Walking and Waiting

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

Philippians 3:17-4:1 Walking and Waiting

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here uh we are in the book of Philippians we're working our way through the book of Philippians and um sorry that pen was going to distract me um just a second I was going to be clicking it it's going to be a problem we're in the book of Philippians we're picking up in verse 17 we're working our way through the book of Philippians studying it together uh as a Church and uh what we're going to do this morning is we're going to read through this entire text as we get started and I'm going to try to help you understand what Paul's doing in this.

Text and then we're going to work our way through it uh kind of verse by verse section by section so we're in Philippians chapter 3 verse 17 it's on page 571 if you grab one of these blue Bibles in front of you Brothers join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us so that's Paul's command join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ their end is destruction their God is their belly and they glory in their shame with Minds set on Earthly things but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious Body by the power power that enables him even to subject all things to himself Paul says walk imitate join those who are walking in the example set by Paul he's saying that you need to intentionally follow this example.

Because there are those who walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ so what Paul is saying is that there is a way to live in line with following Jesus in line with the Gospel and there's a way to live in in contrast in opposition to following Jesus and you ought to be intentional about who you are imitating and and some of the Assumption here is that you are imitating you are learning from other people how to live you're learning from other people what's important and what's good and what's right and you are right.

Now there are people in your life that are teaching you how to handle your money how to be a spouse how to think about romance how to think about politics how to think about parenting how to dress like your whole life has been imitation that's how you learned how to speak that's how you learned how to walk like you you had to see other people doing that's how you learned to trade that's how you learned all the things that you've learned and you're like no I'm original I came up with things on my own I cut Against the Grain.

Okay maybe a little bit maybe a little bit but maybe there's something that you do that's original to you and I'm willing to bet it's the weirdest thing you do the people around you probably want you to stop it most everything we do is something that we have learned by imitation and even the things that we do that are outside of the norm if you're like no we we we we stuck it to the man we were hippies yeah but you were a hippie like all the other hippies you wore the same things.

Listen to the same music and you all grew your hair the same way wait if you're like no I wasn't a part of the mainstream I was goth yeah but you were goth like all the other goth kids y'all shopped at the same goth stores you actually helped the man out as he sold you things as you stuck it to him or whatever like we we learn by imitation and what Paul is saying is be wise and intentional with who you imitate.

Because you're going to imitate you're going to follow you're going to practice things that other people are teaching you to practice and you ought to as a Christian be wise and intentional about that so that's what we're looking at today and we're going to pray and then we're going to walk through this text section by section father you designed us to learn through imitation you designed us to pick up on the habits and mannerisms and actions of those around us.

So Lord we ask that you would help us to be intentional about that wise about that so that we might not be led astray and that we might look more and more like people who really really love you we ask this by your grace from your kindness in Jesus name amen so go back to verse 17 Brothers join in imitating me so he's saying y'all need to see what I'm doing you need to join in in IM ating me you need to copy me.

Now what is what is Paul doing well we read that together a second ago some of that at least that he forgets what lies behind he's pressing on he's straining forward for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus that he has set his mind on his Hope on he has fixed his heart on the rescue of Christ the hope of Jesus what Jesus has done the eternity is coming that belongs to Christ that his whole life is in line with the hope of the Gospel.

So much so that he's writing this letter from prison for telling people about Jesus and people were like hey stop and he was like hey stop me so they arrested him and then he wrote in his letter hey I'm telling all the guards about Jesus I've infiltrated the prison he's not stopping he's lined up his whole life with this is what is supremely important so that's what he's saying imitate me but I want y'all to notice something about this sentence because there's a lot of people in this sentence he says imitate me keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example.

So those can't be Paul it has to be some other people who walk according to the example you so you're the the Church the Phil Philippians who he's writing to have in us well us includes me but it's bigger than just me and it's not those because those are looking at us yeah a lot of people in this sentence so there's Paul that's the me there's the us at the end of the sentence that's probably Paul and Timothy and aphroditus some of the people he's mentioned.

But also any of Paul and his cohorts his Entourage all the people that are following around and and pursuing Mission the way that he is and proclaiming the Gospel the way that he is and then there's those who aren't the us but that are following and imitating Paul and then there's you the Philippians and you the Church that this letter is written to the reason I wanted to point that out is because you ought to as a Christian have a life that that sentence makes sense in.

Because you belong to the Church and you're in a in an environment where there are those around you who are good examples for what it means to follow Jesus this is one of the reasons why when We Gather on Sundays we say you need to get in a group and then we say you need to get in a group and the next time we see we say you need to get in a group and if we talk to in after there as we're getting coffee sometimes we'll say hey it's nice to meet you have you gotten in a group.

Because we're supposed to live in relationships with other Christians and be able to walk in life together it's not meant to be something we just think about and study on Sundays and then go out into the world and have all of the rest of our actions and imitations be influenced by people who don't know Jesus we're meant to belong in such a way to to the people of Christ that we might have those that we can join in with that we might walk in life with as they follow.

Jesus that we can join in with them and then maybe at some point like Paul be able to say join in with us we're trying to follow Jesus hop in so the the command is to imitate Paul and anyone imitate Paul imitate the US the ones around Paul that are doing that stuff imitate the those that are following Paul basically look for any Christian who lives their life like they really really really believe that Jesus is the king of all things that they spend their time and their money and their energy and their effort that you can punch them in the face and tell them to shut up and they will not that's the type.

Of Christian that you need to line up behind and imitate that's what Paul's saying now he's GNA give a reason why you need to do that intentionally the reason why you should join that line Verse 18 for many and then he gives in a side here of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears so I want you to understand the people that Paul's about to talk about this many that he's going to talk about he doesn't hate them he's heartbroken he he wants something different.

For them that this group Grieves him but he says many walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ now I think that certainly includes all people who aren't Believers are living their life in opposition to the Cross because you're really your only options are submission to the Cross service to the Cross service to Christ or opposition to him that we're we're by Nature his enemies by Nature we're children of Wrath by Nature we don't want God or the things of God.

And so certainly it includes that group but I think it also because of the way this letter has been written it includes the people that Paul were refer to as opponents in chapter 1 it includes the dogs evildoers and those who mutilate the flesh from chapter 3 it includes those who would say they are Christians but then they're bringing in something that's not the Gospel and in that way they are opposing the cross because they're not pointing you to the Cross they're not pointing you to the hope of.

Jesus they're pointing you to something else and here's what he means by the cross in opposition to C to the Cross Christianity is about Christ and what he's done son Jesus Is God who became a man he joined us by taking on flesh but then instead of joining us in our sin he lived a perfect sinless life differentiating himself from us so that when he went to the Cross he might pay our debt he would have credit in his account it'd be like.

If you came out of a poor family and then worked and worked and worked and worked and worked and worked to finally have the finances to pay off all their debt Jesus shows up and he is not sinful like us therefore he can swap places with us he can give us his righteousness and he can pay the debt of our sin and then you would saywell how does one person pay the debt of all these people and the the answer is.

Because he's worth more be like if I had a dollar and my son had 50 pennies and he was like well 50 is more than one it's like nope you're confused and Jesus Is God who's worth more than all of humanity put together but he was perfectly righteous and he dies for us and so we because of this Gospel message that there's hope in Christ and forgiveness in him we then live our life in line with that message in line with the cross in service to the cross in the hope of the Cross where we love.

Jesus because he's so good and so kind and so merciful and so our lives are lined up as people who love Jesus and want Jesus and want to serve Jesus and then there are those who are in opposition to that they're going to lead you astray if you join with them they're going to point you away from Jesus they're going to point you to anything other than Jesus and so they're walking as enemies of the Cross now he's going to tell us what they.

Look like which is very helpful because if they're telling you they're Christians which some of them would and will you can't just base it off of what they say so he's going to give us a profile to tell us what they look like he's going to tell us how to spot them so here's what he says verse 19 their end is destruction their God is their belly and they glory in their shame with Mind Set On Earthly things their end is destruction their.

God is their belly and they glory in their shame with mindset on Earthly things it gives us four things to see the first one is some information but we can't see it their end is destruction but they don't know that and we can't spot that on them he's just telling us where they're headed he's saying don't follow them because that's where they're going so you can't see the destination but he's going to tell us how to identify them with the other three the other way is to spot who's in that line who's pursuing that destination that he's lined up pursuing.

Jesus but there are others who are headed towards destruction have you ever uh you've been at a big event concert a play a sporting event and it's halftime or it's uh intermission and you head out to go to the restroom you see lines of people you don't see the destination you just see the line I walk out if I see two lines I will immediately go to the right line if I see three lines I'll immediately go to the right line.

Because I can see the people in the line and I can guess the destination I've never once lined up with all the ladies gotten to the door and been like what I have accidentally walked into a lady's restroom but not when there was a line if I've got a line with all men I know that's the line I'm getting in line with all ladies not my line line with men and ladies those people are buying drinks and they'll be in these lines later I got it I know how to do this what Paul is saying is I'm going to tell you how to identify the people in the line.

So that you'll get in the right line here are the three things he gives us their end is destruction we can't see that but we can begin to identify them the first thing he says is their God is their belly we need to define God and we need to find belly to understand what this means belly means belly but he's using it to identify consumption the things you can feel and taste and touch what you can enjoy physically so what's a.

God well a God is something you serve a God is something that gives you uh identity tells you who you are and a God is something that gives you Direction and purpose and future and Hope so let's take a moment to consider how a belly can be your God so that we might identify tendencies in ourselves we might some of you might read through this list and get to the end and go oh I'm not a Christian some of you might go I am a Christian.

But I'm I'm off some of us are going to help us identify the people that we're listening to and following even if they say they love Jesus we're going to identify we actually shouldn't be following them because this is what they look like okay let's think about service if your God is your belly you can spend a whole lot of time serving working laboring putting your energy your time your hope pursuing things that just terminate on your belly what we eat what we drink where we sit where we relax our next vacation there's a way.

For us to just spend all of our time on things that go on our on our body or go into our body and we're just serving our bellies y That's most that's the world around us it's in service to their bellies and we can get in this too now you say hold on a second the Bible says we're supposed to work and it's okay to eat and it's okay to Feast yeah yeah yeah but all that is meant to when the Bible calls.

For a feast it's meant to be something that rolls up in praise to God that we're feasting because he's good and he has abundance and He blesses and he's kind and he over he watches over us but so much of our feast is just feasting for feasting feasting for our belly some of us have basically biblical level feasts seven times a week we overeat constantly or we spend our whole week looking forward to this day that we're going to get to rest and have this party and have this celebration or whatever and all of our energy goes towards this service to our bellies.

And so if you're trying to identify someone whose God is their belly you're looking for is the thing they're most worried about most working towards all stuff that they can feel and taste and touch and all stuff that just terminates on them is that what they're serving is that what I'm serving it's not just service it's also identity which we've been sold this lie in the US and we've bought into it that consumption what we put on what we take in tells us who we are tells the world who we are we say things like I'm a man I eat meat.

Okay I drive a truck good I mean I'm for driving trucks and eating meat that sounds great but that doesn't tell us anything about who you are it does not affect your character whatsoever it just doesn't what we wear doesn't announce to the world who we are doesn't change us at all might make us look nicer or less nice or whatever it might Identify some of the things about what we care about but it doesn't actually tell us who we are it doesn't actually work on the person of the heart.

But we've been sold on this this is why our advertisements most of the time don't sell you the product they sell you the type of person you'll be if you get this product if you drive this car you'll go look at trees in the mountains is the car good sh look at those trees you drive this car you'll laugh with your friends and hold a surfboard okay what's the gas mileage like I don't the best example of this this and I use it every once in a.

