got to the end of that conversation, and that's all I had was I'll pray for you. And I did. And I got to come back and have more conversations.
But the pressure's off. The pressure's off for us as believers because we get to live our normal, everyday lives asking for opportunities and watching Jesus do work. What Paul teaches us here is as we ask for open doors that we can speak the gospel into, that we would speak it clearly, he's going to start doing work. We just get to be obedient. And he's going to turn a little bit. Look with me in verse 5.
So there's going to be a little bit of a change. He says, walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. What is the best use of our time? What is it? One of the best ways we can think about this is what was the best use of Jesus' time?
Jesus spent time with people. All people. And Jesus didn't sit around waiting for people to come to him. He went out to them. He went to the lonely, to the rejected, to the hurting, to those that were sick. And at the same time, he went to those that were religious, those that were wealthy, those that were popular.
And Jesus, as he walked through normal everyday life, he took the opportunity to pour into others. Normal everyday life, he did the extraordinary. Walking. Fishing. Sharing meals. Having conversations.
And that's what he's calling us to do. That's what it looks like, church, for us to make disciples, is to use our normal, ordinary, everyday lives that he's given us with the gospel being of first importance. And letting that impact our conversations, our relationships, our activities. And I want us to catch the beauty of this. That's ordinary, but not insignificant. Ordinary, but not insignificant.
And as we begin to pray for open doors, asking for the Holy Spirit to work, no day will ever be small. Think about that. No conversation will ever be a waste of time. No family meal will ever be a drudgery. No day at work will ever be just a day at work. Everything has meaning.
Everything has purpose. And so this is actually a really good gauge for us as Christians to see how we're walking in wisdom towards outsiders is, how are you spending your time? I want you to think back on this last week. This is the easiest way to do it. Think back over your last week. I'm going to keep talking to this.
Start thinking back. In our day and age, we have more time than any generation on the face of the earth has ever had. With the advancement in technology, we've got microwaves and fast food restaurants and dishwashers. We've just got more time to do things, which means two things. One, we can waste more time. All right?
So we've got more time to waste. And the second thing is, with all these advancements in technology, we've got more to distract us. So a really good diagnostic for us as Christians is, how are we spending our time specifically towards outsiders, towards those who don't know Jesus? How are we doing there? Because what we start to think is, did I go out? Man, I didn't go walk.
Okay. No. Think normal, everyday life. Normal, everyday life. How are you walking in wisdom towards outsiders? How are you making the best use of your time?
Think about your family. This is kind of what we talked about last week. Husbands and wives, are you making the best use of your time? Are you spending time together? Are you pouring into each other? Are you encouraging each other in the gospel?
Parents and children, are you spending time together? Are you spending more time staring at the TV than you are staring at each other's faces? It's a good gauge. It's a good gauge for us, especially for those of you who have family members who don't know Jesus. How are you leveraging your time so that you can be around them in normal, everyday life? Loving them, serving them, helping them, encouraging them.
What about at work? This is a big one for us. Think about work. Think about this last week. You at work. How well did you work when your boss was around versus when your boss wasn't around?
How about this? When you finished your tasks at work, did you just do your own thing or did you look to go help somebody else? When you were on break at work, did you sit and look at Facebook for 30 minutes? Or did you have a conversation with people that were in the break room? Who's having a tough time at work that you know about and just needs some encouragement? Who's lonely, isolated, just needs somebody to love them?
That's what it means to make disciples. It's to live like the gospel is true in every relationship, in every conversation, in every action. No action, nothing that we ever do is without meaning. And it's everything. This is your waitress. This is the lady at the bank when you go to deposit your check.
It's everywhere. It's every circumstance. Let me let you guys in on me a little bit. I'm not standing up here saying I'm perfect at this. Not. It's hard.
And you guys know me. I think you know me well enough that I love people. I do. I love you guys. If you don't know it, I'll hug you afterwards. But I do.
I genuinely love people. But I'm slightly introverted. I know. You wouldn't know it. But being around people drains me big time.
It just sucks the life out of me. It just makes me really, really tired. And so there are days when I wake up and I'm excited about spending time with people. And every person I meet, every conversation, I just want to encourage them. I want to point them towards the gospel. And then there are days that I wake up and I just want it to be about me.
I don't want to answer my phone when people call. And so this is hard. This is something that we've got to learn and grow in and realize that we get to be a part of Jesus' mission of saving the world in our normal, everyday lives. Like I said, I'm not perfect at this, but let me give you a couple of good stories. Over the last two weeks, excuse me, not two weeks. Over the last two years, I've had the opportunity to work at Dick's Sporting Goods.
And it's been incredible. So much I have learned there. And I'll give you a couple of stories. I remember walking into the break room one night and there was a girl on the phone. She was talking to her grandma and she was visibly upset. They were arguing, you could tell.
She hung up the phone. And I just, I remember what I was having to eat that night. I was having spaghetti. That's important. I would remember that detail. And I asked her, I said, you okay?
Everything okay? She goes, well, my grandma and my whole family, everybody's putting all this pressure on me to get married because I'm the last of my sisters to get married. And I mean, I've got a boyfriend. I guess he's my boyfriend. He cheats on me all the time. And if he just wise up, he could be my, she just went off.
And she just went on. And I finally stopped. I said, hey, can I encourage you for a second? She's like, you know, she was just letting it go. I said, can I encourage you for a second? I said, your boyfriend sounds like a jerk.
I said, I'm really sorry. I said, I'm really sorry that your family's putting this weird pressure on you. But let me tell you what's true for you. You have a father in heaven who loves you very much. So much so that he sent his son, Jesus, to die on a cross to forgive you of your sin, to bring you into a relationship because he loves you and because he pursues you.
And your identity and your value don't have to be wrapped up in some guy. It can be in him. Tears just welled up in her eyes. Thank you. You're welcome. Hope you break up your boyfriend.
He's a jerk. That was great. It was just a really cool opportunity. Here's another one. When somebody new shows up at work, you have a full license to play the 20-question game daily for a month at least. So this guy named David Hoewaler shows up at Dick's Sporting Goods.
And he's a recent graduate from Clemson University. And so I knew he was great, obviously. And so I just took that chance to build a relationship. I started asking him questions. We figured out that we had a lot in common, that we had a lot of the same interests. We started hanging out outside of work.
I invited David and his wife to come hang out with the first community group of Mill City Church. When it came time to multiply, David and his wife came with our group and started meeting in our house. It came time to multiply that group again. And the guy who was going to be leading the group was in the military and was going to have to do some training. And he was going to have to go overseas. And so David stepped up.
David said, I'll lead. And so we trained him as an apprentice. David started leading a group. In the spring of this year, David did an internship with our church where he got to be a part of our teaching team. And he got to learn more and be over kind of what happens on Sunday in terms of sound and music and videos. We got to the end of that semester and he wanted to keep doing everything that he was doing.
David just took a job this week and we asked him, David, what do you need to pull back on? He said, nothing. He said, I'll keep working my job. I want to keep doing the things that I'm doing. That guy's a leader in our church. And it started with a conversation of, when did you graduate from Clinton?
Normal, ordinary life. And eternity's impacted by that. But it's not just work. Don't think work. Katie and I lived in an apartment when we first moved here. And the last weekend we were there, they threw a pool party.
So it's like, oh, great. Now that we're leaving, you're throwing a party. It's like, bye, guys. There, Katie struck up a conversation with a lady. And they were about our age. And so we invited them to come hang out with us.
They came and had a meal at our house. We invited them to start hanging out with our community group. And five months later, Daniel Gillen became a Christian and was baptized. The Gillens were so pumped up about what was going on, they invited their friends, the C's. The C's started coming. And two months later, DJ met Jesus.
And DJ's going to be baptized in the fall. Started with a conversation by a pool over a hot dog. Normal, everyday life. Ordinary, but not insignificant. We begin praying for open doors and we get to see what God does. We start looking at every conversation, every relationship as an opportunity to encourage people in the gospel.
And we get to watch the Holy Spirit begin to change people. When Jesus calls us to go and to make disciples, this is what he's talking about. Everyday mission. No second of any day is ever a waste of time when it's lived to the glory of Jesus to see his mission go forward. Verse 6. May your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
The speech of a Christian should be generous and gracious. Not complaining. Not whining. Not cutting. Not cursing. But the speech of a Christian should be gracious.
And it should be seasoned with salt. It should be seasoned with the richness of the gospel. That for us as Christians, the gospel should be our native tongue. The gospel should be the lens through which we start to look at the world. How we start to analyze everything. So that when somebody comes to me and asks me for marriage advice, I can't help but tell them about Jesus.
Because I'm called to love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. When somebody comes to me and wants to talk about finances and how I handle my money, I get to tell them that Jesus gave everything for me. And so nothing that I have belongs to me. I have everything that I need in Jesus. So I'm going to handle my money a little bit differently.
When somebody comes to me talking about trials and struggles, I get to point them to a Savior who suffered for them on their behalf. Seasoned with salt. Not open the salt shaker and dump it out. Okay, so you don't have to walk around with your Bible at work being like, Oh, you look down. Can I encourage you? And just seasoned.
Seasoned with salt. Asking for opportunities that you would make it clear. That's what it says. So that you may know how you want to answer each person. Seasoned with salt. The gospel impacts everything that we do.
And salt's cool. The fact that he uses this is interesting. Salt brings out flavor. It preserves. Salt can also irritate. So don't be that characteristic of salt.
But what's cool about salt is it doesn't necessarily have a flavor in and of itself. But if you take salt and you put it on five different types of food, it's going to bring out the flavor in different ways in all five of those different foods. It's going to bring out five different types of flavors. And so when he says be seasoned with salt, he's saying be you changed by the gospel. You. You in love with Jesus.
Your personality. So some of you in the room are introverts, even more introverted than me. And you're freaking out right now. You're like, oh, he's talking about people. And I just, I want to go sit in the corner and read a book. No, no, no.
Be, be you in love with Jesus. You have been uniquely and wonderfully designed by Jesus to make disciples just the way you are. So you get to pray and look for those opportunities as well, just like all of us. See, church, that's the mission. People that have been changed by the gospel, that are living that out in community, begin praying for opportunities. They begin looking at their lives, looking for every day, every second opportunities that they can encourage someone.
Speak the truth of the gospel to them. That's what mission looks like. Get this. Disciples begin to live like the gospel's true, letting it impact their relationships. They begin inviting their friends into community. Their friends meet Jesus.
Their friends become disciples of Jesus. We're back here. Those people begin to make more disciples. It's cycles of disciples. We go make disciple after disciple after disciple. That's what the mission of the church is.
It's to go and to make disciples. So let's keep going. Look at verse 7. We're going to walk through this kind of quickly, and I'm going to try to highlight who all these people are, because there's a lot of different names in here. But what we're going to see is a lot of different names, a lot of different people, and what that means for the mission of Jesus.
Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. Okay, so Tychicus, the first time we're going to see him is actually in Acts chapter 20. We see him in Acts chapter 20. Paul picks him up in Asia Minor, and now he's with Paul in Rome, and he gets the honor of delivering the letter, just like the video showed, to Ephesus, to Colossae, and to a person.
And he gets to deliver the letter to Philemon. So he's a part of the mission. It continues. Verse 9, And with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. Now, from the video, Onesimus was a runaway slave. Onesimus ran away from Philemon, and he's found himself in Rome.
And then Rome, he hears the gospel, and he becomes a Christian, faithful brother. And Paul is now entrusting to him also the letters. Go back to Ephesus, to Colossae, and to Philemon. So you can see this playing out, right? Onesimus is walking with the letters. Okay, all right.
Ephesus, Colossae, Philemon. That one wasn't so comfortable for him. But Paul sends him back. So a runaway slave gets to be a part of the mission. Keeps going. Verse 10, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you.
Aristarchus. We see that Paul picks him up in Acts 17 in Thessalonica, and that he's with him in Rome. It continues on. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. Mark got to be a part of one of the first missionary journeys.
And during the journey, Mark leaves. Mark leaves in the middle of the journey. And so Paul and Mark are actually at odds. And what we see here is years later that they've been reconciled because the gospel is true. And now they're together in Rome. A prison is a pretty good place to get over your differences, right?
So Mark is a part of the mission too. And Jesus, who is called Justice. All we know about him is the next part. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. All we know is that he was a Jew who converted to Christianity. He became a follower of Jesus.
That's all we know. And now it starts talking about people who didn't have a Jewish background. They were Gentiles. Epaphras. We know this guy. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Herapolis. So this is Epaphras. Epaphras who planted the church of Colossae and is now in prison with Paul in Rome. And again, we get to see that struggling. He's struggling for them on their behalf in his prayers. I love that.
Luke, the beloved physician, greets you. We see him pick up. He's picked up in Acts. I think it's Acts 18. Luke. Dr.
Luke. Namesake of the Gospel of Luke. Author of the book, The Acts of the Apostles. And Demas. All we know about Demas is that he's with them now and later we're going to see Paul and Luke together and Demas isn't there anymore. It's gotten hard and Demas has left.
It says, I think he chased after worldly things. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, another church that's in the area, and to Nympha and the church in her house. Nympha got to host her church family in her home. How cool is that? And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans. And see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
All these names, all these people, what we get to see is that the mission is big. That we get to go and to make disciples, but it's a team sport. It's fishermen. It's slaves. It's men. It's women.
It's all of us working together. It's a bunch of people that have been changed by Jesus and joined together in his mission. And it's not a super special team. It's a bunch of people that have been changed by Jesus and invited in. It's a team sport. We all get to make disciples as a part of a team because the mission's big.
Continues on. I'll read 16 again and keep going. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans. And see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.
