Confidence in Christ (1 John 5:11-21)

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Confidence in Christ

Chet Phillips

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This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John for one more week.

This is it. We are finishing up this letter that John wrote. The Apostle John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus, wrote. Most likely to be circulated among the churches. It doesn't really have anyone he directly addresses. And this is kind of written to the churches as John was older.

And he writes this letter to the churches. And we are finishing up today. We are going to look at where John says, this is why I wrote this. So we're going to look at kind of his final conclusion. And the way this works today as we come to this section in 1 John 5 is this final conclusion. And then it's kind of like when your teacher was finished teaching, had taught everything they needed to tell you on a subject.

And then the bell rings. And they shout a few things at you as you're walking out of the room to kind of take with you. They're important. But it's like the main part of what he said is kind of concluding. And then he says, now take this with you. Here's kind of what to do from here.

And so we're going to pick up in 1 John 5. And we're going to look at verse 11. We read this last week. But we're going to look at it again as we start this morning. So we'll pick up 1 John 5, verse 11.

Let's pray. And then we'll get into the text. God, we ask that we would have ears to hear your word this morning. And that we would not be people who just hear it, but that we would respond. We pray for the work of your spirit this morning. That you would move.

That you would convict. That you would encourage. That we might draw closer to you in repentance. And that we might receive grace and joy and salvation and confidence in Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen.

1 John 5, verse 11. He says this. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life.

So whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not have life. And John has said very clear, direct message this whole time. And I want you to see how clear this line is. There's no ambiguity here in the scriptures.

You have Jesus. You have life. If you don't have Jesus. If you don't have life. And this life here is not enjoyment and delight in this life. The way we might would say.

Yeah, I'm really living the life. Living the good life. That's not what he's meaning here. He means eternal life. Now that does bring some delight and joy in this life.

But not always. But that's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is eternal life. That if you believe in Jesus. You have eternal life. That's what he says in verse 13.

I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life. I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life.

I'm sorry. Carlos, can you turn me down a little bit? I want to get aggressive later. And I don't want to feel like I can't. Alright. Thank you.

I was hearing myself in my head too much. I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life. That's his thesis. That's why he wrote this.

That you may know that you have eternal life. If you believe in Jesus. That's the whole point of this letter. That you really genuinely believe. And this. We need to hear this.

Because culturally. In the south. We all know some things about Jesus. Maybe you've been told things about Jesus. Maybe when you were younger. You said a prayer.

And you told him you believed in him. But the belief that is in 1 John. Is real. It's tangible. It affects life. It doesn't just mean that we know things.

That we mentally agree with some things. But it means that we're banking on. Trusting in Christ. I have several friends who work in. Financial advising kind of work. And one of them was telling me one time.

That they had a lady who was very wealthy. And she invested all of her money. In UPS. And they would talk to her and say. Hey. That's a lot of money.

You should probably diversify. And she would say. Nope. And then. UPS would dip. It would drop.

She's losing money. The price of UPS would go way down. And sure enough. Phone would ring. They'd answer. It'd be her.

And she'd say. Think I should buy some more UPS? It's cheaper now. And they're like. No. But she would.

And I heard recently. She's doing quite well for herself. UPS is doing well right now. But she believed in UPS. She's trusting in UPS. She's got hope in UPS.

And that's some of what he's talking about. When you trust in Jesus. Have you actually begun to put weight there? Is your hope actually in Christ? Or is it just something you've said. But there's no.

You have no skin in the game. You haven't actually begun to devote yourself to him. Follow him. And have this show up in your life. And this is what he says over and over again. That it looks real.

And we showed this triangle. John's love triangle. The love triangle that Christians can really get on board with. We showed this the other day. But this is what John says over and over and over again.

We said it was like Mr. Miyagi's wax on, wax off. He just goes through this over and over and over again. But he says if you believe in Jesus. You have the Father. It's through Christ that we're brought in.

It's through Christ that we're given salvation. This is not something that we earn or accomplish or do. But it's through Christ. But then once that happens. We love the Father. Father.

And he loves us. And we love the brothers. We love the church. And that by loving the church we love the Father. And if we love the Father we'll love the brothers. And then it says if we love the brothers we'll obey his commands.

And by obeying his commands that helps us love the brothers. But obeying his commands also shows our love for the Father. And John in his letter goes through and basically covers each one of those up. And says if someone tells you they have the Father but they don't have Jesus. Liar. Liar.

And then he says if they tell you they have the Father but they don't love the brothers. Liar. And then he says if they say they have the Father but they don't obey his commands. Liar. And he doesn't mince words. He's pretty clear with his this is what it looks like.

And he does not say that these things save you. He says that Jesus saves you. But that once he remakes you this is what you look like. Those are the these things that he's talking about in verse 13. When he says I write these things those are the these things that he's talking about. The stuff that he said over and over again.

That Jesus came in the flesh. That he died for sinners. That we have hope in him. That he is the Christ. That those who believe in him are forgiven. And he said all this so that if you know if you have Christ you know you have eternal life.

His whole letter was meant to be encouraging. Have you trusted in Jesus? You have life. Eternal life. Essential hope for eternity in Christ. Verse 14.

Now as we move on that's his that's his main point. And now it's like I said it's a little bit like the bell rings. And then he gives us things to kind of take with us. He's finished his main argument. And he's saying now here's some things to know and to do from here. And as he says these things there are a couple of places where if we misunderstand what he's saying we can head in some odd territory theologically.

So we'll have to a couple times try to tease some things out. But he says this in verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the request that we have asked of him. Now Jesus says this in John's gospel multiple times.

The same idea. If we pray according to the will of God he answers our prayers. He says this in John 14. John 15 twice. And in John 16. Jesus repeatedly tells them that it's God's pleasure to answer the prayers of believers.

That it's his pleasure and delight to actually move through us praying in the name of Christ and to see things happen. This is an incredibly encouraging text for him to say God hears your prayers and he responds to your prayers. Now the way we could get a little sideways with this is to go sweet. I'm a Christian. I can ask for whatever I want and he'll give me whatever I want. He says if we pray anything according to his will.

Well this has actually been beneficial in my life. When I was in middle school. Seventh, eighth grade. I used to pray. I would read my Bible a lot. And I was like.

I was like okay if you have faith you can move mountains or whatever. And if you really come to the Lord in faith he answers prayers. And I used to pray at night before I went to bed. Trying to muster up as much faith as I could. That I would wake up with a full beard. That was my prayer.

And not like the beginnings of a beard. A beard. Like I wanted to wake up looking like Gimli from Lord of the Rings or something. A ZZ Top. And God apparently didn't have that in his will for me to have that happen in seventh and eighth grade. And actually I really appreciate.

That's a kind of a trivial example of God's grace towards me in all the prayers he has in answer. Because the hope we have here is that he hears us and that he responds and that our prayers are effective. And that he's good enough to move according to his goodness and his wisdom for us. And so there's this great encouragement here on both sides. That he does hear our requests. And that you can come to him with specific requests.

Praying and trusting that in his goodness he answers prayers. Praying and trusting that in his goodness. I don't know if these are related. I like to think that they are. I have two brothers and I am the only one capable of growing a full beard. And it brings me great joy.

Now maybe they prayed that they would be able to get a tan. And I never thought to pray for that. My skin turns red and falls off. I actually passed that on to my younger son. When we took him out the first time and we put sunscreen on him. We could not tell where it went.

Like we wiped it on. And I was like oh my gosh this is going to take forever. Because there was no way to tell if it was on him or not. So anyway. Okay. Lost my train of thought there.

Let's keep going. He answers prayers and he continues with that. And he goes into verse 16. He is going to press on this idea. That we would have confidence in our faith in him to pray. And then he specifically tells us something to pray for.

Verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin. Not leading to death. He shall ask. And God will give him life. So you see your brother in sin.

You pray on behalf of your brother. And God gives life. That he works in that situation to bring about redemption. It says to those who commit sins. That do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death.

I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin. But there is sin that does not lead to death. Okay. John actually says something that is pretty straightforward here. Then he says a whole lot of other things.

As he is saying that. So that his main point here. Is if you see a brother in sin. Pray for them. And God brings about repentance. He brings about life.

He brings about redemption. That is what he said. But that is not what we heard. I know if I was in school. And John was doing this. My hand would be up before he was even done.

And he would say yes. Annoyed with me. Because I would raise my hand a lot. Just so you know. I did this in school. Yes.

What is a sin that leads to death. What is a sin that leads to death. Would be my question. What was that that you said there. And thankfully John hasn't mentioned this before. He doesn't mention it again.

This is all we get. He just says it and moves on. And I was being sarcastic when I said thankfully. That's not very helpful. This is just what he said. So you want to ask this question.

It's like I want to hear what you said. And he did say something positive. He told us a command. But what is this whole thing about sins that lead to death. And sins that don't lead to death. I feel like we should understand what that is.

So we're going to try to answer that question first. Here's the thing. This is the only place that this is mentioned. In the New Testament. It's the only place it's mentioned in John. It's the only place it's mentioned in the New Testament.

There's not even Old Testament real clear references. To what he would be talking about in these two categories. And so here's what happens. When you come across something like this. That's a little unclear. What you do is you look at the immediate context.

What came right before it. What comes right after it. Sometimes the author will define their terms. You look at the context of the book it's in. The letter it's in. You look at the context of all of scripture.

And so what we're able to do this morning. Is to rule some things out. I think we can make that category smaller. We can try to understand it a little better. But I can't give you a definitive.

Here's exactly what he meant. Because he doesn't give that to us. And nowhere in the scriptures does he give that to us. But I think we can say it doesn't mean this. And it doesn't mean this. And this is helpful.

Because what happens often with passages like this. Is that that's the correct approach. You zoom out. You try to figure out. Okay well if this says this. And it could be taken this way.

It could mean that there are some specific sins. That you commit. That are sins that lead to death. You need to know what those are. Because they're immediately disqualifying. But then you read other passages.

And you go well that actually doesn't seem like that's what that could mean. And so you change it. But there are times where people use these. Little obscure kind of passages. As if they're like the secret door. To like a speakeasy or something.

Like you know the secret knock. And then the little slit opens. And just the eyes pop out. And if you can just figure out. Oh we found it. If we just dig into this one.

And if you really understand what's going on. Then you'll be in on all the bible secrets. And it's like that's that's not helpful. And it honestly is a little weird for John to do in his letter. He just said I wrote this letter. So that you can have confidence in Christ.

That if you believe in Christ. You know you know that you have eternal life. And then he goes unless you commit one of the secret sins. Gotta go. It's like wait what? And he's like oh nothing.

It's like no that that can't be what he's doing. And so people would look at this and say. Maybe there's a list of sins. And if you commit that one. That's a sin leading to death. And people have thrown out guesses.

People have guessed murder. Adultery. Suicide. They'll try to fill that list out. The problem is we have no textual defense for that. Here or elsewhere.

The catholic church teaches mortal sin. And venial sin. Or they have the teaching of the seven deadly sins. Which would you would think. Oh maybe that's what it's talking about. Well the bible doesn't talk about seven deadly sins.

In any kind of different way from normal sin. So here's what we know about sin. All sin leads to physical death. And all sin not redeemed in Christ. Leads to eternal death. That's flat basic teaching of the scriptures.

Over and over again. The wages of sin is death. We will all die. And in Adam we are all born into that. That we inherit sin. And that we choose sin.

And that we all deserve death. But that through Christ we can have eternal life. So when he gives these two categories. He does seem to have in mind some sort of a sin. Some sort of a behavior. Some sort of an action.

That is something that leads to this eternal death. Not just physical death. But some sort of something that leads to eternal death. I don't think that we can just pick a particular type of sin. One because I don't think we have any backing for that. And two because he's already said in his letter.

That sins that are repented of are forgiven. First John 1.9. If we confess our sins. He's faithful to forgive our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's not like he put an asterisk.

And said see chapter 5. Except for those secret ones. That I'm not going to tell you about. Best of luck. He's saying no. That we actually.

He says in John chapter. First John chapter 2. Verse 1. My little children. I'm writing these things to you. So that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin. We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ. The righteous. So he says if you're watching a brother.

And they're committing a sin that doesn't lead to death. Pray for them. He says but not sins that lead to death. I don't think he even. Considers that. Brothers.

True brothers. The way that he's taught us this entire time. Can actually commit. Sins that lead to eternal death. Because he consistently says. If you have Jesus.

If you're a real brother. He works in you. He brings about this redemption. He even says in. In first John chapter 2. Verse 19.

When he's talking about people who've left the faith. He says they went out from us. But they were not of us. For if they had been of us. They would have continued with us. But they went out.

That it might become plain. That they all are not of us. John seems to have a really clear line. Brothers. Stay. Brothers continue to believe.

Brothers repent. And if they don't. They weren't brothers. So here's what I think he's. Saying. If.

You see. A brother. That you understand. Because the way that we understand. Who is a brother. Is they tell us.

And then he gives us some things. As we go through. That he says. Well. They probably aren't. They're probably lying.

If. But if you see. A brother. A sister. In Christ. And they're in sin.

Pray for them. And God will respond. God will work. On their behalf. But. Then he gives us.

Category of sins. That lead to death. And I think. Textually. From John. Or from the rest of scriptures.

He meet. He has in mind. One of two things. He potentially. And. And people land.

In different areas on this. Because it's unclear. I will tell you. That. You can rejoice. In the fact.

That whenever there's. A random little. Thing like this. That uses a phrase. That isn't used elsewhere. It's not a major point.

Of doctrine. God tried to make everything clear. He came to rescue us. Paul tells us. That Jesus is the mystery revealed. Not that there's new.

Extra mysteries to find out. It's possible. That John has in mind. Because he was a disciple of Jesus. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It's the one sin.

That Jesus mentions. That will not be forgiven. In this age. Or the age to come. So it's possible.

John just says. I understand. There's a category. For a type of sin. That is unforgivable. And basically.

That's not what I'm talking about. I think that's unlikely. But some people say. That they think. That maybe John. Just had that in mind.

I think John. Has in mind. What he's been talking about. This entire time. Which is this. Triangle.

Of what a Christian. Looks like. And I think what he's saying. Is if you have a brother. Or sister. That he's been talking about.

The whole time. And saying. They left. They're liars. They're not really a part of us. But he's been doing this line.

In the sand. Over and over again. I think what he's saying. Is if you're walking. With a brother or sister. And they actually.

Say they're a brother. But they reject Jesus. That they have. What he calls. The spirit of the antichrist. That they.

They reject Jesus. He. First. First John. 2. 22 says.

Who is the liar. But he who denies. That Jesus is the Christ. Then I think he would say. They're committing sins. That put in the category.

Of they're actually. Walking towards. Eternal destruction. Or if he says. If they say. They're a brother.

But they. They. They. They know the father. But they hate the brothers.

Or they know the father. But they're walking in. Unrepentant. Consistent sin. The things that he's talked about. That they just say.

I don't have to repent of this. This is fine. That. And the reason I think. That's what he's walling off here. Is because of the way.

That he words this. In verse 16. He says. There is sin. That leads to death. I do not say.

That one should pray for that. So that. I do not say. That one should pray for that. Is written. In Greek.

Oddly. I don't read Greek. But I read commentaries. Of people who read Greek. And they told me. That sentence is weird.

And here's what they said. John says everything. Really directly. Forcefully. He hasn't. Minded doing that at all.

Some of you have been frustrated. With John. Because he's just been. Really clear. You can't argue. With what he's trying to say.

He just didn't like. What he had to say. Kind of like Raz. On our pastor team. He's really clear. That's what John's doing.

He's just been really clear. This sentence is not really clear. This is actually what it. If you translated it literally. Not concerning that. Do I say he should request.

And what they're saying. Is that he doesn't say. Don't pray for that. He says. That type. Is not what I'm telling you.

To pray about. Which just leaves. This weird opening. That you could pray about it. But that's not what he's talking about.

And the reason why. I think that's what he's saying. Is because. If you look back at verse 16. If anyone sees his brother. Committing a sin.

Not leading to death. Then he gives a promise. He shall ask. And God will give him life. To those who commit sins. That do not lead to death.

So he has this promise. God will give him life. In between. Not leading to death. Not leading to death. And I think the reason.

He specifies. I'm not talking about. This other category. Is because he's promising. God will answer. That's why I think.

It's worded. The way that it's worded. What he's saying is. If you see a brother. Or sister in sin. Pray for them.

And I have beautiful news for you. God in his grace. Leads Christians. To repent. God through the empowerment. Of his spirit.

Brings them. Back. Plead. On their behalf. Because I can promise you. God will not lose.

A believer. But he will bring them back. To eternal life. But. The type of rejection. Of the gospel type sins.

That he's been talking about. He's not mentioning. He's not saying that. For them. Because I don't think. He can promise.

That God will bring about. Repentance. If you're walking with someone. Who rejects Jesus. And is living out. What he calls.

The spirit of the antichrist. His antichrist. Is against Christ. I don't think. He can promise you. That God's going to.

Give him life. I think that's why. He's worded it this way. Now. There are other people. Who would.

Who would approach that differently. But that's my understanding. As I've studied it. That he's basically. Stepping around those. And saying.

If they've been living out. All the things. I've been telling you. Are the marks. Of an unbeliever. Pretending to be a believer.

I can't promise. That they'll repent. But let's not get hung up there. Because what he says. Is actually really beautiful. If you see a brother.

Or sister in sin. Pray for him. Because God in his grace. Is going to give them life. Not because he says he will. So the question for us.

Isn't to raise our hand. And ask John. What's a sin that leads to death. What we ought to do. Is ask ourselves. Do I pray for my brothers and sisters.

When I see him in sin. If you're close enough. With somebody. Their sin is usually annoying. Unless you participate in it with them. There's another category.

Where you don't mind their sin. Because it excuses. You don't do it with them. But you. It excuses some other sin. That you have.

So you're cool with them being a sinner. As long as you're a sinner. And that one's kind of okay with you. But in general. A lot of times. The sin that we have.

In church family. And with our brothers and sisters. With people we're married to. Or room with. It's frustrating. Do we pray for them?

Do we ask God to help them? Do we ask God to grant them repentance? Do we ask for the Holy Spirit. To go to work in them? Or are we just annoyed? This gives us two people.

The Bible gives us two people. That you can talk to. When you see them in sin. Them. And God. Noticeably absent from that list.

Is other people. It's just a bonus. I'm throwing in there for us today. You can go to them and say. Hey I think you're in sin. I think you need to repent.

Or you can go to God and say. Hey would you grant them. That they're fighting. And I. Would you. Would you work for your Holy Spirit.

And the promise is that he will. For those who are genuine brothers. So he says. God hears us when we pray according to his will. And then he says. Let me tell you something.

That's according to his will. Christians repenting of sin. And walking in obedience. Pray for them. It's encouragement. To walk out.

Trusting God. And praying for one another. That we would stay far from sin. And this is what he says. Verse 18. He's going to end.

With three. We know. We know. We know. We know. He says this in verse 18.

We know. That everyone who has been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. But he who is born of God. Protects him. And the evil one does not.

Touch him. Here's another passage. That's extremely encouraging. But we could get. Sideways on. So.

We just need to clarify something. When he says. We know that everyone who's been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. What he means is. Those who've been.

Made new. By faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit has indwelled them. Has renewed them. When he says. They don't keep on sinning.

He does not mean. They eventually get to where they never sin. That's. That's not in line with what he says. In the rest of his book. What he means is.

They do not make a practice. Of sin. In such a way. That they become okay with it. The genuine believers. Are never.

As the Holy Spirit indwells them. Become okay with. Sin. They can't just pick one. And say. This one's fine.

Recently. And culturally. We've had our whole denominations. Pick things that the Bible says is sin. Specifically in. In sexual sin.

And just said. This one isn't sin anymore. And he just says. That's not how it works. We're not allowed to do that. We can't just.