While because it's so clear to me is abian fit used to be a big deal I don't know if it is now but like when I was coming through school like it was a big deal people there's like a whole song about like a guy who liked girls that wore abian fit in the summer and so like that was a thing but if you went and bought something from abian fit they would put your clothes it's clothing store they would put your clothes in a bag said abian Fitch on it and it had a picture of a guy on the bag and the guy on the bag was not wearing clothes this is a clothing.

Store he's not wearing clothes he's not trying to sell you clothes he's trying to sell you the type of person you can be if you wear these clothes if you are cool enough to wear abian fit's clothes you are cool enough to not wear clothes I was born that cool you know like what are you talking about but that's what they're selling you is some image some thing that you become this is why y'all we gather around people based off of our tastes you.

Listen to this music let's be friends couldn't help but notice you drive the same type of vehicle let's have a secret wave let's hand each other Ducks it's a thing that you've consumed that you've taught yourself makes you a type of person it turns you into a thing I wear these kind of boots I buy this kind of stuff we wear these kind of clothes we're now this type of Club it's nonsense but it's an ex example of us buying into that consumption gives us identity.

So we can serve it we can get our identity from it we can also Place Our Hope in it our purpose in it it can give us direction that we can use consumption to tell us what we're supposed to be doing where we're supposed to be going and some of us all of our hopes and dreams are just belly hopes and dreams y'all a lot of us when we think about the future our vision is just me but with more stuff like what do you developing into what are you growing into I'm gonna grow into a guy whose house is bigger and has a swimming pool what I'm going to be the type of person.

Who vacations more often in nicer places it's just that's your hope that's your dream it's not character development it's not love for Jesus it's not I'm going to be the type of person who cares less about stuff most of us have bought into the American dream which is if I picture myself in the future I just picture me but with more things a nicer vehicle I I can't wait till I get to you'll say things like I thought I'd be further along by.

Now and most of the time what you mean is with stuff thought my job would be better I thought my truck would be bigger I thought my house would be nicer I thought my yard would be larger I thought I would ride on a low mower not push it like a scrub by now because your whole thing you've bought into is belly service Paul says that leads to destruction and if you're following people who love Jesus or tell you they love.

Jesus but that's all the track they're on they're headed towards destruction they don't actually get it that we can have our God be our belly and that we can identify it in other people if that's ultimately what they care about is what they're wearing what they're eating what they're tasting what's in their bank account the next thing he tells us is they glory in their shame this just means that they celebrate the things that will later make them shrink back when they stand before the.

Lord we do this all the time it's any celebration of sin so we celebrate gluttony win a drinking contest we celebrate fighting people breaking the law if you get around people they'll tell stories about times they broke the law and how great it was little things whatever we just celebrate this stuff we have pride parades we have people who are keeping up with their sexual prowess and all these kind of things and we just celebrate we're just trained to celebrate things that ultimately later are going to have us stand before the.

Lord and and bring shame stuff that he ultimately forgives us of stuff that ultimately is good to our souls where he comes in and rescues and redeems and stuff that doesn't keep us from belonging to each other as we walk in Repentance but it's stuff that we as you look into the world you'll see people just celebrating things that ought to bring shame and then he says they glory in their shame with mindset on Earthly things and that that in some ways is a big helpful category that's just what they're thinking about is stuff that they can.

See stuff that they can feel stuff that they can touch stuff that they can uh partake in that it's it's all Earthly it's all aimed here all their goals all your hopes all your dreams are just here they they're temporal they they end up not matter ing 100 years 200 years 5,000 years from now because they don't roll into eternity they're just here and y'all isn't it easy to spend your time just worrying about Earthly things don't we have things to worry about don't we have things that set our way they can take up our whole thought process is it all we're worried about is physical stuff and it's.

So easy and we can get to the end of this and you can say things like well is it really that bad is it really that bad if I you know thoroughly enjoy Earthly things well there's a way to enjoy stuff that rolls up and praise to the Lord that's not usually what we're fighting for because that helps keep it in its rightful place Paul says it leads to destruction and it makes you in an an enemy of the Cross so yeah it's really that bad.

But y'all this stuff tells us what matters it tells us what is important and it matters who we're listening to it matters who we're following it's very very very very likely that some of the major influences in your life their end is destruction their God is their belly they glory in their shame and they have Minds set on Earthly things it affects what you think is important it affects what you care about some of us listen to financial podcasts political podcast romance we read romance novels and watch romance movies we have all these things that are from people who don't know.

Jesus don't love Jesus and they're telling us how we ought to think about things that are really important let me ask you this if you listen to a a finance podcast an economic podcast a political podcast or if you have a friend who does on a regular basis it's a lot of times easier to see it in other people than in yourself what do they talk about about what do they tell you is important what are they stressed about what are they worried about what are the things that they come and say did you hear this is happening did you hear that they're going to do that did you hear this is going on did.

You hear now's the time that we're supposed to be doing this I'm I'm behind on this financially we're behind on this politically they're they're going to win they're going to get us they're after the children whatever the thing is that they've been soaking in it's been telling them what is important and guess what we have an election this year do you know that neither one of them will be the king King of the universe in eternity I I think anyone in this room could just push both of them down they they're they're not sovereign they're not to pin all our hopes on.

Now we can pay attention to some of these things we can care about some of these things but they got to be cared about in light of that we have a hope and an eternity and something that's coming that's beyond that and if all we listen to our financial podcast and listen to financial radio and read all this stuff or we read about romance or whatever we're being trained and indoctrinated by people who don't love Jesus who don't have the same hope that we have don't have the same eternity that we had and they're telling us how to think and how to act and how to behave and you're like.

Well I don't imitate them you say they're you quote them you say their sentences to other people you say things like well you know what's really important and you just spit without words from some other person what if you listened to foreign missionaries for the same amount of time every week talking about what they were praying about what they were laboring for and what they were hoping to see do you think that over the next course of the next month or three months or five months or six months you might start saying things to people like you know how many people don't know.

Jesus in the ball you know what's going to happen if we don't start sending money to the 1040 window if we don't start sending people somebody's got to go we're being trained by somebody and here's the other thing that we're tempted to do because we're just we're good at it what Paul is saying is not don't follow those who are headed to destruction it's actually not his command his command is imitate me don't find someone who says they're a Christian.

Then acts in such a way that you feel good about your lifestyle and say cool they've made it to where I can act this way find the person that makes you the absolute most uncomfortable about how they spend money and how they spend their time and how they talk about Jesus that's the person to follow let me tell you something Paul would be an uncomfortable person to follow we would say things to him same with Jesus people said things to Jesus.

Jesus just responded like that doesn't matter what are you talking about we would say things to Paul like well you know you got to say for this and he's like do I know that why do we have to say for that why is that a thing that we have to do we actually have to tell people about Jesus you're like yeah but they you know they're going to give us a hard time if we do it yeah I do know that I do know that why are you saying that they're going to give us a hard time let's go like that's Paul like he's this thing matters and he just is focused on it you.

Ever been running late for class you were hustling and then you saw someone else who was running late for the same class so y'all stopped laughed and walked very slowly together to class the Christian life isn't meant to be de the Christian Life is meant to be I'm hustling hustle with me and if you see a Christian who's not hustling you don't go that's who I'm going to set my Pace with you find the person who's making you most uncomfortable pressing most on towards the goal of the upward call of the prize in Christ and you get in line and you go.

Because here's what Paul says but our citizenship is in heaven and from it Heaven from heaven we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ you know why our minds aren't set on Earthly things because this isn't our home this isn't our hope this isn't where our good things are kept that's why Paul says but our citizenship is in heaven you don't belong here your joy isn't found here your Delight isn't found here it's in Christ and it says we're waiting a savior that's what we're waiting on that's what we're longing.

For so much of the things we say I'm just waiting for I'm just waiting for the day that I can finally retire I'm waiting for the day that I can finally have this I'm waiting for the day that this isn't that you know when when we have a financial problem I don't have to worry about it I'm longing for that I'm waiting for that I'm waiting for that I'm waiting for that and Paul says get that out of here we're waiting on.

Jesus that's what we're waiting for that's where our hope is he says this about Jesus but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious Body by the power that enables him to subject even to subject all things to himself okay Jesus has power where he's made all things his subjects he's the king of all things he has power and everything is in subjection to him he's the king of all things and that power that allows him to be king of all things will be used on those who belong to him to transform them into his glorious.

Body that our bodies will be transformed to be like his glorious body what does that mean I don't know it's going to be glorious I also know that I shouldn't worry about this belly because I've got a glorious one coming that I have a hope and a home and a powerful King who's going to return and renew all things and transform me to be like him and that's what I'm waiting for Paul says in Corinthians that this glorious transformation is going to happen is it's like we we're like seeds and seeds.

Look similar but you can't guess necessarily from a seed what the plant's going to look like that's why I can tell you I don't I don't know exactly what it means that we're going to have glorious bodies I know that we'll have a physical existence I Know that heaven is more real not less real than here that you're if you the best food you've ever eaten here pales in comparison to what's going to happen there I know that I know that we have a reality and an eternity that's coming that is glorious and wonderful and that we're told to know that and act that way and we do it with simple stuff stuff.

If I order a pizza and then my two little boys say hey can we have cereal for supper I don't say yes I say no I ordered a pizza wait if they say I'm hungry now I say the pizza will taste better later because you are hungry now if they keep talking I say hush and go away y so many of us with our kids and our spouses and our friends and our co-workers so many of us by Our Lives by our money by our time by our energy are never ever ever saying no I have a savior coming that's what I'm waiting on our kids want to do something that PS away from Church.

It doesn't lead them towards Christ we want to handle money in a certain way the way we talk about money the way we talk about finances the way we talk about our time our energy our effort is only ever aimed down here and there's never a time where we go we don't handle our money that way because we're awaiting a savior because my home isn't here my hope isn't here that's why I handle my money that way that's why I handle my time that way that's why I'm intentional about being a part of this group that's why I've had to change my job schedule.

So that I could belong to this group of people so that I could serve so that I could give so that I could chase after people and tell them about Jesus because I will tell you one thing I don't have my hope set here I have my hope set there and I'm awaiting a savior who's going to transform my lowly body to be like his glorious Body by the power that allows him even to subject all things to himself that's what I'm waiting on that's where my hope is.

But we don't do that so often we're hoping for the weekend or amount of money so that we can we can finally get extra cheese on everything that we want to add extra cheese I just want to get to where I can order cheese dip at a Mexican restaurant that's my hope it's like what on Earth that's your hope that's your dream that's the thing you're wanting to serve that's the thing you're getting after that's the thing that you've got in your head is like the Glorious future.

For you that's nonsense do you know Christ oh do you know how good he is do you know how wonderful he is do you know the love that he has do you know he's going to transform Us by his glorious power by which he subjects even the world to himself that all things are under his feet and that he's going to rescue us and redeem us and make us his why on Earth are we wasting our time on silly things that don't matter.

When there are people around us who don't know Christ don't have hope don't have joy don't have rescue don't have forgiveness and we're sitting around just walking around with them and we're listening to them tell us how to handle our money nonsense we're listening to them tell us how to think about marriage nonsense we're listening to them tell us how to raise our kids that's insane what so that we can go to destruction find somebody who looks like Paul and figure out how to line your life up that way.

Because there's going to be a day when the king of all Kings returns and so many things just don't matter but whether or not you know him does and whether or not when you see his face his smile Shines on you and your smile reaches back or whether or not you shrink for all the things that you have chased after that only lead to shame and you don't know the king Christians Paul says live like you know Jesus and he says.

If you don't know what that looks like I know Jesus look at me the band's going to come back up I want you to take a moment to consider who you're learning from I want you to take a moment to consider who's training you who are you listening to I'm not saying don't have non-Christian friends I'm not saying don't have people around you that don't know Jesus I'm not saying you're not allowed to listen to the radio but my goodness be intentional with who you're imitating be intentional with how much you're soaking that stuff up be intentional with telling you how to think who's telling you how to think about romance and sex and relation.