Remember my chains. Grace be with you. One of the major things that we've talked about all throughout Colossians is that anytime you see the word you, it's actually kind of the Greek translation of y'all. So Paul's writing this to the church. And so they would have understood this not just as individuals, but as a collective, as a body of believers. And this is one of the only times in the letter where it's the singular version of you.
Look at it. Verse 17. And Paul writes for them to tell this guy, Archippus, see that you fulfill the ministry that you received in the Lord. Archippus, this random guy who is not a major character in this story at all, has a specific ministry that he's been given in the Lord just for him and for him alone. He has a personal ministry as a part of the team. And I want us to realize tonight that just like Archippus had a specific ministry in the Lord just for him, Jesus has a specific ministry for each one of us as a part of the team.
That he has uniquely and creatively designed each one of us to be right where we are doing the things that we're doing with the gifts and abilities that we have for the gospel so that we can go out and make disciples. And in doing so, we grow in our relationship with him. You see, the epic, grand narrative of the history of the world has been given to us. Jesus promises to build his church and to send his Holy Spirit to bring about repentance in people that the church can move forward and make disciples. And 2,000 years later, we're still doing the same thing. It gets better.
I've read the end of the book. Jesus comes back to get his church. We ain't going nowhere. We're not going anywhere. The mission is big and it's going to continue until Jesus comes back. That's a big promise because you've been invited into a mission where the victory has already been won.
And that's huge for us. So this epic, grand narrative of saving the world is accomplished in the ordinary. In the ordinary, but not insignificant. Every one of us has a mission. Every one of us as part of the mission of Mill City Church has a role. Let me help you see it.
I want you to ask yourself these questions. This is how you start seeing it. What are the gifts and abilities that you have? What are you passionate about? Where has the Lord placed you currently in this stage of your life? Where do you work?
Where do you go to school? Who is your family? What are the names of your neighbors? What are the worst areas in our city? You see, each one of us has a part in the ministry. Don't miss this.
Jesus calls us to make disciples. And the way that we do that is we begin praying for open doors with our family and our friends, with the people that we serve so that Jesus would build his church. The Holy Spirit would bring people to repentance. And the gospel would move forward. And what we see in the narrative, in the letter of Colossians, is that Paul is going to say that people that have been changed by Jesus, living that out in the context of community, led by the Holy Spirit, the mission is going to move forward. And every one of us has a different Job and a different role.
Each person has a role as a part of the team. And this means that we've got to constantly remind ourselves that the church is people. The church is not a building. The church is not an activity. It's not a club or an organization. It's a group of people that have been rescued by Jesus, transferred from death to life.
The church is people. And the church is God's chosen vessel to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and there is no plan B. We are the mission. We get to take the mission forward. In the 1940s, around the time of World War II, there was a ship that was commissioned to be built. It was the SS United States.
And it was supposed to be the biggest and baddest ship on the ocean. It was a troop carrier. The SS United States was built to carry 15,000 soldiers at 51 miles per hour and make it to any destination in the world in less than 10 days. That means she was faster than any ship on the ocean at the time. But see, by the time it was finished in 1952, World War II had ended.
And in the 17 years of service that the SS United States had, it was only put on standby one time, and that was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. And so at the end of 17 years, a ship that had been designed to carry troops into battle was retired and was converted into a luxury liner. The SS United States, which could carry 15,000 people, had its barracks converted to state rooms that could carry 2,000. It became a luxury liner for presidents and for heads of states and for celebrities who wanted to make it across the ocean in style. Mess halls were converted into four restaurants, three bars, two movie theaters.
The deck was kept open, but they put in a heated swimming pool. They installed 19 elevators. And people that rode on the SS United States got the luxury of being on the first air-conditioned ship on the ocean. The SS United States was designed to be a troop carrier and was converted into a luxury liner. You see, the faces of soldiers that are preparing for battle and their conversations are much different on a troop carrier than they are sitting by a pool eating bonbons. The allocation of resources on a troop carrier are different than that of the opulent wealth of a luxury liner.
The troop carrier is going to go as fast as it can because it's got an urgent mission where the luxury liner just takes its time. It just goes at its own pace. And what Paul is going to consistently say throughout this letter, he's pointing to the church at Colossae that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, that all things were created by Him and for Him, that He spoke creation into existence, including us, humankind, and we rebelled. We decided we wanted to be like God, and we broke the relationship. We brought sin into the world, a relationship that we were incapable of fixing, that the Old Testament sacrificial system and the laws were a mere shadow of the atonement and the reconciliation that needed to be done.
But God promised that He would rescue, that He would redeem, that He would save, that He would accomplish salvation for His glory, and Jesus steps into history. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. He trained up His disciples. He did miracles. He taught. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and I'm going to give my life as a ransom for many.
And Jesus goes to the cross. And on the cross, the wrath of God is poured out on Jesus so that we could be forgiven of our sins, so that we could be offered redemption. And Jesus dies, and they place Him in a tomb. And three days later, Jesus walks out victorious, showing that He conquered sin, death, Satan, and hell. And He hung around with His disciples for 40 days. And He told them, I'm giving you the mission.
Go and make disciples until the end of the age. And I'm ascending into heaven, but one day I'm coming back. But don't worry, I'm going to send my Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit descends on 120 ragtag believers, and the gospel moves forward. The believers go from 120 to 3,000. The gospel begins to move from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.
And now Paul and Epaphras are in prison. And 2,000 years later, the mission is still moving forward. The church is a troop carrier, not a luxury liner. We have been designed for mission. We have been invited into the mission of Jesus. The ministry of the church is not designed to be a blessing to the body just as a means of itself.
But we're to be the agent through which Jesus works by His Holy Spirit to save the world. We're the mission. And so as Paul comes to the end of this letter, he's shown them that the gospel is the most beautiful thing in the world, and changed by it as people who are living in community. We get to use our ordinary, everyday lives on mission as we make disciples. That people who have been changed by the gospel and choose to live that out in community will change the world on mission. Mill City Church is a gospel-centered community that has been called into the greatest mission the world has ever seen.
Mill City Church is you and you and you and you, y'all, us. And we've been called into it. The band's going to come back up. This summer's been great for us. We've grown. We've been able to grow in health and what it looks like to be healthy.
And when I say healthy, I mean we've grown in our understanding of the gospel. We've begun confessing and repenting of sin. We've grown in what it looks like to live in relationship with each other and community. And we are at one of the most beautiful places in our church history that is a people that have grown to understand the gospel and are living that out in community. It's time to go all in. The church is a troop carrier and we've been designed for mission.
And I just want to tell you a little bit about our future. Here's where we're going. That because of those things, we get to, over the next couple of months, we're going to be focusing on mission. Next Sunday will actually be our last Sunday here at FBC West Columbia. And then we're moving our gatherings to Glen Forest School. And the reason we're doing it is we're doing it for mission.
We've got the opportunity to go into a school that is underloved, underappreciated, underfunded, that has very little volunteers. And we get to go in. We get to go from a place that's free to where we're actually going to pay to use the space because it's going to help the school. We're going to go from a church to a school. We're going to get to serve them. We're going to adopt them.
We're going to be moving our gathering time from the evening to the morning for mission. We're leveraging ourselves for mission because what we're saying is we want our church family to get up and to worship together on Sunday mornings and then to use the rest of the day to live normal, everyday life with people on mission in the afternoons and evenings. So that means that to see the mission of Jesus go forward, you might have to invite people over to your house to watch the Broncos play. It may be that you need to go play a round of golf. Or invite your neighbors over for a cookout. That's what it looks like to live on mission.
We're going to get into that neighborhood. We're going to get into the neighborhoods around Glen Forest. Not only that, the teaching of our church is going to be very missional over the next couple of months. Dawn of the church is Acts 1 and 2. It's the beginning of the mission. And then the Sunday in between, we're going to be throwing a party.
We're going to be inviting people from the surrounding neighborhoods. And we're going to be inviting our friends. Then on September 7th, we're launching Kingdom Come. It's a series where we look at how the kingdom of God moves forward in the lives of people. Our community groups are going to be focusing on a who. We're going to be focusing on areas like West Hill, like Glen Forest School, USC, and Midlands Tech.
And all along the way, we're going to continue to see our church family make disciples and bring people into community. We're going to continue to see group leaders trained and groups multiplied out. We're going to see our church continue to grow. And then we're going to multiply more churches. We're going to continue to have an impact in the city because we want to see marriages mended. We want to see children and parents relating to each other the right way.
We want to see darkness driven back in our city. And so in a second, we're going to sing. We're going to sing and pray that God would give us the courage that we need to step up and to step out. The mission's big and we've been invited in. And so I'm going to ask you that as you sing, pray for courage. Pray that God would lead us.
Jesus has called us into a mission that he's already won. And we need everybody to get on board the truth carrier. It's time to go all in. And it's time for each one of us to fulfill the ministry that Jesus has given to us. Let's pray.
God, we are humbled by the fact that you would call us in. That we would get the opportunity to be a part of your mission of saving the world. In normal, everyday life. God, when it's about the mission, when it's all about Jesus, we put our preferences to the side. We put our wants and desires to the side. And we chase after you with everything.
Because the gospel's true. Or teach us what it looks like to live on mission. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand as we respond and sing. That we, when we yap. If we love others.
Amen. Amen.
Gospel Culture
Colossians 3:12-17
Transcript
One of the things we've been looking at as we've gone through Colossians is in the first two chapters is very much a vertical look that Paul's giving us. So he's saying, here's who Jesus is, here's who God is, here's what he's done for you, and so this is how that affects you. He's the creator of the world. He's the creator of the universe. He's accomplished everything on your behalf. He's reconciled you back to God.
He's paid your debt. He's covered your sins. He's made you new. So he's going to say all of this in Colossians, and then in chapters 3 and 4, he's going to turn from a vertical look of what it looks like between God and us to how that applies to us in normal life. So he's going to turn from a vertical look to a horizontal.
So if that's true, if that's who Jesus is, if that's what he's done, if that's who he's made you, here's what it's going to look like now as you walk in normal life with other people. And so one of the things we've looked at as we've looked at that is that the book of Colossians was written to y'all. So if there was a y'all version of the Bible, every you you see in the book of Colossians except for maybe one at the end of chapter 4 where he's addressing a specific person would be the plural Greek word y'all. And so that's what we're looking at is who are we as a church? How do we interact with one another?
So if this is true about who Jesus is, and that's true for us because he's accomplished that for us, then what does it look like as we interact with other people? And usually we get that backwards. So we think, okay, if I'm good to other people, if I'm generous, if I'm gracious, if I'm moral, and it's always this outside action, then I'll have a right relationship with God. Then God and I will be okay. But what Paul is going to say is that it's no.
Here's who Jesus is. Here's what he's done. And that's going to apply to who you are and how you live. So I'm going to pray, and we're going to hop in and look at a really beautiful section of Scripture that I'm super excited that we get to talk about tonight. God, we pray that you would just teach this to us tonight, that you would show it to us as we study your word, that your Holy Spirit would move and reveal to us the beauty of what this gets to look like as your people, who we get to be. So, God, we praise you.
We thank you. And we ask that we'd be able to make much of your name tonight. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, Colossians chapter 3, we're going to be in verse, we'll start in verse 11.
So we read verse 11 last week, finished with it, and we're going to pick back up there today. So he says, here, and here means among you, among the church. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. So all the categories we're used to have been thrown out the window. Jesus is all. He's what's important.
He's where hope comes from, value comes from, worth comes from, and he's in all. So we have hope, value, and worth because of Jesus. And so categories thrown out the window. We have worth and value because of Jesus. And then he says this, put on then. And so what we looked at last week was stuff he said that he said, if this is true, if Jesus has rescued you, if he's paid your debt, get rid of this.
Put this away. And now he's saying, put this on. This is what we get to look like because of who Jesus is. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. I want to help us see how we ought to think about it as we walk through the rest of this passage. So first of all, what Paul's saying is, as God's chosen ones, as the ones Jesus has already rescued.
So this is written to the church, those who place their faith in Jesus, holy and beloved, holy and loved. So what we said as we read the word holy earlier in the book of Colossians is that that's a really horrible descriptive word for everyone in the room. None of us are holy. Earlier in Colossians it said we're holy, blameless, and above reproach. That's incorrect outside of Jesus. But in Jesus he's made us holy, which means we have a right standing with God.
So he says, because of who you are, because of what Jesus has done, because you're chosen, holy, and loved. And then he's going to say, this is what you get to look like. And here's what I want us to see. I want to tell us this to help us frame up how we're going to read through the rest of this. My wife, her name's Anna. She loves to play a game.
She says it's a game. She'll say, the game is basically pretend vacation game, if I could describe it. She gets on the internet and she'll say, all right, let's play a game. And she'll look at me and go, okay, Groupon or Living Social? Which apparently are two things on the internet that help you choose vacations and stuff. And so I'm supposed to pick one and I'll be like, Living Social.
She'll go, okay. She'll open it up and be like, all right, the mountains, the Caribbean, or tropical paradise. And I'll be like, mountains. And she'll be like, tropical paradise. And I'm like, I don't know the rules of this game. Like, I don't know how I'm supposed to be playing this.
And so then as we go through tropical paradise, she'll be like, okay, Mexico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda. And I'll be like, the Bahamas. And she'll go, you're not really good at this. I'll be like, I don't know. You said it's a game. I feel like I'm losing and I don't know the rules.
And then she'll pick Mexico. And she looks through and shows me pictures. Okay, this is what our vacation would have been. And I'm like, I don't even know why I need to be here for this. She thoroughly enjoys looking at these pictures of places that we most likely will never go. I'd rather she poked me in the eye and let me go away.