Pick things. And say. This isn't sin. This one's okay. This one's fine for me. He says.

No. Christians will be led to repentance. And this is what he says throughout. So. Christians do sin. First John.

Eight. And ten. I'm just going to read these. I want you to. To listen. If we say we have no sin.

We deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. If we say we have no sin. Like a current have no sin. And then he says. If we say we have not sinned.

So like past. We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. So John starts off by saying. You're a sinner. But in the middle of those two verses.

He says this. If we confess our sins. He's faithful and just. To forgive our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We read this earlier.

But he says. I wrote this so that you won't sin. But if anyone does sin. He has an advocate with the father. He doesn't say. And if anyone does sin.

Kick them out. They're not really a Christian. Nobody would be here. I'm glad he doesn't say that. What he says is. In our sin.

We have an advocate. We have forgiveness. We have hope. But then he says this. In John 3. He says it twice.

No one who abides in him. Keeps on sinning. And no one who keeps on sinning. Has either seen him. Or known him. And 1 John 3.

9 Says. No one born of God. Makes a practice. Of sinning. For God's seed abides in him. And he cannot.

Keep on sinning. Because he has been born. Of God. That's what he's saying. In verse 18. We know.

That God. Leads Christians. To repentance. Not. This is the beautiful part. For Christians.

Not to say. That you gain. And lose your salvation. Not to say. That if you're. In the middle of sin.

And on your way home today. You slide off the road. And you hit a tree. And that's it for you. That you had to have been. Perfectly prayed up.

Or perfectly forgiven. Or maybe. You're doing pretty well. Until you started sliding off the road. And then you yelled out. Something very colorful.

That's frowned upon. And that was it. Those were your last two seconds. My grandmother got in a wreck one time. And she shouted out really loudly. Lord I'm coming home.

But for most of us. That's not what we're shouting. Maybe that's you. But for a lot of people. That's not you. And what he doesn't say is.

If you sin. No. What he's saying is. If you make that a practice. If that's a way of life for you. If you just become accustomed to it.

And you grow used to it. And you just say. This is mine. This is fine. I'm okay. That's what he's talking about.

But hear the encouragement here. Some of you. Are in the midst of a battle. With your flesh. And you feel like it's winning. I don't know about y'all.

I get so sick of myself sometimes. It's like. Come on. This again. Really. What is wrong with you.

I really agree with Paul. Where he says. He calls himself. Like he just says. What a wretched man that I am. There's something wrong with me.

If you're in the middle of that. Cling to verse 18. We know. That everyone who has been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. But he who was born of God.

That's Christ. Protects him. And the evil one does not. Touch him. We know. If you belong to Jesus.

Your sin doesn't win. It will not drag you. To hell. That's its claim. That's its threat. That's the power of the enemy.

But Christ has disarmed the enemy on our behalf. Verse 19. We know. That we are from God. And the whole world lies in lies in the power of the evil one. We know that we are from God.

And the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Now that's. That's a claim. Don't miss that. There's a classic movie. With the guy from.

It's a wonderful life. Called the man who knew too much. I've never seen that. I've seen. Bill Murray's. Movie.

The man who knew too little. Which should be a classic. In the man who knew too little. Bill Murray shows up to visit his brother. In London. And his brother doesn't want to hang out with him.

Because he's Bill Murray. If you've ever watched any Bill Murray movies. You wouldn't want him to be your brother either. And so what his brother does. Is he sets him up with like one of the very first. Reality TV shows.

And basically the way it works is. He's supposed to go to this phone booth. Bill Murray's going to get a phone call. And then he's going to be taken into a situation. Where everybody's an actor. And they have hidden cameras.

And he's the only one. Who's just a regular person. And he's supposed to just live out. His. Sesbian dreams. Of being an actor.

And being on TV. And. When he answers the phone. In this phone booth. It's not that group. It's someone calling for a hit man.

And they give him specific instructions. On someone to go murder. And he gets swept up in this very. Dangerous. Multinational plot. And the whole time.

He thinks it's a joke. So he tries to redo scenes. People pull guns on him. And he's like. You'll never pull a gun on me. And he goes.

No that wasn't good. Let me try again. Like he does that. Multiple times. He argues with the cops. Someone's breaking down and crying.

And he's like. How do you do that? How do you make yourself cry? I just couldn't. Do you think about like. Maybe a puppy that died.

And they're like. Really having a hard time. And he's like. My dog died. And he's just trying to. But the whole time.

He just works his way. Through this whole situation. And everything is terrifying. And the stakes couldn't be higher. And he's oblivious to it. And there's a danger for us.

To just skim over. Verses like verse 19. And be oblivious. To what it just said to us. We know. That we are from God.

And the whole world lies. In the power of the evil one. We have a real enemy. And he has real authority. The Bible. Jesus speaks about him.

Having a kingdom. He's called the prince of the power of the air. He's called the God of this world. That he is at work. To destroy. And to rob people of joy.

And to keep people from Christ. And to drag people to hell. And it doesn't say this to us. To make us fearful. His whole point here. Is that we would have confidence in Christ.

That we would have rest in Christ. The Lord. To heal. To make us fyr a part of Christ. The Lord. Right of us.

Paracast. Walter. To. That we would have done it. We would have designed it. For34.

So. The Lord. Was. The Lord. Or after the death. By the death.

Then. The Lord. The Lord. But. During... Do not think so.

Because.

Testimony (1 John 5:6-13)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Testimony

Spencer Cary

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Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12.

We have two more weeks in 1 John and we have completed the book. So you can follow along with us on the screen. You can also put a blue Bible around you. It will be on page 593 near the back. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That's our gift to you.

We want you to have a Bible that you can read. Something that Christians struggle with from time to time, though we're not always honest about it, is doubt. It's something that maybe we're not even honest with ourselves when we struggle with this. But we do. If you follow Jesus long enough, you're going to struggle with doubt. Like, as a pastor, even pastors struggle with doubt.

And I have to ask myself sometimes, like, do I really believe this? Like, I preach this. My life is built upon this. Do I actually believe this? And I want to give you a window in into a little bit of how I think about this and some of the reasoning that I go through. My logic is certainly not infallible.

But this is how I process it. There are actually two possible options in how I've observed and studied. There's two possible options for what is true and for what is reality. The first option is that everything is the result of crazy, cosmic, random chance. That life on Earth and everything that we know in existence is just crazy chance. That in the vast expanse of the universe, we have this galaxy.

And within this galaxy, we have this solar system. And within the solar system, we have the Earth. Earth. And it's, like, perfectly positioned in the solar system and perfectly tilted at a 23.5 degree tilt to be able to sustain life. And that everything that we see is just one in, I mean, people try to run odds on this, one in trillion, quadrillion, ridiculous amounts of chance. That everything we see just is.

There's no such thing as love. There's no such thing as purpose or meaning or beauty. All of that's invented. You have to be consistent here. Everything you see just is. And then you die.

And then there's nothingness. All right. That's one possible option. The other possible option for me is that Jesus is who he said he was. That Jesus is the one true God. That when I look at this world, that it's so obvious to me that it's designed.

There's so many things that had to fall into place to the big picture of where the Earth is positioned and how it's positioned all the way down to, like, the design of the human eyeball. There's so many things that show that this was designed. And if I believe that this was designed, I need to work with who actually made this. And when you look at the different faith systems and the different creator type claims, I find Christianity to be the most compelling. Like, I studied world religions in college. I actually studied world religions and visited the different countries where these are practiced.

I studied Islam and then studied that in the context of Morocco and visited there. I studied Hinduism and visited Hindu temples in India. I studied Buddhism and went to a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Did anyone who makes the claim that all these world religions are just claiming the same thing, they don't know what they're talking about. They haven't actually studied these. They're making distinctly different claims.

And Christianity, even more so, is making claims that are distinct from the others. We believe in an eminent God who actually came. But the one thing I must concede in my faith is that my faith is built upon a testimony. That my faith is built upon the testimony of the scriptures. The testimony of our God. The testimony of people who saw Jesus live this life on this earth.

Who saw him die a death on the cross. Who saw him rise from the grave and ascend to the right hand of God the Father. That his body will never be found. I must concede that my faith is built upon that testimony. What I want us to see this morning is that testimony actually, this testimony is powerful. And this testimony absolutely can lead us to belief.

Some of you are not a Christian. And maybe you're just figuring this out. Maybe you're just exploring this. Maybe you are working through doubts. And I want to let you know this is a safe place for that. To be able to work through doubts.

And I want you to clearly hear. I think God wants to meet you here in your doubt this morning. Some of you believe the gospel. You're a follower of Jesus. But you struggle with doubt.

And it maybe shows up in a lot of different forms. I want you to hear very clearly this morning. Built upon the testimony of God. That he wants to continue to win you over. To faith in Christ. The passage that we're going to be in this morning is going to speak about the power of testimony.

My hope is that we would listen. That wherever you are in this journey. That you would listen and by faith respond. So let me read the text and then we will walk through this together. Verse 6. It says, This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

Not by the water only. But by the water and the blood. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify. The spirit and the water and the blood.

And these three agree. If you receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he is born concerning his son. Whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the testimony that God has born concerning his son.

And this is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. Let me pray for us.

And then we will walk through this together. Lord. I pray that you would open our hearts to the scriptures this morning. That for those who are struggling with doubt. That they would be able to listen. To your word.

To your calling. May you win each of us over. Amen. Okay. So we're going to walk through this.

And see his argument. And then I want to sit in the power. And the importance of testimony. So I'm going to go back a verse. To where Chet left off last week. In verse 5.

It says. Who is it that overcomes the world. Except the one who believes. That Jesus is the son of God. That as John is wrapping up his final arguments. In this book.

One of the things we've seen over and over again. Is that he wants us to know. What it means to believe. That Chet walked us through last week. This really this triangle. That he's hitting over and over again.

That over and over again. He's been teaching us. And telling us. That this evidence of faith in our lives. That we would love God. That we would love one another.

That we would obey the commandments. And he's teaching us over and over again. And now he's going to switch gears. And he's going to show. What this evidence testifies to. And in these seven verses in our passage.

It says testimony eight times. The word testimony in some form. Shows up eight times. Anytime that you study the scriptures. And you see a word repeated over. And over.

And over. And over. And over again. Highlight it. Right. Circle it.

Underline it. Make a mental note. The Lord is trying to teach you something in this. He's trying to show us something about testimony. Now. When you hear the word testimony.

I would argue that most of you. Probably your mind runs to. The courtroom. It's one of the most familiar. Uses of testimony that. That we have.

Is in the courtroom. Someone who is giving testimony on the witness stand. Right. There's enough crime TV. There's enough law and order. There's enough things that you're just familiar with.

Testimony is something that you give. I actually think that's probably a very helpful picture. For this passage. That type of testimony on the witness stand. Is actually probably a helpful image. For this.

I think John. What he's trying to convince us of. In belief. Is putting. He's going to try to convince us of belief. By putting three different witnesses.

On the stand. Three different witnesses. They're going to give testimony. To. Christ. And we're going to see each of these.

The first is the water. The second is the blood. And the third is. The spirit. And by verse eight. Where he's going to help us see.

All three of these are in agreement. But we're going to take them one on one. And put them on the stand. And see what each one has to. Add to this argument. To compel us over to faith in Christ.

So let's look at the first. Which is. The water. The water is the first. To take. The stand.

What does he mean. When he says. This is he who came by. Water. What is John getting at. Now.

Like other parts of John. First John. Like other parts of the scriptures. It's debatable what he means. When he says. The water.

And there's some Sundays. I think it's valuable. To take a few minutes. To get into the weeds. Of interpretation. To go a little bit deeper.

To list out all the options. And when I do that. I find it fairly exciting. And there's about 10 to 20 of you. That also find it exciting. But the rest of you.

Inwardly. Or audibly. Grown. It's like. Just. Tell us.

What. He means. And move on. Well guess what. Sunday's for you. I'm not going to get in the weeds.

I'm going to tell you. What. I think he means. When he uses water. In this passage. All right.

Here's the most compelling argument. I found in the commentaries. This week. John is referencing. Baptism. When he says water.

He's referencing. Baptism. I think this encompasses. First. The baptism of. Jesus.

That initiated his ministry. And then what followed. Was a ministry of. Baptism. That John was. Baptizing his disciples.

Then he becomes lesser. Jesus becomes greater. After his disciples. Continue baptizing. And that what's being referenced. In the water.

Is the beginning of Christ's ministry. And baptism. And the continuation of ministry. That he baptized. Which is pointing to. Really.

I would argue. The whole. Of Christ's ministry. And the message. That accompanied. Those.

Baptisms. Which we saw. In the gospel of Matthew. That we walked through. Last year. And the year before.

Which was over and over again. Repent. The kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. It's this message. Of this kingdom.

That he is coming to establish. That will have no end. And all the goodness. That is found. In this kingdom. It's this message.

Of repentance. That he preaches. Over and over again. To turn from this world. Turn from your sin. Turn to me.

I am better. It's the message of the kingdom. It's the. The whole ministry. Of where he. Healed the sick.

That he cared for the forgotten. The outcasts. The outsiders. Others. It's how he healed the sick. It's how he challenged.

The self-righteous. Religious establishment. Over and over. And over again. It's like all the things. That we love.

That make Jesus. Punk rock. And awesome. We love it. That's all of his ministry. I think it's bound up.

It's summarized. In this word. Water. Jesus came. By. Water.

That's the first. To take the stand. The second. Is the blood. The blood. He says in verse six.

This is he who came by water. And blood. Jesus Christ. Not by. The water only. But by the water.

And the blood. Now. If you've been with us. In first John. For a minute. He doesn't write.

Very. Clearly. Times. It's like. Wait. What?

And this is one of those times. Where he says something. It's like. Why couldn't you just said. He came by water. And blood.

Let's move on. To the spirit. But he says. No. Not by the water only. That should clue us in.

To ask some questions. What are you getting out there? What are you not saying. When. You're saying that. Like there was a.

There was a picture. That was circulated online. A few years ago. And it was a picture. Of a. Of a notice.

At the library. At someone's public library. And it said. It said. In light of recent events. There will be.

No Oreos. Allowed. In the library. And it's like. Really. Tell me more.

What are you not saying. I want to know what happened. Like I want to know. What kind of mess was made. With Oreos. In the library.

Like I. I get a little messy. With Oreos. What I like to do. Is like to take the cup of milk. And I like to just.

I don't dunk it. I let it. I just drop it. I let it bathe. All right.

I let it. I let it get. You don't want it to fall to the bottom. Because it falls to the bottom. It gets a little messy. You got to get your hand in the glass.

And sometimes it gets stuck. And then you pull it out. Sometimes milk. And Oreo guts go everywhere. It is worth it. But it gets a little messy.

I want to know what happened. At the library. Right. When you see that. It begs the question. What's happening here.

That's what's happening here. In first John. Okay. Not by water only. What are you talking about? And if you've been with us in first John.

As we've walked through it. This should make a little bit of sense. Because what we've seen over and over again. In first John. As he's making this argument. That Jesus was real.

That he was a real physical person. That from the very first verse. All the way into the end. There's this theme. That he's hitting at. Jesus actually physically came.

Because there was a false teaching. At the time. That swept through. These churches. That John was writing to. That taught the opposite.

That taught that Jesus only came in spirit form. That he didn't come in physical material form. And we believe that was the early seedbed. The early beginnings of Gnosticism. So he's just making a point here.

Not by water only. He did come physically. In blood. So that's part of what he's saying here. But also when you get to the blood.

This is the easiest part to interpret. Because the blood is talking about. The blood that he shed on the cross. That he shed real blood. For our real sins. On a real cross.

That this actually happened. So what's happening here a little bit. Is the water. The beginning of Christ's ministry. Bringing through the ministry of baptism. Up to the event.

Which is the pinnacle event of salvation. In the scriptures. The cross. And the empty tomb that follows. That as we saw in 1 John 2. 2.

It said. He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only. But also for the sins of the whole world. The blood references this. That he teaches.

Over and over again. That we deserve wrath. That Jesus stands in our place. That blood was shed for us. That he made atonement for us. That he made it right for us.

By his blood. And not our own. He came by water. Not water only. He came by the real blood. That he shed for our real sins.

That should compel us into belief in Jesus. And then the third witness takes the stand. The spirit. He says. With the spirit. And the spirit.

Is the one who testifies. Because the spirit. Is. The truth. Now. It's capital S.

It's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is. The truth. Now part of this picture. Undoubtedly goes back to when Jesus was baptized. When Jesus was baptized.

The heavens opened up. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon Jesus like a dove. This happened. And the people saw this. And this really marked.

This is the Christ. God the Father said. This is my son with whom I'm well pleased. This is the one who has come. Listen to him. That's part of the picture here.

Is the Holy Spirit. That descends upon Christ. At the beginning. But it's also a picture forward to. The Holy Spirit. That descends upon the people of God.

This is a picture. That looks forward to. Pentecost. When the fulfillment happens. Of God. And his temple.

God. And his people. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon the new temple of God. The people of God. The church of Jesus Christ.

And the Holy Spirit. Lives in his people. This spirit is the truth. And testifies. Over and over again. To us.

And through us. That he is the Christ. That he is God. Verse 7. For there are all. There are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. They're all three in agreement. When each one.

Takes the witness stand. They're all testifying. To the same. Truth. They're all in agreement. That this is.

The Christ. And then John. Goes on to say. In verse 9. If we receive. The testimony of men.

The testimony of God. Is. Is. Greater. For this is the testimony of God. That he is born concerning his son.

I think it's a general statement. That he's making to say. God's. Testimony. Is. Greater.

Than. Man's. If you are. Willing. To accept the testimony. Of mere men.

How foolish. Would we not. Would we be. To not. To accept the testimony. Of.

The God who created. All things. God's testimony. Is. Greater. And then he goes on.

To say. When you receive. This testimony. It comes. To live within you. Verse 10.

He says. Whoever believes. In the son of God. Has the testimony. In himself. Whoever does not believe.

God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed. In the testimony. That God is born. Concerning his son. When you believe in Jesus.

This is a picture. Of the Holy Spirit. The testimony. In you. The Holy Spirit. Comes.

Into your life. And makes you. New. This is the gift. That we are given. By faith.

The testimony. Comes to live. In us. If you believe in Jesus. You have this. Unbelievably.

Amazing. And powerful gift. Don't. In true. John form. You're a liar.

Which we've seen. Over and over again. In first. John. Is like. One of his.

Go to things. He's like. You believe this. Or you're a liar. Or you make God. To be a liar.

All right. As the young guns say. Cap. No cap. Which took me a minute. To figure out what they were saying.

But front run knows. What I'm talking about. Okay. Lie. No lie. Right.

That's the language he uses. Over and over. And over again. And he gets to verse 10. He says. Whoever believes.

In the son of God. No. Verse 11. And this is the testimony. That God gave us. Eternal.

Life. And this life. Is in his son. Whoever has the son. Has. Life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not. Have. Life. That's how he finishes. This argument.

That if you believe this. You have eternal life. In Christ. If you believe this. You have this eternal life. That he offers.

If you don't. You don't have this. So John's closing argument. As he's finishing up. First John. Is.

Believe this. Believe this. John wants us to believe this. God wants us to. Believe this. So much so.

That three take the stand. The water. The blood. And the spirit. And the hope. Is that we would.

Believe. Now. That's the argument he's making. I want to look at four conclusions. That we can draw from this defense. That we can draw from this.

Argument. That deal with the power. Of testimony. The first is this. The testimony. Is of a real.

God. The testimony. Is of a real. God. Verse six. He says.

This is he who came by water and. Blood. Jesus Christ. Not by the water only. But by.

The water. And the blood. Y'all. This isn't just something. The early Christians. Needed to be convinced of.

That Jesus came in the flesh. We need this. Christians. We. Need. To believe this.

Because what happens is. Is that we start to. When life gets difficult. We start to believe. That God is so distant. He's so big.