Relationships and money and time and energy and effort and the goal of life because there are so many who are headed towards destruction don't get in that L it doesn't take you where you want to go and if you belong to Jesus your home's not here so take a moment right where you are close your eyes pray ask the Lord to help you see by the power of His Spirit Lord we ask for your help it's so easy to serve our bellies it's.

So easy to just gather with the crowd of people who are telling us this is how to live this is what to buy this is how to handle your finances it's so easy to have Minds set on Earthly things Lord help us right now work through your spirit to help us see where we're wrong to help us see how good you are Lord for the person in the room who can only set their mind on Earthly things because they don't know you may they run to you may they run to the Cross not be an enemy of the Cross.

But may they ask for forgiveness and rescue and Lord may they get in line with those who are going to be transformed by your glorious power we ask this in Jesus name amen Church family we're going to take communion together and it's a regular meal that Jesus gave us that reminds our bellies what we really need you're going to take something tangible it's a picture of Christ that you need Christ and that his body was broken for us and that his blood was shed.

For us and we're going to remind ourselves again that I need Christ and I have Christ if he's if I've trusted in him he's a savior for me and he's My Hope and he's my eternity that's what matters that we stand right now in between Jesus coming to rescue us on dying for us on the cross to do what was necessary so that we might be saved in the moment that he returns and transforms our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body even by the power that he has which he subjected all things to himself.

If you are a Christian this is for you take a moment repent and then go remind yourself that you need Jesus and where your hope is and then yeah let's change how we live let's get in let's pursue let's give away money let's live lives in line with people who believe that Jesus will one day return and that we'll have all our good things there and if you're not a Christian then communion is not for you because you don't know Jesus.

But we want you to know Jesus we want you to have the hope that is held secure for us not by our good works or morals or effort but by Christ who is the king and who claims Sinners to be his own when you're ready ask that you take communion and then we'll sing together.

Straining to the Prize (Philippians 3:12-16)

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

Philippians 3:12-16 Straining to the Prize

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we're going to be in Philippians chapter 3: 12-16 so this is my last week uh before I go on sabatical for the next two months and yeah I'm excited uh the we did someone uh wiser than us recommended this a few years ago they said that your pastors should go on sabatical sooner uh than you think and it' be good for your soul and we've done this the last couple years uh Raz has been going sabatical Chad's been able to go on sabatical and uh I'm thankful.

For the opportunity to take two months just to really unplug um to focus on my relationship with Jesus to to be filled up in him and to do some things that are good for my soul um and we're going to be traveling a little bit uh you will not see me here on Sundays uh I'm I'm going to take the opportunity for the next two months and uh I've got some different friends who are Pastors in the city I want to go visit their Church churches some other churches that I've been wanting to visit.

For quite some time to just learn and be filled up so I'm looking forward to that I'll still be with my community group so they'll see me on a regular basis uh and but I won't be here on Sundays but I'm thankful that I get to do this and uh and it's funny I I I'm going to enjoy the time that I have to be able to do this and I know by the end of June I know I'm going to be ready to be back um I.

So deeply love this Church um I love this people I love you deeply um you know I have different friends around the country from my time in seminary that are pastoring in different cities and doing different things different churches and and uh when I catch up with them sometimes it's uh you know pastoring is hard that's just the calling but their situations are are harder um and they're more difficult and uh and I hear that and there's this Awkward Moment every.

Now and then that they say well how are you doing and how's your Church doing and I'm like man I mean it's I we're really blessed and and God's really been good to us and and people are are growing and loving Christ and it's just you know and this just I I I just have good news to report and certainly we're Sinners and certainly we have our mess and certainly we have our things that we walk through that are difficult.

But I think God's been uniquely kind to us in some powerful ways uh and it's been really uh a privilege and a joy to Pastor so I will be looking forward and enjoying the time that I have away but I know that I'll be ready to get back at the end of June because I do deeply love you guys um we're in Philippians 3 um so you can go ahead and flip there it's on page 571 in your blue Bibles and you can follow along there the text will also be on the screen a few weekends ago uh we had a uh a baseball tournament my son's been playing uh rookie ball uh which is.

A league six five and sixy old playing baseball and uh and our we've been winning every game game in our league that we're playing in and our uh head coach was like let's try a tournament uh so that we can kind of get the kids a little more little some some teams that are that are also really good uh that we can play and just kind of see how they're doing uh against some some better talent and some better some older kids.

And so we we played in this tournament and it was a lot of fun and and got to see them challenged in a lot of new ways which is really fun as as a dad and a coach uh and I got to see the kids really fall in love with the game even more but we made it to the championship game at that Sunday night and uh and before the game started uh they had trophies out and the kids got to.

See the trophy that they were playing for that was half the size of Their little bodies I mean these were massive trophies and they're like are we are is that what we're going to get if we win it's like yeah yeah if you win first like that you you're going to take home one of those and they came alive I mean they were amped I saw a level of desire and passion and effort that I hadn't seen all season long I was amped up.

Because I looked at across the other team and I got to see uh who one of their coaches was and it was our very own Raz Bradley uh Nate was on the other side so I'm amped up I'm like let's do this like this was a really fun thing but it was just fun to see those kids just come alive when they saw those trophies when they saw the prize that they were competing for and it was a vivid picture of just seeing the prize and just saying and going all out.

For it which is just it's a general Sports thing you know you see the prize you play wholeheartedly for it and that is the very metaphor that Paul uses In this passage today to describe the effort that we are called to put in to pursuing Christ and the Eternal prize of life with him and it's just a few verses that picture that so I just want to take some time I want to quickly walk through these verses and I want to help.

See three different things that uh should help shape us as Christians as we focus on the Eternal prize of life with God forever so let me pray and then we'll walk through this together heavenly father I help I pray that you would help us see you as glorious as worthy of our faith and worship in a way that would change the way that we live the Christian Life that means for some that it's going to be for the first time seeing you.

For who you are and surrendering to you in faith for all of us it's going to be faith and repentance and pursuing you because you are worthy of our worship and everything that we can put into this life so God help us see that this morning and help us be not just hearers of the word but doers of the word in Jesus name amen all right so before we get to verse 12 I want to provide some context that we were in last week in the previous verses part the way through eight it says.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him that what Chad was helping us see last week is that Paul was presenting this resume that he had this Jewish resume amongst a bunch of uh uh Jewish people that were trying to enforce Jewish law back on to Christians and he was saying you don't understand I was it I was a Pharisee I was a Hebrew of Hebrews I was The Tribe of Benjamin I was zealous I was all these things had this this holy righteous resume and he says I count that as rubbish that's garbage that's.

Filth he says that doesn't matter he says that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith and what he's teaching there is that the heart of the Gospel is that we cannot in our own effort in our own good works do anything to gain the Fai of God that if you think you can gain the favor of.

God by your good works you misunderstand the Gospel your good works are rubbish the only good work that matters is Christ and the perfect righteousness of Christ that we gain through placing our faith in him that's the only hope we have as Christians is Christ and Christ alone and he makes that point going into verse 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and May share his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead he said the Gospel saves us.

So that the end goal we might one day be with him and the resurrection the end goal being the new Heavens the new Earth and the resurrection the Bly resurrection of Christians who come alive and are made completely new in glorified bodies in the new Heavens the new Earth where we get to finally and fully and wonderfully know God that's it that's the end goal and that's the context that sets up verse 12 not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect.

But I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own he says I haven't gotten there yet we're not perfected yet we're not there in the resurrection with fully perfected bodies we're not there yet I press on to make it my own why because Christ Jesus has made me his own because Christ claims us and saves us and sets us apart towards life with him forever he said we're working that way but we're not there yet in.

Verse 13 He says Brothers I do not consider that I've made it my own just drills the point even further we're not perfect we're not there yet so what awaits us but we're not there yet he's not under the delusion that in his mature State even then as he's writing this that he's a he's arrived no he's not there yet no I I have a some some family members who used to wait tables for a family that owned this restaurant and this family this one of the rare you don't.

See these people much anymore but they're called Christian perfectionists and uh they believe believe that in this life now you can actually arrive at Perfection which is a rare heresy at this point doesn't really you don't see it that much anymore but can you imagine working and waiting tables for a people that don't ever make mistakes they don't have sin so if there's ever a problem you know whose fault it is it's certainly not theirs what a miserable existence there everyone else and themselves.

Because they don't know who Christ is it's like that's delusional Paul's like no we're not perfected yet we're not there yet we've not arrived and it continues but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus and Paul says let me let you in a little bit of secret here this is what I do I forget the past I strain forward I press forward to towards eternity and I make every effort going in that direction towards the upper call of.

God foret the past I'm focused here and I just keep going and then he finishes his thought in verse 15 and 16 he says and those of us who are mature think this way and if any if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal this that also to you only let us hold true to what we have attained so Paul says you you want maturity do you want to press into maturity this is it and then he gives something that may be confusing at.

First when he says if may you think otherwise what he's getting out there is not if you believe a different Gospel he's very clear about that in other places that if you believe a Gospel different than one that I'm preaching you let him be a cursed it's like if you you're going to preach this no no no he's not talking about a different Gospel this is matters of conscience and approach to the Christian life so if you a little bit of a difference in conscience here.

Then God will reveal it to you but the main thing let us hold true to what we have have attained let us press forward into the eternity that awaits us so that's his argument In this passage we get a window into how Paul views himself that in his maturity he understands that this is where we're going but we have not arrived yet that he's in his maturity he sees his own sin and that's true of wise mature Christians wise mature Christians know that they are sinful they it's apparent.

Now all the mistakes that have been made I'm I'm I'm a sinner that's why Paul later in first Timothy he say he calls himself the chief of Sinners and it's like the the chief of Sinners you mean the the the number one sinner really Paul and it's like no he's just so tapped into his he understands his sinfulness and how much uh how much Christ is redeemed and his he's like no I I see my own sin he knows his past he knows his present sense and with that in mind he lays out really a three-part perspective and how to live the Christian life that I want to spend the rest of our time looking.

At this kind of three-part perspective if you want to grow in matur if you want to uh mature in Christian faith there are three things first forget what lies behind second keep the end in mind third strain forward till we arrive so forget what lies behind keep the end of Mind straighten forward till we arrive that's what I want to spend the rest of our time looking at so let's look at that first part forget what lies behind in verse 13 in.

Verse 13 he says but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind so there's two types of forgetting that I think we should have the first is forgetting the sins of our past that if you belong to Christ your sin has been paid for like hear that if you belong to Jesus doesn't matter what you've done doesn't matter what you've done your sin has been paid for it is it is forgotten and Colossians 2 gives the picture of he cancels the record of debt that stood against us with his legal demands like it's just no that's been paid.

For that's been placed like Jesus Takes our sin on the cross it means that all of your sin has been paid for blood has covered Christ dies in our place we should be guilty for the wages of our sin is death but Christ is the one that goes to the cross for us and Paul understood that better than anyone he knows his past I mean he he persecuted Christians he was a part of the mob that murdered stepen in Acts 7.

If anyone understands this it's it's him he understands what it means for you your past actually have some real ghosts some skeletons in your closet he understands what it means for you to have a past and he also knows and believes What God Says through the prophet Isaiah I I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins he understands who our God is that for his people he doesn't hold our sins against us.

So you get to move on from it you get to move forward which is wonderful one we once a year we uh we run uh something called recovery it's 10 weeks long and if you ask anyone that's done it it's 10 very long weeks it's a lot of work and uh brings it's a it's a process of understanding suffering and sin and Brokenness and then experiencing the healing power of Christ and uh towards the end where you start to see really Christ at work in the process one of the things I emphasize is that all right you God's revealed some stuff like y'all feel it like he's revealed some stuff he's shown some stuff that's.