Like, I have no desire to look at pictures of somewhere I'm never going to go. And the truth is, as we read through scripture, as we read through this section, we're going to see that it's beautiful. That it's beautiful who Paul's going to say the church gets to be. And I want us to look at it not as people who say, yeah, that's really pretty, but we're never going to get there. I want us to look at it as people who realize this gets to be true for us. So when I actually get to go on vacation, oh, I love looking at pictures of that stuff.
If I know I'm going to be there soon, I'll get on TripAdvisor and figure out where I'm going to eat. I'll be looking at pictures of, like, biscuits. This place says I've got really good biscuits. Like, I don't know. I'm, like, weighing out restaurants and that kind of thing. And the truth is, we get to look at it that way.
So don't look at this beautiful picture of where the church gets to be and go, yeah, that'd be nice. Look at it and realize, no, we're going to get to go there. We're going to get to stick our feet in the sand. We're going to get to smell the salt air. We're going to get the sunburn from being at this place. So as we talk through this, realize this is who we get to be because of Jesus.
So don't just look at it and say, yeah, that's nice. Yeah, that's beautiful. And walk out of here. Realize that we get to have this because of what Jesus has already accomplished. Because we are holy and beloved. Because we're chosen.
Because he's already done this for us. That Jesus on the cross has already done all the work necessary for this to happen for us. And we just get to put this on and walk this out as this church. So here's what we get to be. So he said, put on them as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
So Paul says that the church gets to have compassionate hearts. That when we gather together in our community groups, we actually get to care about each other. Not only just do we have compassion, but our hearts are compassionate hearts. Which means just our general posture of the people in the church is we care about each other. We want good things for each other. And not just compassion, but compassion that drives us to action.
So that when the church gets together, we listen to each other. We pray for one another. We serve one another. We help pay bills for each other. We have compassion. It says kindness.
Compassionate hearts, kindness. Just genuinely enjoyable people to be around. The church gets to be fun, pleasant, gracious, generous. Humility. Man, our society says that you need pride. It says that you need to have your own self-worth.
It says that you need to assert yourself. And what Paul says is no. Jesus didn't assert himself, but he came and he died for us. And so that the church gets to have humility and meekness. Which means that we genuinely, as we get together, we want others to go first. We want to hear other people out.
We don't want to assert our opinion all the time. We want to listen. We just get to gather together as Jesus' people changed by the cross. And have a flavorful, rich community of people. Then he says this.
So we get to have compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness. And then I love this next section. And you'll see why in a minute. It's one of my favorite passages in Scripture. And patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other.
As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Quickly, let me tell you a story about, let me explain patience to you. Raz was talking. He's one of our community group leaders. And he was talking about when he used to lead a group in Australia. That he had a guy in his community group that just drove him crazy.
Raz, and he didn't say this, but I know Raz well enough to know he was really close to choking him. And so Raz said that this guy just drove him crazy. And he was talking to his group's coach. And he was saying, how do I? He said, I've been praying for patience. And I don't know how to handle this anymore.
And his coach looked at him and said, you know what patience is, right? He's like, patience doesn't mean the problem goes away. It means the problem stays. That's how you grow in patience. I love that patience is in this list. What Paul's saying is, he says, patience bearing with one another.
What he's saying is, if you're going to walk in relationships with each other as the family that Jesus has made us, you're going to get on each other's nerves. It's going to happen. You're going to be annoyed. You're going to be frustrated. Let me tell you something. We talk all the time about our community groups.
I can guarantee you something. We want you to be a part of a community group. And we want you to go ahead and be prepared to be hurt, to be frustrated, to be annoyed. When I went to get married, I did not think, okay, my wife and I are going to get married. And now we'll have happy, glitter, rainbow bliss for the rest of forever. I had better sense than that.
I knew that one sinner plus another sinner doesn't equal Rainbow Skittle's unicorn ride. Like, that's not what happens. I know that marriage is, I'm going to argue with someone for the rest of my life. I just made a cognitive decision to have it be Anna. She knew someone was going to get on her nerves for the rest of her life. She knew she was going to have to deal with someone's sin and someone else was going to have to deal with her sin for the rest of her life.
And she just chose to let that be me. And the truth is, when you take the church, which is just a group of people who were the first to raise their hand and say, I'm messed up. I need Jesus. I'm broken. I'm off. I'm not going to straighten this out.
I'm not going to fix this. But Jesus will. When you take that group of people and you say, we're going to walk through life together, that's not happy, rainbow, glitter bliss. That's not how that works. We're going to have frustration. We're going to have problems.
And so Paul says, put on patience. Bearing with one another. That we get to have grace for each other because it's not always going to go swimmingly. It's not always going to work out perfectly. The truth is, you are going to annoy people for the rest of your life. We're just inviting you to annoy us.
I'm going to annoy and sin against people for the rest of my life. And I couldn't think of a better group of people to do that to. That's all church family is. That's what it is. That's what it gets to be. So he says, have patience.
Put it on. Bear with one another because you're going to have problems and frustrations. And here's the thing. This is so beautiful. So when I'm by myself and I sin, I'm the only one who has to deal with it.
When I'm in community, everyone has to deal with my sin. And I have to deal with everyone else's. And so you'd say, isn't that worse? Yes. Yes. Yes, it is.
Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. But it's so much better. It's so much better because we actually get to grow in it. We actually get to walk through it.
And here's what Paul says. And this is why I love this section. He says, patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord. That's Jesus has forgiven you. So you also must forgive.
So Jesus came and died for our sin. He took our brokenness, our sin upon himself. And he died for it and forgave us of everything. And so we get to forgive each other the same way that he forgave us. We get to walk in forgiveness the same way that Jesus has forgiven us. And so what's really cool about this is that the church is a group of people that you know have to forgive you.
You know it's a group of people that you get to walk through life together and you're going to forgive each other. You're going to walk in forgiveness for one another. And so the basic process here is that we bear with one another. First step in this process is bear with one another. So Paul says that the way we're going to walk through this is to bear with one another.
And what that means is the Bible uses the word forbearance, which just means we overlook sin. So that would be like if my wife over and over again told me to clean my dishes in the sink, put my dishes in the sink, clean them off, and then stick them in the dishwasher. I thought I said washing machine, which would have been weird, but it didn't. But then I brought it up anyway, so there you go. Take my dishes and put them in the dishwasher. And then she finds them sitting on the table in front of the television.
Forbearance is her picking it up, cleaning it off, putting it in the dishwasher, and choosing to forgive me even though I don't deserve it. That's what forbearance is. And so when it says bear with one another, what that means is that in your community groups you actually say, well, that was annoying and that was frustrating. But I'm going to forgive you, and we're not ever going to have to talk about it. I'm just going to choose to forgive as Christ has forgiven me, and we won't ever have to bring it up. When you cease to bear with one another is when those issues have piled up so much that you can no longer relate to the person the same way.
So bearing with one another is, yeah, some people in my community group have borrowed my DVDs, and I haven't seen them back yet. And I don't know if I'm going to get these back. And bearing with them is me choosing to forgive and let it go. And when I cease to be able to bear with them is when I need to say, hey, man, we need to talk about this DVD situation because it's starting to bother me that this is going on. It's not me not addressing the issue. And so what Paul says is you bear with one another, and then if one has a complaint against another, you talk about it.
This destroys southerness. I'm sorry. Destroys it. What that means is this. Like I'm hanging out with somebody, and you're talking to them, and you're all having a conversation. Someone else walks up, and they'll be like, hey, buddy, how you doing?
How's your mom and them? Yeah, everything good? All right, cool. And then they talk for a little bit, and they'll walk off. And you go, who's that? And he goes, that's right.
I hate that guy. I don't personally know a whole lot about hate, but I think you're doing it wrong because you, like, asked about his mom, and y'all talked a lot, and it was like a bro hug at the end of it. The truth is we do that. We think as southerners that bringing up an issue causes more problems, and what Paul says is no, because of the gospel, we have a way to resolve them, so we have to bring them up. So we forbear.
So we forbear, and then when we can no longer forbear, when we're no longer actually forgiving, we're just allowing something to bother us, we talk to the person. We don't talk about the person. We talk to the person. Which means that just so you know, as our church family, this is our response, and I want y'all to pay attention. When someone comes to you to talk about a third party and tell you something they did that got on their nerves or bothered them, your response is what they say when you told them. That is your response.
That is how we respond as church family, because biblically, the Bible says if we have a problem with someone or someone has a problem with us, it's on us to talk to them. And so if they don't repent, if you can't work it out, then you bring more church family into it. So if you're talking to me about an issue you have with someone else, I'm just assuming we're on step two, which is you already talked to them and y'all couldn't work it out. So church family, do that. Just assume we're on step two if someone's talking to you about someone else. The response is, well, what did they say when you talked to them?
And I've said that to people, and they looked at me like a lobster just fell out of my mouth. What did you say when you talked to them? I don't know. The best part is they didn't go, oh, you didn't talk to them? They're right over here. Let's go talk to them.
People would be behind you going, no, I just, I didn't have a, and you just walk right over and say, hey, y'all, there's an issue here. Let's talk about it. And it's the most awkward thing, and you just get to be a part of it. It's the best. It's the worst when someone does it to you, but it's really good when you do it to someone else. The truth is, one of two things will happen there.
You will help work that situation out, and that will be good. Or in the least, that person will never complain to you about anyone else ever. And you'll at least have fixed the issue when it comes to you and them. You won't have helped it continue. So what Paul says is, bear with one another, which is just choose to forgive and don't let an issue arise.
Once an issue has arisen, once there's something in between you two and you can no longer operate normally, you talk about it. And here's why we talk about it. Bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. When we won't talk about issues inside of the church, when we allowed weirdness to develop, when we allowed little petty things grow up in between us, what we are saying is that we assume the gospel isn't true. When I won't talk to you about some sort of a conflict between us, I'm assuming that we have no way to fix it.
And what Paul is saying is, no, we're going to talk about conflict because we have the way to fix it. I'm sinful. You're sinful. Jesus paid for our sin. We can work this out. I've been reconciled to God.
I can certainly be reconciled to you. I've been forgiven of everything. I can certainly forgive you of this. And you can forgive me. So we actually walk functionally in the truth of the gospel when we talk to each other about conflict.
We just assume we're going to work it out because Jesus has worked out everything on our behalf, and we are Jesus' people. So we get to work it out. And let me tell you what that means. You're going to have to have some conversations with people. First of all, you're going to have to forgive people of things that you shouldn't be mad about. You just get to forgive them.
Second of all, you're going to have to have some conversations with people about some stuff that seems petty, and y'all get to talk about it. I know this is weird. It really bothers me when you do this. Let's figure this out. It means that you have to get yourself prepared for someone to come tell you something. Go ahead and get mentally prepared for someone to have a problem with you about something.
People come tell me stuff all the time. You know this is annoying. You know that was offensive. Why did you say that? This hurt my feelings. I've just gotten used to the fact that I'm sinful.
I know what's coming. I never enjoy those conversations, but I'm ready for it. Someone tells me I did something wrong. I'm like, all right, probably did. Explain it to me. Let's talk it out.
So we get to, and we get to apply the gospel because it is true. We get to forgive one another. Then he says this, Above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. So that the church actually gets to be a group of people who forgive, who walk in flavorful community, and who have a love for one another. Above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful that we just get to be people who have peace because of Jesus. We get to have rest. We get to have peace ruling in our hearts as we relate to one another. Don't just look at this and think, yeah, that'd be nice. Realize that this is who we get to be because of what Jesus has already accomplished for us. That we get to walk this out.
Here's a, Charles Spurgeon has a quote when it comes to the church. He says this. He says, give yourself to the church. You that are members of the church have not found it perfect. And I hope that you feel almost glad that you have not. If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I would never have joined one at all.
And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it. For it would not have been perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us. That we get to, because of Jesus, have genuine, long-lasting, real relationships. Because sin breaks relationships down and Jesus has already conquered sin. We get to forgive.
We get to walk in life. We get to have peace ruling our hearts. And so here's what happens. We look at this and we start saying, okay, well, how do we do that? Functionally, how are we going to walk that way? How are we going to actually live that out, play that out?
And here's what Paul says. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. That you is y'all. Let the word of Christ dwell in y'all richly. For this to happen, we have to be Bible people. We have to have the gospel penetrating who we are.
We have to have it sinking down into how we view the world. That's why we're going to study the Bible. That's why every time we get together, we're going to open the Bible together. That's why in our community groups, we're going to study the Bible together on a regular basis. Because we want the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. So that we can actually have everything that Jesus has already given us.
See, relationships like this don't happen outside of the gospel. They break down. And so we have to be gospel people. We have to have our culture as us as a church be affected by the gospel. And so we talk a lot about community groups. And we talk a lot about walking in church family and being in life with each other.
And so there's a lot of times you hang out for a while and you're like, okay, I get it. Community groups. That's how we be church. I get it. You've said that enough. Thanks.
And the truth is we've been made into church family by Jesus. We've been rescued and redeemed and made into a community. We have a way to walk this out. But I want to tell you something else that's a really one of the major reasons that we love community. You get to grow in the gospel in the context of community in a way that you never would by yourself. You get to grow in the gospel and how it applies and how you understand it and its depth and richness in your soul in relationship with other people that you never would by yourself.
See, when I'm by myself, I'm super easy to get along with. I'm really smart. All my ideas are good. My jokes are hilarious. Like I'm really generous. Like I'll think, man, I really like some chicken right about now.
And then I'll be like, you know what, man? I'll get you some chicken. I'll be like, thank you, man. You are so generous. Like when you're by yourself, when I get really angry by myself, there's not a whole lot of collateral damage unless I just start tearing up stuff. But for the most part, I'm just angry by myself.