He's so glorious. He's so powerful. He's so mighty. And all of that's true. That he can't possibly understand. What I'm going through.

He can't possibly understand. My circumstances. Like God. Don't you want to change. What I'm walking through right now. Like don't you understand.

How hard this is. How hard. Life. Is. And because of the water. And the blood.

He does. He does understand. How hard this life is. Because he came. Because he didn't stand distant. In the heavens.

Where. He could have rightly. Ruled and reigned from. He. Came. And he lived.

He took on flesh. And dwelt among us. And he lived a life. And he experienced loss. He knows what that's like. I mean the reason why you don't see his.

Earthly father Joseph. Pass. When he's a child. Is because he died. He knows what it's like to lose. He knows.

What it's like to endure loss. He knows what it's like to endure. Betrayal. Someone that he invested in for three years. Discipled. Loved.

Served. Sold him for 20 pieces of silver. He knows what it's like to be abandoned. It's abandoned by all but one of his disciples. He knows what it's like to endure temptation. For those of us who struggle in the.

Throes of temptation. Like I just. It's so hard. It's so hard. It's so hard. To continue.

To pursue what is good. It's so hard to endure this. He knows. What it's like to endure it. For we don't have a high priest. Who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who in every respect. Who is tempted and tried. And yet was without sin. Hebrews 4. He knows. What it's like.

To be human. Because he came. And when God feels distant. And he feels foreign. We need to remember. He is a real God that came.

We need to remember the eminence of Christ. Meaning that he descended in bodily form. That he knows what it's like. It's not just us that needs to know this. The world needs to know this. I mean.

He stands apart. He is not Allah. That stands distant. And demands submission. This isn't a system of Buddhism. That leads to nothingness.

This isn't any false projection. That our culture puts upon him. That he's vindictive. Or that he's cruel. Or he doesn't care. He does care.

Because he came. And the world needs to know that. That he needs to know that he came. That he was baptized. He spent three years ministering to the least of these. And that he laid down his life on the cross.

For us. And he rose to give us new life in him. That is a testimony y'all. And it speaks to a real God. The second conclusion we need to draw. Is that this testimony is true.

This testimony is true. Back in verse 6. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. Verse 7. For there are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. John makes this point. The three in agreement.

The spirit is the truth. They line up. This testimony is true. And that's so incredibly important. Because we live in a time. Where there's so many false testimonials out there.

There's so many false things that are put out there. And believed. I mean. Choose your adventure. I mean. There's.

I was listening to a short story. I was working in my bathroom. Remodeling. And I wanted to listen to a series of short stories. Because that's what I do for fun. And.

And I was listening to this short story that came up. Called The Egg. And it turns out this story is like one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. In the last two decades. And this story is about a guy who dies. And he immediately appears before God.

And he starts to have a conversation with God. And what he learns is. Is that he's about to be reincarnated. And he's going to return to the sixth century. And he's going to be back in time. Reincarnated in the form of a Chinese woman.

And what he learns is. Is that every human that has ever existed. Is the same consciousness. And that when she dies. He's going to reincarnate to something different. And get better and better and better.

Until the very end. He's become this God-like figure that he's talking to right now. And I listened to it. And I was like. This is the most baseless. Ungrounded.

Ridiculous. Argument. And I just. When I realized. That this is one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. That last draw their entire faith and reality.

From movies. And from novels. And as Christians. We have to winsomely. Boldly. And lovingly say.

That's not. True. That's not true. As this passage. Teaches. The testimony of God is greater.

For this. Is a testimony of God. That he has born. Concerning his son. That we say. Jesus is better than everything else.

We need to boldly. And winsomely. Argue that. That he is true. What he offers. Is better.

This testimony is true. That it's rooted in historical reality. They're not going to find his body. This is rooted in a historical reality. This is rooted. This is rooted in a supernatural reality.

The Holy Spirit at work within us. It's anchored in a living hope. And a real person. Who took on real flesh. Don't miss that. For a moment.

This testimony. Is true. The third thing we need to see. Is this testimony. Is in you. This testimony.

Is in you. Verse 10. Whoever believes in the son of God. Has. The testimony. In himself.

And as we said earlier. That's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. That. The testimony. In us.

Y'all. The implications for that. Are. Massive. It's huge. That the Holy Spirit.

Comes to dwell. In us. Comes to minister. Within us. Is. It's a similar language.

To. To Romans 8. And the argument. That Paul is making. In the middle of Romans 8. When he says.

In verse 14. For all. Who are led. By the spirit. Of God. Are.

Sons. Of God. That when you are led. By. The spirit. That when he.

Dwells. Within you. That. You're no longer. A slave. To this world.

As he argues. For you do not. Receive. The spirit. Of slavery. To fall back in fear.

You're no slavery. Slave to this world. A slave to your. Flesh. You've been. Freed.

And more than that. That you belong. To him. The spirit. Within us. Reminds us.

Of. This. By whom we cry. Abba. Father. 16.

The spirit himself. Bears. Witness. And the Greek word. For witness. Is the same Greek word.

We have in 1st John 4. Testimony. Same concept. Bears. Witness. Testifies.

With. Our. Spirit. That we are the children. Of God. That the Holy Spirit.

Lives. And reigns. Within us. And testifies. Within us. That we are the children.

Of God. That is. Huge. Because there are moments. In this life. Where we fail to believe that.

There are moments. In this life. I feel this. There are moments. Where I'm in the midst. Of doubt.

And I. I'll go back to. My reasoning. Right. That I believe. That the faith claims.

Of Christ. Are way more compelling. To the wide leaps. Of faith. That it takes. To have.

Nothing. I'll reason there. I'm like. No. This is. The most reasonable.

Argument. This compelling argument. The reason. In and of itself. Is not enough. It's not.

Always. Enough. And sometimes. I feel. This doubt. It's like.

A dark haze. Of hopelessness. That just. Lingers. In the midst. Of that.

Doubt. The spirit. Goes. To work. One of the more. Beautiful songs.

That I've. I've heard. In the last few years. Is this song. By ghost ship. We.

We sing. Some ghost ship songs. From time. To time. They had this song. That came out.

A couple years ago. Called. Belief. And I love. What the songwriter. Works to.

Because he's working. Through this doubt. He's working. Through this. This darkness. That he's.

Struggling through. And he. In the first verse. He says. Darkness. Haunts me.

Again. Today. So. Confused. Have I lost. The way.

If you're. There. And you're. There's God. If you're there. I can't see.

Your face. I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes. It's hard. To believe.

Help me. In my. Unbelief. And he's quoting. The father. Who brought a son.

Jesus. And said. Oh Lord. I believe. But help.

My. Unbelief. Like I feel. First. Like I. I feel that.

It's just so. Hard. To believe. Sometimes. That we. We feel this.

Doubt. That just. Hovers over us. Where we question. The. Goodness.

Of God. Or the. Existence. Of God. Or the. Faithfulness.

Of God. Or the. Love. Of God. Or the. Character.

Of God. We begin to. Question. Who. God. Is.

And this. Doubt. Just. Lingers. Over us. And it.

Leaves us. In this. Place. Of desperation. And it's. In those.

Moments. That the. Holy Spirit. Comes. Into his. People.

And begins. To do. His. Work. He begins. To minister.

Within us. And I love. How this. Him. In the midst. Of his.

Doubt. And has. Gone. To work. Because he. Finishes.

The song. By saying. There are. Only. A few. Things.

I. Know. I know. That he. Rose. Which.

Is a testimony. Of true. Events. He came. By the water. And the blood.

That he. Really. Did come. And. This. Really.

Did happen. I know. That he. Rose. I know. That he.

Loves. Me. So. I know. That he. Won't.

Let. Go. And. Those. Two. Statements.

I know. That he. Loves. Me. So. And.

He. Won't. Let. Go. You. Can.

Read. Those. But the. Holy. Spirit. Makes.

Us. Feel. Those. He. Makes. Us.

Feel. The. Love. Of. God. In.

A. Way. That he. Is. Close. That we.

Can. Feel. His. Presence. He. Makes.

Feel. That he. Holds. Us. That he. Won't.

Let us. Go. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit at work within us. And the spirit wins us over and over and over again. And he testifies to our soul. To our spirit.

That you belong to me. That you are my child. That no one is going to snatch you out of my hand. That I love you. Because I love you. Because of my great love.

And I will carry you all the way to the finish. The people of God have the Holy Spirit at work within us. Testifying at work within us. And the last thing I want us to see. Is that the testimony grants us eternal life. That this testimony gives eternal life.

Verse 11. He says. This is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not have life. And as Chet is going to pick up next week. In verse 13. He says. I write these things to you.

Who believe. In the name of the son of God. That you may know. That you have eternal life. The argument he is making over. And over.

And over again. In first jump. God. Gave us. Eternal life. In Christ.

The testimony of God. Is greater. For those of us. That trust. That he came by. The water.

That he lived. A life. He fulfilled. The law. Perfectly on our behalf. For those that believe.

That he came by. The blood. That his blood was shed for us. On the cross. That our sin. Is what puts him on the cross.

And his blood was shed for us. For those who believe. The Holy Spirit comes. And makes us. New creations. In Christ.

And testifies. To our spirit. We have. Eternal. Life. The three take the stand.

The water. The blood. And the spirit. And they're all in agreement. And they're all. Compelling us.

To believe. Some of you. Some of you have never. Surrendered to this Christ. Some of you have been around church. Your entire life.

Some of you are just checking it out. For the first time. But you've never. Surrendered to this Christ. And I want you so. Clearly to hear this morning.

Jesus. Wants you. This testimony shows. He. Wants you. That he.

Desires you. That he doesn't. That your past. Does not have to define you. That your life right now. Does not have to define you.

That faith in Jesus. Is putting all of our hope. And what he has done for us. That by grace. He saves us. That there's nothing that you bring to the table.

But your sin. And he wants you. He wants to take your sin. On the cross. He wants you. Believe this.

That God has you here this morning. That he desires you. That this testimony is good. It is pure. It is perfect. And it is for you.

Don't. Stop running. Stop running from God. He wants you. Believe this testimony. It is worth your life.

Some of you. Are Christians. And you got to be honest about the doubt. That you are facing. And John so clearly. Is teaching of this morning.

He's teaching us. Keep believing. Continue. To believe. Believe is not a one-time event. That happens.

It is a continual. You believe over. And over. And over. And over again. The testimony.

Is of a real. God. Who came. Who died for us. Who took on flesh. The testimony.

Is true. And the testimony. Is in you. And this morning. He so clearly. Wants you to know.

That is true. And that what is held out. In front of you. Christian. Is a testimony. That does not end.

That heads into. Eternity. We continue. To fight. To believe this. By the power.

Of the Holy Spirit. Matt's going to come up. And he's going to. Take that song. Belief. That I just.

Read through. And he's going to sing it. Over us. And as he does. I want. Us to listen.

Listen to the voice of God. That for those of you. That are here. That have never surrendered. To who this God is. That never fully believe.

In the testimony of Christ. My hope and prayer. Is that you would. Believe. That this song. Would be a confession.

And you confess. It for the first time. Maybe. Maybe you are a Christian. You've been struggling. For.

Years. You've been struggling. With doubt. Make this your prayer. Help me in my unbelief. Help me believe.

In what the water. And the blood. And the spirit. Testify to. Help me believe. In this Christ.

May this encourage. Your soul. Remind you. Of your savior. And remind you. How good this testimony is.

Let me pray. Father. We need you. We need you. In a world. That has.

Darkness. And doubt. In our lives. Where there is darkness. And doubt. May you cut through it.

And we see you so clearly. And so beautifully. Right now. For those who have never trusted in Christ. May they believe. Right now.

For those who have trusted in Christ. But are struggling. May you help them. To continue to believe this testimony. In Christ's name. Amen.

Three Essentials of the Christian Life (1 John 5:1-5)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Three Essentials of a Christian Life

Chet Phillips

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Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John.

We are coming towards the end of this letter. And we've got just a couple more weeks of walking through this. And John is kind of summing up some of his ideas. But I want to begin this sermon by talking about Daniel. And not Daniel from the Bible, but Daniel LaRusso from the Karate Kid. Also very important.

Not quite as important as the other Daniel. In the Karate Kid, the original one. Some people also like to call that the good one. Mr. Miyagi is teaching Daniel karate. Karate.

Daniel actually really wants to be like a kid who's all about karate. And so he's teaching him karate. And what he does is he makes him paint his fence. And he makes him wash his cars. Karate. And I thought, man, I could teach somebody karate.

If that's all. Chores. Come do chores at my house. But that's what it seems like. And he's having him do wax on, wax off on these cars. And he has a specific way he wants him to do it.

And he's doing paint the fence. He does this specific stuff. And he makes him do it with both hands. And there's this scene. It's one of the best scenes in the movie. It's up there with the this scene.

It's one of the best scenes in the movie where Daniel just says, I'm done. All you've done is make me do chores. I'm done. And Mr. Miyagi says, show me the stuff I've been making you do. And he starts to do it.

And he goes, no, you're doing it wrong. Show me the way I showed you. And he starts making him do the stuff that he showed him how to do. That he made him do this repetitive motion over and over and over and over again. And then Mr. Miyagi starts throwing punches at him and just starts trying to assault him.

He's throwing punches and kicks. But because he had painted the fence, he knows how to block stuff. It's a little hard to believe, but this is what happens. And this is what he does. And there's this whole scene where he shows him that I was just teaching your muscles to do this thing over and over again. That's why I said it over and over and over again.

And we're in that scene in 1 John. Because I don't know if you've been reading John. He says the same thing over and over and over and over again. He has said it over and over and over and over. And we're getting to the scene where he's the part in John where he starts going. He's just saying it again.

But he's helping us see clearly. I've been saying this repeatedly. I've been connecting this this whole time. And this is what it looks like to be a Christian. These are the identifying markers of a Christian. And he's said it so many times that at this point, if someone tried to assault us with something that was against this, we should be able to karate kid that stuff.

We should be able to say, no, this is how it works. So that's where we are. We're going to read through this section together. And we're going to kind of paint a picture to help us see. He's saying it again. But we want to put some weight in this and put this in our heads clearly as he's kind of coming to his letter.

So let's pray. And then we'll be in 1 John chapter 5. God, I pray that you would help us this morning. That you would help us to hear from your word. That you would help remove distraction and our desire to wander and to think about other things. But that you would help anchor this reality in our souls.

And then, Lord, I pray that you would, through the power of your spirit, would make it true of this church. That this is what we look like as we abide in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. 1 John chapter 5. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So he's said this idea multiple times, but he's saying it again.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So that we believe that Jesus, the man who walked on earth, lived and taught, was crucified on a cross. That he rose again. That he's the Christ. That he's the one that God had promised to bring salvation through. That he's the one who is fulfilling Christ.

Jesus is a name. Christ is a theological office. It's a role that he plays. That he is the Christ who has been the promised Messiah who was going to come and fix everything for us. That from the very beginning when God promises in the garden that there's going to be a son who's going to be born. And he's going to crush the head of the serpent.

That there's this promise throughout the Old Testament that this Christ is coming. This is who John is saying. Whoever believes that that's Jesus. That he's the one who's come to save. That he's the one who redeems. That he's the one who forgives sin.

Whoever believes that. Trusts in that. Hopes in that. Puts their faith in that. And I think we've got to just appreciate that word believe for a second. Because all we're doing is coming to a news that has been told to us.

That Jesus has done this. And if we believe it. If we say no that's true. I'm going to wrap around that. I'm going to hold on to that. I'm going to anchor in that.

He says whenever that happens. Then we've been born of God. Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. That this is one of the commentaries I have on this says. To believe is to be acted upon in a dynamic transformative way by God.

That God does this. So here's what he's saying. Is that we believe in Jesus. But then this happens. So Jesus brings us to the Father.

And so that if you have faith in Jesus. And we're going to kind of draw this whole picture out. Because this is the stuff he's been saying over and over again. But Jesus brings us to the Father. You don't have the Father without Jesus. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ.

Has been born of God. You've been made new. You've been born again. As he would say in. Jesus would say in John chapter 3. Not 1 John chapter 3.

But John chapter 3. That you are born again. That you are made new. That's this idea. That we belong to God if we believe in Jesus. Then he says this.

So verse 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Has been born of God. And everyone who loves the Father. Loves whoever has been born of him. So if you love the Father.

If you believe in Jesus. He brings you to the Father. You're born of God. And if you love the Father. Then you love everyone who's been born of him.

So that looks like this. You love the Father. You love the Father. They are connected. You can't disconnect that. This is how it works.

So if you say I love the Father. You love the brothers. That's not a new idea if you've been here. John has said that. Over and over again. Then he says this.

Verse 2. By this we know that we love the children of God. When we love God. So by this we know we love the children of God. When we love God. So it goes the other way too.

One of the ways that you love the children of God. Or the brothers. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Is that you love God. So it goes back the other way.

You can almost put arrows. But there's this channel of love. Running back and forth. That if you love the Father. You love the brothers. And then he's going to say.

If you love the brothers. You love the Father. And this is. This is the circle he's been running. He said this over and over and over again. Then he says this.

By this is verse 2. By this we know. That we love the children of God. So this marks us as loving the children of God. When we love God. And.

Obey his commands. So it looks like that. If you love. If you love the Father. You love the brothers. If you love the brothers.

Then you'll love the Father. And. You'll obey his commands. And this is how you know. That you love the brothers. This is how you know.

That you care about your church family. You obey God's commands. That's a little startling for us. I think sometimes. To think that obeying commands. Is something different.

But he's saying. No. This is one of the things. That marks. A love. For your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is that you obey his commands. Verse 3. For this. This is the love of God. That we keep his commandments. So then it goes.

From commandments. Back up to the Father. John has said this. So many times. This is. This is his point.

This is his thesis. This is. He's landing the plane. And. This. I.

I've said it. I don't know how else to say it. I've said it forwards. I've said it backwards. I've said it positively. I've said it negatively.

I've accused you of being a liar. Multiple times. Which we're going to read those in a second. But this is what he says. You believe in Jesus. You get the Father.

You don't get the Father. If you don't have Jesus. If you have the Father. If you belong to the Father. Then you love the brothers.

If you love the brothers. Then you love the Father. If you love the brothers. You'll follow his commands. The way you know that you love the Father. Is that you follow his commands.

Yeah. Wax on. Wax off. He said it. Over and over. And over.

Again. There is a faith. Love of God. Marking. For believers. That if you're a believer.

Then you have faith in Jesus. And you love the Father. There is a relational. There is a relational. Love of church family. Marking.

For believers. And there is a moral. Ethical. Marking. For believers. My uncle.

Who's. Yorba. People group. From Abomasaw. He's one of the last. Generations born.

That they put tribal marks on. So he has tribal marks on his face. And it was meant to be. That you could look right at him. And you would know. Right where he was from.

And that is. What this is. For Christians. That we. Are to be. Marked by.

These three things. And you can't. Get rid of any of them. But I want to show you. That John has said this. Over and over again.

I'm just going to read. I want you to listen. I'm going to try to move. Fairly quickly. But I'm going to read.

Things that we've read. In chapter one. Chapter two. Chapter three. Chapter four. To just try to refresh.

In your head. He said this. This is his whole point. And just as I read it. Try to figure out. Okay.

Yeah. That's from there to there. That's from there to there. Because he's just running. This track. Back and forth.

Different ways. Chapter one. This is the message. That we heard from him. And proclaim to you. That God is light.

And in him. There's no darkness at all. So he's talking about the father. If we say. We have fellowship with him. While we walk in darkness.

Meaning that we. Sin. And are following sin. And not obeying his commands. We lie. And do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light. Meaning following him. And are walking in openness. He is. As he is in the light. We have fellowship.

And you would think he would say. We have fellowship with him. We have fellowship with one another. So he runs this way. And the blood of Jesus. His son.