Happened he's revealed some sin some Brokenness some stuff from your past and then Christ gets to work in it and it gets to bring healing and the Gospel comes to bear in our lives in some beautiful ways and then guess what we get to move on one things I say is you get to move on from this you don't have to be marked by this anymore you don't have to have this narrative in your head that says this is who I am it's like no no no no no no no no this is who you are in Christ.

So we get to move on because I mean I think in our culture right now I think there's a lot of um uh currency and and and really own like just being marked by the past being marked by your Brokenness and as Christians we get to say we we we understand the reality of our Brokenness but we also understand the reality of the Gospel and this healing power and we move on it's like no no no we're we're not marked by who we were I think that's one part of of forgetting what lies behind is understanding that I'm not marked by my sin anymore I think another part is that we're also as we forget.

What lies behind as we don't focus on the work that we've already done meaning the the ministry that we've already done the good works in Christ that we've already done that we actually we don't keep looking back we look forward I me that's what Jesus is getting at and he's teaching about discipleship in the New Testament and the in the gospels in Luke in the Gospel Luke he says no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit.

For the kingdom of God and the picture there is an agricultural imagery is that if you're plowing a field you plow in a straight line you don't you don't look back if you look back whether back then it's pulling the reins of an ox or if it's now if it's tractor you don't look back you look back you turn and you Veer off course that's foolishness it's an obvious thing no you you you look straight forward and the what he's getting out there is is no we we.

Look forward not backwards that the the the kingdom momentum is forward it's not backward looking not at all we look forward to the day when Christ returns and establishes the new Heavens the new Earth we look forward it's a forward-looking faith and I think Christians I think we struggle with this because I think I think if we're honest I think sometimes we long for a season of old we long for how things used to be man I just remember when it was.

When it was 50 people in the room and we're just worshiping Jesus and we all knew each other and we all knew each other's stories and it was intimate and I just missed the days when I just knew everyone or I just I I I missed the I miss the days of old I was Miss how worship used to be what I used to have back in that season all I miss our old community group we multiply Community groups for the sake of mission we multiply groups to be able to create space.

For others to see and Savor and know Christ and sometimes like man I just wish we could go back to my old group I wish we go back was just us in the room together we do this fill in the blank there's a lot of different ways where you for all of us we can just look back at at at stuff before and just I just I wish I could go back there and it's like no that we move forward that the the end is better we're moving that way and I don't think that Paul is saying that the past is 100% irrelevant I I don't think he's saying that I don't think he's making.

That argument you can see in his other letters that he mentions things that have happened before I think learning from mistakes is wise I think that there are things you can learn from history in the past but that's not the focus the focus is forward-looking the focus is this way and it's not what lies behind so first thing is forget what lies behind the second is keep the end in mind in verse 12 he says not that I've already obtained this or I'm already perfect.

But I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus made me his own and he goes on to say but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straing forward to what lies ahead I press on for the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus that he's like no we we keep the end in mind the prize is what we're we're we're running towards like that's why that's why our six-year-old baseball players that's why they came alive they saw that prize they saw a trophy half their size and said we're going to give everything we got to win this y do youall want to.

See how big this trophy was want want me to get it for you so you can see it huh well you have to ask Raz Bradley because we lost 16 to 18 in the most epic dramatic fashion in the bottom of the last inning and I mean it's Nate's trophy but I'm sure it's in raz's office I'm sure he shows all of clients and says this is what I mean so you can take a look at it but that it just this idea of of seeing the prize and coming alive is is is more difficult.

For us because we actually can't see it we we can't we can't see what's ahead we can see the work of our God but we can't see our godun that's the part of Faith here that makes this a little bit difficult and it's trusting God and what has for us and what he says in his word and what awaits us and believing that wholeheartedly that that that's what awaits us and then trying to keep our mind there as much as possible.

Because this life is difficult it just is I mean some some of us you feel the physical Pains of this life you physically suffer you feel the the physical pain on a regular basis and it's hard because that's all mean that's such a present feeling that it's hard to actually realize that there is a day coming where you will have a glorified resurrected body that does not feel pain that does not feel the effects of suffering in this life 1 Corinthians 1553 and picturing this ISS.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this Mortal body must put on immortality and it's this picture of something so much better that awaits us I mean there's so much uh material emphasis on this body and this life billions of dollars and selfworth and all types of thing put into the material here now and it's like do you do you see what's ahead and how that's better we do this with a lot of things some of us feel the really difficult Financial burdens of this life and they're real and they're present and they don't seem to go away it's like you get a pay raise and you're like sweet and you go.

To the grocery store and you're like no there it went I walk out with 10 items for $100 and I'm like what happened the insurance went up 25% what happened and you just can't seem to get above the water and you just feel like you're always treading always trying to get above and you can't ever quite make it and you just just feel tired because of it and that can keep our our our our our Focus here and God's like no no no do do you.

See what's coming there's a day coming where you don't have to worry about financial burdens anymore where God meets every single need and desire I mean the the picture of Revelation 21 is a city where the gates are made of solid Pearl the streets are made of pure of pure gold that Christ is the light that lights up the city of God and the new heavens and the new Earth every single possible need is met so there's a day coming if we.

If we see it and we keep our Focus there by faith it's coming and it's like no I don't have to worry because ultimately that's where I'm going this happens with right now with relational difficulty sometimes you feel the relational difficulty that you have in this life you feel it with in marriage you feel it with your children you feel it with family you feel it with friends you feel it at work you feel it in your group and it's just why is it.

So hard that I've just got this I've got this Brokenness here I've got this person who's cut me out of their life got this person that won't talk to me I got this person I've got relational weirdness here and it's like I just I just so badly want to get a get a house in the country and see three people a year and never talk to anyone ever again because if I open myself up to any more hurt I don't know.

If I can do it and our just our our our that's all we can see is the relation difficulty right here and God said do do you see that one day there's a day coming where there's perfect harmony with one another the dead in Christ are raised to life and that life is beautiful we're described as having in Revelation 19 we're described as having uh fine linen bright and pure the L is the righteous Deeds of the Saints it's the perfect righteousness that we.

Finally get to lay hold of there will be no more sin no more Strife there will be people there there's genuine Christians where you just I mean that you just didn't click with in this life because both of you have sin that just comes to the surface more naturally because of your personalities and one day you'll see that person and you only know love you only know perfect love with one another this that day is is coming I'll give you one more in this life we feel regular consistent crushed hope.

Now some of that's because we worship things in this world and we put our hope in this world we have Idols that we bow down to in this world that we should not our hope should be in Christ and Christ alone and we're just trying to find Ultimate hope and created things that is a reality but sometimes there's just not hope that you've put every everything in so I I wasn't worshiping wanting to get this job I just generally I was a good way to provide.

For my family and I didn't get it I I hope this outcome was going to work out different I hope this person was going to reconcile I hope that this was going I mean there just life is hard because it's one crushed hope after the next in a lot of ways and you feel it over and over and over again there is a day coming where there is no more crushed hope there's only secure Eternal hope Revelation 21 says and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying.

Behold The Dwelling Place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and Death Shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away that's what awaits us No More Tears no more suffering no more pain no more no more crushed hope only secure Eternal hope you can do this with every aspect of life where you feel fallenness and Brokenness and we feel that.

But the problem is we feel it so much that all we do as we look down and we look what's right in front of us and the Gospel reminds us to pick pick your head up and to see what awaits you to see the God that awaits us to see the reality that awaits us and to see that's worth that's worth living for and what this world has to offer is garbage by comparison now I won't I want that it's putting all of our hope there and Paul says that in in doing this in his letter to the Corinthians in.

Second Corinthians he says so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasted in away our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary Affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of Glory beyond all comparison he calls the sufferings of this present life and him describing this is something because he is this man has been tortured and beaten and spit upon and mocked and arrested in ways that none of us will ever experience and he calls it light momentary Affliction and it's like are you serious and it's like by comparison to the Eternal weight of Glory that awaits us it is this life is brief and it is.

The suffering we feel is momentary but in those moments of suffering as we believe the Gospel it is preparing us for an eternal weight of Glory he goes on to say as we look not to things that are seen but the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are Transit but the things that are unseen are Eternal the Unseen things that we are awaiting the Eternal hope beyond all comparison that awaits us that's worth keeping so firmly fixed in our gaze that it informs every moment of how we live this life and that's the last thing I want us to.

See strain forward till we arrive strain forward till we arrive says in verse 13 but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus so forgetting what lies behind and keeping the end in mind he gives this imagery of Str training for pressing on towards that the language of strain here in the original language is this idea of of of of stretching out of of straining to get through the end it's like the imagery of a runner of a sprinter and a track meet in track in in sprinting uh there's a.

Few different races uh I think the 400 meter is probably the most difficult of all the uh sprint races in track and field I I the 100 meter is I mean it's a dead full-on Sprint with every single ounce of energy but it's only 100 meters the 800 meter is two laps around the track if you do what you do in the 100 meter you won't win that race requires a lot more pacing the 400 meter is one lap around the track and that it it's not you got to have a little bit of pacing like strategic pacing.

But it is pretty much almost a dead Sprint for 400 m i mean if you ever watch a 400 met race and watch them race it it's impressive and you watch a close one it's it's wild I mean because they are for 400 meters they are absolutely giving almost every single ounce of energy they're not conserving hardly anything and they're running full out and when you see them get to the Finish Line after giving everything they can with just a tad bit of pacing to break through and strain through the Finish Line it's impressive and it's a picture of really the Christian Life that we're called to do it's we something we should ask ourselves.

Do I strain for the prize like that is that the picture of the Christian Life that sure it's going to require a little bit of pacing but it is Max effort it is going for it like where we going to stand before God and testify that I strained to the finish line that I gave as as Colossians 1 teaches Colossians 1:29 says for this I toil struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me knowing that it's not the power within us it's not the power doesn't come from us it comes from the Holy Spirit.

But tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit we strain with every single ounce of energy that comes from him towards the Upper price is is that the life that we live because that's the life that God calls us to which means hear this that means that everything that you do in this life matters every that you do in this life matters because it's Tethered to and tied to Eternity I love what INRI the Theologian says about the resurrection in his book surprised by hope want to condense this quote down it's a little bit longer.

But he says the point of the Resurrection is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die what you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it what you do in the present by painting preaching singing sewing praying teaching building hospitals digging Wells campaigning for justice riding poems caring for the needy loving your neighbor as yourself will last in into God's Future these activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly a little more bearable they are part of what we call building.

For God's kingdom every that you do in this life matters it's not to make it a little less beastly and a little more a little less burdensome a little more pleasurable time it's not no everything you do matters because it's Tethered to an eternal reality which means we do everything to the glory of God we do everything with that end in mind with all his power that works within us we strain towards that end no matter what God calls us to do we do it to the glory of.

God straining for the prize a few years ago I've read this book it's called The Gospel comes to the house key by Rosaria Butterfield and that book has always been very convicting for me she's teaching about hospitality and God has GI her with hospitality it's evident when you read the book but when she just describes a general week it's just wild to me I just like it just kind on a Monday you know we've got uh you know she homeschools and she has uh she Fosters kids and she talks about some of the complexities that they had on Monday.

And then these people come home her husband's a pastor these people come from the Church to her house and they spend some time together then on Tuesday you know they they they're missional in their streets they invite people from their street to come over then Wednesday uh this family came over then Thursday they ended up doing this and then Friday they open their home up to this person who was hurting this woman who was in an abusive situation and then on Saturday.

And then on Sunday and I just read it and I'm like what but she gets it she she knows the prize and everything she does to the glory of God she will strength and like I I I I I read that I'm like that it's a life worth living and that should call us to be reflective of the lives that we live now and we should respond we we should some of you should consider hosting your community group like you've seen how hard hosting a group can be you've seen what happens.