I don't offend other people. I don't hurt other people. The truth is when I'm by myself, it's easy for me to believe that forgiveness is cheap, that forgiveness is easy, and that it's simple, that sin's not that big a deal. When I'm in the context of community, when I actually have to forgive somebody else, I realize that forgiveness is costly, and it's not easy, and it's not simple. And it's only inside the context of community that the weight of what Jesus did for me on the cross can be applied in a real way when I actually have to forgive someone else, when I have to dig deep into what Jesus has done for me, when I have to remind myself that the gospel is true, that I was forgiven of everything so that I can actually forgive someone else.
In the context of community, when I have to confess sin to somebody, I have to dig deep into the truth of the gospel, which is my worth doesn't come from my ability to behave. My worth doesn't come from my right moral action or what people think of me and how well I'm viewed. It comes from Jesus. My relationship with him is based off of the fact that I'm a sinner. And so when I have to confess sin to you, I've got to walk in the gospel to do that. When I'm going to be generous, when you're at my house, when my community group meets in my house and we have white carpet, we didn't choose the color of the carpet, our carpet looks terrible.
It looks like people just rolled in dirt and then rolled around on our carpet. Like, it gets new colors every week. So it's white now. A couple years, it'll be like technicolored. I'll be like, yeah, that's Kool-Aid. That's Dr.
Pepper. That looks like half a watermelon. Like, I have to grow in generosity when my community group is over at my house. I have to remind myself of what's important and what's valuable. And I have to walk in the light of the gospel as people are at my house breaking things, hiding things from me because they think it's funny. Like, I have to grow in forbearance and the truth of the gospel in a way in a community that I never would get to outside of it.
You see, the way we do our community groups is we have infants to grandparents in the same community group. That's odd. Y'all know that's odd, right? Like, a lot of churches don't do that. There's a couple of reasons why we do that. Two are biblical and one's just really practical.
The practical one is we're pretty small. So if we broke it up by age group, some of you would be by yourself. We'd just be like, if you start getting on your nerves, talk to us. We'll help you walk it out. If we broke it up by age group and gender, some of y'all just, your community group would be you. You'd probably get along well with yourself, I reckon.
The two practical ones are, biblically, the Bible says that we're supposed to let the older generations coach up the younger generations. So that those who've walked with the Lord for a while, those who've walked through life for a while, actually need to pour into those that are younger than them. And we just don't see how we'd do that well if we didn't have them actually being around each other, getting to coach up and say, Hey, man, I see the way you talk to your wife. This isn't healthy or helpful. I used to talk to my wife that way. This is going to be a problem for y'all.
We can't walk through life together if we're not around each other. The third reason is this. And we read it at verse 11. I just want to point it out. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. If we break up constantly by age group and gender, by affinity, which is we all like the same stuff, we'll begin to believe that that's what holds us together and that's what makes us a family.
We'll begin to believe that that's the bond we have with each other. We all like the same stuff. When we pile in barbarians, Scythians, Greeks, Jews, circumcised, uncircumcised, when that's what the community group looks like, age group across the board, income across the board, life stage across the board. You have to, what you like and don't like, the type of music you listen to, the type of food you like. We've got some people that are vegetarians and some people that only eat meat. We got, I mean, we pretty much, we're across the board when it comes to how we relate and interact.
We have to realize that Christ is all and he's in all and Jesus is what bonds us together because we have nothing else in common. Like I've had super awkward conversations with people before in my community group just because we have nothing in common. A couple of my favorites were, I was like, so you watch football? You don't watch football? Okay, what kind of hobbies you got? Tea?
Like sweet tea? Oh, hot tea? You like coffee? Mm-hmm. You like Jesus? Like that was, we just broke down.
You just hear conversations just like derail. We had a conversation about heavy metal music in my community group. I know nothing about it. I just got to watch people just shoot and miss all over the place. Like this? No, not like that.
Like this? No, not at all. Like this? And I would just throw in unhelpful things for fun. Like it's great because we had nothing in common outside of we're a group of people that have been rescued by Jesus. And when we walk through life across the board in non-affinity based, non-age group based, what we remind ourselves functionally is that it's Jesus that makes us family.
And it's Jesus that makes us work out. And it's Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. And if we're going to grow and if we're going to learn, if we're going to forbear and we're going to forgive and if we're going to have this type of relationship, we're going to need Jesus. And we're going to have to be gospel people. So something weird has happened in the American church where we can say with an amount of credibility, I just don't fit in there.
I'm the only one who's not married. I'm the only one in that group who's got little kids. I'm the only one there who likes this or we just don't have the same interests, we don't have the same hobbies. And we act like that's an okay excuse for something. And the truth is every time we say statements like that, not every time, most of the time, what we're actually declaring is that this is my best opportunity for growth. When we make statements like that, what we're saying is this is my best opportunity for growth because this is where I'm going to have to apply the gospel.
This is where I'm going to have to walk with Jesus. This is where I'm going to have to remember what's important for this to even work out. This is where I'm going to have to allow the gospel to dwell in me richly because we don't get along. And I'm going to have to forbear. And we're going to have to talk out issues. And we're going to have to forgive.
And we're going to have to be kind and humble and meek. I'm going to have to show up not wanting my will to be done but wanting to allow other people to get to the front. I remember having a conversation with – so we have to have the gospel apply. We have to have the gospel working in us for this to work out. We have to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. I remember having a conversation with a pastor when I was up at Liberty.
I was in seminary there talking about planning a church and talking about how we were going to do community groups and we wanted to just be in life with each other. And he told me, he said, he's a godly man, love Jesus, super smart. And I would talk with him several times just about different things. And he told me, he said, my dad, his dad was a professor who was older, had his own school of the Bible, really sharp guy. He said, my dad has been a Christian for a very long time. He said he's been a professor of theology for a very long time.
And he said he would not need to be a part of one of your community groups. Like if that's where discipleship is going to happen, if that's where people are going to grow closer to Jesus, he wouldn't need to be a part of one. So what would he do? How would he plug into your church? So I remember thinking, okay, that's a good point.
Let me think about that. And then I realized, no, that's contrary to the yallness of who we get to be in the New Testament. And it's contrary. If he is walking with Jesus that much, he may not need a community group, but his community needs him. His community group needs him to be training him up, to be pointing him towards Jesus, to be helping him understand how the Bible applies. Here's what it says.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. So you can know things and have no clue how it applies. Wisdom is knowing things and how it applies. And so as we walk in relationships with each other, we get to teach and admonish one another. We get to call each other out and point each other towards the gospel and how the gospel applies in relationships.
And here's another thing I can guarantee you about him. If he came down here and joined one of our community groups, he'd get to grow in patience, forbearance, and forgiveness. Guaranteed. And that's actually one of the ways that we grow in understanding the gospel. So as he gathered with some people who had just become believers and didn't really even understand how it applied.
I have conversations with people in our church family, and I love it because we've got a lot of young Christians and a lot of people who have just become believers and a lot of people who are tractor-beamed by Jesus and will be believers soon. It's one of my favorite group of people to talk with that just don't even understand. You'll talk to them about stuff from the Bible, and they're like, I didn't even realize that was like a thing that I wasn't supposed to be doing. I didn't understand that this even applied. And it's like, yeah. And so they've been offending people, and they've been hurting people's feelings, and they've been walking in sin because they didn't even realize that that was in here, that this is how they should walk with Jesus.
And so we get to, as we grow together, teach and admonish one another because the gospel dwells in us richly, because the word of Christ is in and among us. Community forces us to walk in the gospel in a way that we would never get to, and it allows us to have a richness and a fullness to life with Jesus that we never get to have outside of the relationships we get to have with one another. The joy that we get to celebrate together, the life that we get to walk through together, we'll miss out on if there isn't a y'all to us walking with Jesus. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. When we gather together on Sundays, this is not an event. It's a gathering of the church. And we sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is one of the ways that we teach and admonish one another. When you're singing, yes, you're singing to Jesus, you're also singing to every other person in this room who can hear your voice. You're teaching and admonishing and helping everyone else realize that this is true.
This is who Jesus is. This is what he's done for us. This is what's happened for us in the gospel. So we gather our groups together to sing, to teach, to be thankful. And then we walk through life in the mess and joy of life together as we get to be Jesus's people. Realize that we don't just get to look at that and say, man, I'd love to be a part of a group of people who had compassion and kindness and humility and meekness.
Don't look and say, man, I'd love to be a part of a group of people that I knew had to forgive me. I'm going to cause problems for the rest of my life. I want to be around people who have to forgive me. Realize that gets to be us. We get to sit on that beach. We get to feel that breeze.
We get to inhale that salt air because of what Jesus has already done for us. Because for those of us in Christ, Jesus took our sin and he nailed it to a cross. And he paid our debt and he set us free. And we have the way to interact with one another because Jesus shows us what humility looks like when he stepped out of heaven. The king of the world, creator of all things, stepped out of heaven and took on our sin so that we could be free. He didn't assert his way.
He didn't destroy his enemies. He died for them. So we understand what meekness looks like. He forgave all of us of everything of those of us who placed our faith in Jesus. And he offers that to everyone to place your faith in Jesus and be forgiven. So we understand what forgiveness looks like.
And we know with the cross that it's costly, but it's possible. And so we allow the gospel to dwell among us richly as we study scripture and see what Jesus did for us. And then we walk through life together. Normal, everyday life. If you don't have people in our church family getting on your nerves, I will tell you something. You probably don't have, you haven't plugged in enough.
You haven't hopped in enough. That's how relationships with sinful people works. That's what we get to be with each other. We get to have genuine love, real love, and real life and relationships because of Jesus. So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to stand up and we're going to sing. We only sang one song when we came in here because we're going to sing a lot now. We're going to be thankful. We're going to praise Jesus for what he's done, for who we get to be. We're going to sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts towards God because of what Jesus has done for us in the gospel. I'm going to pray.
We're going to sing. God, I thank you that this gets to be true for us. That we get to actually have these kind of relationships. That you've invited us into your family and your family is beautiful. That, God, we get to be a group of messed up people rescued and redeemed by Jesus and that your church gets to be the dearest place on earth to us. We thank you.
We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Life in Jesus
Colossians 3:1-11
Transcript
Apostle Paul has been writing this letter to a church in Colossae. And they, it's a relatively new church, relatively healthy, but they've kind of been having a bunch of nonsense pumped into their brains, both inside and outside of the church, as to what it looks like to follow Christ. And so Paul, for the first two chapters, has just been, here's who Jesus is, and here's what he's accomplished for us. So here's, he is the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn among all creation. Before by him all things have been created in heaven and on earth.
I mean, he just goes in this massive, here's how glorious, how inconceivable, how uncomparable Jesus is. And then he goes into, and he died so that we could have a right relationship with God. We've been rescued and redeemed by him. That he's paid our debt. And so there's no more, no more work and effort that we have to put in and nothing else that we have to do that by which we are judged as to whether or not we're right or wrong. And so Paul's going to, in the first two chapters, he just, this is who Jesus is, and this is what he's done.
This is who Jesus is, and this is what he's done. This is who Jesus is, and this is what he's done. That's the first two chapters. And then in chapter three and four, he's going to turn and say, okay, so because that's true, here's what we get to look like. Here's what life gets to look like. Here's what it gets to look like as we interact and live life together.
And so the book of Colossians is written to a church. Every time he uses the word you, it's the word y'all. It's the Greek version of y'all. And so he's talking to a group of people, and he's saying, this is what it looks like for you to live in community, for you to be people affected by who Jesus is and what he's done. And so we get this backwards all the time. We almost feel like it has to be backwards.
And so what I mean by that is this. Every other religion and even what we try to operate in, the mode of operation we try to work in in our own souls is do these things, be this type of person, and then God will love you. So do these things, be this type of person, and then God will love you. So we try to work it out here. We try to try really hard here, and then we earn a goal here that God loves us, that God accomplishes us, or that he gives us worth or that we have worth because of what we've accomplished. And so every other religion is going to be don't do this, do this, don't dress this way, dress this way, talk this way, don't talk this way, have your hair this way.
All of these rules and regulations, and if we follow those, if we're good, if we're moral, if we're right, if we have the right nationality, whatever it is, then we'll earn nirvana or we'll be accepted by God or we'll be loved by God. And that's actually the way humans want to operate. We want to believe that I can do something, that it's within my power to make myself right with God. And so Paul, in the first two chapters of Colossians, has been crushing that. He's been saying, no, it's not inside your power, it's who Jesus is and what he's done, and now we live in light of that. So we operate in a certain way because he loves us, because he gives us worth, because he gives us value, not to earn it.
I heard it explained this way, and I thought it was helpful for my brain, so I'm going to share it with you all. If a king has a castle and an enemy is approaching, So the king brings all the people in around the castle, he brings them inside the city, he closes the gates, he sets up some military units and soldiers and archers, he sets them all up, and then he and most of the force, most of the military rides out to meet the enemy. So he wants to go meet the enemy on the battlefield, and he wants to have some units left to protect the city. And so what happens is one of two things. If the king wins, he gathers some men and he sends them back to give the good news.
He gathers some men to be heralds of what has been accomplished. And so these men just come back, and all they do is give good news. All they're good newsers, they're giving a report of, all right, so here's what happened. The battle went like this, the enemy came this way, we did this, which was awesome, and then like a bunch of them died, and then they ran away, and we won. King went out, and we won the victory. And so now you get to live in light of the good news.
So open the gates, bust out the mead, get the cheese and the meat, and let's have a party. We get to celebrate the fact that we don't have to be in here preparing for battle, we don't have to be huddled up in fear. Victory's already been won, we get to live in light of it. Or, king loses. And then he gathers some men, and he sends them back, and they are advisors. Military advisors, and they're there to give good advice.
So they ride up, and they say, okay, king said this many men are coming, we were able to stop this force, but we know what's headed our way, and so we need to have extra men here prepared to do this. And he said to line up all the men here, and all they can do is give good advice. And what they can say is if we do these things well, if we try hard enough, we may live. But there's no guarantee. It's one of two options. And what Christianity is, is the king already came.