Then he takes us back up there. Cleanses us from all sin. Chapter two. By this. We know that we have come to know him. So you know the father.

If we keep his commands. Keep his commandments. Whoever says. This is chapter two. Verse four. Whoever says.

I know him. But does not keep his commandments. Is a liar. The truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word.

In him. Truly the love of God. Is perfected. By this. We know that we are in him. Whoever says.

He abides in him. Ought to walk. In the same way that he walks. And he jumps down to verse nine. In chapter two. He says.

Whoever says. He's in the light. So I know the father. That's being in the light. And hates his brother. Is still in darkness.

Whoever loves his brother. Abides in the light. And that's his idea. Of walking in openness. And following the commands. And knowing God.

That's it. Being in the light. Verse 15. No. Not verse 15. 29.

If you know that he is righteous. You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness. Has been born of God. So. If we know the father. Then we practice righteousness.

Chapter three. Everyone who. Thus hopes in him. Purifies himself. As he is pure. Again.

This following his commands. Verse four. For everyone who practice. Makes a practice of sinning. Also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

You know that he appeared. In order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him. Keeps on sinning. Then verse 10.

Whoever does not practice righteousness. Is not of God. So. You're not doing that. You don't belong to him. Nor.

Is the one who does not love. His brother. Verse 11. Chapter three. For this is the message we've heard from the beginning. That we should love one another.

Verse 23. This is the commandment. All right. So here's the commandment. And he's been talking about commandments. Is not sinning.

So it's a general idea of commandments. And then he specifically. Is going to highlight. One of the major parts of the commandment. And here's what he says. This is the commandment that we have from him.

That we believe in the son. Jesus Christ. And. Love one another. Just as he's commanded us. So he snuck the other two in the commands.

We can make this more complicated. He didn't hide them as subsections in that one. Chapter four. This is the summation of it. But he says this.

We love because he loved us. So. Us. Being loved by him. That he's done this first. He's brought us in.

He loves us. If anyone says I love God. And hates his brother. Is a liar. He who does not love his brother. Whom he has seen.

Cannot love. Whom he has not seen. And he says. This is the commandment. That we have from him. Whoever loves God.

Must also love his brother. I trimmed it up. There are more. Because it's the entire letter. This is what he says. This is what you look like.

If you belong to Jesus. This is what you look like. Jesus. Brings you to the father. The father makes you new. And now.

Your life is marked. By a love for God. A love for. The church. Your brothers. His children.

And obedience. And he specifically. Goes out of his way. And I read some of these. I'm going to read them again. To say.

If you try to remove. One of those. And say it's fine. I'm still a Christian. He says. Liar.

Like the scariest scene. In Princess Bride. Where that guy's talking. And then what's his head's dead. And then that crazy lady. Comes running out of the back.

Yelling. Liar. When you're a little kid. That's really the scariest scene. All kinds of things happen there. It's like.

Oh my goodness. That's what. That's what John does. Verse. Chapter 2. Verse 22.

Who. Who is the liar. But he who denies. That Jesus is the Christ. You try to take Jesus out. Liar.

2.4. Whoever says. I know him. But doesn't keep his commandments. Is a liar. In chapter 4.

Verse 20. If anyone says. I love God. And hates his brothers. Is a liar. He specifically covers all of them.

And says. You can't. You just can't take one of these out. Now. What. Will happen.

Mostly. Is that people. Will claim. The top one. And ignore the bottom ones. And for our purposes.

That's the thing. That's most helpful. Because. Most of us. Subtly. It's not going to sink.

Sneak in. That we're to not love Jesus. But we're to obey his commands. That. That exists. This idea.

That I can just be moral. And that's fine. Or that I can just be loving. And that's fine. But. For our purposes.

We're just going to kind of look at. Trying to claim the top. And for John's purposes. That's what he cared most about. Whoever says. They know the father.

Whoever says. They're in the light. Whoever says. They know the father. Like he's consistently saying. You're claiming this.

But you're trying to remove. One of these. But here's. Here's what you have. You'll have people say. That you don't need Jesus.

That he's not. You can. Every. Everybody. Every. All paths lead to God.

Everybody believes the same thing. So you believe in Jesus. That's fine. This other person believes in something else. But we're all going to end up in the same place.

We're all going to be in the same spot. Everything's fine. And John specifically says. No. That's. That's a lie.

That is not how it works. So if anybody tells you. Or if you're inclined to believe. Or you like the idea. That. Really what the Bible is just telling us.

Is just to love each other. And that if you really read the Bible. All you'll get out of it. Is it to love each other. And to. To just have a good relationship with God.

And with others. John says. That's a. That's a lie. That's not. That's not what this is saying.

You need to know Jesus. You need to believe in him. He's the one who. Who brings us. To the father. Now the southern version of this is.

Oh I'm a Christian. Oh I love me some Jesus. What church are you a part of? Well. Well. I don't really do that.

Follow that up. We don't ask this. We follow that up with. How's obedience going? Don't really do that either. I mean.

Unless you mean. The way I vote. America. It's like. Okay. Hold on.

We can't. We can't just. Separate. Like there's. We have to follow these things. Like.

You can't. It can't just be. I say I know Jesus. Because you will meet people that say. I'm a Christian. And those other things don't show up at all.

So let's just. Let's take one. Sometimes they show up a little bit. Sometimes they'll have one. But let's just pick on one for a second.

Let's just cut out brothers. And let's talk about what this looks like. This is the. Oh I love Jesus. Church messes me up. Church is just a bunch of hypocrites.

You know. I tried to be a part of church. It just made it worse. I found that a church. Was a hurdle. To me loving Jesus.

And I'm just better off without the church. Because all that stuff is just man made. Just practices. And stuff that just ends up. It just messes me up. And I want the authentic stuff.

I want the real stuff. I want just me and God. John says. That doesn't exist. You don't get the father without the family. That's not how it works.

See. If you love him. Then you love his people. But this shows up all the time. I read this article this week. It was by John Pavlovitz.

And it's. It's. The title of the article is. Relax Christian. You don't have to go to church. It says.

This Sunday. You may be snuggled in your bed. With your family and dog. Telling stories. And giggling away the morning. You may be jogging with your best friend.

Through the wooded paths. Just coming to life. In the early morning sun. You may be driving through the empty back roads. With the roof open. Blasting the 80's metal.

That reminds you. Of when you had hair. For the breeze to blow through. You might be having breakfast with friends. And giving thanks for life. And family in the day.

You might be in the garden. Your knees pressed to the damp soil. Smelling the leaves. Just popping up. Through the ground. These places are all sacred.

They are all waiting sanctuaries. For God to be seen. And heard. And experienced. They are common cathedrals. Fully saturated.

With the presence. Of the divine. Part of us really likes that idea. Because part of that. Is kind of true. There is nothing magical.

About this building. It doesn't have like a funnel. That makes our prayers work better. If we decided as a church. To meet in the evening. Or in the middle of the afternoon.

On a Saturday. Okay. There is some historical reasons. Why we get there on Sunday morning. There is some flow of life stuff. But.

The church is the people. But to argue. That you don't need that. He says later. It is good to have some community. I read this to Spencer earlier.

And he almost lost his mind. He started frothing at the mouth. He was so mad. And he was like. A group of friends. That you have brunch with.

Is in a church. So. If you kind of like this idea. And you want to get yelled at. Go talk to Spencer about it. But the truth is.

Some of this is evil. And unhelpful. To try to weasel in. And say you don't really need that. You can be a Christian. By yourself.

That's a tactic of the enemy. Because everything I think is a good idea. Is a good idea. When I'm by myself. I need some people around me. To go hold on.

That's not helpful. I need some people. Who I know are going to ask me some questions. If you've walked in church family long enough. And you've been around people. Who are going to ask you.

How things are going. You have learned. That that helps you not sin. And you've learned. That there are things. That you have chosen to obey.

Because you love your church family. You've actually begun. To live some of that out. Where it's like. No I actually am showing. That I love my church family.

By following this command. And so what happens is. There's this tendency. For us to say. Well we don't really need that. Now.

We're all here. Some of us were like. Wait. Can I just. Lay in bed. And giggle.

Or whatever he said. Is that. Where's this going. Now this is good for us. To belong to a group of people. But let me show you.

Where it gets sneaky. Where it can creep in. Where this idea. You might would have like a. Not as bright little X. It's penciled in.

You don't really need that. Let me show you how this. This shows up. You can show up on Sunday. And participate. Because you're trying to do the bottom right.

That you think that being here. Is just about your personal devotion. To the Lord. There's a way for us to do that. It shows up in some sneaky ways. You might would say.

I don't get there early. I like to just show up. And walk right in and sing. Because I don't want to talk to people. But that betrays a little bit of.

You think that talking to people. Is just for you. And not also for them. There's some people who show up. On Sunday mornings. That are a part of our church.

That need to be talked to. That need somebody to come by. And care about them. And if all we care about. Is how I'm interacting. With things that are happening here.

We can miss it. Some of you haven't committed to a group. Because you don't really need that. I'm doing okay. I feel fine. I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

I get that that's good for lonely people. I'm fine. I'm stable. I had. I had a person. That I was.

When we were talking about. Planting a church. And I told him. We were going to be group space. He said. Groups are great.

He said. But I have a question for you. He said. My dad. Teaches seminary level classes. What would you have for him?

Because he doesn't need to be a part of a group. And I was young. And in seminary. Now I'd say. Liar. He needs to belong to a group of people.

Where he can love them. They need him. And you'll find. That as he. Commits to loving a group of people. He also needs them.

That. A love for the Lord. Is not just mental. We. We hear this show up sometimes. In the way we talk about church.

Sometimes we'll talk about it. Like it's a gym. You should be a part of my church. The way we would talk about. You should be a part of my gym. Oh.

You should be a part of my gym. The fees are low. It's 24 hours. They have the best machines. The smoothie. They sell smoothies.

Some people are like. You should join my gym. Because we don't work out. And we eat pizza. And it's cheap. People have pitched that to me.

It's like. I can do that at my house. For cheaper. But we do that with church. You should come to my church. The music's the best.

Oh. You should come to my church. The preaching. You should come to my church. We renovate it. Now everybody knows where the bathrooms are.

We pick. Pick different things. To try to highlight for somebody. As if. The church is just the experience. And what I'm getting out of it.

And not. You belong to a group of people. And I'm not saying it's bad to like things. And some of you are like. I'm doing great. I don't like any of this stuff.

That's what I mean to say. It's not bad to like things. And to appreciate stuff. But if that's the way you think about it. There's a possibility. That you are just approaching it as.

What am I getting out of this? And this is just about personal devotion. And has nothing to do with me loving people. And you can't. You can't get rid of that one. This is actually.

One of the reasons why I appreciate some things. That I don't like. On Sundays. I'll give you some examples. On Sundays. I like.

And always enjoy. When I go to a church. And they cut off all the lights. And we sing in the dark. I like that. But I actually appreciate.

That we don't do that. Because part of the reason we're singing. Is because we're singing to each other. And we're being reminded. We all believe this. And this isn't just true for me.

And it's not just about my relationship to Jesus. It's about us. That's why we're told in the scriptures. To address each other in Psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Part of the reason we're singing.

Is not just singing to God. We're singing to each other. I don't like corporate readings. I think they're kind of awkward. I definitely hate leading them. I accidentally led one one time.

I wouldn't even plan on people reading them. It wasn't even underlined. But I had like cued everybody in. Read this with me. And it was just like. Oh my gosh.

I don't. I don't like them. But I appreciate them. Because we're collectively saying. We believe this together. And this isn't just true for me.

It's true for us. And it's true for all who belong to Jesus. And we belong to each other. And that's what we're practicing. When we get together with our community groups. So that when your group's doing something.

It's like. If you just only want to show up to your group. If you know they're studying stuff. You might have tricked yourself into thinking. It's just about your personal obedience. If you say.

Well I don't have to go to that. Because I don't like board games. Do you love your brothers and sisters? I don't have to go to that. I don't like. I don't like that show.

But do you enjoy. Like can you go serve. And love them. And connect with them. And pour into them. Right.

So we do that. And sometimes we miss. That we belong to people. Sometimes we talk about churches. If we belong to the philosophy. Or the type of music.

Or we belong to the type of preaching. Or whatever. And we miss that we actually belong to a group of people. That's why you should show up early. Talk to people. Sing songs you don't like.

Because that's part of us. Of loving one another. Well. Okay. Sometimes we remove commands. We just say.

We don't really need that part. And what we'll say. It's just about loving God. And loving people. And he says that. Right.

Like he says. To love God. Love people. That's all the commands. John even highlights those as really important ones. And so what we'll say is.

Really all God wants. Is for us to get along. For us to love people. For us to be kind. For us to be open. For us to be accepting.

And that when we add in all the rules. That's when people get bigoted. And angry. And prideful. That's when we get the mean old. Stereotypical church lady.

Excuse me. It's from the rules. And there's some truth in. That it's not about rules. Rules don't save us. And there is a way to be pharisaical about the commands.

There is a way to get this wrong. And to be bigoted. And angry. And hurtful. And think that the rules somehow save us. He's actually going to get there in just a little bit.

But he includes this. This is still here. So you can't just say. Well there's a bad version of that. So get rid of it.

You say there's a bad version of that. Well then what the heck is he talking about? What's the good version? What's this supposed to look like? Because you'll hear things like. Well it's not about the rules.

And rules just divide people. Or. One of my personal favorites. I prayed about it. And it just. I don't feel like it's wrong.

I prayed about it. And I just don't feel convicted. I know you're like reading a verse at me. But I prayed about it. And I feel fine. Which is really.

Verbally the claim. I know the father. He and I talked about it. I'm cool. I don't have to do that one. John says.

Liar. That's not how it works. And I know we get there sometimes. And I will tell you what I always tell people. You should be terrified. That you've so drifted from God.

That even when you're looking at a direct command. You don't feel anything. Repent. And repent quickly. Don't look at me and say. Hey my heart's cold and dead.

And I feel fine. It's like. Oh my. Oh Lord help us. But that's what we say.

I prayed about it. I don't feel. I don't feel like it's wrong. We'll also say. Well I know God just wants me to be happy. I know God just wants me to be happy.

I've been looking at this. And I just don't see. How I could be happy without it. And I know that God loves me. And he wants me to be happy. So I can have this thing.

God does want you to be happy. I used to yell. When we first planted this church. If you've been around a long time. I yelled at you. That God doesn't care about your happiness.

I'm nuancing that now. Because he really does. He just doesn't care about it the way you're defining it in that moment. God loves us so much. That he would die. For our delight.

In him. And he actually knows that you won't be happy. Outside of him. He's willing to go to greater lengths for your happiness than you are. And his commands fit in that category. They're for our good.

So there's some assumptions that come in. When you're going to obey the commands that the Lord gives you. One. We assume that he's good. That he loves us. That he's for our good.

The cross definitively proves that. John says that multiple times. This is how we know love. This is how we know that he loves us. That he died for us. But we're assuming he's good.

Because if you're going to obey his commands. You've got to start there. I've got to assume that he's good. And that he's for my good. Secondly. I've got to assume that he knows some stuff I don't.

Considering I can't create things by speaking. Or keep them together. I'm just going to go ahead and assume he probably knows some things I don't. And he's capable of doing things that I can't. There's some jokes about people who posted on Twitter. I finally got to perform a tracheotomy at 3,000 feet or whatever.

Like someone asked if there was a doctor. And I stood up and I was able to perform this. And they'll put being a doctor of philosophy. That was a wild ride. And it's this idea that you just claim you're a doctor and just go for it. And there's with any lack of information that you would actually need to do this well.

And so sometimes when I'm saying I just want to chase after this thing that he tells me no. What I'm saying is I think I have all the information I need. And that I'm now smarter than him. Or maybe he's smarter than me. But he's not for my good.

But Christ on the cross definitively proves that he is. So that we can just put his commands in the category of I have a three-year-old, a four-year-old. This is easier for me because he only wants to eat the four food groups. Waffles. French fries. Pizza.

And Swedish fish. Which at my house, and this is why I tripped up for a second, they're called poop fish. Because we use them to teach him to be potty trained. That's all he wants to eat. He'll say yes to any of those. I have a rule at my house, which is you can only eat waffles one time a day.

I'm a very strict parent. But there's a reality to it. His older brother would never choose to sleep. So this one is going to eat just junk all the time. His older brother, I mean, he could look ragged. And be like not able to talk without crying.

And be like, buddy, you need to go to bed. No. I'm fine. It's like, okay. We have rules. Because I'm smarter than them.

And I love them. Really. Eating Swedish fish for dinner might make you happy right now. That will ruin your life. It just will. That path does not lead to joy.

It does not. It leads to a lot of places. Joy is not one of them. And there are times where God steps in and all we can see is what would be on the plate right in front of us. And he says, I love you. And that path does not lead to joy.

And so to say, well, he wants me to be happy. So obviously this universal command can't apply to me is silly and short-sighted. So we obey. And that's why obeying displays our love for him. I love you and I trust you. And even though I don't understand why you're saying I can't have that or do that or why you're not letting this work out right now.

I'm in. And we obey in a way that helps us love his children. And I want you to see this. That's what John has said over and over again. And we can't get rid of any of those. We've got to keep all of them.

But I want to add something. Or he adds to it. So I want to read it and talk about it. What he says at the end of verse 3. So he says, this is verse 3.

For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. That's what he says next. So we keep his commandments, but his commandments are not burdensome. Now he's going to define that for us. Because some of you are like, then I must be doing them wrong. Because I've got a few I really do not like.

And I have found quite, I would describe them as a burden to try to keep doing them. He's going to define this. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So that for is very important. His commandments are not burdensome. For.

He's not changing the subject. He's defining what he's talking about. For. Everyone who has been born of God. Who's been born of God? We read this earlier.

Everybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So. Everyone who believes in Jesus has been born of God. That's the same group here. For everyone who believes in Jesus or who has been born of God. Overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Hold that for a second. Here's what he means by it's not burdensome. When he talks about the world. What he means is the stuff that would tempt us to sin.

Evil desires. Which tempt us to sin. He also means the enemy. He talks about the antichrist. He talks about the devil being sons of the devil. That we have an enemy that's.

Trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. And we have ourselves. That's trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. Like our own desires. Corresponding with the world. This is what we're trying to do.

And if it's you going toe to toe against that. Via obedience to win. You lose. If you've got to beat the world. Save yourself through obedience. You lose.

That's a burden. The reason his commands are not burdensome. Is they do not carry the weight of our salvation. They do not bear that burden. He does not mean they are not difficult. This is where Jesus can say.

Truly. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light. And he can truly say. That the path is narrow.

And the way is hard. And that those who find it are few. That there is some difficulty. To obedience. There is some hardship to obedience. There is some difficulty to following Jesus with our life.

But it does not bear the burden of our salvation. There is great freedom and hope in this. If you believe in Jesus. You overcome the world. And in a real way. Not like when Americans announced themselves world champs of things.

That we only. Only us competed in. But like in a real way. That you overcome the world. That you are not. Destroyed by sin.

And if you have made any real effort. To fight your sin. You know. There are moments when you think. Oh. I am going to be lost.

I am going to. I am going to. I don't. There is something wrong with me. And that is when he steps in and says. Do you love Jesus?

Do you believe in him? These commands are for your good. But they are not able to carry the weight of salvation. Jesus carries the weight of salvation. So then he goes on.

Verse 5. Who is it. That overcomes the world. Except the one that believes Jesus. Is the son of God. Do not read John.

And look at this triangle of identity. And go. I am going to do better. All I got to do is. I am going to go do better. Truth is.

We can get together on Sundays. We can yell. Go do better. And you will. A little bit. Ish.

For a while. You will have some more motivation. You will have some energy. You will have some. I don't know. Guilt.

Or pride. Or something that is driving you to. I am going to show my group. I will love better than any of them. Okay. You are mad at them.