When eight children come into a play area and just make it their own by murdering everything inside and then you have to go in and you have to correct them and say don't do this respect the place ah you've SE you've seen what happens when like just all of a sudden there's spaghetti on the wall and it's how did that get there and it's been there for days and who did it but you should you should some of you should consider leading a group which is even harder.

Because leading a group is not it's not easy but what a beautiful thing to give your life to how many testimonies in our Church of people who jumped into a community group group who did not know Christ but then came to see the Gospel lived out in beautiful ways and place of faith in Christ that are one day going to be with him forever you should consider it some of you should consider leader in training you should consider becoming a leader in training and a and and that's an opportunity.

For you to grow yeah it's going to require more of you but you get to know more of Christ in it you should strain I mean really strain to whatever God has in front of you some of you should consider consider finally becoming members some people have been around for a bit and it's like you you should consider finally becoming a member and and submitting to the authority of one another in the local Church you should some some of you should strain in whatever way.

God is calling you to some of you that that means giving yourself away to others I mean some of you should consistently and regularly share the Gospel like I mean consistently and regularly in your workplace share the Gospel and it's like I I don't want to come off as preachy I want to you know let them see it in my life and it's like but the the Gospel is not a life it's a message and it's like they need to hear it and it's like who cares.

If you're there's there's a bad way of being preachy the self-righteous preachy and no don't do that don't but I know a lot of you and you are not in danger of being that guy or that girl okay but who cares if you're known as being preachy every let me let let me let you in a secret everyone is preaching everyone's preaching about something okay just literally if you ever worked in an office they're preaching about the favorite show that they love they're preaching about their children they're preaching about whatever new thing that they're into whatever new podcast they're into they're cats I mean just everyone's excited about something and they're an evangelist.

For something they're going to tell you about it and a lot of times what they're doing is they're they're selling you on some type of hope that they found and you you know better it's like you know that I mean just being blunt and honest that that hope is stupid it's just that hope is never going to satisfy and from a completely humble non-condescending way because the only way that we know that is by grace through faith you lovingly and winsomely get to declare the mystery of Christ and compel them to a better hope.

And so what if a few if you do it a few times and you get known as like they love Jesus and if you go to launch with them then you might hear about it who cares everyone's preaching we just have something better to preach about you should strain you should strain towards the prize growing in evangelism we should do this we should strain which means sometimes bearing burdens with difficult people there's some people they can be described as clingy or dramatic or difficult or weird and no one else in the world wants to give them any attention at all and the most Christ exalting.

God glorifying obedient thing you can do is give them love and attention and focus and energy let me tell you something if you do that at some point once you've won their ear you can say hey did she know when you do this that's really weird and enough pudding and no and like there's a reason why like people like don't want to eat lunch with you and the most like Jesus exalting humble wise way of saying it hey did you know.

When you get like really clingy it's like like you shouldn't but again like in the most Gospel centered thoughtful like Wise Way of but you can do but a lot of times like no I've got to draw my boundaries here and I got to make sure that I'm taken care of and it's like yeah you can take care of yourself you can walk and Sh Gum as a Christian by the power of the Holy Spirit you can you can get away like.

Jesus and know Christ and then strain to love others well as we press on towards that eternity some of you need to serve like you need to actually serve we make make jokes all the time and you should serve in Kid City because we have such a yes because we have such a need there but you should I mean even if you're serving in another area even you're serving in Hospitality or connected or any other area of the Church you put in one once a month once every two months to Kid City it totally changes the game you you can do both some of you are not serving you should serve the Church.

Because we got a pile of children that I mean just keeps growing like one of our big concerns in growing right now we got parking it's like we got to figure out our parking situation so some of you should Park further away but we also got a lot of kids we we got to make more room for more children which means we need to serve some of you s should serve some of you should strain and missing out on the newest and nicest things in life that means the newest and nicest vehicle that means the the the greatest vacation you might actually progress in a tax bracket that is above working class.

But the way you live your life is working class because your extra money goes towards missions it goes towards clothing orphans it goes towards the local Church because you understand that every single dime you make in this world ends up in the dirt but the effort that you put into eternity lasts and we should strain towards that some of you should pray and and and receive the calling and aspire to missions to pastoring to Church planning to revitalizing because that straining is worth it we should strain we should forget what lies behind we should keep the end in mind and we should strain and press forward into eternity.

Listen that's exhausting at times it is that's long weeks and sometimes longer weekends and emotionally Laden Seasons but the straining is worth it because one day in the Eternal Feast of God the there will be a table where there will be people right now in your life that did not know Christ because you decided to make it awkward one day and you shared Christ with them they're going to be at that table praising God and enjoying life with him for eternity there will be people that nobody cared to love that had a lot of burdens that were doubting whether.

Jesus was good but because you chose to love them and bear burdens with them and walk with them even when it was difficult and even when they were difficult they in their perfected State have no more burdens and they'll be at that table rejoicing with the King there is a day coming where people that you walk with that struggle with addiction the struggle with pornography the struggle with all types of sins that you got into the mess with and po them to Christ over and over again saw that put to death and it did not choke out the seed of Faith.

But they bore fruit because you lever your life for the mission of God it is worth the straining with every ounce of energy within us that comes from God brothers and sisters we forget the past we keep the end in mind and we strain towards that eternity it's worth it let's pray heavenly father I pray that you might help us see this life as compelling and worthy of Our Lives that for some of us means that we need to believe there are some men here have not surrender to you to live that life.

God I pray that right now they would not delay that they would lay down their life and surrender to you they would see their past paid for on the cross and they would see their future redefined as a new person in Christ but God that requires you breaking through their heart right now in faith and I pray that you would God I pray that you'd help each of us help us repent of the sin in our lives that keeps us from straining towards the prize of the upward call of life with you and that we'd believe that is better and more compelling than anything in this life in.

Jesus name amen the band's going to come up and we're going to take uh communion on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread he broke it he said this is my body that was broken for you and he took the cup of the New Covenant he said this is my blood that was shed for you that is often as you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return so for Christians that's a reminder of what Christ did.

For us on the cross but also what awaits us so we come to the table in Repentance and in worship being reminded of the prize that we're straining for if you're not a Christian please do not take part in this but Surrender Your Life to him now and take part in Christ.

Two Laborers (Philippians 2:19-30)

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

Philippians 2:19-30 Two Laborers

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the big the book of Philippians chapter 2: 19 through3 we're going to finish out chapter 2 today uh but you can go ahead and follow along there it's on page 570 in the blue Bibles that are around you if you want to grab one of those the text will also be on the screen uh so my children watch uh some some kids TV shows and most of them are just not.

Well done they're just they're not well thought out they're not they don't have good stories there's not a good story arc it's just they're poorly written it's just they're just putting you know and children are easily entertained so it's just you just put a cartoon in front of them and and it just it's fine however there are some in particularly one that's just incredible the it's just so well done it's just I mean it is the best that is out there right.

Now and do you know what the one that is that's exactly right it's Bluey it is incredible like there are there are two really incredible great things that have come out of Australia blue is one of them the second is a person and we know who that is that's Hugh Jackman it's just but it's incredible this show is like they're like 12 minute shorts they're just I mean and they're just so well done every time like every now that I'm like I'm cooking and making food.

And then I kind of look and I just I just then I just kind of sit there I'm just like do it do it I know how you're going to finish this it's so good but uh the thing that I love and appreciate the most is uh it's it's about a dog family uh and it's you know Mom Dad these two kids and uh the the person I appreciate the the animal I appreciate the most is the dad his name is Bandit and I watch Bandit and I'm like man he's such a good dad like he just gets in his kids' world and he plays with them and he uses his imagination and he teaches.

Them and Bandit's like the best dad I watch Bandit I'm just like I want to be like Bandit I want a parent like Bandit I want to be a dad like Bandit like look at him with his kids and I've seen people uh comment about this online there's like this mild like real small backlash of just people that are like I you know this just it's really not right that you know Bandit's just too good of a dad and it's Dad shaming which is the stupidest thing the dumbest response you could have to this it's like no like you shouldn't.

Look at Bandit as a dad I'm Bluey and just think he's oh he just Dad shaming it's just too hard no you should see Bandit and be like I'm stepping my game up like I want to be like that that if you see someone that's exemplary like that you should say I'm I want to be like that I want to I want to par parent like that I want to be a dad like that and that's what this text gets to be.

Today we're just we're at the end of chapter 2 and there are two men that are upheld Timothy and apodius as Paul transition transitions into chapter 3 and I just I just it's real simple guys I want to look at how he talks about these two men and I just want to see these two people as Christians and see who they are and then say I know I I want us to be like that I want to see the example of Christ that they display how I want that I want to leave a legacy like that.

So it's pretty simple that's what we're doing today I'm going to pray for us then we're going to walk through the text together and see this so heavenly father I pray that you might help us see uh two men in the text today like many other people in the Scriptures that we get to read about that we get to see uh your goodness displayed through them in a way that should Inspire us to be like them because ultimately we get to be like you and that's the hope that you would help us as we sit under the authority of your word this morning may you mold us and shape us into your image that we.

Might be a people that uh worship and Delight in you for who you are in Jesus name amen all right so we're going to pick up in verse 19 it says I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you now if you read the New Testament if you're familiar with it Timothy is someone who shows up quite a bit he he is uh he shows up over 40 times in the New Testament there are two letters 1.

Second Timothy that uh two two Scriptures two letters that that Paul wrote to uh to Timothy uh we we know of his background we know of his his mother and his grandmother who left a legacy of faith for him like we we we know quite a bit about uh Timothy and it appears that Timothy is going to be sent to the Church in Philippi to the Philippians and he's going to carry this letter but Paul in this is ask he's he's uh he's excited to send Timothy.

So that he can hear news of this Church because he as we've been in the book of Philippians we've seen this that he loves the Church of Philippi he has a good relationship with this Church and he and he wants to hear how they're doing he's eager to hear how they're doing which embodies the teaching that he taught just a few verses ago when he's looking to the interest of others he cares about the Philippians he wants to know about them and he wants to receive news of them he's excited to hear how they are doing and I just appreciate the love that is bound up in that it's like a good friend that like.

If you're sitting down to catch up with an old friend and they're good friend like they're they're eager to hear all about you they they they they want to know how you're doing they keep asking questions of you as opposed to if you ever been in a conversation with someone who just you can tell they're not really listening and they're just trying to get to them so they can talk that's not this Paul is eager to hear of the Philippians and how they are doing.

And then verse 20 we get some Commendation of who he believes Timothy is and how he should be thought of as he's going to take this letter to them in verse 20 it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare and that's just Paul bragging on his brother on his friend Timothy commending Timothy to the Church at Philippi he's like you don't understand you I've got no one on my team like Timothy he he's a dear brother who will show genuine concern.

For your welfare and I just I mean oh that we might be a people that are remembered for that to be a people that are remembered for having genuine concern for the welfare of others a few weeks ago I was at the funeral from one of our uh oldest members dobass many of you never had the pleasure of meeting dobass she was 103 when she died she uh uh was homebound by the time that our two churches came together but she left the legacy of this of this genuine care and love.

For others and you I'm not got to see this beautiful Funeral Service where her this Legacy of her family which I mean kids and grandkids and great grandkids just got up and spoke of fondly of how she just genuinely loved them how she genuinely would listen and care for them how she loved to make meals for them that she left this Legacy of just deep care for others and it's like I want that we should want that to be remembered as a people that that showed this genuine love and care.

For others that's the kind of Legacy we should want to leave and that's what Timothy is he has this genuine care for the welfare of others and then Paul continues verse 21 he says for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and if you're kind of jumping in here it's like wait what you're bragging on Timothy and he's like Timothy's great he shows so much care for others not like these fools up here and it's like wait what and it's hard we've been in Philippians.

For a couple of months now so it's hard to think back but if you go back to chapter one that that's what Paul's referencing here in chapter one chapter 1 ver1 15 he speaks about some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwi and when we walk through that what we got to see was is that Paul is imprisoned in Rome and he's working with the Church in Rome and there seem to be some people in the Church at Rome who are uh who are preaching the Gospel and ministering.