The king already fought the battle. The king already won the victory. And we get to live in light of it. That's Christianity. It's not good advice that if we do these things, if we try hard enough, if we're prepared enough, we might live. It is no.
We now get to live in light of what has already been accomplished for us. And so that's what Paul said in the first two chapters. Here's what the king did. He left heaven. He lived on earth. He was crushed in our place for our sins.
Our debt was nailed to the cross when he was nailed to the cross. And we're free, and we have life in him. That's chapters 1 and 2. 3 and 4 is, so here's what it looks like for us to live in light of that. Here's what it looks like for us to open the gates and start the party. Here's what it looks like for us to be in relationship with one another.
And so that's what we're doing. That's what we're hopping into in chapter 3 and 4. And so it's going to be Paul telling us more. This is what you do. This is what this looks like. But at no point is it do these things, and then God will love you.
It's no. Here's what he's already done. So we live in light of that. I'm going to pray, and we're going to hop into chapter 3. God, we thank you that the battle has already been fought and the victory has already been won. That at no point as we talk through what it looks like for us to be your church are we trying to earn anything.
We're honestly just getting to live in light of what you've already done. So God, I pray that you would impress that on our souls, that you would make that real to us, that we would know it to be true. We love you, and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. So Colossians 3, verse 1.
If then you have been raised with Christ. So he's saying if you're a Christian, if you've placed your faith in Jesus. In chapter 2 he just said that you died with Christ, so your sin died with him, and you've been raised to life in Christ. So that the old you died with him, and the new you has life because of him. So he took our sin and gave us his righteousness.
He took our death and gave us his life. That's what Jesus did when he died on the cross and when he rose again. And so Paul says if you've been raised with Christ, if you've placed your faith in Jesus, if you have been given new life in him, this is what it looks like. So I know some of you may be in here hanging out and are just kind of checking this whole Jesus thing out. We think this is a really safe place to do that. Paul is talking specifically to those who've placed their faith in Jesus, what it looks like to follow him in that.
And for those of us who haven't placed faith in Jesus yet, you get to approach him knowing that he pays for your sin and gives you new life through faith. So if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is. Seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.
So what Paul says is if you've been raised with Christ, if you've placed your hope in Christ, set your mind on the things that are above. Live as if you understand what has happened. Live as if eternity is real for you because of Jesus. That Christ who is your life. That our life is in him. So we're not going to find it here.
Basically, Paul is saying that Jesus in his death and resurrection and when we placed our faith in him has reset the way we view the world. So like I remember middle school. There were some things that were super important and intense in middle school that when you got to high school, you were like, huh. That wasn't as big a deal as I thought it was going to be. I remember a couple stories. Anna told me that when she was in middle school, the first day she wore chapstick, she thought people were going to notice and it was going to be a big deal.
So that her lips were going to be more glisten-y and less chap-y than normal. And so she just felt like, because when you're in middle school, everything just feels like this is going to be way more intense than it is. And everything seems bigger than it is at that moment. And as you get older, you're like, that wasn't as big a deal. In middle school one time, I wore, I don't want to tell this story, but I've started. So I wasn't planning on telling it, but it popped down my mouth.
I wore some short, like gray, kind of cut-off sweatpants. And I was like, I don't know how I feel about these in middle school. Like people may give me a hard time. But I was like, whatever, I'm going to go for it. And they were comfortable. And so I was like, I'm going to do this.
And then at lunch that day, I sat in gravy. Brown rice gravy in the worst place possible. And so I was like trying to walk down halls up against the wall for the rest of the day and stuff. And the way I found out was one of my friends, I was walking down the hall. He was halfway away. And the way I found out was one of my friends yelled to me something that I'm not going to preach right now.
But just a question. He had a question that he had for me, giving him a pants situation. And I remember thinking, I don't know if you live this down. I think this may go with me forever. Like I may have earned a nickname. And it may stick with me forever.
Got to high school. People didn't remember. I didn't bring it up. Like it wasn't a thing. And I realized that it was less important than I thought it was. And the truth is, this happens to us all the time.
So you'll meet people that went on a trip to a third world country. And they come back and they just, they're like, oh, toilets are the best. It's like they just appreciate things that we don't appreciate anymore. Like we've gotten used to it. If you're watching a good movie, this can happen to you. Have you ever seen the movie Hidalgo?
It's like a guy rides a horse through the desert. There's this part where he's like crawling along in sand. His face is like cooked by the sun. His lips are split in half. And if you're drinking water while you watch that, you're just like, I love water. I forgot how wonderful this is.
And so what Paul is saying is that Jesus has given us the ability to see life differently. And that we get to set our minds on the things that are above. We get to realize that what is here is enjoyable. We get to realize that what is here is for his glory. And that we get to partake in it. And we get to enjoy it.
And we get to celebrate. And we get to have friends and family. And all of the good things that he's given. But it's not about that. And life isn't found in them. So he says that set your mind on the things above.
Not on the things that are on earth. For you have died. And your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And so often we think that we're going to find life hidden somewhere. And for those who place their faith in Jesus, our life is hidden in Christ.
And when he appears, our life appears. I was trying to think about how that plays out. And I've got two separate examples that I'm going to kind of smush together just to try to give us a picture of what that's going to be like when our life appears. When Christ who our life is hidden in appears. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.
Tolkien and a couple other guys were in a, they hung out with each other. And so C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien wrote books like Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. Yeah, thanks. So they hung out together in this thing called the Inklings.
And at one point one of their friends named Charles died. And there's this quote by C.S. Lewis saying that not only does he miss Charles, but now he gets less of Ronald, which is what he called J.R.R. Tolkien. So I'm assuming his name was like John, Ronald, Ronald, Tolkien or something like that.
Named after both his granddads, both their names were Ronald. I don't know how that works. But he called him Ronald and he says, not only do I get, I don't get Charles. He said, but you would think that now I have Ronald all to myself. He said, but that's not true. I actually get less of Ronald.
Because there's only certain ways that he interacts with Charles that I'll never get to see again. He said, I'll never get to see Ronald laugh at a distinctly Charles joke. And he said, so you would think I get more of Ronald, but I actually now get less. Hold that in your brain. I've got another example that we're going to try to smoosh them together to help just paint a vague picture of what this looks like. Anna, sometimes when she would go out of town or when we hadn't seen each other for a while, she would ask me, like we'd be on the phone and she'd be like, do you miss me?
And I've since learned, but originally I would say, uh, no, not really. After I said that several times, I realized this isn't going well. That conversation never takes a good turn after I answer that way. And so I've learned how to answer better. But the truth was I never had moments because I always understood missing her as like having these moments where I was just like, oh, I wish she was here.
Like I just felt it. And that wasn't how it was. And that's what I thought missing was. So I was just like, nah. I'm busy. I got stuff going on.
Like I was working on something. So no. But the truth is every time I would see her and if she goes out of town now, every time when she comes back, it's there's this moment when she first shows up that it clicks in my brain. That's what was missing. That's what's been off for the past two days. And I didn't stop and think about it.
And I never really sat and allowed that to sink in. But it's just been something's been missing. And there's, in a very small way, some of my life, some of who I am is tied up in Anna, but not the way that it's hidden in Christ. And so what Paul's saying is that the fullness of who we are is brought out in Christ. And that when we see him, there's going to be this moment for all believers that we go. So that's what's been missing.
That's what's been off in me so often that I've thought I've needed something else to fill me up. That's the hunger inside of me that I've never been able to quite quiet down. That's where my life was. And I've been thinking that these cheap substitutes would replace it. And that he's going to bring out more of us. And we're going to get to, as we enjoy him in church family forever, see more of him than we'd ever get to see if it was just us and him.
And so there's this amount of life that's multiplied as he calls his church back up into him. And Paul says, your life is hidden with Christ. And so for believers, we're not looking for life other places. And so Paul's saying, chapters 1 and 2, here's what Jesus has done for you. Here's what he's accomplished on your behalf. He's taken away your sin.
He's paid your debt. And your life is in him. And now he's going to start saying, so this is what it looks like. For us to have our life in him, for us to be gospel people, here's what it looks like. Five. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.
As Paul says, our minds are on the things above. Our minds are on eternity. We realize that what is here is enjoyable, but it's not the goal. It's not where our life is. There's more important things than just having comfort or amassing success. There's more important things.
Life isn't here. We get to see things from an eternal perspective. So put to death what's earthly in you. Paul says, put to death. You kind of read that and you're like, all right, Paul, tell us how you really feel. It's intense.
He says, put to death what is earthly in you. And then he's going to give us some examples. Sexual immorality. What we're going to do is we're going to walk through this list and just explain briefly what they mean. And then we're going to kind of zoom back and go back through them as Paul kind of puts them together in categories. Sexual immorality.
That's the Greek word pornea, which is the word we get pornography from. It is just a sexual junk drawer. It's a sexual junk drawer, which just means that he's not being specific here. He's saying all sexual sin. He's not going to give a big list of this is sexual sin and this is sexual sin and this is sexual sin. All of it.
So get rid of that. All sexual sin and sexual sin in the Bible is any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. So God invented sex. Made it enjoyable on purpose. Knew what he was doing. But it's for marriage to create oneness, to create unity for health and life and procreation.
Like it's it's a good thing, but not outside of marriage. And so he says sexual immorality. Put it to death. And so we immediately ask the question. Well, like what? How far is too far?
If it's this vague term. And he clarifies for us. Sexual immorality. Impurity. So he says it's not a line that we work our way towards.
It's purity or not purity. So like if you have water, it's H2O. It's water. And you can't be like, well, it's water with just the hint of battery acid. It's like, no. No.
That's impure water. It's no longer drinkable. That's not a good thing. It's water, but just a little bit of dead animal bacteria from up the creek here. It's like, no. And so what Paul is saying is the question isn't how close can we get before this becomes a problem?
The question is how can you be pure? How can you honor Jesus with the way you live and act? And so Paul says for those of us who've been rescued by Jesus and had our debt paid, get rid of this. Put it to death. Passion, evil desire. So we use passion in a good term, and so I don't think it's necessarily wrong.
What he's talking about here is overwhelming desire for reaching our goals, for having success. It's this passion and evil desire, this overwhelming, I have to have what I want. I have to achieve what I want. And he clarifies this further. But that's what he's, passion and evil desire.
And covetousness, which is just wanting things that aren't ours, desiring things that someone else has, greediness, which is idolatry. So idolatry is when we love anything more than God, when we worship anything that isn't God, when we seek in something what only God can give. So Paul says your life is hidden with Christ. So quit seeking life in these other things. It's idolatry. It's us pursuing this to give us something that we think it will fulfill us, we think it will give us worth, we think it will give us value, and it's not going to.
So he basically, when I was reading through this, I was like, dang, Paul. I feel like he read our mail a little bit when it comes to how we operate in American culture. So I'm going to put these into three kind of categories, and I think he kind of does as well. He talks about idolatry. So the God of sex, the God of success, passion and evil desire, and the God of more covetousness.
Tell me our culture doesn't tell us that joy and life and hope are found in sex. It does. That's how you know you have... If you watch any amount of film, television, the way you know you're successful is your sex life. The way you know you're okay, the way you know you're valuable, the way you know you have worth, the way you know... Sex.
It'll complete you. It'll fulfill you. You can look at magazines. Sex. This is what you need. Does your partner fill you up?
Do they complete you? Are they doing what they ought to? We have bought into the lie that sex is somehow going to fulfill us, make us whole, and give us worth and value, and that our life will be found in it. Paul says it's not. He says for Christians who've placed your life in Jesus, who's died for your sin, put it to death. Truth is, this shows up in the church as well.
This belief, this cultural belief that sex somehow will fix us, will fill us up. It shows up in the way we treat single people in the church. Like they have a disease or something. Where you can't be single in the church without having people constantly ask you like... Because we have this assumption. We know you can't be having sex now.
We're in the church, so stop it. But won't you like it later when you can? Like there's this... This you're not complete yet. You're not full yet. You're not fulfilled yet.
Your life will be found when you're married. The problem is... Paul says our life's in Jesus. Not future magic marriage. It doesn't exist, by the way. And Paul says our life's in Jesus.
And the truth is, biblically, it's okay to not be married. It's a perfectly acceptable way to honor Jesus and walk through life. Marriage is good too. It's a gift. But Paul says that not being married is a gift and that he wished more people had it.
The God of sex. Paul says, put it to death. Live as if the gospel is true. The God of success. This is another one that we buy into. Passion and evil desire.
That our life will be found when we've made something out of ourselves. So we have the concept of the self-made man. That when we've become successful enough. When we've earned enough. When we've achieved our goals. So we pump this into little kids' brains.
Like every little cartoon ever. Some animal shows up. Like a grasshopper or something. And it's like, follow your heart. Live your dreams. It's like, kill that grasshopper.
He's lying to you. I go to children's movies just so I can yell, No, don't do it! I don't, but that would be fun. But we believe that. We believe that if I earn, if I achieve, if I get the things I desire. Then I'll have life.
Then I'll know I'm complete. Then I'll know I'm fulfilled. If that were true. The happiest people in our society. Would be movie stars. Musicians.
That have made it to the top. Got everything they ever dreamt of. So just as a brief case study. Is that true? No. The reason we can continue to believe it's true is because we haven't succeeded and grasped everything that we've desired.
So we can still believe it holds the promise of life because we haven't found it, caught it, and seen that it comes up empty. And Paul says, put it to death. Your life is not going to be found in your ability to succeed. Your life is not going to be found in your ability to get everything that you want. Covetousness. Man, we've this hook, line, and sinker.
The God of more. That we need more. That life would be better if I could just have... Oh, this would work out well if I could just... If this would just... Our whole economic system is based off of the fact that you need more.