To love. I don't. Good luck. But ultimately. That just adds to the burden. That I am going to go do better.

Just adds to the burden. This is an invitation. Into an identity. That has been accomplished. By faith in Jesus. And being born.

Again. By the power of God. So. Faith. Is what you need. You need faith in Jesus.

And then this is an identity. That is why John doesn't say. If you do not do these things. Get it together. He says. If you do not do these things.

If this. If your life is not marked by love for the brothers. And I am trying to help you see where they can creep in. And where we need to grow some. But he says.

If your life is not marked by this. Not marked by obedience. Not marked by the brothers. It is not. Do better. He says.

You are a liar. And what you need is Jesus. What you need is him at work in you. What you need is the empowerment of the spirit. Not. I am going to do these things better.

So if you are in here. And you are going. I believe in Jesus. Then what you ask. Is for his help. For him to empower you.

For you to grow in your love. Not. Watch me. Watch me do this. That is not the response. The response is faith.

And delight. In the fact. That through Jesus. We overcome. That you are not destroyed. By your sin.

So I don't know. If this is your first time. Being around. Or if you have been around for a while. I don't know where you are. But.

Don't leave with. I am going to do better. Leave with. I am going to love Jesus. And I trust him for salvation. And this was so encouraging for me.

As I worked on this. Because y'all. That is our church family. Sometimes kicking and screaming. That is our church family. Some of you have seen that in yourself.

And people in your group. Some of you. For real. You are obeying commands. That you hate. Some of you.

That is you being here this morning. You had to fight. Your children. And your wife. And yourself. To get here.

Or your husband. Or traffic. Or whatever. Not traffic. It is not busy on Sundays. But to get a group.

Sometimes. Yeah. And you are like. I don't know why I am here. I will tell you why you are here. You have placed your faith in Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit is changing you. That is why you are looking at some commands. And you are going. I don't like this. I still don't like this. This is one of the ones I said.

I would never be a Christian. Because. And I actually now believe that he is good. And so I am going to try to follow this. Some of you are like. I don't.

I hate people. But I love these people. And I hate that. But I love it. And it is so weird. It is like.

Yeah. It is the Holy Spirit. It is working you. Some of you. Every time. It is time to go be around people.

You are like. I do not want to do this. And then you show up. And there is something magical. It is not magical. It is Holy Spirit empowered.

And it is good. This is us. Because this is what Jesus does. Among a group of people. I am going to leave you with this. I found it.

So. It is an encouraging. I was reading. The Pilgrim's Progress. A children's version. So it is a big poem.

Of the Pilgrim's Progress. To my son. And we read through it. And we talk through it. And it is confusing as mess. So we get a lot of discussion about.

What the heck is he talking about. But then there is a guy named Evangelist. And he sings this. There is a guy named Christian. Who is trying to become a Christian. He has got a burden of sin on his back.

That he is trying to get rid of. Somebody told him. Just go follow the law. Go do. Go obey. And you will be fixed.

And then Evangelist sings this to him. He says. To run and work. The law demands. But gives us neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings. It bids us fly. And gives us wings. Obedience. Loving others. They are in response to the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

Because we place faith in Jesus. He is calling us to fly. But he is going to give us the wings to do it. It is not the thing that saves us. It is not the thing that rescues us. Jesus does that.

But it is good. And it does work among his people. And where we see us drifting in a direction. We need to repent and run towards the joy that is offered to us in him. Matt and Kelly are going to come back up. We are going to sing.

Because we have a champion in Christ who has gone before us. And who has rescued and redeemed. And made the way for us. And we are going to delight in the fact that this is who we get to be as his people. And yeah. If there are some areas where you see.

I need to grow here. Then ask the Lord to help you. And if you don't have any of those markings. Then place your faith in Jesus. And let him go to work. Because he is our only hope.

In a moment we are going to take communion. Which is where we celebrate collectively. That Jesus Christ redeems sinners. That he has. The gospel has called us to fly and given us wings. That he has rescued us from our sin.

That he has given us hope. That he has given us a new heart. That we have been born again. And that we are not saved by our work but his. That is why we picture it. With the bread and the cup.

That we remember his body and his blood. Work that he accomplished for us. And so we come and we once again say. Lord I need the gospel. I don't need to be better. I don't need to be smarter.

I don't need to be stronger. I have a hero. I have a savior. I overcome the world through faith. I just need you. And I need you to cleanse me.

And I need your mercy. And I need your grace. And I need your empowerment. And I need the gospel. So if you are a believer.

We would invite you to come. After you have taken a moment to reflect. After you have taken a moment to maybe repent. To talk to the Lord. To adjust your heart as you go before him. But then come.

And celebrate that you are saved through his work. Not yours. That his commands are not burdensome. And that we get to be born again. Into the work that he has accomplished. Let's pray.

God we thank you for. The faith. That saves us. We thank you that we get to come. And trust in the work of Jesus. And that you then make us into a new people.

And Lord we pray that we would look like that. And that for those who have. One of those completely missing. And it does not Mark their life. Lord we pray that they would not say. Well I'm going to get it together.

But that they would come to Jesus. And be saved. To not try to carry the burden. Of their salvation. But to let him accomplish it for them on the cross.

May we grow. In our love for one another. May we grow. In our love for you. And may we grow. In our obedience.

Through the empowerment. Of the spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.

Obedience Like Joseph

Obedience Like Joseph

Tim Olsen

Transcript

Well, good morning. How are we doing this morning? Yeah, it is good to be with you guys. I love that song. I got the privilege last week of getting to preach at our church that I'm at right now, Midtown, Downtown. And we played that right before I walked out.

And so to get to walk out and preach following that song again is just such good. Good for my heart. Hopefully good for your hearts. That beautiful mystery of the gospel, right? That Jesus, the Savior of the world, the Lord of all creation, would humble himself and come as a child. So we celebrate in this season.

Excited to be opening God's Word with you this morning. If you have a Bible, go ahead and get to Matthew 1. We're going to be in Matthew 1 and 2 a little bit today. Like Chet said at the very beginning, my name is Tim. I'm currently on staff over at a church downtown called Midtown Fellowship. And they are sending myself and my wife and a team of about 40 individuals out to the east side of Charlotte, North Carolina, to plant a church called Citizens Church next summer.

And so we're really excited, really grateful. Some of them are sitting front and center this morning. So I'm trusting they'll bring the amens for me. But really, really glad, really grateful for you guys for making us one of your Give projects, for caring about us, for wanting us to see us be launched out well as a brand new church. But more than anything, I'm excited to open up God's Word with you this morning.

Now we just prayed, but let me pray one more time for us before we dive in. Father God, thank you for your Word. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus as a baby in the manger, helpless, clinging to Mary and to Joseph. God, thank you for Jesus on the cross, who appears helpless, but in the same moment is claiming victory over Satan's sin and death. Thank you that we worship that King.

That we serve and give our lives away for that King who first gave his life away for us. Would you be with us this morning as we open your Word? Would you help us to see what it is that you have for us, to apply what it is we need to apply, to know what it is we need to know, to love what it is we need to love. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

So we're in the second Sunday of Advent, the middle of this Advent season. The season where we look back and we remember and celebrate Christ's first coming. And we look ahead. We look forward to and anticipate the second coming of Christ. This time not as a baby in a manger, but as a King. A risen and ruling and reigning King for all eternity.

And so to do that this year, you guys are looking at different themes from the Gospel of Matthew in the Christmas narrative. And so I have the privilege this morning of talking to you about Joseph. Not colorful coat Joseph, but standing next to Mary in all of your scenes of nativity, Joseph. That's who we're talking about this morning in Matthew chapter 1. So growing up, my family had a tradition where every other Friday night, we would sit down and watch movies together.

So we would order pizza and we would sit down, usually watch some kind of great American film or great American classic. On the other hand, my wife's family was not really big into movies. So they just didn't really watch TV a whole lot. That wasn't their thing growing up. Didn't watch a whole lot of movies. And so when we got married, I found out pretty early on that she had never seen some of the American classics.

I mean, just the films you need to watch if you are going to be a part of this culture and this society. Films like Star Wars. Films like Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings, which I'm told are also books, can neither confirm nor deny if they're books or not. But she'd never seen the movies and that's what I cared about.

And so being the spiritual leader of our family that I was, I decided this had to change, right? And so we sat down over the first year or so of our marriage and we watched through every single one of these movies. And what happens is when you watch through these movies back to back to back to back to back to back to back is that you notice two things. Number one, you notice that all of the plots are basically the same. Hot take. You can argue about it later.

All the stories are the same. They all tell the same story. Hero, villain, kill the villain, you win, right? That's how the story goes. But the second thing you notice in all of these movies is that there is always some secondary or third, some other character that seems like they're not really that important.

They're kind of in the background, kind of off. You're wondering what their deal is, but then you get to the end of the movie and you realize, hey, this person played a pivotal role in the story of the lead character. They're not the lead. They're not the main character. They're not the one that the story is about, but they do something, some sacrifice, some act that helps serve the purposes of the lead character. So in Harry Potter, you have Hagrid, right?

In Star Wars, you have Han Solo. In Lord of the Rings, you have Samwise Gamgee, right? In Chronicles of Narnia, you have Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. I mean, even Anna has her Olaf, right? There's this secondary character that is helping serve the purposes of the lead.

Well, this morning in Matthew 1 and 2, that's what we see with the person of Joseph. So we get when we get to Joseph. Joseph, this man who is not the lead character. The Christmas narrative is not about Joseph. We don't sing all these songs about the risen Joseph. He's not the one in the manger.

He is just a secondary character, but he plays a hugely vital role in the Christmas story. His Acts of sacrifice and obedience to God are huge. He is set to protect Jesus. Baby Jesus, helpless newborn Jesus. And so he has a vital, crucial, wildly important role to play, but he's not the lead character. And that's what we're going to see in the story of Joseph.

We're going to start in verse 18, Matthew chapter 1. And what I want to show us this morning is a pattern. So we're going to look at three different little stories from Matthew 1 and 2. And I want to show you a pattern from the life of Joseph. We're going to start in verse 18, Matthew chapter 1. Here we go.

Scripture reads, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. So reading this story, there might be some confusion, right? Are they married? Are they engaged?

If they're just engaged, why does he have to divorce her? What is, what's going on? So in verse 18, it says that Joseph and Mary were betrothed. So betrothal in this time period is a part of the Jewish custom called kiddushin. And kiddushin means that what would happen is a man and a woman would get legally married. So they would be bound together.

And then they would enter a period, usually a year, of what was called betrothal, where they were set up to be married. By all legal circumstances, they were married, but they weren't married yet. So what would happen is a groom's family, in order to arrange a marriage, that's how it worked in that custom, they would pay a large amount of money to a bride's family for the right for their daughter to marry their son. And so they would pay this large amount of money. And so what they would do is they would enter a betrothal period, a year, a period of about a year, basically to wait and make sure that this woman, who they paid a lot of money for, was morally pure, that she wasn't pregnant, that she was fit to marry in their culture, fit to marry their son.

And so what would happen is they would be set up for this year period, where they were legally married, but they weren't allowed to live together, they weren't allowed to be alone together, and they weren't allowed to sleep together, which my opinion is no thank you to that tradition. Right? So they were married, though. And so in order to break it off, they had to be divorced. So what happens is during this betrothal year, Mary shows up pregnant.

Whereas the text says before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And I don't know how that conversation goes between Mary and Joseph. Right? Would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that one. Right? Mary, who in Luke 1, we know that she was told by an angel, you're going to conceive, and you're going to give birth to a son.

This is God's son. You're going to call him Jesus. So it's found that she is pregnant. She's pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And so she maybe rolls up to Joseph and is like, hey, Joseph, by the way, I'm pregnant. And Joseph's response is, what?

Say it again. And she says, don't worry. Don't freak out. Be calm. It's God's baby. Which if you're Joseph, you shouldn't believe her.

Right? So we think, oh, yeah, people in that custom, people in that culture, they're so superstitious. Of course, he believes her totally. He doesn't believe her. Right? He believes in the supernatural, but he doesn't believe in the superstitious.

He's not just some blind, oh, yeah, totally. God got you pregnant. Totally. Yes. He doesn't believe her. He's thinking clearly.

Verse 19. And her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. So here's what I want you to notice. Joseph is both just and gracious. Right? So he's just.

He can't just say, Mary, it's not a big deal. He can't just say, you know what? Let's slide it under the rug. No big deal. Let's move past it.

Let's move forward. He can't overlook Mary's sin. He's a just man, but he's also gracious. So he doesn't want to put her to public ridicule, to public shame. Legally, in that time, Joseph has the right to have Mary killed. If he really believed that she was guilty of idolatry, of having this sexual relationship, he could have her killed.

But he's gracious. So he wants to send her away quietly. He's just and gracious. We actually get a beautiful little picture into the character of God here through Joseph. Right? God is both just and gracious.

Right? He's just. He can't let sin go unpunished. He can't go. He can't let sin be swept under the rug or ignored or pushed aside. But he's also gracious.

He doesn't treat us as we deserve. He treats us as he treats Christ based on what Christ has done for us. So Joseph is a just man and a gracious man. And so he resolves to divorce Mary quietly. Verse 20. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

So I don't want us to move past this. Right? One of the dangers of preaching or hearing stories that we're so familiar with from Christmas is that we kind of put this Christmas filter on it. Right? We kind of know, okay, this is what happens. The angel shows up, tells Mary she's going to get pregnant, going to have a baby.

Of course, then the angel shows up to Joseph. He believes her. They go to Bethlehem happily ever after. Right? Let's sing some Christmas carols.

Let's light some candles and have some hot chocolate. Right? That's kind of what we do with Christmas stories. So I want to help you just for a second try to put yourself into the story. So imagine this is happening in 2019.

Right? Imagine this is happening today. Right? Here's this teenage couple from out in the woods, out in this backcountry town, out in the sticks, in the boonies. If I was preaching this at Midtown, I would say, imagine they're from West Columbia. It's a joke.

All right? It's a joke. It's a joke. Imagine they're from Shira, right? Or maybe Gaston or, I don't know, Edgefield. Right?

So imagine there's this teenage couple and they come up to be pregnant. Right? The woman is pregnant. And she has a dream. And she says, guys, don't worry. It's not Joseph's baby.

It's God's baby. And you're like, okay, that's kind of weird. And Joseph, her fiance, doesn't believe her. And so he's like, no, we're not getting married. No way. This is done.

But then he goes to sleep. And he has a dream. And an angel shows up and says, Joseph, you should marry this girl. You should marry her because this is my baby. This is from the Holy Spirit. And so he goes around town and he's like, we're having the wedding.

The wedding is on. This is God's baby. We're doing it. So imagine you're hanging out Friday morning at, I don't know, Hardee's. Right? Getting your bacon, egg, and cheese.

And you hear these people at a table next to you talking about this couple. Mary and Joseph. Joseph, right, these teenagers, right? She's pregnant. She says it's God's baby. What?

He believes her. He says he had a dream where an angel showed up. And what is going on here? Now, take a step further. Imagine you're Joseph. Think about it.

Take a second. Think about it. Imagine you're Joseph. Here's this woman who you're waiting a year of betrothal, of waiting time to enter into marriage together, and then she ends up being pregnant. What's going through your mind? What hopes and dreams of a life that you've built up for yourself with this woman alongside of you?

What pictures of that? What glimpses of that? What dreams of a future that you have for yourself are suddenly shattered in an instant? Every story you had written? Every scenario you had played out in your head? Here's this woman.

You're waiting. You're anticipating this season. And if any of you have been engaged before, you know that season of waiting towards marriage is agonizing in some senses. Right? You're waiting to be united together with this person. And here is Joseph.

And she winds up being pregnant? And she says it's God's child. And I don't believe her. But now I've had this dream. And this angel has showed up to me and said, No, this is from the Holy Spirit. What does he do?

What step does he take? What agony and turmoil is he going through? No wonder the angel shows up. And in verse 20, he says this, Joseph, son of David, do not fear. I love that. Do not fear to take Mary as your wife.

There's so much for Joseph to be afraid of here, right? There's so much at stake. His reputation is on the line, right? Even if he believes her, even if he believes the angel, who believes him? Who believes Joseph, right? Either he's a liar and he's making up this whole it's God's baby thing to get himself out of trouble, to get himself out of the circumstances he's caused, or he's a fool.

And everyone says, how could you marry this woman even after she betrayed you? Even after she was found to be pregnant? If he believes her, if he believes God, who believes him? His good standing in the community. Any good name that he has is on the line. His relationships are at stake.

Rejection from those in his family. Rejection from those in his hometown. His hopes and his dreams are at stake. This life that he has written for himself, whatever that looks like, is totally thrown out the window. He is signing up. If this is true, if this is real, he is signing up to be the stand-in father of God's baby.

His life is never going to look the same. He's giving up his hopes. He's giving up his dreams. He's giving up his reputation and his relationships. But the angel tells him, do not fear.

Do not fear. Have faith that what you're being invited into is from God. It's an invitation for him to step out in obedient faith. Keep reading verse 21. Angel continues. She will bear a son.

And you shall call his name Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins. This is important. I want to make sure you don't miss it. For Joseph, naming Jesus would give him legal rights to being Jesus' father. So that's how it worked in this culture.

The one who names the child is the one who claims legal rights, legal fatherhood, legal authority over this child. And so what the angel is saying is you are to name him. And in other words, for Joseph to name Jesus is for Joseph to claim Jesus. So what the angel is saying is you don't get partial obedience here. That's not an option for you in this scenario. You don't get to just kind of play fill-in.

You don't get to have one foot in to this whole fatherhood of Jesus thing and one foot out. You don't get to just be Mary's husband. You have to jump all in. Obedience requires you saying, no, I'm here. I'm in. You have to step in fully.

For him to name Jesus is for him to claim Jesus. He has to step into full obedience. Verse 22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. They shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. So here's the pattern I want you to see. God shows up to Joseph. He calls him to do something costly and weighty and that might not make a whole lot of sense.

He invites him into obedience. Joseph obeys and a prophecy is fulfilled. Meaning the purposes and plans that God has move forward. Meaning what God has designed for the world to go, what he has orchestrated, what he has said should happen, does happen. God shows up, calls Joseph to obey. Joseph obeys and God's plan moves forward.

That's the pattern of Joseph's life. I want to show you two other areas, Matthew 2, two other ways we see this playing out. God calling Joseph, Joseph obeying, God's plan moving forward. So the first one is in Matthew 2, verse 13. So Chet talked about this last week.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem and King Herod, King of the Jews, hears there's this child who has been born who is supposed to be King of the Jews. And so obviously he wants to protect his kingdom. He wants to protect his throne. So he's going to have him killed. Wise men show up. We three kings bring the gifts, yada, yada, yada.

Keep going. Verse 13. That's where we pick it up here. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remain there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Out of Egypt I called my son. Same pattern. God shows up to Joseph, right? Calls him to do something costly and weighty. Tells him, Herod's trying to destroy this child.

He's trying to kill your child. So take Mary, take Jesus, flee to Egypt, which is about 90 miles or so away. So it would have been about a five to seven day journey by foot and by donkey. So let's stay on the Imagine You're Joseph train, right? Keep yourself in this moment, right? God shows up.

He tells you that this woman who you are about to marry is pregnant, but not to worry. It's his child. Do not fear. Take Mary as your wife. Raise Jesus. This is from God.

Right? So if you, imagine you say yes to this. You're like, all right, God, this is changing my whole life, but I'm going to be obedient to you. And so I'm going to step in and I'm going to go for it. If you're anything like me, you would imagine that your life is going to be good from here on out. Right?

After all, you signed up to be the stand-in father for Jesus. Right? You signed up to take this role, to obey God. You said yes to God's plan. He should work everything else out, right? Right?