For their own glory for their own interests for their own good and and and what Paul's doing there which for us has been a couple of months ago but just a few verses when you read the letter as a whole is a few verses ago he's pitting against these people that are not doing it for the right reasons as opposed to Timothy who has genuine love and care for your welfare but he continues verse 22 he says but you know Timothy's proven worth how as a son with a.

Father he has served with me in the Gospel which I just appreciate the depth of the relationship that he has with Timothy you see some of the family language that's bound up in this that he looks at Timothy like a son in the faith which I I appreciate that one of the things we we we speak about often here is Church family that that this is not an event that we do it's not a function that we do it's not a social aspect of Our Lives that we.

Look at each other as the family of God that we have brothers and sisters in Christ mothers and fathers in the faith in this Church we love one another like a Church family and I appreciate the the family that I get to see day in day out in our Church and we should continue to embody that so and and and and that's not the only thing that's bound up in the language of father son here it's both family but it's also both discipleship and apprenticeship.

Because in their culture Fathers and Sons weren't just family the the father was going to pass down his trade to his son so this is apprenticeship this is discipleship he's been pouring into Timothy and he sees him as a son in the faith which is something that we should want to do we should want to pour and give our lives away into others in discipleship I remember years ago when my wife and I we we graduated from college we got married I went to Seminary in Louisville Kentucky we lived there.

For five years we were part of a Church there and I remember at 23 years old just you know excited to learn as much as I could could part of this Church looking up to the different Elders that served in that Church and it's wild to me because many of those Elders I looked up to so much I'm now at their age in stage and and I'm I'm I'm excited that got to be doing the same thing that I get to give my life away and pour pour myself into others and and we have really a lot of older folks in the Church that are ready to do this as.

Well like I one of the things I appreciate it is we have some some older women in the faith that are giving their lives away and I think some of the younger women in our Church see that and I think some of yall love that and and the reality is is the more you press into this family and this discipleship that we get to have in this Church that you're not far away from being able to do that yourself to pour yourself into someone else that they might uh know Christ more.

Because you leveraged your life to give yourself away that's the relationship that we see here with with Paul and Timothy he's commending them to the Philippians in verse 23 he continues he says I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also which we saw this earlier in Philippians but that's this just shows that Paul has this expectation that he's going to get out of his prison sentence that is going to be free.

But he says until then like I'm I'm sending my brother Timothy I'm sending s the son in the faith to go and to minister to you to care for you so that's Timothy the first person that's uphel then we get to the second apodius verse 25 I have thought it was necessary to to send to you apodius my brother and fellow worker and fellow Soldier and your messenger and minister to my need now we know a lot about Timothy because of how much he shows up in the New Testament we don't know who apodius is he didn't show up a lot in the new test he shows up twice once or once right here.

Once later in this letter so only the book of Philippians do a papitis show up so who is he what is he about and the first description that we get here is jam-packed with pictures of who he is the first one I want to point out is is when it's says your messenger so Paul calls him your messenger which means that he's a Philippian that he's from the Church at Philippi and when you get to reading later as we're going to.

See in the book of Philippians that he is he he brought a letter and he brought a gift to help Paul in his imprisonment so he is from the Church at Philippi he's a native of Philippi and also he's not just there to bring this gift he's also there to minister to Paul because as we're going to get some context here in a moment he's been there for quite a bit he's been there for for months and months and months serving with Paul serving with the Church in Rome.

So the first description we get is Messenger the second I want to point out is is this language of brother that we just saw that Paul sees him as a brother in Christ he's a part of the family of God he was a part of the local family of God in Philippi now he's in Rome he's serving there the next description I want to sit in is this fellow worker language this fellow worker Christians are seen as fellow workers and fellow laborers in Christ we're called that throughout the whole new testament that's what.

Jesus in Matthew 9 says the Harvest is plentiful but the labors are few labor worker come from the same Greek root in the New Testament that there is a harvest there are people that need the Gospel and we get to labor on their behalf you also see this later in the book of phiman as Paul is describing a few uh laborers Mark araris Deus and Luke my fellow workers that the way that uh epaphroditus is describe as someone who has given his life away to.

See the Gospel go forward to serve the Church to love others to do the things that Christ calls us to do because the Christian life is not one where we just are complacent and it's certainly not one where we're just passive recipients the Christian Life is one where we pick up a shovel and we work we labor on behalf of our God we do the work that he's called us to do we believe in Eternal things and how eternity matters and we labor in light of that reality.

So he's called a fellow worker he's also called a fellow Soldier a fellow Soldier this is also language that shows up in the New Testament as well in his letter Paul's letter to 2 Timothy in chapter 2: 3 and 4 it says share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus no soldier gets entangled in civilian Pursuit since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him that's picture of being a soldier who's devoted to the king it was the king or the emperor in their time that you serve the king in his interest wherever you are wherever you are sent Isaac to who used to be a part of our Church he's.

Matt Angela's son he's over in Germany right now serving overseas as a soldier for the US military now I I don't know exactly what he's doing there I can tell you what he's not doing he's not entangled in German politics he's not entangled in German affairs that's not what he's doing there he serves on behalf of our country in the interest of our country because he belongs to a different nation and the picture here is that when you are a Christian you belong to a a different Nation you belong to the kingdom of.

God and you serve on behalf of the King you serve on behalf of his interest you take his orders as described in his word and we do the things that he commands us to do serving on behalf of our King and that's what a paer is that's how he's described that he's a soldier on behalf of the king and right now his calling is to serve Paul and the Church in Rome but he is eventually going to go back to Philippi.

And when he gets back he's going to continue his service there he's described as a soldier he's described as a minister which is a language of assistant and servant he's ministering to Paul ministering to the Church in Rome so that is the impressive introduction that we get to epaphroditus this is who he is as a Christian labor a soldier a brother and then we get this picture in verses 26 and for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed.

Because you heard that he was Ill indeed he was Ill near to death but God had mercy on him and not only on him but also but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow so we get this picture of a papitis who gets sick near to death sick and I just I just so appreciate how he's described because he's concerned about the Philippians that at this point he's been there long enough to serve and to get sick.

For a letter to leave Rome and get all the way to Philippi for them to hear about a sickness and his chief concern is oh no how are they must be worried about me cuz y'all if I was very sick and ill and I found out that our Church was was deeply concerned for me there's a sinful part of me that would just go oh man they love me they just they care about me look at them they just I just appreciate the love and the prayer and and and I would repent of that.

And then move to where he is where he's just like oh man I just they must be worried about me they must be worried sick about me his main concern is their well-being and he was in the verge of death this is the kind of selfless friend that you go and visit who's going through chemo and they're going through chemo and you sit down with them and you talk to them and they're just immediately like how are you doing I know this must be hard I know you're worried about me I know and it's just like no no no we don't come here to talk about you no like we're not talking about how this.

Is hard for me I want to talk I want I want to love you want to serve you but your friend who is good as has this heart that's for you that's concerned about your well-being and that's a papitis he hears that his Church back home in Philippi is concerned about his well-being and he's just like oh man I just I want to tell him I want to let him know that I'm okay I mean just the the the concern that he has.

For his Church that sent him it's beautiful and I love the the the commentary that Paul gives here he says he he makes this note that I I Paul's like I'm glad I'm glad that he's okay because if he wasn't and he died I just I would have sorrow upon sorrow and this this picture just it would have deeply hurt Paul it would have been deeply sorrowful to have this dear brother and friend die he just like no I'm glad he was spared.

And then Paul continues in verse 28 it says I am the more eager to send him therefore that you may Rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious and I just so appreciate the genuine concern for others the love that's just displayed all over this like Paul is eager to send a papitis back he's like I I can't wait to send him to you him and Timothy going to go and I can't wait for you to see him.

So for you to be re you for you to be reunited because I have this anxiety about you I have this this worry about how you're feeling it's just he's concerned with their concern and he wants to be less concerned with their concerns once their concerns are lifted it's just this outward just everyone is just so deeply concerned for one another in some ways that are just beautiful this Rich love that you see all around this section and we finish it.

Verse 2930 it says so receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men for he nearly died for the work of Christ it's this picture he he wants to honor Timothy and apodus risking his life to come risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me which can feel like an odd ending to that section because a bad way to read that is I mean because he's he's risking his life doing you know what's what what you should be doing and it's like no no that's not what he's saying there what he's simply saying is is that you can't be here with me my dear Philippian brothers.

Sisters and he's just serving on behalf of you right here so we get these two pictures as we finish that number two of these uh of these two men Timothy and epaphroditus and I look at how they're described and I think man I want that like I just I want I want to be like that I want a legacy that's left like that right this is this is me on a Saturday morning as my kids are watching Bluey looking at Bandit just like just I want that like I I want to be like these men I want to be known.

For what they're known for I want to to uh to I mean goodness for the last 2,000 years Christians have read this letter and they've seen the example that is bound up in these men and and we should want that so what I want to do with just our closing time as I just want to look at kind of three overarching themes I see in these men these Christians and and we should look at this and say I actually want that too I I want to live a life that leaves a legacy that is like this.

So the first thing I just want to highlight is the genuine concern for others that we saw in verse 20 the genuine concern for others it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare this theme shows up all over the book of Philippians a lot of the times I I mean Philippians get descri gets described as the book of the letter of joy and it is there's a lot of joy in it but it's like there's also just this genuine love that shows up all over the place.

For one another and that's a legacy worth leaving that's a life worth living one that is just so deeply concerned with others that's how we should want to live we're the primary concern it's not how am I doing but how are you doing how are they doing that's what we should want which means I mean this what this looks like is is when you have when you hear about someone else in the Church who is struggling when you catch wind that someone else is hurting someone else is in deep need and the Church has got to Rally what this is is not the thought that might come across that says oh man like I know.

I'm not supposed to help this person but I know how much time this is going to take out of my schedule and I know how much money this is going to take out of our budget but I know we're supposed to do this it's like it's it's it's pushing that away and say no I just how are they doing right like they must be so burdened they must be so worried they must be so hurting that our first thought it's just no no no how are they doing it's this outward-looking life that isn't looking to ourselves in our own interest that's the kind of life that we should live and I get to.

See this y'all I got to see Christians in our Church that that love other people one of the things I appreciate so much is over and over again I see Christians in our Church that find a way that get money to someone else and need in our Church but their name not attached to it and it's just that no I just I heard that that they were hurting I heard they had this need and I want to be able to help and it's this genuine outward looking concern this is the kind of this is the kind of discussion that you get have in group where you are genuinely locked in to.

When when someone else is sharing right they're sharing they're pouring out their life there's no cross talk happening over here there's no one on their phone that's not paying attention it's not someone who's just biting their time so they can talk no it's just this no everyone's locked in and listening because I just it's someone taking notes I've had to pray for this brother I pray for this sister I just I get so I get so excited sometimes when I hear I might share something that that's difficult in my life.

And then all 3 or four weeks later some some Christian comes up to me in our Church and just says how's that going I've been praying for that I'm like I love it that's how that's how we should think it's how we should live with thinking about others and loving others so well that we're just we're not thinking of ourselves on a consistent basis we're thinking of others that we should that I mean listen we we should live our days in a way we're thinking about other Christians.

So much so that in the morning we're thinking about our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and and the afternoon and the evening we're thinking about others it shouldn't just be the on our way to group we're thinking about those in our group it shouldn't just be as we're here on a Sunday morning that we're thinking of others that we should live our lives in a way that has genuine concern for others that's a life worth living it's a it's a much better life to give yourself to the.