Because we produce way more than we actually need. So we have to buy more to keep our economic system going. So that advertisers have figured this out. They don't sell you on need. I saw a commercial the other day for a Buick. And all it did was inside of the car tell you features.
And it was like this old man talking really slowly. And it was like, plush leather seats. A knob that controls the radio. And I was like, this is the weirdest commercial I've ever seen. Because he's trying to sell me this car as opposed to something that the car will bring me. Because he's acting as if I need the car.
But we don't need the car. I think it was directed at really old people. But the better example of this and the way our society works... I used to work at the mall at Sears before they shut down. So I apparently wasn't crushing it or anything.
But I used to work at the mall at Sears. People would come in with Hollister bags. And that's the best. Hollister is a clothing store that sells clothing. And on their advertisements, on their bags, is a picture of a guy from about ribs up with no clothes on. That's how Hollister advertises their clothing store.
A clotheless guy. Now, if they're not selling me something other than their product, I don't know what they're selling me. Like, you look at that and you go, Oh, I need to buy my clothes at Hollister. So I'll be cool enough to not wear clothes. Maybe if I buy enough of those shirts, I'll get abs like that guy. I'm going to need a lot of those shirts.
But the truth is, we're sold on the idea that we need more. That we're incomplete. It's the absolute antithesis of the gospel. That Jesus has completed everything on our behalf, and we're sold on the idea that if we could just have a little more. That we'd be better off if we just had a little more. And Paul says it's idolatry and put it to death.
But all of us walk around saying, Life will be good if. I'll know I'm okay if. I won't have to worry anymore if. And Paul says, Christ is your life. He's already done everything for you. So put it to death.
And the truth is, for some of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, we're still operating. Paul says this is earthly in us. We're still operating as if this were true. And Paul says, Get the guillotine out in your soul. Have an execution. And put it to death.
And for some of us, that's going to be a daily process of taking this and putting it to death. And reminding ourselves that Jesus already died. We died with him. He already rose and gave us life. And this does not hold the promise of life. And we don't have to live up to it or be enslaved to it to know that we have worth and value.
Jesus has already done it. So we can put this to death. That this died with us when we died with Christ. He keeps going. He says, On account of these, so on account of idolatry, on account of rebellion, the wrath of God is coming. We, I think, often like to believe that the wrath of God is not coming.
Or that God does not have wrath. And he does. He has wrath for sin, rebellion against him, worship of anything other than him. So we read in chapter 1 how magnificent, how holy, how exalted, how worthy he is, and how he created everything. And that his little creation turned around and said, nope, we want to worship ourselves. And we want to chase after smaller things.
And it says, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming. And the truth is, God has wrath and love. And that's what we see in the cross. Where God loves us enough to take wrath for us. So that he can bring wrath towards rebellion and not have to destroy everyone.
So that we who placed our faith in Jesus, he took our wrath on our account. Some of you in here have been hurt by evil people. God has wrath. He loves too much to not have wrath. The God who is love cannot sit in heaven and watch molestation, murder, lying, pain, heartache, rape, and not have wrath. If you show me a God who doesn't have wrath, I'll show you a God who doesn't love.
God is love, and he has wrath. And he loves enough to take our wrath for us. But those of you in here who have been hurt, and who have seen those who hurt you, go free. You don't have to pick up wrath. You don't have to take up the sword. God does.
And those who harmed you will have one of two things happen to them. They'll receive the same overwhelming, undeniable, undeserved grace that we've received. Because Jesus will have paid for their wrath. Or they'll receive the wrath of God. Sin will be paid for. The question is, will Jesus pay for it or will we?
So Paul says, On the count of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these two you once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Jesus at one point says that, that from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so some of us just have anger, and wrath, and malice, and bitterness inside of us. I've heard the example, and it's a simple one, but if I was holding a cup up here, you wouldn't know what was in it until I shook it.
And so some of us like to pretend like we're pretty nice people, but the truth is, we don't really know what's in our heart until it begins to overflow. Until we're pressed. And then we realize that, man, we're angrier than we thought. We have more wrath and slander and malice than we thought because of what I just shouted at my wife. Because of what I just yelled at my roommate. Because of what I'm saying about my parents behind their back.
Paul says, put it away. That we've been rescued and redeemed. We don't have to dwell with that anymore. Like, I know that there have been times in my life, people have told me before I'm not super emotional. And I used to be like, yeah, I'm emotional. I get angry and hungry.
Like, I have emotions. But there's been times where, that's all, that was really all I operated in was anger. Malice and wrath and slander. Paul says it doesn't fit with a Christian who's been forgiven. So put it away.
And we don't have to walk around with that. And we don't have to, because his wrath is coming, we don't have to be wrathful. We get to know that we're forgiven, so we get to forgive, and we get to know that God's sovereign, and that he'll take care of it. Then he says this, do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, after the image of its creator. It feels to me, so he goes through this list of major idolatry, and then he goes through this heart level anger, and then he goes, and don't lie to each other.
And it's like, okay, that's helpful. That's good advice. And I know it's in a list of how we ought to exist with one another, but it's the first time he says one another, and he's not just kind of talking about what we pursue. And so it feels a little bit like he's showing us something more, and trying to help us more than just saying, hey, lying's not going to be helpful for you. See, what he says is, do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, after the image of its creator. we're being made to look more like Jesus.
And so Paul says, just be honest. He's taking a very real look at sin here. You see, he's not condemning us at any point, because condemnation would mean that we're judged based off of our ability to behave, and chapters 1 and 2 says that that's not true. That we couldn't behave, we couldn't get it together, we aren't moral enough, we aren't going to control our sexual desires, our desire for success, we're not going to be able to get rid of all the idols in our soul, and that Jesus had to die so that we could have life. And so, and then Paul goes right into chapter 2, right before he gets here, he says, you're not judged by morality, spirituality, effort.
You're judged by Jesus paying your debt. And then he says, so he says, put to death what is earthly in you. In these two you once walked, when you were living in them, now, now you must put them all away. So what he's saying is, look, I know this is in you. Paul's a human, he knows it's in him. At no point is he taking an unrealistic view of this, and acting as if you're judged or condemned by it.
And so what he says is, don't lie about it. Be real. We get to be real about the fact that we're broken. About the fact that we often pursue things that we think are going to give us life and that they aren't. Everyone in this room who's a Christian knows that value comes from Jesus, not from us. And so that when I stand up and tell you, here's how I messed up, we're not surprised.
People often would, non-Christians that were friends of mine, would be like, I can't believe you did that, you're a Christian. And I'd be like, whoa, entry exam to Christianity. I'm a horrible person. Listen, Jesus is awesome. It's not about our ability to behave. But that means we get to live like we're free.
We get to live in light of what's already happened. We get to live in light of the victory. So we get to throw open the gates and start the party. We don't have to live as slaves to chasing after other things and seeking life and small things anymore. As Paul says, don't lie. Be real about it.
John says this. He's one of Jesus' disciples. John says in 1 John, and we're going to put it up on the screen. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So John says, look guys, if you're going to say you're not sinful, if you're going to say you're not broken, you're going to say you've deceived yourself.
And I think you've deceived yourself in one of two ways. Either you believe that you're not sinful or you've actually deceived yourself enough to believe that you've got it together or you're deceived in thinking that we believe it. But I'm a Christian. I know everybody in this room is messed up. And I know that we all need Jesus. So Paul says this.
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is no Jew, here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. What Paul just said is, all the categories that we use to assign worth are gone. He's talking to a society that just knew that there were certain people that inherently had value and certain people didn't. That certain races were just worse than other ones. That certain types of people, certain people were just born to be slaves than they were supposed to be.
They had less value than the people who were supposed to be not slaves. Paul says, all the categories that you use to gauge whether or not you have value and worth are gone. Paul says, there's no good people and bad people. There's no moral churchgoers and heathens. There's no people who get it together and act right and those people that keep falling short. He says, Christ is all, which means that everything is about Jesus.
All worth and value and joy and hope are found in him. And he says he's in all, which means that Christ, as he dwells in us, gives us worth and value and joy and hope. So if Christ is all, all that matters, he's the only category that matters and he's in all, then we don't have to lie to each other. We get to be real about where we are, where we're struggling. We get to confess and repent and we get to put to death what's evil inside of us, what's earthly inside of us, where we're trying to pursue life, where we're angry and slanderous and off. So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to play some music so that we don't have a band up here that can't also do this and can't also operate as church family. We're going to play some music and we're going to repent, which is just that we confess that we're off, that we've been chasing other things and that we begin to change because the gospel gives us the freedom to do that. We're not repenting. We're not turning away from the sins so that we can have life. We're getting to live in light of what's already been accomplished. Every time I don't want to share and confess sin, all I'm saying is that deep down inside of me, I still believe that my value comes from me.
Deep down inside of me, functionally, I can say all I want to. I can stand up in front of you as much as I want and say that Jesus paid everything for me. If I'm not willing to be open with where I'm off and where I'm broken, what I'm saying is I don't really believe it. So Paul says, put it to death. I know it's there. Put it to death and live in light of what's already happened.
All Paul's saying is fling open the gates and start the party. No longer live in the slavery of my value comes from what I do. My value comes from what I can accomplish. No longer live in the slavery of if I could just have more, if I could just, I would find life. No longer live in the slavery. He's saying, you don't need to be huddled up in fear anymore.
The enemy's defeated. You don't need to be gathering weapons and coming up with plans of how you're going to succeed. The enemy's been defeated. Fling open the gates and start the party. And what that looks like as we put it to death is that we confess and we're open with where we're off and we're open with where we need Jesus to rescue and to fix and to redeem and to change us and to pay for a debt that we can't pay. So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to repent. We're going to play some music. We're going to sit in here and we're going to, as church family, we're going to move around. Some of us are going to need to talk to Jesus about some areas in our lives and our hearts, areas where we've been pursuing something else to give us value when our life's actually in heaven. Some of us who don't know Jesus, haven't placed our faith in Jesus, is open for you to repent, to ask Him to rescue and to redeem because life is only in Him. You're not going to find it anywhere else.
Some of us are going to need to talk to each other because there's been wrath and malice and slander. We're going to need to confess. We're going to ask for forgiveness. We're going to forgive because Jesus forgives. We're going to live in light of what's already been accomplished, that our worth and our value doesn't come from us, but it comes from Him. That we get to be real.
Some of us are going to need to step outside and make phone calls. We're going to do that. Some of us are going to start a conversation off like this. I'm going to want to lie to you the entire time we talk. I'm going to need you to ask me some real questions because I want so badly for the gospel to functionally dwell in me like it's true and the whole time I'm going to fight against that and try to hide. But I don't want to lie.
I don't want to hide. I don't need your help. Some of us are going to invite people in our church family to just end on what we're struggling with. I've been believing this is going to give me life and I just want a teammate. I just want somebody to pray with me. I don't want to pursue this anymore.
I want to live like the gospel is true. I want to fling open the gates and start the party. Then we're going to take communion. After we confess, after we talk, after we repent, Jesus says if we're at the altar and we realize that someone has something against us or we have something against someone else that's on us to go talk to them. So we're going to talk.
We're going to pray. We're going to actively live as if the gospel is true. We're going to do chapter 3 because we know chapter 1 and 2 are true. That Jesus paid our debt. He disarmed the enemy. The victory has been won.
We're going to fling open the gates. We're going to be honest. We're going to be real. And then we're going to party. We're going to sing and make much of Jesus and celebrate the fact that we get to be church family because of what he's done for us. I'm going to pray.
We're going to move around. We're going to talk to each other. We're going to live like the gospel is true. God, I thank you that at no point does my value come from my ability to behave. I thank you that at no point does my value come from my good morals, my wise decisions, my pure heart. God, we so often in this room believe that other things hold our life, that our life is hidden in something other than you.
God, and I pray that through your Holy Spirit you would convict us, that you would lead us to repentance and to the joy that comes from the freedom from slavery to sin. God, so impress upon us the victory that's already been won that we will come out of the darkness, out of fear, fling open the gates, and live in light of the fact that you give us worth by your death, that you give us life by your resurrection, that our value and our hope is not seated in us, that our life is not hidden in us, but it's hidden in you. Lead us now. In Jesus' name.
Discernment Radar Wk. 2
Colossians 2:8-23
Transcript
Well, all right, everybody doing well tonight? I hope we did have a good Fourth of July. It's been two weeks since we've gotten together like this on a Sunday to dig into and talk about Colossians. I just spent the past couple of days, I manage a fireworks store during the Fourth of July and New Year's. And so if you've ever thought, is he kind of a redneck? I hope that clears it up for you.
I am. I love fireworks. I get in there and I get like a little kid. But you can't tell people when you sell fireworks, you can't tell people all the cool things they can do with them. You have to be like, no, don't hold that in your hand. No, don't throw that at your brother, like those kind of things.
But it is fun and has been a busy past couple of weeks. And a week before we didn't gather, we had the opportunity to eat or to eat here with First Baptist West Columbia or to come hang out with Midtown Fellowship or to stay at your house and nap. So hopefully people made good choices there. I think eating here and then napping would have been a good combo, but whatever you want to do. But what we're talking about tonight, we're in Colossians chapter 2.
We've been going verse by verse through Colossians. What we're talking about tonight, we're finishing up. We started talking in Colossians chapter 2 about a discernment radar. And so we'll be in 8 through 23 tonight. And what we're kind of doing is we're finishing up this idea of having a discernment radar that Paul kind of starts off in the beginning of chapter 2. And so really what we said that was is as Christians, as really as humans in the United States, we're bombarded with ways to think and to feel about everything.