If I'm going to be the adoptive father of Jesus, I need a couple mil in the bank. I need a big house. Right? I need the latest whatever. I need everything in my life to be good. Right?

I'm taking care of Jesus. We should be protected. We should have angels flying all around all the time. Like, we should be okay. And here you are now finding out, hey, I said yes to God. I said yes to being obedient to him.

And now somebody wants to kill him? Somebody wants to kill my son? Wait a minute. I said yes to God's plan. Why is my life not getting any better? You ever think that way?

You ever have those kind of thoughts? Wait. Wait. Hold on. Hold on a minute. I said yes to you, God.

Like, I obeyed you. Why are you not working things out how I want them to work out? Wait. God, I said yes to your mission. I stood out in faith. I took a chance because I felt like you were calling me to do it.

Why are my circumstances not getting better? In fact, why are they getting worse? We think back on those decisions. Why would I do it again? God, why would I obey you when last time I obeyed you, you didn't turn things out the way I wanted them to turn out. I said yes to you and you made this happen.

You let this happen. You let that person get sick. You let us lose how much money? We do this, right? We think, okay, yes, if I say yes to God, he should just work everything out for me. Joseph says yes to God and now they're on the run.

Right? Somebody's trying to take out Jesus. But Joseph obeys. God's plan moves forward. Let me give you one more. So if they flee to Egypt, Herod has every male child in Bethlehem and the surrounding region under the age of two killed.

Then we get to verse 19. Matthew 2, verse 19. But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. For those who sought the child's life are dead. And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. Same pattern. Right? God shows up to Joseph, calls him to take Jesus and Mary to Israel. All right.

They get to go home. Right? Finally, maybe they get to settle in. They get to have a life. He obeys. They start heading that way.

God shows up again and says, nope, not Israel. You've got to go to Galilee. Really? Galilee? So they head to Galilee.

They end up in a city called Nazareth. We notice again God's plan moves forward so that his plan would move forward so that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. And this is really the last we see of Joseph in the story of Matthew. This is kind of it. We get a little glimpse of him in chapter 13 where it's kind of a little quick reference. But that's it.

This is Joseph. Right? This massively, wildly important character in the story of God who serves God, obeys God, sacrifices so much to protect the baby Jesus. Right? Wildly important. And yet he's there for two chapters.

That's it. He plays his role. He plays his part. And then he steps out of the way and Jesus gets put into the forefront. The actual lead. The actual one that we worship and serve and give our lives away for.

And so what I want to show us this morning with our last little bit of time, what I want to show us is that Joseph is not just a character with great historical influence. But he's not someone we just put in our nativity scenes. He's not someone we just mention in a few Christmas carols. He is actually a wildly important example for you and for I of what obedience to God looks like. He's a great example of what obedience to God looks like. And I want to show you three ways.

Three ways. His obedience is an example to us. Three ways. Joseph is an incredible example of faithful obedience to God. See what we can learn from this. Three ways.

Number one, obedience when it doesn't make sense. Obedience when it doesn't make sense. Mary's pregnant with God's baby. What? Flee to Egypt? To Galilee?

Where? What do you want from us? It doesn't make sense. An angel showing up, right? Telling Joseph this stuff doesn't make sense. Doesn't it feel that way sometimes when God calls us to obey him?

Like, hold up. Wait. God, I'm reading your word. And I'm praying. And you want me to do what? You want me to say yes to what?

You want me to say no to what? Now, chances are, right, none of us are going to go home tonight and go to bed. And none of us are going to have a dream where an angel shows up and says, Hey, the woman you're engaged to is pregnant with a baby from the Holy Spirit. Marry her. Call him Jesus. That's not going to happen.

Right? If it does, go back to sleep. You heard it wrong. All right? That's not going to happen. But there are going to be times in our lives where God calls us to step out in faith, to step out in obedience.

And it's not going to make sense. It's not going to make sense. So maybe for some of you, that looks like God calling you to give up that promotion. Or to say no to that raise so that you can actually stay in this city and build deep roots with your church family. For others of you, sacrifice that doesn't make sense looks like, hey, I'm really tired tonight and I would much rather watch Disney Plus or Netflix. But instead, I'm going to go and I'm going to invest in my community group.

I'm going to open up God's word with them. I'm going to love them. I'm going to serve them. For some of us, it looks like, all right, this doesn't make sense to give away money with zero financial return on my investment. But God's kingdom is bigger than me.

So I'm going to use what he has given me. For some of us, it looks like, wait, I'm supposed to parent my kid that way? I'm supposed to make that sacrifice for my family? I don't get it. I don't understand. And for some of us, obedience, when it doesn't make sense, looks like finally opening up and sharing that deep part of us that we would never tell anyone about ever.

Because we know God invites us into freedom. He invites us to be fully known and fully loved by him and by his people. Obedience doesn't always make sense. God calls us to do stuff that our rational minds would butt up so hardly against. Right? And say, why would I do that?

Why would I say yes to those things? Why would I say no to those things? God, why would you ask me to do that? Why would you ask me to step in in that way? Because this is how obedience so often works. I've been getting a firsthand glimpse of this with our Citizens Church core team.

This is not a story to set us up as the hero. I would rather talk about Jesus the whole time, but I feel the need to talk about it. So our team, our team with Citizens is a group of about 40 or so individuals. And they are the most normal folks. We are the most normal folks you've ever met in your entire life. You can meet them.

A lot of them are sitting on the second row. And you'll know, yeah, they're really normal. Like they're really average. We have baristas. We have some college students. We have some future pharmacists, some future nurses.

We have people that work in insurance. It doesn't get any more normal than working in insurance, right? It just doesn't. And there are people that believe that God has called them to something. That God has said, hey, would you step out in faith? And for most of them, 99% of them, it doesn't make sense.

Right? So in our culture, in our society, we move somewhere new for one of three reasons. We move for family. We move for a new job. Or we move for cheaper cost of living, right? That's generally the three reasons why we move.

A lot of the people on our team are actually moving away from family to go to Charlotte. They're giving up jobs that they like with no guarantee of a job. None of them have jobs right now. And for a lot of them, they're going to move into more expensive apartments and more expensive houses because Charlotte is way more expensive than Columbia. It doesn't make sense. It makes zero sense.

And yet they believe that God has called them to something. So they're trying to step out in faith. They're trying to be obedient to the mission of God. And what we see with Joseph is that faithful obedience to God doesn't always make sense. Secondly, obedience when it's costly. Obedience when it's costly.

Joseph ruins his reputation. Just ruins it. Totally derails any plans he probably had for his life. Any hopes and dreams he had. Just totally goes off the rail. Right?

He is signing up to be the stand-in father of God's son. Life is not going to look the same. And Joseph willingly steps into the sacrifice. His reputation, his relationships, his hopes and dreams. He steps out even when it's costly. Here's the reality.

And if you've been following Jesus for any amount of time, you probably feel this. Obedience to God is going to cost you. Just is. Right? Matthew 16. Jesus says, if you want to be my disciple, if you want to follow me, take up your cross and be willing to die.

That's what it means to be a Christian. It means to follow the way of our Savior, which the way of our Savior is one of continual sacrifice upon sacrifice upon sacrifice all the way to the cross. So to follow Jesus is to have sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice. The call of obedience from Christ is one that is going to cost you. It's going to hurt. It's not always going to feel pleasant.

And that rubs against us because we think, God, I'm following you and you control all things. Why isn't my life getting better? Why aren't things magically just working out for me now? Because the call to obedience is the call to come and die. To give up our lives. To give up what's easy and what's normal.

To sacrifice for the mission of God going forward. Gets us to number three. Number three. Obedience when you don't know the outcome. Obedience when you don't know the outcome. We know the whole story of this, right?

We know the whole Christmas narrative. We're on this side of the Bible. We know who Jesus is. We know the miracles that he does. We know that he goes to the cross. We know he dies but doesn't stay dead.

But he gets up out of the grave. We know all that. Joseph doesn't. When Joseph says yes to the angel in the dream. When Joseph says yes to marrying Mary. He doesn't know how it all works out.

He doesn't know the miracles that Jesus is going to perform. He doesn't know feeding the 5,000. He doesn't know the walking on water. He doesn't know the cross. He doesn't know the empty tomb. Joseph doesn't know any of that.

He is just a dad. Trying to be faithful to the call of God on his life. He's just trying to take one step at a time. Little step by little step by little step. He's just trying to be obedient. He doesn't know how it all works.

And if you're anything like me, that could be one of the most frustrating parts of obedience to God. Right? Because I'll be reading God's word or I'll be praying and I feel like God's called me to something and I want to know, all right, I'll totally say yes. God, I am in on the plan as long as you tell me what the next five steps are. Right? As long as you tell me where we're going when we get there.

Give me the ending. Tell me how this all works out and I'm totally in on your plan. Meanwhile, in the back of my mind, I'm going, all right, let me make sure I like it first. Let me make sure if I say yes here that it's going to work out how I want it to work out. Let me make sure that everything's going to be okay. God, show me the whole plan.

And I'm about as type A as type A comes. So God, I need 50 step by step. Do this, do this, do this. And an invitation for me and my Christian growth is, no, Tim, little step. Little step. Take a little step.

Take a little step. I tell our core team all the time that we don't know if this is going to work. I tell them all the time, like we're going to Charlotte. We're trying to plant this church. We think God's called us to do it. I don't know if we're going to fail or not.

We have a process that we take our people through before they join our core team, our first group of members. And I tell every single one of them, I'm not a salesman, I'm a pastor. So I tell every single one, I don't know. We could have a thousand people and plant 50 churches or we could have 10 people and not be able to pay our bills and close our doors within a year. I don't know. And for a lot of these conversations, I actually go back to a conversation I had with Chet, one of your pastors back, I think 2012, 2013, something like that.

We were hanging out at Cafe Strudel. And I remember that because he taught me about all you can drink coffee, which is wonderful. Glad for that. And so we're sitting down at Cafe Strudel and Mill City's just kind of really starting to get rolling at that point. I think we were kind of talking church planting. He knew that's what I wanted to do eventually.

And so I remember him asking me this question and it still stuck with me today and I still share it with our core team all the time. But he asked me, he said, Tim, how do we know if Mill City is a failure? Like, how do we know if we failed? Then he asked me some, I think, rhetorical questions, but I might have answered them. He said, Tim, if 10 years from now, if we're huge, if we've blown up, but we've never planted another church, we've never reproduced ourselves as a church, have we failed? I'm like, all right, I don't think so.

It doesn't feel like failure. He said, all right, let me give you another one. If three years from now, we've reached 500 people and we're huge and we've blown up, but we haven't baptized a single person or a single person hasn't come to faith. Not a single person's met Jesus. Are we a failure? Maybe, I don't know.

These are tricky questions, Chad, I don't know. All right, let me ask you one more. If in a year from now, we have zero money in the bank, nobody comes. We close our doors and come crawling back to Midtown. It's what seems like failure. Are we a failure?

All right, this one I know. Yes, yes, you're a failure. Got it. I know this answer. And he looked at me and I still remember this to this day. He looked me in the face and he said, Tim, we are stepping out in faith to what we feel like God has called us to do.

So it actually doesn't matter. We're already successful. It doesn't matter. 100 people come to know Jesus. Nobody comes to know Jesus. We have stepped out in faith and what matters in the kingdom of God is faithful obedience.

So I tell my team all the time, I don't know. I don't know. This could be the worst thing we've ever done. This could be a terrible decision, but we feel like God has called us to do it. And so we're just going to be faithful. We're going to work really hard.

We're going to evangelize like crazy. We're going to serve the poor. We're going to love our neighbors. We're going to do semi-decent gatherings and sing and preach God's word. And we're going to talk about Jesus and we're going to invite people to respond. But God does all of it.

And we just try to be faithful. So the invitation for all of us this morning, Mill City Church, all of us this morning is God is inviting you into faithful obedience. And I don't know if for you, it's one specific thing. Maybe that one thing in all of your prayer time, you just keep wrestling with God about that. He just keeps saying, do this, do this, do this. And you keep, I don't want to.

That feels scary. That feels weightier. Maybe it's that one thing he keeps calling you to give up, to say no to, to push away. Maybe for you, it's just a general call towards maturity, a general call towards, you know that when you read scripture and you look at your life, they don't match up and you don't care. So maybe for you, the invitation to obedience is to love God's word and to ask the Holy Spirit to bring conviction over your life, to step in, to speak.

So I don't know, I don't know if it's a specific thing, I don't know if it's a general thing, but here's the good news for us this morning and here's where I want to, I want to land us. Here's the good news for all of us. What God invites us into, Christ has already done. What God invites us into, Christ has already done. That's the story of Christmas. Right?

God himself stepping out into humanity. Right? Taking on flesh, becoming a child, born of a woman, born in a manger, willingly stepping and lowering himself all the way to go lower, even still to the cross. And that doesn't make sense. Right? That doesn't make sense.

On a surface level, that does not make sense. No other worldview or world religion has God stepping down to man. Every single other one has man trying to get themselves to God. But here's God, God himself, creator and controller and ruler of the universe, taking on flesh and lowering himself to become a man. It doesn't make sense. It's costly.

Right? It's costly. Jesus gives up his life, faces an agonizing, brutal, torturous death, physically, emotionally, spiritually, being forsaken by the Father. He experiences such a cost. Grace is free, salvation is free, but it was costly. It cost Jesus his life.

But here's the difference between him and us. Jesus knew the outcome. Right? Jesus knew the outcome. Jesus knew that the cross was not the end of his story. Jesus knew the cross was not the end for him.

He knew three days later he was going to get up out of the grave and be risen and ruling and reigning forever. So what that means for us, church, what that means for us is that every act of faithful obedience, every step of faith, every act of sacrifice actually makes perfect sense in the kingdom of God. Right? Because as we think about, as we learn to fall in love with, as we are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit in light of the person and work of Jesus, it actually makes every sacrifice in light of his ultimate sacrifice make perfect sense. So why wouldn't we give our lives away?

Why wouldn't we step out in faith? Why wouldn't we obey? It actually makes it all not that costly. It hurts. It's weighty in the moment, but we know we anticipate and we expect an eternal reward. Right?

That one day Christ is going to return and he's going to make all things new. That is a guarantee. And we know that. We know the outcome. We might not know it here. We might not know how this specific scenario or this specific circumstance turns out, but we know that one day Christ is going to return and make all things new.

And we get to worship him and celebrate him forever. Here's where I want to end us. None of us are the heroes of the story. So that's the beginning. Mill City, you're not the heroes. Citizens Church Corps team, not the heroes.

I'm not the hero. None of us are the hero. Joseph's not the hero. Jesus is the hero of the story. He's the one we sing about. He's the one we worship.

He's the one we proclaim. He's the one who gave it all away. And so in response, we give it all away in return. He is the one who is worth it. All we're called to do is to step in and play our role of faithful obedience, however small it might be in the kingdom of God. We're called to step out in faith because he's worth it.

He's worth it. He makes it all worth it. Let me pray for us. God, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the manger, for him lowering himself, taking on flesh, becoming a human. Thank you that, and in one sense, it doesn't make sense at all.

Why would you lower yourself? Why would you take on flesh? Why would you go to the cross, the cross that we deserved? And on the other hand, we see the bigger picture, that you are accomplishing our salvation. that through the sacrifice of Christ, through his life, death, and resurrection, we have been given a way to know you and to love you and to walk with you, to celebrate you forever. God, so would you help us every step of obedience you're calling us into, every act of faith you're calling us into, big or small, in every way that it feels uncertain, in every way that it doesn't make sense, in every way that it feels costly, and that it hurts and that it's burdensome.

God, would you help us? Would you help us remember, and not only remember cognitively in our minds, not only remember as a fact, but remember deep inside of our souls that love of Christ that took him to the cross, that makes every sacrifice, makes every act of faith, makes every act of obedience totally worth it, and make total sense. God, we only love because you loved us first. We only follow you because you sent Jesus first. God, it's all you. We're just responding.

I was to remember this Christmas, this season of Advent, how beautiful and wonderful and crazy it was that Jesus came. that never ceased to be good news for us today, in this season, and every day. We love you. Praise things in Jesus' name. Amen. As the band's coming back up, we're going to move into a time of communion. This is a time of response where we actually get to celebrate each and every Sunday what Christ has done for us, to remember his ultimate sacrifice on the cross, on our behalf.

And so, take a piece of bread, which represents his body, we dip it in juice, which represents his blood, remembering and celebrating that if you are in Christ, if you are a believer, if you trust him, that this is for you, that he has died to make a way for you to be ransomed to himself. If you're not a believer, instead of taking communion, we invite you to take Christ, to believe and trust in his sacrifice for your forgiveness of sins that you can live forever with him. So let's take a second and we're going to pray and then we're going to respond through singing and communion. Matthew Chouclette Buckingham

The Sacrifice of Isaac

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning. All right, so we just got done walking through a series on multiplier. We spent five weeks walking through the calling to make and to multiply disciples. And then we, before that, were our gift series. And we spent December walking through our gift series. But before that, we were doing Genesis.

We made it halfway through. And we are jumping back in. We're going to finish Genesis, this half of Genesis, over the rest of winter into spring. So we're going to be in Genesis 22 today. You can go ahead and open there. It's on page 10 of your blue Bibles.

It'll also be on the screen as we follow along. But before we jump in, I want to catch us up to where we have been in Genesis and follow a storyline that we've been following. So in Genesis 1 and 2, God creates the earth. It is cosmic. It is big. It reflects his glory as he intentionally crafts different parts of creation.

And then in Genesis 2, we focused in on the creation of Adam and Eve. The guy creates Adam and Eve. He creates humanity different than any other aspect of creation, that we bear his image and his likeness. And that we have the unique ability to have a relationship with God. So Adam and Eve have a perfect relationship with God.

It is beautiful and it is good. And then in Genesis 3, they are in the Garden of Eden. And Satan, in the form of a serpent, comes into the garden. Causes them to question God and his goodness and his word. And they listen to Satan. They don't listen to God.

And they eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And in that moment, they sin. They rebel against God. And they bring sin and rebellion into this world. And it brings in death. And it affects every aspect of creation.

And when this happens, God comes down into the garden. And he makes a couple declarations. But one of the things that he says is that one day, Eve, you will have an offspring. And this offspring will come and she will come, or he will come and crush the head of the serpent. He will crush the head of Satan. And that is the declaration that Jesus one day is going to come.

That's the first declaring of the gospel that we have in the Bible. So we've been following this line that through Adam and Eve, the offspring is coming. And we see they populate the earth. Eventually, the earth gets so corrupted with sin, with violence, with hate, that God wants to start new. We followed the story of Noah, that God calls Noah. Noah builds an ark.

And his family is saved. And the line is preserved. And then we followed from Noah all the way to the character we've been following going into our gift series, which is Abraham. Abraham has a unique relationship with God. God comes to Abraham in his old age. Him and his wife Sarah do not have kids.

And he comes to Abraham and he says, I'm going to give you a son. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make a great nation through you. And from that point forward, Abraham and Sarah are waiting for God to give him this blessing, to give him this son. And there are times where it's going really well, where he's trusting God. When there's this beautiful covenant ceremony that he does, he puts Abraham in a dream.

And in the dream, the animals, they split an animal in two. And God walks through the center of it. And what is being declared in that ceremony is that this promise is going to happen. And if it doesn't happen, may God be like this animal who's been broken apart. Meaning this is going to happen. This promise is going to come true.

And then there are times where Abraham and Sarah, they try to force the promise. They don't trust God. They end up finding a surrogate, Hagar, to have a son who is Ishmael. We followed that story that Ishmael is a son. He loves Ishmael. But God says, this is not the promised son.

No, I'm coming to you, Abraham and Sarah. Y'all are going to have a son. His name is going to be Isaac. And then 25 years between God's promise to them and the birth of Isaac, Isaac finally shows up. Abraham's 100. Sarah's in her 90s.