Second thing I want to highlight is this faithful service that shows up throughout this section this faithful service from a PA from Timothy that were commended here and honored for their faithful service of the mission going forward and that's a life worth living some of you don't know this because you weren't here when we merged together as two churches but when Mill City and First Baptist Church of casy came together there was someone who was integral to the process who was crucial to seeing this happen and it was the interim pastor of the time Dr Ken.

So Dr Ken I mean he's been a pastor for many many decades he was the pastor at First Baptist Church of uh First Baptist Newberry for uh for many decades and then he moved back to Columbia retired and moved back to col he retired and moved back to Columbia and and he served as an interim here he brought two churches together and a pastor who served here for served for for many decades who has more Collective wisdom and experience than our whole Elder team at the time to steep back and he moved to the side in a way that was just beautiful and his membership is still here.

Because but what he does he just he gets getting called in this area to interum he shows up at this Church and then his wife Joyce served for many years Miss Joy passed away a couple of years ago and he's just still serving and he goes from interim to interim to interim I see him every now and then I'm like Dr Kim when you come home he's like I'm hope soon but I know like he'll be here for like a month.

And then he'll go on to the next Church and that's his life giving himself away to others that's a life of service that we should want to embody whether it's as as a pastor as someone who's serving as a everyday missionary and their workplace in their neighborhood like that's that's the life that we should live is one that's consistently giving ourselves away I love and appreciate uh the the missionary CT stud and the poem that he once wrote and the the refrain that shows up in this poem over and over again that's hauntingly good he says only.

When life will soon be pass only What's Done For Christ will last and it's like that's it I life is so short and it's so brief and when you're younger you think you got all the years in the world and then you ask some of our older folks it is gone like that and it's brief and we should live our lives in a way that in this brief life we are giving ourselves away in service to the mission going forward and to others it's a beautiful life to live I want to mention someone she doesn't know I'm going to mention her she probably bother that I mention her.

But miss Louise who served as a secretary in this Church since 1991 she retired in 1991 and she's been serving here for 30 whatever the math is in that three-ish years I got some of y'all weren't even born in 1991 actually probably many of you weren't born in 1991 but she has been giving herself away to this Church for decades for free just giving her time giving her energy caring for others that's a life worth living that's the kind of service we should give to Christ as a faithful Soldier as a fellow laborer we should give ourselves away in service it's worth it.

Because listen you are going to serve something you're going to serve someone you can serve Christ or you can serve yourself you can serve a career I mean there's plenty of Idols that you can that's what service is just worship there's plenty of things you can worship in place of Christ there's plenty of things you can serve in the place of Christ we're created to serve and we have a choice that we can serve Christ and see the joy that comes in that.

See the Eternal dividence that come with that and see uh people that will be standing in the Kingdom of God in the new heavens and the new Earth at the table across from us because we gave ourselves away you can live a life where after many decades of serving Christ there are people who entered the baptism Waters with you because you led them to Christ because you made it awkward and shared the Gospel with them because you loved and served them that's a legacy worth living worth leaving and a life worth living and that's the service that we should seek to embody the.

Third thing I want to point out is that they lived a life where their absence was felt with deep sorrow our absence should be felt not just noticed but felt I I I so appreciate that phrase where he says lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow like the the loss of aitis would have been felt like he would have had sorrow upon sorrow because his absence would have been felt about a year ago the brother and Pastor Tim Keller died I never got a chance to meet Tim Keller just like the many people he impacted.

But he left this Legacy where he his loss was felt across the Church in the west the kind of people that he impacted the kind of pastors he impacted the kind of writings he wrote his absence was felt there was a sorrow for the western Church in America and Europe when he passed that's a life worth living like you if you take a job in another city or you or answer the call to missions and you you go away that that absence should be felt there was a a couple here John and jley Amadeo a few years ago they were here.

For a year one year while he was in school down here and listen they could have just visited a bunch of churches and hung around for a little bit and then just you know we're not gonna be here for about a year and I mean we not as well just we're not there's no Point becoming members no they they came down here they visited they became members and they gave themselves away to this Church for a year and then they left.

Let me tell you something their absence was felt I you asked the people that were in group with them and it's like they miss them and that that that that's that's how we should live that wherever we are whever Christ puts us we give ourselves away so that when we're gone that absence is felt and that's often through the very often quiet work of serving others of of sharing the Gospel with others the things that are unseen but ultimately when you're gone it's like no I I'm I miss that brother I miss that sister.

For the way that they lived out the Gospel and it's not doing it for the wrong reasons it's not doing it for our own Glory it's not doing it for our own good is doing it for the glory of God and obedience to what he calls us to but I just so appreciate how Timothy and AAP are described In this passage and I look at that I say I want that I want that for myself I want that for our Church.

Verse 20 21 says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and what's bound up there is is that you have a choice you have your own individual interest or the interest of Christ our own interest or the interest of Christ and that's the choice that's left before us now the choice is clear right Jesus his interest which ultimately results in the interest of others.

But the problem is that's hard because if you're like me they naturally just self-interested that there's a part of us that's just the the main focus is our individual lives and our individual schedules and our individual activities and and Lasting service is hard right look genuine care for others is hard lasting service is hard it's easy to serve for a moment it's hard to give yourselves away over and over again and it's hard to live a life where your absence is felt.

Because you were so selfless and not self-interested especially because we're in an individual individualistic culture and we're we're Sinners that are part of this culture that are so individualized and this rat race of Life chasing after our own interest so it's hard it's hard to hear the example there and to say Okay I want this and the pro here here's all here's the other problem is that if you hear that example and you go I'm doing it I'm going to I'm going to muscle in and I'm going to be selfless it's like you you can't not by your own power.

But the good news of the Gospel is that we have a savior who was selfless who looked upon us in our self-interest who looked upon us and our own uh concern for ourselves and our savior showed genuine concern for us and he left heaven and he came from Earth came to Earth and he was obedient to death on a cross for self-interested Sinners Like Me And You And His selfless giving himself away went to the Cross to die for that self-interest.

So that we might die to it too and then he walks out of the Tomb to make a way for us to live a life that is new that gives our selves away to others that serves him as King in a way that leaves an impact that resounds into eternity so the way we do this is we look to Christ and we look to what he did on our behalf and we see how much our savior loved Us and how much he gave himself to us and we say I want that that's what Timothy and Aus did they looked at Christ and they said I'm giving my life away to this King the choice is.

Ours and my hope is that you choose Christ let me pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us look to your example to what you did on our behalf that we might live a life that is so outwardly focused that dies to ourselves that we might see the Gospel move forward in the lives of others but that takes for some of us being broken of our own sin in a way that leads to Faith that changes and for all of us it takes repenting of Our Own self-interest by looking at you.

So Lord help us and help us do that in a way that lives a beautiful life with a legacy like these two men that we saw in the Scriptures today in Jesus name amen

The Hope of Resurrection (1 Cor 15)

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

The Hope of Resurrection

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Morning happy Easter you guys we are in First Corinthians this morning we typically uh as we have sermons we open up the text we walk through the text and that's what we're going to be doing this morning in 1 Corinthians chapter 15: 16 through2 uh if you have a blue Bible will be on page 560 and if you don't have a Bible at home please take that that's a that's a gift we want you to have the word of God at home uh the text will also be on the screen.

So my wife and I uh we uh used to watch this show called chopped uh it's a cooking show and it's pretty basic you got four chefs four professionals three rounds you have appetizer and if you have the worst dish guess what happens you get chopped you you guys are getting it all right then you got an entree round next dish last one who's not that good chopped then a dessert and if you win you get a cool $10,000 because it's the Food Network and they got they ain't got kind of budget to give you a lot of money.

But that's the gist of the show and we were watching this one time and this guy was clearly the best I mean his appetizer was on point they the judges they ate it they loved it goes the next round entree crushes it uh gets the dessert round his his opponent uh this uh woman she barely gets in kind of on a technicality she she gets into the dessert round and he decides in 30 minutes he's going to bake a cake and he I mean is just killing it he's an artist he's just he's got the flour it's going he's got the sugar and the eggs and all he's just going.

For it she's over there like sweating like this guy's baking a cake and I'm just I'm putting together I just got to get on the plate I just get get on the plate time goes before the judges they're excited because they've just they've seen how good this guy is all day long they sink their Fork into it they take a bite you know when I I know this personally when you make something that just it just didn't work and I've seen my wife she just she goes yeah did you try something different this time and it's just a kind way of saying what what happened they didn't do that they spit it out they go.

And he's mortified because he's just like what happened and then it bit takes a moment for them to collect themselves to get every crumb out of their mouth and then the one judge goes I I think you grab salt instead of sugar and then they do like the black and white slow-mo camera where he like thinks he's grabbing sugar but right beside it is salt and he just dumps a bunch of salt in it and he's devastated I think the judges are devastated he's had such a good day and he failed it's I mean and he loses.

Because a cake without sugar is not a cake he presented a pile of salty garbage and it left everyone disappointed today we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ that's what we celebrate that Jesus what we just sang about that Jesus was the tomb was empty and our Christian faith is built upon that reality if there is no resurrection that there there is no Christian faith it is it is a cake without sugar worse it's a cake infected by a salt mine like it's just.

If we don't have the resurrection we don't have Christian faith at all it is a devastating disappointment and that's what we're going to see today in First Corinthians that everything that we hope for in the resurrection that our whole faith is built upon this and without it we will be deeply we would be deeply disappointed so let me read uh the text and then we'll walk through this together verse 16- 20 for if the dead are not raised not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised your faith is feudal and you are still in your sins then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished if in Christ we have hope in this life only we are of all people most to be pied but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep let's pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us see the power of resurrection and what that means.

For us that we might not leave here this morning unaffected by the truth of your Gospel that it might PE Pierce our hearts and it might lead us to worshiping you delighting in you in faith we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so we typically preach through books of the Bible we've been in Philippians for a few months which means when you're preaching through books of the Bible you're able to kind of know the context of what we've been walking through.

But today's different we're jumping into First Corinthians so let me give a little bit of context for this passage uh Corinthians 1 Corinthians is a letter uh that one of Jesus's followers wrote to a Church uh in a city uh in Greece called Corinth so this is uh inspired Scripture that God used his servant Paul to communicate his truth to this Church in that context and when you read a few verses before this in chapter 15 what you see is is that this Church believes in the resurrection of.

Jesus Christ like he walks through that Jesus died for our sins which is what we celebrated on Good Friday that because of our sin that has to be paid for and Christ went to the cross that Jesus walked out of the Tomb the tomb was empty that there are 500 plus people who witness the resurrected Christ you can see that this Church clearly believes this just as Paul clearly believes this but when you keep reading what you start to see is is that.

While they believe that Jesus did rise from the grave there's some people in this Church that are struggling to believe that there's a future resurrection and that's what's being addressed here and if you read the Scriptures you see that there's a future resurrection that one day uh God is going to Jesus is going to come back and he's going to make all things new that heaven will descend down to earth and he will radically recreate this Earth and when that happens his Church God's people will be bodily resurrected to glorified bodies we will live with.

God forever that's the truth that he's talking about and it seems that some people in this Church are struggling to believe this when he says in verse 16 for if the dead are not raised that's what he's talking about if there is no future Resurrection not even Christ has been raised he ties the two of those together that Christ Resurrection precedes the future resurrection and these are bound together to deny one and to deny the other they are linked together if you have Christ's Resurrection God's people will be Resurrected some of you know this.

Because you've seen this that if you play the song Mr Brightside by The Killers which those who are laughing have seen it if you play that song I will come alive one precedes the other that's going to happen it happened at a wedding a few years ago and it's just kind of keeps happening you play that song and I come alive and I'm going to sing every line of that song and if I'm not there just to be honest there will be another 35-year old white guy who steps in and just chants and sings that song it happens.

Listen I mean everyone's got their era right you Boomers you got Don't Stop Believing you know you got September by Earth Wind and Fire my wife and I for her birthday were at a jazz club for her birthday they played earthwind and fire they played September you saw people just grooving that one precedes the other that's what's Happening Here Resurrection precedes future Resurrection the two are bound together and that's what he's trying to help them see so clearly here.