So we're told constantly by television how we ought to view romance, life, joy, hope, the purpose of why we're here. We're told through books that we read and through shows that we watch. I mean, constantly. I was watching the end of a show. My wife and I were watching the season finale of a show. And I found myself sitting there wanting one of the main characters to get rich.
There was a job he was trying to work out. And I was wanting him to have it work out really well at the end of the show so that I could just know that this character, who wasn't real, was going to be okay off in Fake World when I was no longer allowed to watch him. And I remember sitting there thinking, like, wanting that to work out. And then I was like, you know, the truth is I don't think that's where life and joy and hope and happiness come from. I don't think that wealth accomplishes that for us. But through this show, I was believing that for this guy.
And I was beginning to think that that would make his life better and he would have joy and hope and life if he had that. And this was like two nights ago, and it just reminded me of the fact that as we watch television, as we read books, we're constantly being sold a worldview. And so what happens is we get indoctrined by everything around us. And that's what Paul is. He's writing to the Colossians. He's saying, look, there's all of this coming in at you, and I want you to have a way to process it.
I want you to have a way to understand what's healthy and helpful and good for you. And so what we talked about in the first seven verses of chapter two is, and we kind of went through it backwards, but Paul says, I want you to be knit together in love. I want you to be one so that you can have the full assurance of Christ, so that you can know what is true in the gospel, so that you're not led astray by plausible arguments. And so what we basically said last time we got together was, we're constantly being attacked by plausible arguments, things that sound smart and good, but we need to be able to submit them to Jesus in the context of community.
And that's actually what our discernment radar is. Does this line up with Jesus? And we do that in the context of community. As we finish out this chapter, we're going to see that Paul, it feels kind of like a father talking with his children in this passage. It's almost like, look, I'm not going to be here with you, and I want you to have a way to process everything that's coming in. I'm not, Paul tells them, he says, you've never seen me face to face.
And so I'm just trying to equip you with a way to understand the world around you, a way for you to know what's good and helpful and true. And the truth is, as we go through, we're going to look today more at what comes into us from the church, what comes into us from what we see and read in Christian literature and books and pastors and teaching and all that. And so in some ways we get constantly attacked by society. And then we'll walk into a bookstore and we'll like run to the Christian living section and feel like we're at home base. It's like, can't get me here. I'm safe.
That sign says Christian. Or like you're flipping through television channels and you'll flip to some sort of a Christian channel. And it's like, no, can't, this, this is going to be good for me. And that may not necessarily be true. And so Paul's going to kind of unpack. And what he does in this passage, we've got a lot of ground to cover.
It's a lot of verses. And Paul's going to bring up a bunch of ideas. And so actually some of this will need to be unpacked in our community groups as we go throughout the rest of the week and weeks as we continue to walk through Colossians. But what basically Paul does is he brings everything into the room. So he's going to bring up all kinds of different teaching and philosophies and, and ways to understand the world.
And he's just going to gather them all together and say, the way you process this is by looking at Jesus. And so he's going to bring up all this stuff, but he's going to point to Jesus. And so that's what we're going to do tonight. We're going to pull it all into the room. We're not going to spend a whole lot of time unpacking what all of it is, but we're going to point to Jesus. So I'm going to pray and then we'll, we'll hop in.
God, I pray that you'd help us see you clearly in this. You would give us wisdom as we walk through it. Thank you for your word that you do in it, reveal yourself to us and that you lead us through it. And so we praise you. We thank you. Pray that you'd bless our time that we have together tonight in Jesus name.
Amen. Okay. So chapter two, he just, we just finished reading in verse six. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. So what we said last week was that we're to be one.
We're to be knit together. We're to know that everything submits to Jesus. And then that way we won't be led astray by plausible arguments. One of the things we said is that that means we have to be one. We have to have the Bible, not just books. We have to actually study God's word to know that, that Jesus, God revealed himself through Jesus coming to earth.
And that then we, we have him revealed to us through scripture. And so for us to know whether or not something lines up and submits to Jesus and lines up with what's true about the gospel, we have to know scripture. We can't just read books. We can't just, because it's a Christian author. We have to even weigh that against scripture. We also said it has to be community, not just crowd.
So we can't just be like, well, I read some online reviews. This is probably pretty good. Like we can't do that. We have to actually have people around us who know us. One of the best things about my community group is that they know me well enough that I can't trick them. I can't try to try to tell them half of a truth and convince them that what I'm pursuing is actually good for me.
They'll be like, no, man, we know you. And we know that you're actually pursuing this for wrong reasons, even though it's an okay thing. And they get to help guide me. They get to help me point me in the right direction. And so we actually have to have people around us who know us. And so then we get established in the faith and we abound in thanksgiving.
So verse eight, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. Okay. So we've said in Colossians that every time we see the word you, it is the plural you. It's the Greek version of y'all. And so every time we see you, it's actually y'all. He's talking to the church, the group of people.
And so when he says, see to it that y'all aren't taken captive. What he's saying is that it's actually a team effort. That the person responsible for you not being led astray is you and all the Christians around you. That we actually have to care enough about each other to point out where we're getting off, where we're chasing after dumb things, where we're believing something that isn't true. And we have to actually care about each other in order to do that. And so it's, it's our job to defend against everything together as a team.
So see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. So basically philosophy, ways of thinking, ways to process the world, empty deceit, people who are just outright lying, just making stuff up to try to trick us. Philosophy, empty deceit, according to human tradition. So just, this is what we've done forever, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. But he says, he starts gathering all this in the room and he says, everything has to point to Jesus.
We submit to what points to Jesus and nothing else. And so what we're going to see as we go through this is Paul is going to tell us where we actually have the power and the authority in having discernment, what we actually hold everything up against, what we actually hold everything up against so that we know whether or not it's true and helpful and good. Just keep going. For in him, that's Jesus, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. It means that God became a human, that fullness is in Jesus and Jesus alone, that wisdom and life and joy and fullness are in Jesus. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority.
So fullness is in Jesus and we're filled up in Jesus. And he's the head of all rule and authority. You know, that's really good news. We have so many rules and authorities in the world right now. In Colossians, what that means is it both means spiritual rulers and authorities and earthly. So Paul in chapter one would say that Jesus is in charge of visible things, invisible things, things on earth, things in heaven.
I did my hands backwards, but you know what I'm talking about. And, and so what, what this actually means for us is that everything submits to Jesus. And so someone has a PhD that has a rule and authority. It's submitted to Jesus. You have a local church leader, rule and authority submitted to Jesus, local government submitted to Jesus. Which means if I stand up here and point you to something other than Jesus, you tell me to shut up and sit down.
Everything submits to Jesus. That's how that works. And so all rule and authority is submitted to him who is the head and he's head over all rule and authority. Verse 11, in him, you also were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. This just got weird. Um, uh, so Paul's going to start talking about circumcision here.
If you're not familiar with what circumcision is, Matt would love to talk with you about it afterward. Uh, he'd love to walk you through that. Um, okay. So what Paul's going to start talking about circumcision and what, what he's referring to is Jewish religious Acts. So in the old Testament, the way that you knew you were initiated into being a God fear, a God follower, uh, was circumcision.
So all the males were circumcised and that was how they knew that they began to follow the law and how they followed God. And so what happened is after, um, after Jesus came, after he died, after he rose again, and after the church began, it began amongst Jewish people. Uh, contrary to the painting your grandmother has at her house, Jesus was Jewish, not some sort of blonde haired, blue eyed woman with a beard, uh, that you may have seen in a painting. Or if you Google it, there are some pictures of him with dreadlocks, but Jesus was Jewish. So dark hair, dark eyes, Jewish, uh, and Christianity began out of Judaism.
And so what happened was as Christian, Christianity began to grow to those who weren't Jewish, Jewish people would say, yes, you need Jesus. Yes, you need the gospel, but you also need to be Jewish. You need to be a good Jewish person. And your initiation into that is circumcision. And you need to also follow the law. And what Paul is saying is that he says, in him also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Paul says that our initiation into following Jesus was done without hands. That is such good news. That means that nobody in this room accomplished salvation on their own. It was done without hands, that he accomplished it for us. What brings us into being Jesus followers, brings us into being rescued by Jesus is not our hard work, our good morals, our intellect, our effort. It's Jesus.
Jesus has already accomplished it for us. And so what it says is that you, verse 12, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. Christianity is us placing faith in God. And faith is not us doing work. It's us admitting that we can't, that we wouldn't accomplish this on our own. So we place our faith.
We say, I'm not going to work this out. I'm not going to accomplish this, but you can on my behalf. And that's what baptism is. It's us saying that Jesus died for our sins, that we died with him, that our sins died with him. And that when he rose again from the grave, we rose with him. And that's all it is, is us publicly proclaiming that the gospel is true for us.
And so some of you in this room may have become Christians, and you actually need to be baptized, which is just a public declaration of, this is true for me because of Jesus. We'll be doing some baptisms again in August. We throw parties when we baptize people, because we want to make much of Jesus, and we want to celebrate, and we love dunking people to point to Jesus. It's great. And so we eat food and celebrate and make a big deal out of it. And so that's what he's saying.
You were baptized with him. You were buried with him, and you've been raised again through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Jesus from the dead. It's about to get good, y'all. It's one of my favorite sections in Scripture. And you who were dead in your trespasses, trespasses means sin. Every time we've overstepped the bounds, every time we've stepped out of line, every time we've rebelled against God, every time we've loved something more than we've loved him, every time that we've pursued something, that we've placed in higher importance in our life than he is.
Every time we've been greedy and selfish, every time. So we were dead in our trespasses, and those of us outside of Christ in this room are dead in our trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, meaning that Jesus hadn't brought you in yet, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. All right, we're Americans, so we're familiar with debt, correct? Y'all know what debt is? Okay, it has legal demands. So like China could show up and be like, give us everything now, and they have legal demands on us.
We'd tell them no, because we don't have anything to give them. But we'd say, come get it, we have guns. But we have debt, and Americans have debt, and we accrue debt constantly. I saw a thing after the Olympics that said, it was USA and China talking, and it said, USA, we got more gold medals than you did. And China was like, that's cute. You owe us infinite money.
And then USA said, USA, USA. Just change the subject. But anyway, what it's saying is that we, when we sin, have a record of debt with God. A record of debt when we sin. My wife and I own a house. We rent it from the bank.
It's the correct way to say that, I think. Because if we quit paying our mortgage, we'd find out really quickly who actually owned it when they took it from us. But we have a mortgage. We have an electricity bill. We have a Netflix bill that comes in. We have an internet bill.
And they show up every month. We live in West Columbia, but not in the city of West Columbia. So we have to pay water to the city of West Columbia and sewer to the city of Casey. Seems a bit fishy, but that's how that works. And so we pay two bills on that. And so they show up every month in my mailbox.
And that's debt that we owe, and it has legal demand. And so I got to thinking about this. What if God sent me a bill every month for the record of my debt? Sins of commission, which means when we do something we shouldn't do. Every time that I'm just absolutely just selfish with my wife or just pop off and say something really mean to her just because I'm a jerk and she lives with me. Every time that I should have done something and didn't, when I should have been generous, when I should have cared more about someone else than myself, but I convinced myself that I deserved my money more than they did, that I had earned it, that I had more value than they do, and so I don't need to be generous to them.
Every time I stepped over the bounds, every time I missed the Mark, God kept a record of my debt and sent it to me at the end of the month. My neighbors would wonder why I got a phone book once a month. They'd be like, man, we get a phone book once a year. This cat gets a phone book every month. I'd be like flipping through and be like, wow, Tuesday the 12th was a bad day for me. I must have had to have been around a lot of humans.
So what it says is that we have a record of debt, that we're dead in our trespasses, and that we owe a debt to the God of the universe. And here's what it says. We'll start back in 13. And you who were dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Jesus was nailed to the cross.
He became our debt. He became our substitute, that he died in our place for our debt, and in so doing, paid it for us. You see, Jesus is the fullness of deity. See, God became a man and lived a perfect, sinless life. He wouldn't have gotten a bill every month. He had no record of debt.
He had a clean slate. He had not only not committed sin, but he'd done everything he was supposed to do to be right with God. And then, he died to pay our debt. So our God is a judge. We stood before him in his high courtroom, and he looked at us and declared that we were guilty and that we owed an unpayable debt. And then he passed our sentence on to Jesus.
So that Jesus, who owed no debt, paid our guilty sentence. And that we, who owed all the debt, received Jesus' innocence. So that we were declared innocent, and Jesus was declared guilty because he swapped places with us. If you're a Christian in this room, you have no debt when you stand before God. Because Jesus was nailed to the cross, and he became our debt, and he canceled the record of our debt. And we've been set free.
Let me show you why this is such good news. Other than the fact we've been set free, it says this. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. So that when he canceled the record of our debt, he disarmed the rulers and authorities. And so this is both spiritual heavenly rulers and authorities and earthly rulers and authorities. Let's talk about spiritual ones first.
Satan, who is real, he's a created being. He has fallen angels that follow him. They're called demons in scripture. They are spiritual beings that exist. He's called an accuser, which says that he accuses God's people before the throne of God day and night. When Jesus died for our sins, he has nothing left to accuse us of.
So when the enemy shows up and tries to tell you, how on earth can you call yourself a Christian when you did this and this? How on earth can you say that you love Jesus when you've just acted this way? They're disarmed. All that is is an opportunity to say, good point. You're right. Grace is unfathomable that Jesus would pay for that.
Thank you so much for helping me praise his holy name, that I am that messed up, that I did just do that, and that I get to claim the name of Christian because Christ has already paid my debt. The enemy has been disarmed. I used to watch a bunch of movies when I was growing up, like action movies and stuff, and in any pirate movie or Princess Bride has a scene like this, and I think Three Musketeers has a scene like this, but they're always fighting, and then the hero does this wrist thing that I'm not sure actually exists in real life, but they do this, and then the sword shoots up in the air out of their enemy's hand, and then they grab it. And then the bad guy is standing there with no weapon, and he's suddenly in a really bad position because he used to have a weapon, and now he doesn't, and the guy he's fighting has two weapons, which makes it harder because both ends are pointy now, and so it's just a bad day.