And that is where we are today. Isaac's a little bit older. He's a young boy. And in this story today, which is one of the more, one of the biggest stories that we have in the Old Testament, we're going to walk through this story and we're going to see how God tests Abraham. We're going to see how God tests Abraham. Then we're going to see how Abraham responds.

He responds in faith and obedience, trusting God. Then we're going to see how God ultimately provides. And then as we back up, we're going to see what this story points forward to. So let me pray and then we'll walk through this story together. God, thank you so much that you love us, that we have a story that reminds us of your good news. God, I pray today that you would help us be present, that you would speak to us powerfully.

In Jesus' name, amen. All right, speaking of verse 1 and 2. So this story just took a very serious turn. It starts out by telling us that he tells Abraham, he reminds us that Abraham is going to be tested here. And what is the test going to be? You are going to sacrifice your son.

This story starts out like a tragedy. It starts out like a tragedy and understand really what's going on here as we walk through it. There's two things that we need to understand. Firstly, we need to have a basis for what sacrifices are, as it shows up here in Genesis. Sacrifices were made with animals early on in Genesis to show the heinous nature of sin. That sin is rebellion against God and it's costly.

It costs blood. You don't sin against the God of the universe and commit cosmic treason and there's no punishment. So early on in Genesis, we see this practice of sacrificing animals to show this. And then later on throughout the rest of the Old Testament law and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, we see this system, this formalized system of sacrificing animals to show this. To show the grievous nature of what sin is and what it does to the people and how serious it is. And in this system later on, you see burnt offerings.

Burnt offerings are to show the total destructive nature of sin. That animal would be slaughtered and they would be burned up completely. That is what a burnt offering is. And God just called Abraham to do this to his son. And we look at this and there's a part of you that should say, What? Like this doesn't make sense.

I mean, this is explicitly forbidden in the rest of the Old Testament law because this is what the pagans would do. They're the ones that would sacrifice their kids. This doesn't make sense and it should catch us off guard. Because I feel like there's something inside of us that says, No, that's not right. There's a part of us, when we watch movies and films and we hear stories and there's certain thrillers and horror films where you know characters are going to start dying off. And then there's a sweet little seven-year-old girl.

There's a part of us, when we watch these films, we have this kind of social compact with Hollywood that says, You can take some of the characters out, but the girl lives. The innocent one lives. There's something inside of us that says, No, this isn't right. And this story begins with a setup that he is calling Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the promised son. So we get frustrated.

We start to think this isn't fair. But we're going to walk through this more and see what's happening here. The second thing that we need to understand is that God has always tested his people. From Old Testament to New Testament, God has always tested his people. Now, sometimes that word tested gets conflated with the word tempt. And they are two different things.

This is not tempting. James 1.13 says, Let no one say when he is being tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. God does not tempt. This is different. Tempting is luring you into sin and rebelling against God.

Testing is actually something that brings you closer to God. The Hebrew word for testing here means testing what someone is really like. Seeing what they are really made of through hardship and difficulty. And we see this all over the Bible. We see it in this story here. We see it in the book of Job.

The book of Job is another really challenging book where there's a man named Job, and he's prosperous, and he has a big family, he has lots of money, he has lots of land, he has great health. And then Satan comes along and says to God, you know, the only reason that job loves you and worships you is because of the things that you give. If you took it away, he would curse you. So God allows Satan to take away his health, his prosperity, and even some of his family. And ultimately, Job shows at the end of the book that he worships the Lord, he does not curse him. We see testing in the book of Job.

We see testing in how the nation of Israel comes out of Egypt. After the nation of Israel is brought out of Egypt by Moses, they sin against God in the wilderness, and they wander in the wilderness for 40 years. And this is what Deuteronomy says about this in chapter 8, verse 2. It says, And you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, hear this, testing you to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. God tests our hearts to see what is in, to see if we will follow him. We see this in the New Testament when the early church is being persecuted, and Peter is writing to a church that is being persecuted, that's going through trials, and he says this, he says, In this you rejoice, though now for a little while.

If necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And the picture that is being played out here is that testing is like the purification of gold. When you purify gold, when you heat it up, impurities will rise to the surface. It shows what the gold is really made of. And it's an opportunity for you to clean the gold even further. And that's the picture of what testing gets to be, that when we are tested by God, it allows us to be closer to him, because it shows us our hidden faults.

It shows us where we don't believe the gospel, and it shows us where we need to repent and follow Jesus. Oftentimes what happens here is the thing that really gets us frustrated about testing, is we want to know specifically why. Why does this happen? Why does suffering happen? Why did this kind of period of testing happen for me? And a lot of times we don't get that answer.

We don't get the full picture. We get the theology here that we have to trust in the process, which is testing. But we don't always get the reasons, the specific reasons of why we're ultimately called to trust God, trust in the process, and trust that God is good, that he has good for us in the midst of testing. But every once in a while, I've seen this in my own life, every once in a while you might get a picture of why this happened, why periods of testing, periods of suffering happen. And in this story, we actually get the purposes of why this is going to become clear, why this is happening later.

So once you know, have a basis for what sacrifices are, once you have a basis for what testing is, we can walk through this story. He says, After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall tell you. He says, he calls out to Abraham. Abraham says, Here I am. And then he says, Take your son, your only son, and offer him as a burnt offering.

That word son is going to show up repeatedly here. Son, your only son. Now, both Abraham and God know this is not his only biological son. They both know this. This just comes off the heels of the story of Ishmael. What is being implied here is this is the promised son.

This is him. This is the one. And it's repeated 14 times in this passage. Son, son, son, only son. Your only son whom you love. It's meant to show us this is the promised son.

It's meant to remind us of everything that it took to get here. Think about this. It took them 25 years after years of being childless. 25 years for this promise to come to fruition. They have this promised son whom they love, and God has just called him to reduce the promise to ashes. This is a weighty calling that he is calling Abraham to, and this is how Abraham responds in verse 3.

He says, It says, Oftentimes when we read the Bible, we have an American way of reading passages, of reading the text. I don't think it's necessarily bad. It allows us, I think, to be empathetic. We read it. We're a feelings-based culture. You talk to any other cultures that look at us, they say, Well, Americans, we care a lot about our feelings.

And that can go crazy. That can go awry. I went through 90s self-help seminars and schooling. That can go a little bit crazy with emotions. But I think it allows us, since we're an empathetic culture, to put ourselves in other people's shoes, to be able to understand some of these stories and how they play out.

I think that's helpful. But what can happen is, is that we can start to make definitive statements about what they were thinking and what they were feeling when the text doesn't give us some of those pictures. Ultimately, we have to look at the text and what it is telling us. But sometimes, in the Bible, we get the behind-the-scenes picture. Sometimes we get to understand a little bit of what they were thinking. And we get that in this story, but it's not in this chapter.

You've got to flip to the New Testament. If you go to Hebrews 11, it says, By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. Hear this. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. So in the mind of Abraham, as he's received this calling, in his mind he knows God is able to even raise Isaac back from the dead.

So he has plans to go through with this. He's going to trust the Lord. But in the back of his mind, he knows God is even able to raise this son from the dead because this son is the promised son. This is the one that he is going to bring this great nation through. It is him. So he is trusting the promises of God as he's being tested.

And we see this in how he responds. He says, Abraham gets up, that he packs his donkey, that he grabs some supplies, that he gets some help from two young men, then he gets his son, and they hit the road. And if you read that, right off the heels of what he was just called to, man, it just seems robotic. He just got told to sacrifice his son, and he packs up everything, and they hit the road. It's a little confusing. Two things.

Again, we don't get a window into his emotions. It is reasonable to think this is very difficult for him. He loves his sons. You can see in his relationship with Ishmael in the previous chapters, he loves his sons. This is a difficult and weighty calling. But ultimately, we look at what he is trusting in.

He believes the promise that Isaac is the promised son. He has faith that God will come through him this promise, even if it takes resurrection. So he's trusting God. Verse 4. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. So after a three-day journey of coming to Moriah, they finally see the place from afar. He sees it. They're getting closer. He tells the two young men, he says, you guys stay behind. It's just going to be Isaac and I.

Now, y'all, it's been three days. Three days. Every day. Every night. One step closer to this happening. One step closer to where he's being called to bring the knife down on his son.

Now, while Abraham is clinging to the promise and he's trusting that God can even raise him for the dead, the weightiness of this obedience is growing closer. But he's still trusting the promise of God and he ends this conversation. It's telling how he says it. He says, I and the boy will go over there and worship and come back again to you. He's saying, we're coming back. Isaac and I were going to the mount, but we're coming back again.

Verse 6. It says, And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went, both of them together, and Isaac said to his father Abraham, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went, both of them, together. So Abraham, he gets the wood, he hands it to Isaac to carry, and Isaac starts to carry the wood, which tells us a little bit that Isaac, he's a young boy, but he's old enough and he's big enough to at least carry this wood. So he puts the wood on his back. They start to go towards the hill. And that shows us a little bit of what Isaac is doing here.

Isaac's being obedient. He's being obedient to his father as his father is trusting the Lord. And then Isaac, in the midst of this, he asks the obvious question. Dad, I see, I see the fire. I see the wood. You've brought a knife.

Where's the lamb? They didn't bring one with them. They didn't stop and buy one along the way. They haven't taken one. See, Isaac realizes that something's up. This isn't normal.

That something is out here. But he's going to trust his father as his father trusts God. Abraham looks at him. He says, God will provide. Abraham knows that God is going to provide. That he's even capable of raising the dead.

He just has to be prepared to go through with this. He has to be prepared to bring the knife down on his beloved boy. And the intensity is building even further. Abraham and Isaac, both being obedient to what they are called to. Abraham now has the knife and he now has the flame. And these are both visual representations of what is about to be called of him.

But he believes Isaac is ultimately going to be okay. But that still doesn't take away from the horror of this situation of what he's being called to. That in the midst of testing, Abraham is still trusting the promises of God. And then the scene finally arrives. Verse 9. When they came to the place of which God had told them, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

So they finally get to this place, this place of sacrifice. And I want you to picture this scene with me. Abraham at this point, he's well over 100. He starts to build the altar. And this is going to take some time. He's older.

He's building the altar. And piece by piece, as he's building this altar, there's a question that's still lingering in the back. Where is the lamb? And then he gets the wood. He takes the wood from Isaac. Isaac is watching this.

He grabs the wood. He starts to stack the wood. And the question still remains, where is the lamb? And he takes his son. Y'all, his son that he loves. And he starts to bind him.

He starts to tie him up. And Isaac doesn't struggle. Doesn't say that he ran off. He could have. He starts to tie him up. And he takes his son, this son he waited so long for, and he places him on the altar.

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. So he reaches out the knife. He has the knife. He's getting ready to bring the knife down on his son. And it's at this point in this story that something screams within us, where is the lamb? Like, what is happening here?

How? Is this gone far enough? You see that he trusts you. What is happening? This does not seem fair. He has the knife, and he's ready to bring it down on his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. So in the midst of him holding the knife, an angel intervenes and intercedes and says, Abraham, stop. Don't touch him. You've proven yourself. It's clear that you fear the Lord.

Step away. It's over. And Abraham can take his son. He can unbind him. He can do what every father would want to do in that moment. He can hold him.

He can hug him. He can tell him everything is going to be okay, that he was always the promised son. He can tell them what this was. It was never in doubt. You were always going to be the promised son. And then he picks up his head, and he sees the ram.

He sees the ram in the thicket. God provides the lamb, and then he takes it, and this is the sacrifice that was going to be there all along. He takes this ram, and he slaughters it as a substitute in Isaac's place. And Abraham can say, I knew it. I knew that God was going to come through with his promises. And they call this place, The Lord Will Provide.

That this place, Moriah, will forever be remembered as the place that God intervened, that God made a substitute, that God kept his promise, and the line of Abraham was preserved. And the rest of this chapter is that working of this blessing, declaring this blessing that is going to be, and you get to the end of it, and it's over. The story's done. And there's this lingering question, I think, that we still have when we read this. What was the point? What was the point of this story?

I mean, I get it. I'll concede. God tests his people. But calling a father to sacrifice his son, that seems a little too far. Calling him to take his innocent son. I mean, Abraham's old.

Couldn't God see his heart? Couldn't he see the faith that was in it? Why put an old man through that kind of grief? Why put Isaac through that kind of terror? Why? What is the point?

Because ultimately, this story is pointing to something else. The location of this place, Moriah, is significant. Later on in 2 Chronicles 3, we learn that Moriah is the place where Solomon built the temple. This is Jerusalem. This is not an accident. God could have chosen any place.

He could have chosen any mountain, but he chooses this hill. Why? Because this story was going to play out centuries later. That years down the line, there was going to be a son. There is going to be a son whom the Father loved deeply. The kind of love that is eternal.

The kind of love that stretches back into eternity past that is unbroken and perfect and pure and good. And out of this love, he's going to send his son. And out of this love, the son is going to obey the will of the Father. And he's going to travel on the same path that Isaac and Abraham took. The son is going to obey and he's going to put wood on his back. He's going to carry the wood up the hill.

The same path that Abraham and Isaac took. And this wood is going to be a wooden cross. And he's going to carry the wooden cross to a place that they called Moriah, a place that we as Christians now look at and call Calvary. And after being beaten and mocked and spit upon and abandoned and tortured, he's going to take that cross as far as he can go. He's going to need help just to get it up the hill. And when he gets to the top, there's going to be no need to ask the question, where is the lamb?

Because Jesus knew all along, he was the lamb. He was the ram and the thicket. He is the substitute. And he gets to the top and they bind him to the cross on the altar. They raise him up. And as, what's different from Abraham and Isaac now is as the knife is coming down and the angel stops, that doesn't happen here.

The spear pierces his side. The blood and the water pour out like an offering. And unlike Abraham and Isaac where Isaac is unbound, he can tell him everything's going to be okay. God the Father who's perfectly been in relationship and in love with his son is going to turn his back on him. This story in Genesis 22 is ultimately looking forward to the cross. That God spared Isaac.

He does not spare Christ. Jesus is the better Isaac. The one who carried the wood up the hill. And Abraham was right. The lamb would be provided. Jesus is our ram whose blood was spilled to take away our sins.

And the feeling that you have when you read this that says this isn't right that an innocent one should die, that is correct. We deserve wrath. Jesus dies in our place. Why? For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That's the hope of the gospel.

Why? Because you and me we need a sacrifice. We need someone to stand in our place because we have sinned and rebelled against the creator of God. We have trampled on his commands. We pursued flesh. We pursued the world.

We need a sacrifice. We are like hopeless sheep without a shepherd and Jesus comes from heaven and he seeks us and he claims us because the father loves you so much that he did not leave you here in sin but he sent Jesus to die for you so that he might carry you home. You are correct. It is not fair. We deserve wrath but Jesus obeyed the will of the father that he might become the ram that thicketh for us. He is the fulfillment of Genesis 22 and as Christians y'all we get to look at this story look at this picture of the gospel and respond in worship.

We get to respond in repentance.

The House on the Rock

The House on the Rock

Chet Phillips

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Transcript

My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. The Bible starts off, it says, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The heavens and the earth. And it says that he made everything good. That all of creation was good and that it was intended to exist before him in a loving relationship.

That humanity is the pinnacle of creation. And that we were meant, humans were meant to exist in a relationship with God. And that was beautiful and worked out perfectly for like two chapters of the Bible. And then it falls apart. Like it was two people put on earth and it just falls apart. One of the things we see throughout the Bible is that any two people, any of us, it could have been us, it could have been not Adam and Eve, it could have been Greg and Tina, it would have still fallen apart.

The names wouldn't have been, you know, maybe it's not as the same kind of ring as Adam and Eve, but it would have still fallen apart. There still would be sin. There still would be brokenness. And what came out of that and what we see very quickly in the Bible is that questions arise because we were designed to exist in a relationship with God as our good and loving father and as our creator. We were designed for that to be good. And what happens is there's still his imprint on us so that we all feel like we have to wrestle with, ask this question of what is God like?

Who is he? What is he like? And then in response to that, what does he want from me? That that's a normal human question. And maybe people would say, what are the gods like? Or what is the universe like?

Or what's going on out there in the cosmos? And even the people who come to the conclusion that there is no God still spend a lot of time in this area of thought. There is no God. And you'd think they would come to that conclusion and move on, but they don't. They say there is no God. And then they still answer the question of how should we respond to that?

How should we live in light of that? But for most of history and most of humanity, even now on earth, the question is, what is God like? Or what are the gods like? Or what are the spirits like? And then how do we respond? And that's been a normal human question.

And there have been countless number of people who have come along and said, here's what God is like, and here's how we ought to respond. And when we're in the Sermon on the Mount, that's where we are today. We're finishing up our last sermon, last section of this. This will be the last week we spend on it. We're starting a new sermon series next week. Go ahead and go to Matthew chapter 7.

We've been spending three chapters of the Bible. We've spent several weeks just walking through what Jesus says. Matthew chapter 7, if you have one of the white Bibles on your row, it'll be page 474. We're going to start in verse 15 today. But Jesus is stepping into a situation where they were inundated with people coming along and saying, here's what God is like and here's how we ought to respond.

The biggest group of these people that did this, that taught, were the Pharisees. They said, here's what God is like. They studied what we have as the Old Testament, the law and the prophets and the Psalms and Proverbs, the wisdom literature and the history books. And they studied all of them and they taught, here's what God is like and here's what we have to do. Here's how we ought to respond. I mean, if we're honest, that's what a lot of us struggle with, wrestle with, are thinking through.

What's he like? How do I respond? What's my right response to him? And so the Pharisees came along and they taught calmly, patiently, systematically. Here's how we apply these rules. Here's what we do to make God okay with us.

Here's what we do to have him on our side. Here's what we do to have him be pleased with us. And so when Jesus comes along and starts teaching, a couple of things happen. Everyone listening to him is going, is he teaching the same thing the Pharisees taught? Or is he teaching something different? And the Pharisees sent people out to listen to him.

This was the largest religious group in Judaism at the time. They sent people out to listen to him to basically ask, is he teaching what we teach or is he teaching something different? And you'll see that in the Sermon on the Mount and as it continues in Matthew, if you continue reading, Jesus basically starts the Sermon on the Mount and then towards the end of it, plants his foot and says, I'm breaking from the Pharisees. We're doing some different stuff here. And that's what he's doing here. See, this is the last section of the Sermon on the Mount.

And he's really kind of finished the bulk of his teaching. And now what we're going to see today is that he gives us three distinct warnings and one way that we ought to respond. Three distinct warnings in Matthew chapter 7 and one way that we ought to respond. That's what we're going to look at today. But he's answering the question.

He's stepping into the realm of who is God and what do we need to do? How should we respond? What's the appropriate action for us? And Jesus is going to give us some warnings and then call us to a specific response. So let's pray as we begin this morning to read God's word.

Father, we ask that through your Holy Spirit, you would give us fresh ears to hear the warnings that we find in this passage. And fresh zeal and energy to respond. That you would break through barriers. That you'd help us listen well this morning. And that we wouldn't leave this place having had your words have no effect on us. But that you would make us tender and receptive to your word.

In Jesus' name. Amen. So he's coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And he's giving us three specific warnings and then one response. We'll pick up in verse 15. This is the first warning.

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Jesus' first warning is to beware false prophets. There's kind of a two-fold warning here. The first one is beware of false prophets. Realize people are coming along that are going to claim to speak on behalf of God. And they are intentionally misleading.

They're trying to make themselves look like sheep while they are actually ravenous wolves. These people are intentionally misleading. That's one of the things that we have to have as Christians. As people trying to figure out what God's talking about. What the Bible says is we have to have discernment. Which just means we have to have some sort of a radar up for is this person true or not true?

Is what they're saying true or not true? Are they a sheep or are they a wolf wearing sheep's clothing? That's what he's talking about. And he says you'll know them by their fruit. His second warning that's tucked in here in this first warning. It's kind of a two-fold thing.

Is that all bad trees, all diseased trees end up in the fire. And that's just a basic tree fact for them. You have a bad tree. You burn it. Like it's good for firewood. That's about it.

So he's saying though we will recognize false prophets by their fruits. And it's a real simple analogy. If you have a tree and it makes apples. So like it's a tree and hanging from it, connected to it are apples. What kind of tree is that? Y'all can do it.

I believe in y'all. What kind of tree? An apple tree. Yeah, that's all he's saying. He's saying you don't get apples from thorn bushes. Like if you, that just doesn't happen.

That's his point. So he says you'll know them by their fruit. So I think the appropriate question for us is what is fruit? What's he talking about? He says you'll recognize them. You'll know the difference.

That's the way we're supposed to spot false prophets. People who are intentionally coming along and saying here's what God is like and here's how we ought to respond. He says you'll recognize them by their fruits. He does not, however, tell us what fruits are in this first section. He just says you'll see them. You'll recognize them by their fruits.

And so I think we could sit and try to guess what fruits are. And I did that some while I was working on this. And then I kept reading and I feel like Jesus helps us out. So we're going to read his next warning. We're going to talk first about how I think that helps us understand fruit. And then we're going to spend a little time on that warning.

But the first warning is there are going to be people who come along and intentionally try to mislead. But you will be able to spot them by their fruits. Now we have to ask, okay, what are fruits? So let's look at verse 21. It's his next warning, but we're going to talk first about how this helps us with the first one. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Okay, that helps us. We cannot say, oh, they say they're Christians. Oh, they say Jesus is Lord. Oh, they put Jesus Christ on their pamphlet. Like that can't be it because he says not everyone who does that is going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not everybody who does that is okay.

So we can't have that be a litmus test, like the litmus test. It may help us because if we're Christians and we're trying to follow other Christians and they don't say anything about Jesus, that should be a red flag. That one's free. That's just to help you all out. You go to church. They don't talk about Jesus.

Not a good church. Okay. So he says, but not everyone. So that can't be the only test. We'll enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Okay. I think this helps us because fruits cannot be spiritual ministry, spectacularness, spiritual ministry stuff. He says, many will say to me, didn't we prophesy? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do many mighty works?

Like he sets the bar really high here so that for us who were going, okay, no, I hadn't, maybe I hadn't, like I don't prophesy and cast out demons. I hadn't, you know, I think that would include any type of ministry stuff. He takes it to the extreme, but I think it includes ministry. So when he says, you'll know them by their fruits. What we can't say is obviously they're right because look at how big it is, or obviously they're right because look at how many people have been baptized or obviously they're right. Look at this person.

Obviously they're right. They're in Sunday school every week. Obviously they're a Christian. They hang out with our group all the time. Obviously they're a Christian. They serve in kid city.

That can't be what he means by fruit. Still doesn't tell us what he means by fruit. It just tells us that it's not that. I think we're going to get to see finally in his third warning what he means, but let's go ahead and look at the second warning while we're here. This one is scary and should cause us to pause here. The first warning is beware.

There are false prophets who are intentionally leading people astray. They want you to think they're a sheep, but they're actually a wolf. The second warning is not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then at the end of this, he says, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness, meaning that this group of people claim Jesus as King, but are actually working against his good work in the world. This is a group of unintentional false prophets.

This is a group of people who would say, I trust Jesus. I know Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I serve Jesus. And they are working towards lawlessness into the world. They are sowing and leading people astray.

So let's read it again. And then let's look at it. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And here's what that means. Very basically, just saying you are a Christian or just calling Jesus Lord is not sufficient for salvation. Just saying you are a Christian or just calling Jesus Lord, just claiming that, saying that out loud is not sufficient for salvation.

Not everyone who says this will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, this would be judgment day. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. The picture he gives us here is there's going to be a day when Jesus sits in judgment over the world. And there's going to be a group of people at that judgment. Who are shocked.

A group of people at that judgment who are baffled. And terrified. Because Jesus says, I don't know you. And they're going to respond. They're going to argue. They're going to say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Lord, Lord, Lord, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. But, but, but didn't we prophesy? Didn't I spend my life casting out demons? Didn't we do mighty works? Weren't we in service? Didn't we, didn't we do all this stuff?

And he's going to say, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you. There are people who live in our state. There are people that you know, that believe with everything they have, that when they die, they will stand before Jesus and he will say, well done, my good and faithful servant. And on that day, he will look at them and say, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.

That is terrifying. That for us in this room, who actively are calling Jesus Lord, that may not be you, you may not be in that place, but for those of us who are, and who are serving, and who are doing ministry, fill in the blank. There are going to be people who look at God and say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Didn't I serve? Didn't I serve every week? Wasn't I there every Sunday?

Wasn't I there? Didn't I go to Sunday school? Didn't I get the perfect attendance award? There are going to be people who say, God, didn't I preach? Didn't I play in a church? Didn't I get to stir up the waters of baptism and baptize people?

Didn't you see? He's going to say, I didn't know you. There are going to be people who, weekly, do exactly what I'm doing right now. Stand before people, open the Bible, proclaim the gospel, and Jesus is going to look at them and say, I don't know you. That ought to shake us. Let's look at his third warning.

And then we'll look at what he says, how we ought to respond. Verse 24. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them. He's referring to the entire Sermon on the Mount and then also the bulk of what he's going to do. Everyone who hears the words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell. And great was the fall of it. And when Jesus had finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. So they listened to him and he sounds more like a prophet than the people they're used to, than the Pharisees, the people who were studying the word and teaching.

But what his third warning was, there's going to be people who hear me and follow me and build their house on the rock and storms are coming, but that house won't fall. That's what wisdom looks like. But they're going to be a group of people who build their house on sand and when the storms come, great was the fall of that house. His third warning is that a house built on sand will fall. And sand, in this picture that he gives, is anything other than his word. Anything other than his word is sand.

But he gives us the way to respond. And he says it in both his first, his second warning and his third warning. And I want to read those now as we try to ask the question, what do we do? How do we respond? What is it supposed to look like if just saying Lord, Lord isn't enough? If people are actively walking around trying to trick us, if there's going to be a day when a storm comes and that we're going to see at that moment, you know you can't see a foundation.

Until a storm comes. That's what Jesus says in this story. You won't be able to tell the difference. Those houses are going to look the same. But there's going to be a day when a storm rolls through and house after house after house after house falls down.

And there are going to be some houses that stand because their foundation is on the rock. Look at verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. You could flip that sentence. It would be the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven. Verse 24.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Jesus says that the call to us is obedience. That we do the will of his father and that we do his words. Not ministry success. But doing his words, doing his will, obedience.

What's he talking about? What words? What will? He's talking about everything he's already taught in the Sermon on the Mount. When he comes to this conclusion, he's saying if you do all the stuff I just said, so what is that? It's to be salt and light.

To trust him and to follow him and to live normal life bringing light and refreshment and goodness to everything around us. It's to teach his word to others. It's to not be angry but to reconcile quickly with those we've hurt or that have hurt us. It's to not lust and to fight for your marriage. It's to be honest and say what you mean. To not retaliate.

To turn the other cheek to overlook offenses. It's to hold your pride and your reputation and your finances with an open hand. It's to love your enemies and to do good to those who persecute you. It's to not practice all of your good works in front of other people so that they'll see you. It is to pray and to give and to fast but all in secret. Forgive others.

Don't hoard your possessions acting like all that matters is here on earth. Be generous ready to give and not to spend your life worrying about tomorrow and what you'll wear and what you'll eat to trust your father to not be judgmental to care about your brothers and sisters enough to address their sins and to live as if God is a good father who loves you to treat others the way you want to be treated. Now, what on that list sparkles and has razzle dazzle? What on that list is like a I'm following Jesus flare that shoots up into the sky and everyone says look at how amazing they are. What on that list would you see in someone and go oh obviously they're a Christian.

When we list off oh they're a Christian what do we say? When you point to someone and say I'm pretty sure they're a Christian and they say why and you say they gave money but I don't know anything about it. That's not how that works. We say well they're always at church they always do this thing they've done this ministry they run an orphanage they went as a missionary overseas like we list off all this stuff but who can do the list.

Jesus just said? Your mailman teachers students people in middle school you can't do hardly anything in middle school you can do this people who work in your office two cubicles down can do this people in our community groups that hardly say a word can do this the vice president of a region can do this and so can the sales associates missionaries sure women who homeschool their children absolutely there's nothing in here that is magical or beautiful it's a life of regular devotion that's the obedience.

Jesus is talking about when he says who hears my words and does them there's someone in your group your community group they've been fasting for four days you don't know because they're not supposed to do that as a show there are people in your community group in our church family who opened their wallets and gave money to someone the person who received the money doesn't even know where it came from people who get up earlier than they have to every day to spend time on their face praying.

For their families and our city and our groups and our community group leaders and for Jesus' will and the lives of those around them you don't know people who just show up to your group they're the person who brings shredded cheese every time it didn't even make sense this week they were just like put it in the refrigerator it'll work next week that are doing this they were prayerfully actively forgiving people in your group before they showed up they said Lord they hurt my feelings last week.

But I don't want to retaliate I want to overlook offenses help me to love them there are people who work with you that every day face an enemy at work that they love and serve and pray for that they don't undercut and talk about behind their backs Jesus says those who do my words those who do the will of my father that's the people who enter the kingdom and there's going to be a whole lot of ministry leaders and a whole lot of razzle dazzle that's going to stand before the king one day and say didn't I do this and he's going to say I don't know you.

Now if you've been around a while and hopefully because we work on discernment here hopefully some of you are thinking wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait time out time out time out time out isn't that work isn't that one of the things we say over and over again that religion is I do these things so God will love me but that Christianity but the gospel is that God loves me and therefore I do these things didn't you just say you have to do this stuff in order to be.

Okay didn't you just say you have to you have to do his word isn't Jesus just saying the opposite of the gospel here I have two things to say to that good point no and here's why I think I think he hid it in there and we're going to see because we have to use the rest of scripture to understand what he's talking about but I think he hid it in here he hid it in his tree and fruit analogy when he says you'll know them by their fruits a tree makes the type of fruit.

For what type of tree it is the fruit just shows it to you you can look at the fruit on a tree to know what type of tree it is but the tree is what makes the fruit here's what I mean you come to my house this isn't true this is pretend because I don't actually have a peach tree in the backyard but you come to my house and say I had a peach tree and you say man that's a beautiful peach tree and I'm like that tree is garbage and you're like why and it's like.

Because I have worked for five years to get that thing to make oranges I trim it the way you're supposed to trim an orange tree I fertilize it with orange tree fertilizer it exists I found it on Amazon every orange season I go pretend to pick oranges off of it just so it'll kind of get the feeling like it's an orange tree help it out a little bit now you're not a scientist but you know I'm stupid but you're gracious so you say that nicely to me hey buddy that thing is only ever going to make peaches and also.

Because I love you peaches are better than oranges like you might would coach me up a little bit you can't flex you can't manufacture you can't work to make a different type of fruit you have to be a different type of tree so when he says those who do the will of my father those who build their life on my words they'll bear this type of fruit they'll look like this there's a step in front of that that makes that happen.

Jesus has to change our tree Jesus has to uproot us and replant us he's got to change us on the inside because I know this because of what the rest of the Bible says and I want to show you a few places where Jesus says this clearly we have to change on the inside before the outside changes John 14 and we're going to just take a few quotes out of John 14 to help us see this Jesus says if you love me you will keep my commandments you.

See there is an obedience that follows faith there is an obedience that follows a love for Jesus if you love me you will keep my commandments that's verse 15 21 he says whoever has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me and then in 24 and 23 and 24 he says if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him whoever does not love me does not keep my words that's why he says you can.

Look at a false prophet and you'll know them by their fruits that's one of the reasons why in our church family we take so long to raise up leaders because the only way you can see it has nothing to do with can they talk well from the bible can they lead a good bible study do their prayers sound delicious like it's none of that the test is are they doing a whole bunch of character things that you can't even see the thing about not being able to.

See them is that they're hard to see it takes years to walk with somebody you gotta get stuck in traffic with somebody you gotta be at a restaurant when the waitress has completely forgotten your table exists you gotta be at their house when they're in the middle of a deep conversation and their child runs over and hits them with a stick and then spills juice all over their leg you gotta watch people count to ten a few times calm their soul back down that's why he says you'll know them by their fruit like you gotta get around them you gotta figure out how this works you gotta.

See all this underworking of normal everyday Christianity and that'll show you their heart Jesus later in Matthew's gospel says make the tree good and the fruit good or make the tree bad and the fruit bad the tree starts it we have to have a love for Jesus in order for this to happen how for the person sitting in this room who may be in that moment when we were talking a minute ago and I thought about this a lot who may be in that moment.

When you thought about yourself for a second before the king and he looks at you and says I don't know you what's going to be the first thing that runs out of your mouth what's your wait wait what's your Jesus no what are you going to point to what are you going to say to show that what I would do on that day and maybe you began to think okay okay okay okay okay okay I'm going to go love my enemies I'm going to go start forgiving this one person I have to forgive I'm going to forgive them I'm going to start giving money I'm going to start fasting I'm going to fast.

So that I have money to give but I'm not going to hell anybody here's the problem with that the only type of fruit you can manufacture is ministry fruit without a love for Jesus you cannot do the stuff he's called us to not for any amount of time you can do it for a little while without him refreshing your soul renewing your heart changing you from the inside out you can't walk around and love your enemies you can't forgive you can't not retaliate you can't fight.

For your marriage without him coming in and changing your heart to love in a way that's supernatural and beyond you you need Jesus to change your heart and then you can bear this type of fruit Jesus says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven I want to show you John 6 38 through 40 because this is the beginning of God's will.

Jesus says for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day the will of the.

Father is that we would place our faith in Jesus that wasn't just words it was connected to our heart that when we talk about Jesus as Lord we talk about the way someone speaks about someone they love we talk about it the way that people who are engaged or newly wed speak about each other our little cheeks start glowing that we love him let me tell you how that happens Jesus Christ said I didn't come to do my will but the will of the.

Father Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and died on a cross to love his enemies and when his heart becomes connected to your heart you can start loving your enemies Jesus calls us to fight for our marriages to stay married and we see that he pursued his bride the church even gave his life up and we can fight we can hold on as his heart changes our heart Jesus didn't retaliate Jesus he took beatings on behalf of those who were harming him he prayed.

For them when his heart gets connected to our heart we can begin to change Jesus gave his life when nobody noticed and nobody cared and when that changes our hearts we start handing out money left and right without it being a show without putting our name on something see Jesus goes to work in us and then we become different Jesus came to save sinners and when you see that when you see how far you have fallen and how much you deserve you have earned.

For him to look at you and say depart from me I never knew you you work that way that he was cast out that he was harmed that he was cut and bruised and beaten and hanged and buried because that's what we deserved our hearts change and then we truly believe and place our faith in him and he goes to work in us to make us new he digs us up which is a painful process but that he plants a new tree there that bears good fruit the gospel leads to a changed heart which leads to evidences of faith the gospel love.

For Jesus changes our heart so that we love him that we our response is because we truly love him and then there's evidence of faith you can't manufacture it you can for a time you can a little bit you can struggle and try that's where you hear people say I tried religion it didn't work out for me it's because they were white knuckling it and it's exhausting so the question isn't do you do good things the question is why has your heart changed are you bearing this type of fruit.

Because you're this type of tree there's a story I've heard before there was a king he had a kingdom and he was in his court and somebody told him that the farmer comes in he stands before the king he says sir I'm a simple farmer I have about an acre of land and mostly I produce carrots and this week I dug up this carrot and he shows the king a very nice carrot as far as carrots go and he says I think this is the most beautiful largest carrot I will probably ever grow.

Because I love you and appreciate you as my king I just wanted to give it to you king looked at him saw that he was telling the truth kind of discerned his heart and he said you know what I know the farm you're talking about I own the ten acres behind it I want to give you that ten acres I want to make your one acre farm an eleven acre farm and you just tend to it as you can and as you can get to it.

But thank you farmer was overjoyed caught off guard by this leaves all excited there was a nobleman who was in the king's courts that day and he watched this and he thought all that for a carrot and this nobleman raised horses so he went home picked out his best horse took it to the king the next day says oh king my king this is the greatest steed I will ever breed it is the most beautiful from nose to haunch I don't know.

If I'll ever have a greater horse and because I love you and I appreciate you he's my king I wanted to give this horse to you the king looked at him saw his heart and said thank you you're dismissed the nobleman froze he was struck this is not how this was supposed to go at all this actually is a good horse and the king goes I think you're confused let me help you out the farmer yesterday was giving me the carrot you were giving yourself the horse there are some of us who are doing a lot of christian things.

Because we think it makes God owe us because it puts him in our debt because it's the best way we've been told to have a good life and have a good family and go to heaven and Jesus says there's going to be a day when I'm going to look at a lot of people who are going to be shocked and terrified because they spent their whole life serving themselves and there was no love that's why he says I don't know you we're not close you don't love me it was all a scam what's what's what's your motivation do you have a love.

For Jesus deep in your core so that even in the times when you're running and sinning you hate it and you long for him do you truly believe when you stand before the king are you going to stand and say I'm here because Jesus is good and he's died for me and his work has taken the place of my work I have nothing to give nothing to prove it's all him are you sitting here today building your life on sand your effort your work your goodness your name it's going to fall down it cannot last or have you dug deep anchored yourself on Christ and said I'm not going anywhere.

Because he's not going anywhere my only hope is him and he will keep me Matt's going to come back up he's going to lead us in a song and I just all these things I just want us to sit and reflect and I want you to ask what am I building my life on what am I banking on when I stand before him where is my hope found it is my fear that there are people in this room maybe you've been a part of our church.

For a couple of years and all you're doing is building a house on sand he hasn't changed your heart there's no love for him you got some ministry you got some work you've done some good things you share the gospel every once in a while you've seen people come to faith do you believe have you trusted in Christ as your king have you devoted your life to him Jesus helps us out here look at the sermon on the mount what kind of fruit are you bearing is there love.

For enemy is there service when nobody sees you do you pray and fast and give only to be noticed if no one knows you're going to do it are you going to do it do you forgive those who hurt you or are you holding grudges and have bitterness towards other people maybe Jesus hadn't changed your heart maybe he hadn't enraptured you and overwhelmed you by the forgiveness the free forgiveness that he gives all of those who harmed him and hated him.

Jesus love for us as the type of love that fills us up and colors us in and brings us to life and changes us so while Matt sings I just want us to sit if you will if you're willing I want you to ask Jesus the question is my life built on you or am I banking on something else have you really changed my heart and for those of you who know that's not you all you have to do is say.

Jesus I want you I love you I believe in you I trust in you it's the will of the father that all those who call in the name of the son all those who trust in him believe in him won't be lost that Jesus will lose none of those that the father has given him will you trust him today will you commit today for those of you who deal with anxiety and fearfulness and this stirred it up in you and you're being told right.

Now you've never believed you've never trusted your whole life is a sham okay believe and trust now say okay Jesus I commit to you now I love you now I want you now begin to grow fruit in me make me yours forever father through your grace and through the power of your holy spirit we pray that a sermon preached over two thousand years ago through the lips of your son who is going to die in our place for our sin and rise that we might have hope eternal we pray that your spirit would empower it again to.

Let us hear the warnings and heed the call that we might respond to live lives of simple unnoticed faithfulness as we love you God through your grace grant us faith help us to dig deep and plant our lives firmly on Christ the rock that will not move his word that will not change and the gospel that will stand forever though kingdoms rise and fall the gospel will stand and may we hide ourselves in you that we will one day stand before you.

Because Jesus was your good and faithful servant we'll be called good and faithful because we've been wrapped up and covered by Christ in Jesus name amen y'all sit let's think while Matt sings.