That's what Jesus has done for us. What the enemy held against us, what the enemy would hold against us to say that we had fallen short, that we weren't good enough, that we weren't going to make it, that we hadn't earned it, Jesus has disarmed him so that when he says that, we say absolutely. Isn't Jesus good? Absolutely. Didn't he rescue me to the utmost? He's disarmed.
Not only spiritual enemies, but earthly rules and authorities that say you have to do this to know that you have value. You have to do this to get God to love you. You have to accomplish these things to know that you're successful, to know that you have worth. Not at all. Not no heck no. Jesus has already accomplished all that for me.
I've already been given worth freely. I've already been made successful freely. There's nothing that's held against us anymore. And so that's what Paul says here. He says, therefore let no one pass judgment on you. Judgment is where God stands up and he Judges us based off of our merit.
Judgment is when you're in any kind of a competition, there's a certain level of standard or measure that you have to measure up against. And so if you were in a beauty contest, you'd be judged based off of beauty. So if I entered into a beauty contest, I would lose. I would have losing well in hand. Like I wouldn't even get like a participation award. They would just be like, no, stop it.
Go home. No ribbon for you. Because they're basing it off of beauty. If I was in a pie eating contest, that I could actually do. I'm just going to, let's just think about eating pie for a second. But you have to, you have to be based off of the rules that are there.
And so what Paul is saying is that there are no more rules that apply to us that base our acceptance, that our acceptance is based off of, that our merit is based off of. Because Jesus has already brought us in. He's already initiated everything that needs to happen. He's already accomplished it without hands. And so what we're going to look at is three areas that this shows up in the church, that this kind of plays out in how we walk through life as Paul unpacks this. So he says, Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food or drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Okay. If Jesus has already accomplished that for us, and if that's what we hold everything up against, then we aren't judged by legalism. We're set free from it. So what Paul says is, don't let anybody pass judgment on you when it comes to how you behave and how you participate in religious activities.
That they're a shadow of the things to come, and the substance belongs to Christ. And so what that means is, we gather together on Sunday nights. We gather with our community groups, and we walk through life, normal life together, but it's not to get God to love us. It's not to qualify ourselves. It's because of what He's already accomplished. So if you're here tonight to make God love you, that's not how this works.
He's already accomplished it for us. So we do these things because, He says, these are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. We do these things because we enjoy the shadow, because it points us to Jesus. We enjoy the shadow because it outlines Jesus, but the shadow is a means to point us to Jesus. It's not Jesus. It's not the goal.
Religion isn't the goal. Legalism isn't the goal. Adhering to a certain strict set of rules isn't the goal. It's to point us to Jesus. And we get off on this in our thinking. I know my grandparents were, a pastor and wife and my dad, whenever he was sick, they would come home from church, if he was sick and didn't go to church on a Sunday night or something, they would come home and touch the back of the television to see if it was hot.
Because if he was too sick to hang out with the church, he was too sick to watch television, which seems like odd logic. Because you know those people aren't real. Like I can't get them sick through the screen. They're not actually there. Like I think I can watch TV while I'm sick. But that's what they would do.
Because the point was, your adherence to following God in this religious way, but that's not the point. The point is growing closer to Jesus, finding Jesus and realizing that he's already accomplished everything for us. Another way this shows up in the church is Christian karma, which is when things are going well, I just assume I must be doing things right. God must like me because I'm behaving well. And when things aren't going well, I just assume that God must be mad at me. I've got to figure out what I've done wrong.
Jesus. Y'all know everybody likes Jesus, right? That's a thing. Like not many people are like, man, if I met Jesus, I bet we'd fight. Like most people think that Jesus is probably an okay guy. All right?
Jesus was God and he was perfect. Jesus died to cancel the record of our debt that we owed. That's not karma. That's grace. So our walk with God isn't based off of our actions and our effort and our merit.
It's based off of Jesus. So when things are going poorly, it just means things are going poorly. You get to talk to God about it, who's good and who in the cross has already shown you that he's good and that he's for your good. And when things are going great, you get to praise Jesus for it, who's good. But it's not based off of you.
So we're not judged based off of legalism. We enjoy the shadow. We enjoy the things that God's given us that point to him, but we don't base our worth and our value and our salvation off of it. Let no one disqualify you assisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind and not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God. We aren't judged by spiritualism. So some of us think that Christianity is about having intense spiritual experiences, that we've got to have these experiences, these moments that we're just swept away or it's not real or we're not actually in.
But that's not how that works because it's not based off of you and your experiences. It's based off of what Jesus has already accomplished. And so what Paul's saying is that there are people that get swept up in worship of angels, which I didn't know this was a thing. I was talking to Jordan about it. He's from Liberty University, and he said that there's a whole section of Christians now that have gotten into very experiential worship, which there's nothing wrong with that. But then they've started talking about like glory clouds and finding angel feathers, and it's like, nope, that's gotten weird.
And biblically angels fly, but there's only one place that we're ever told anybody had feathers, so I'm not even sure that's a thing. Usually they just show up looking like really scary men. The wife of Samson's mama told her husband there's a really awesome man outside, which I'm sure made him feel great. He's like, awesome man, I'll show you an awesome man. Good gosh, you're gracious. So we get caught up in all of this thing, and we'll overly spiritualize things.
And this isn't the case in all churches, but in some areas in the holiness church and in Pentecostalism, they're taught that in order to show that you are truly a believer, you have to speak in tongues. That's not true. That's not in here. Speaking in tongues is, it's a gift given by God, but it's not to show, you don't have to have this experience to prove that you've been rescued. You don't have to have this spiritual moment to prove that Jesus has accomplished this on your behalf. So for us, we want to have spiritual experiences.
We want to speak in tongues. The Bible says not to forbid the speaking in tongues, and so that's what Baptists have done. They forbid it, and it's like, okay, explain to me Romans 14, where it clearly says, don't do that. Let me show you, let's get into Greek syntax. I'm pretty sure it means don't do that. And we want that to happen, but in a way that points to Jesus.
He says that they're not holding fast to the head. And so we have spiritual experiences, yes, and the Holy Spirit moves, yes, but he points to Jesus. Revelation says that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. And so if you want to know if you're in a spirit-filled church, you're talking about Jesus, you're praying Jesus, you're praising Jesus, everybody's pointing to Jesus. That's what the Holy Spirit is about. It's pointing to Jesus, it's making much of Jesus, it's showing us that salvation is in Jesus, it's convicting us of sin, and drawing us close to Jesus.
A way that we do this, overly spiritualized things, is we throw around the phrase, God told me a lot, and we use it like a trump card. So you'll be talking to somebody, and be like, hey man, I really don't think that this relationship you're in is really healthy, there's some obvious signs of some sin areas, and some things y'all need to be working on, it's like, well, God told me we're supposed to be together. It's like, okay, I don't know if that's true, maybe, after you repent, and start lining up with the other things that he said clearly and wrote down. So, we'll say things like, I feel more spiritual when I'm not, I don't feel like I have to read the Bible much, I feel more spiritual when I'm not reading the Bible, I don't feel like I have to be around the church much, be around church family, I just, I get really spiritual in the woods, and it's like, okay, the Holy Spirit's gonna point you to the head, who's Jesus, who's revealed to us clearly in scripture, and the head, is going to grow the body.
It says the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God, as we hold fast to the head. So we don't overly spiritualize things, we won't have spiritual experiences, and so some of us in this room, you want to have that, that's great, but let me tell you something, let me just pastor you a little bit, if you've never had intense spiritual experiences, it doesn't mean you're not a Christian. It doesn't. It's faith in Jesus, and what he's accomplished, and not what your life looks like, and the experiences you've had. It's faith in Jesus, and what he's already done.
We're not judged by spiritualism. Last one he points out, knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth that is from God. If with Christ you dived to the elemental spirits of the world, why as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. Referring to things that all perish as they are used, according to human precepts and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, and asceticism, and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
So what Paul's saying is, yeah, we're Christians, and we deny the flesh, which means that we deny ourselves, pick up the cross, and follow Jesus, which, whatever he calls us to, we follow him in. But that doesn't mean we're ascetics, is that how that's said? Asceticism, which is just, you don't indulge any area of the flesh, which means you don't, anything that seems enjoyable, you just don't do. So it's like, your clothes should be uncomfortable, and you should eat gross food. And it's like, well, what does that do? C.S.
Lewis, who's a theologian, he said, yes, deny yourself, but don't pour out the port, and get rid of the cigars. Like, he's like, no, we still get to enjoy things in life, but as they point us to Jesus, and so we don't make it about, what we're partaking in. Like, I can eat a really good steak, but the enjoyment doesn't end on the steak, it points me to the God who invented flavor, and cows, and flavorful cows. And so we're not judged by moralism. We're not judged by our adherence to a set of rules. Here's the thing, with all of these, we love rules.
We do. Everyone thinks they don't. There's a few people that probably know you do. Everybody loves rules. Because if I, like, if I invited you to my house and said, we're going to play a game, first question, okay, how you play, like, what are the rules? And I said, there are no rules, and then I pushed you and said, I win, like, you wouldn't play that game.
If I, like, kicked your shin and yelled Yahtzee, like, we wouldn't play the game, because you're like, no, there's no rules, this is stupid. And so, our whole life is based on rules. Like, the way you woke up this morning, you woke up at a set time, based on a general set of what's acceptable in our society. When you drove down the road, you followed road signs, you dressed appropriately for generally what's acceptable in our society, because our whole life is guided by rules. And when we approach Christianity, we want something that tells us whether we're in or out. We want something that we can measure ourselves by and say, no, I know I'm in, I know I'm here, because I've done this and this, and I don't do these things.
Because I act this way, or I participate in this, and not those things. It's not about that. It's made without hands. It's not your calloused hands that accomplish your salvation. It's Jesus' scarred hands that accomplish it. It's not your hard work, your effort, your religion, your morals, any of it.
Does God love morality? Yeah. Does He want us to repent of sin? Yes. Does He want us to gather as a church family? Yes.
Does He want us to enjoy the shadow that points to the substance? Yes. Does He want us to have spiritual experiences? Yes. Does the Holy Spirit lead us to prophesy, and to speak in tongues, and to move, and change people, and lead us to repentance, and joy in life, and grow us in the body? Yes.
But none of that gets us in. Jesus does. None of that pays our debt. Jesus does. No amount of adherence to rules, and regulations, and experiences brings us in. Jesus does.
And so when it comes to how do we know what's coming in? Is it helpful? Is it good? Is what I'm reading helpful and good? Is what I'm being taught helpful and good? We hold it up to, does it make much of Jesus?
Or is it telling me that I have to accomplish something to bring myself in? Is it pointing me to Jesus, or is it saying that my worth and value comes from my hard work, my effort, my experiences, my life? And so when it comes to our discernment radar, when it comes to how do we vet, how do we know, there's two really helpful questions. Who's the hero? And what's the goal? Who's the hero, and what's the goal?
Because in this story, Jesus is the hero. He's the one who pays the debt. That old school, I'll pay the rent thing, and then you put the bow on your head, and you say, oh, my hero, you know what I'm talking about? Anybody know what I'm talking about? No? Nobody knows what I'm talking about?
I think that's an old SNL from like the 60s. My mom loved it. But anyway, I should have known better than to bring that up. At the end, the guy pays the rent, or he pays the debt, and then the girl says, oh, my hero. And the question is, who's the hero? Who are you pointing me to?
Who's bringing salvation about? Me, or Jesus? Is it my hard work, my effort, my morality, or is it Jesus? And what's the goal? What am I getting out of this? A good marriage, or Jesus?
Is it I'm getting a good life out of it? Is my goal financial success, or is it Jesus? We love to take the American dream to Jesus, and have him rubber stamp it, and he's not into that. The enemy has been disarmed, and that's really good news for us. And so for those of us in this room who feel like Christianity, Christian or non-Christian, you feel like Christianity is about your morality, your effort, your work, your goodness, your value, I'm here to tell you that you have debt that's paid by Jesus, and you have value that's given to you by Jesus, not by you. It's not made by your hands, it's made by his.
And that's really good news, because none of us were actually going to get that accomplished. Jesus is the hero, and Jesus is the goal, and we walk in community pointing each other to Jesus, because he's where life and joy and hope and wisdom are found. Band's going to come back up, we're going to sing, and we're going to make much of Jesus. We're going to praise Jesus, that he has rescued and redeemed us, that he's paid a debt we couldn't pay. And if you're in this room, and you haven't placed your faith in Jesus, I'm here to tell you that you get to, that he pays our debt, not on your own merit, but on his.
You don't have to clean yourself up, he accomplishes that. You don't have to make yourself good, he accomplishes that. And we're not inviting you into religion. We're not inviting you into, come behave like us. We're inviting you to come follow Jesus as we repent, and learn what it looks like to be more like him, and continue to have the gospel change how we live, and how we think, and how we feel. I'm going to pray.
We're going to praise Jesus. God, we thank you. Thank you for your grace. We thank you for your love. We thank you that you did disarm the enemy on our behalf, and that we are made new and right because of you. We thank you that you are the hero, and that you are supreme, you are what we, you are our prize.
Help us to see that, help us to walk that out in community. Thank you that you paid our debt. Pray for those people in this room right now, God, that are still trying to pay their own debt. Pray that you, through your grace, show them they can stop. Show them the futility of paying off debt, and show them that you, when you died, you died for them. That in faith, you can pay their debt and give them life.
We love you, we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.