Verse 17 he continues he says and if Christ has not not been raised your faith is feudal and you are still in your sins then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished so he shows that Resurrection is at the heart of the Gospel that that if Christ doesn't rise from the grave everyone stands condemned everyone stands condemned he's trying to help them see that if you don't have Resurrection you you don't have salvation we have to keep the cross and the resurrection tied together that's what Paul in another letter that he writes another Scripture that he writes to the book of in the Book of Romans chapter 4 he says it will be.

Count un to us who believe in him who rais from the dead Jesus our lord who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification these are tied together that his death covers our Rebellion the blood that that he shed on the cross is for our sins but if he doesn't rise from the grave we're not saved I the picture here is We Stand condemned because of our sin that we are locked in a prison on death row and we stand condemned.

Jesus enters into the courtroom before the judge while we are in prison he says no no no I I'll take his place I'll take her place I'll take her place in the electric chair I'll take his place on the cross that's the picture here so he he takes the punishment for our sin but if the resurrection doesn't happen we we're not free we're not alive and the resurrection is the key that unlocks the prison that allows us to walk free and to take off the prison garments to put on uh his righteousness that's the picture these are tied together we are not saved.

If he does not walk out of the Tomb so he's trying to help them see the importance like this is how important Resurrection is and then we get to verse 19 which is we're going to spend most of our time he says if in Christ we have hope in this life only we are of all people most to be pied I want to take a look at this from a few different angles the first here if there is no Resurrection that's both Christ's Resurrection.

But also the future resurrection that awaits if there is no Resurrection we as Christians are to be the most pied it's us there's a there was a French mathematician philosopher his name was blae Pascal from four centuries ago which we're pretty fertile Church if you're having children and you have looking for baby names Blaze is got to be at the top of your list it's pretty awesome The Blaze Pascal came up with uh a defense of Christian faith because he was a Christian and it is endured.

For centuries still very popular argument today and it's called Pascal's wager and here here's the gist of it he says you should put your faith in Christ and you should live like a Christian if you are right you gain eternity with God in heaven but he says if we're wrong I if God doesn't exist then you know what you lived a good life you're a good person get good morals people thought well of you you lived a nice life so it's a safe beted.

So put your faith in Christ because if you don't put your faith in Jesus and you're wrong you get hell so don't do that put your faith in Jesus and if we're right we get heaven and if you're wrong then you lived a pretty good life that's no harm no foul either way Jesus is a safe bed that is a argument that is endured I'm sure it's a still in chain emails and Facebook posts and YouTube I'm sure Tik tokers are doing it like that is a common thing that gets uh that is still told.

Today here is why why Pascal misses the point when it comes to this passage he misunderstands the Christian Life if he believes that the life that we live in Christ because of the Resurrection hope that we have is this nice quaint life he misses it the Christian life because of the Resurrection is one of radical obedience to Christ if God loves us so much that he came from heaven and he sought us and he conquered death for us and walk out of the grave and invites us into the future hope that awaits Us in the resurrection that changes everything and Paul believed that deeply the the the the man who wrote this letter planted churches.

And preached the Gospel and he was beaten for it flogged tortured spit upon rejected at one point Shipwrecked and eventually beheaded that's not a nice quaint life that's that's not a that's not a nice good moral life where everyone just thinks well that's not it at all if we believe in the resurrection that awaits us because Christ walked out of the Tomb that changes how we live we live in light of that completely it's not this nice good little simple life.

If we're living the life that we're supposed to because of Resurrection hope the rest of the world looks at us and says Ah I think they're better uses of your time I think you should make better life choices because really I mean if Jesus didn't rise from carrying one of's burdens praying for one another caring for one another that's a lot of energy and if Christ didn't walk out of the Tomb and Resurrection hope isn't awaiting me I I'm not doing that I don't want to serve others I don't want to give myself away to other people that's not how I want to spend my time I I want to really take the logic of.

What Paul says to eat drink and be marry for tomorrow we die I mean that that's if if if if Jesus didn't rise from the grave and we just die and then we're done then I've got plenty of other things I'd like to do that's the argument he makes later in chapter 15 he's continuing this argument of Resurrection hope and he makes the argument he says why are we in danger every hour it's like if we're if if Jesus didn't rise from the grave we don't have the hope of future Resurrection.

Then why are we in danger every hour he says I protest Brothers by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our lord I die every day which means he is dying to his own desires for the sake take of being obedient to the call that he has in Christ and he says what do I gain if humanly speaking I fought with beasts at Ephesus the trials that he faced at Ephesus and then he goes if the dead are not raised.

Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die he's like I'm not I'm laying on the lime because of the Resurrection hope and others that need to see that Resurrection hope and if that's not true then then let's just let's just live it up for now so I think Pascal misses it reality we will be completely devastated if there is no future Resurrection because the picture of Resurrection hope the picture of what awaits us of Heaven on Earth is so wonderful.

And so beautiful it's so amazing we Bank all of our hope in that reality some of us have got to break from our minds the idea that heaven is just this disembodied experience where we float in the clouds and there's hyns on hyns on hyns for thousands of years that's we we have to think bigger when we come to the Scriptures on this no Heaven comes to Earth and he makes all things new and it's a picture of Eden restored it's a picture of life with.

God doing the things that God has called us to do with our maker and his presence it's beautiful and it's wonderful and it's glorious and we can't see that so we just we we were missing it how many of us are just so tired of being physically in pain the physical Pains of this life like I I've struggled with chronic back pain for eight years and there's some days where it's okay and some days that are better and then some days that ain't good and in some of those days.

When it's not good I'm just reminded us like praise God I've got a resurrection that's coming praise God this is this shell of a body is not what I'm going to have for eternity whe there one day it be a pain where I don't wake up and my my back doesn't hurt some of y'all feel that one day there's a day aren't you tired of the physical Pains of this life there's a reality coming where you don't have that anymore aren't you tired of the struggles with mental health with depression with anxiety with mental health disorders there's a day coming where you exist in the presence of your.

God and you're not anxious you're not worried you're at peace There Are No More Tears there's only joy there's only eternity of endless joy and peace that awaits you aren't you tired of the struggles of this present life aren't you tired of the work that you put in day in day out and you just don't see the fruit of your work I mean that that's that's the the curse of work this side of the Fall God created work it was supposed to be good.

But in Genesis 3 it says you work and you will get thorns and thisel that is agricultural language for you will work and strive and you will not see a harvest aren't you tired of put in the work you've tried so hard in your career you've tried to do this you've tried this project and it's never works out like you want it to there is a day coming in the new heavens and the new Earth well you will be doing the work that.

God has gifted you to do I don't know what that's going to be but my guess would be it is the way that God has designed you to use your gifts to contribute to this perfect harmony in the new heavens and the new Earth that awaits you and it's beautiful and it will bear fruit it'll be fruitful labor how many of us are tired of broken friendships broken friendships painful family Strife infighting people that just don't they just suck the life out of you and don't give you life how many of us are tired of that there is a day coming.

When you will have perfect fellowship with one another then be family members who belong to Jesus right now you just aren't on speaking terms with but one day you'll hug each other and you'll hold each other and you'll love each other perfectly because there will be no sin there'll be friendships where I mean some of us thinking we some of us are nostalgic for days of old man I loved it when I had these friends in this period of time and I loved that night man that night with our friends and our family was just.

So wonderful and that right there that the best version of what friendship what relationship ship can be in this life is a pale it's a black and white grainy old photo uh version of the HD in color ol I don't know 4K whatever the newest and we we've got like a LCD or the one that it doesn't matter we the nicest picture it's a poor picture of what awaits us you will have perfect friendships with other people aren't you tired of never feeling like you get rest in this life it's like I sleep 12 hours a night on the weekend and I go on vacations I just I don't ever feel caught up I don't.

Ever feel rested and there's a day coming when you will have perfect rest you will enter into rest and you will be restored you will be refreshed in ways that our minds can't possibly begin to understand I could go on and on with example after example after example that shows the hope of Resurrection that awaits Us and how wonderful and how glorious it is so when people pick up Pascal's argument it's just like well you know if we're wrong no harm no foul it's like I don't know what the heck you're talking about no way that that's what I'm going to miss out on all of my hope is there like at this this life.

Is so it this world is so broken and it's so short and it's so fleeting there's how many billionaires and celebrities do you have to hear their stories of just like I just never wasn't enough money and I don't know just I I'm not quite satisfied they're the most successful beautiful rich people in the world and they're miserable by the masses how many of those stories do you have to hear that you cannot we cannot I cannot maximize enough joy out of this life right.

Now I can't do it it's never going to satisfy me so if we're wrong if if we're wrong about the resurrection we we are most to be pied we should be devastated because that reality is far superior and far better than anything this world could possibly touch but I have some good news he did rise from the grave and he says in verse 20 but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead but in fact Christ did walk out of that tomb the resurrected savior sits at the right hand of.

God the father now Christ did rise from the grave the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep and the language of first fruits as agricultural language it's farming it's the first of the Harvest which means that there's a whole bunch of harvest left so Christ the first fruits the first one to rise precedes all of those who have placed their faith in Christ Christ who one day we will rise to and if Jesus did rise from the grave and there is this wonderful Eternal glorious reward that awaits us.

Then the resurrection Changes Everything Changes Everything when you realize that the best life is not the one that we have right now but the one that awaits us then we live for that as opposed to trying to maximize Joy here right now because that's far better if if Elon Musk came to you right now with an ironclad contract and said you will intern me for intern for me for five years and it's hard work but at the end of five years you've got1 billion dollars waiting.

For you every one of us takes that deal every one of us takes that deal it's like yeah it's going to be hard but man that's what awaits me I'm all in and what we have in the resurrection and Eternity is far superior to that it's better it's better and the problem is we just are so convinced of the pleasures of this world we try to ring every ounce of pleasure out of here and now I love what CS Lewis once wrote he said.

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next it is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that we've become so ineffective in this he's like the Christians of old like they their their head was there and they lived in light of that and we are we're not we're forgetting the resurrection that awaits us and the new heavens and the new Earth that awaits us and it all how many many of us all of our best efforts go into purchasing vehicles that will end up in a junkyard one day buying and beautifying homes.

That will be torn down one day how much of our best efforts go to maximizing our lives right here and now the promise of Resurrection changes everything it should radically alter the way that we live but here's the problem some of us are hedging our beds some of us are putting a little bit of Our Hope On Christ and Faith but I I I also got to put a little My Hope here in the things that I can get in this life we're hedging our bets a little bit of Hope in Christ a little bit right here with the life that I've got right here.

Now and maybe Easter is that for you that it's like this is my way to just put a little bit more on Christ and hedge my bed a little bit more here but the but what you're planning to do is walk right out of here change go back to a life where you're just going to put a lot of your more of your hope here in this life and that's never going to satisfied and I here's the deal I think you know that like deep down I think we I think we know that I I think there's a part of us that we've just we've we've tried.

So hard to make this life work we've tried so hard to to build things here to to build a happy life in this uh we we've tried to maximize Joy my question have you ever felt satisfied has it ever been enough I think you know this I think there's part of there's something inside you that longs for something greater I think there's something inside you a restlessness for something greater and you've tried all these things and it never has satisfied I love what CS Lewis has to say about this he says.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world I want to read that one more time if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world you weren you weren't made for this world he continues he says if none of my Earthly Pleasures satisfi it that does not prove that the universe is a fraud probably Earthly Pleasures were never meant to satisfy it.

But here he this but only to arouse it to suggest the real thing what he just said was is that there are some things in this world in this world that are pleasurable if you have a really good steak and a glass of wine or juice or whatever whatever whatever what the best meal you can imagine it's actually good but it never quite satisfies and the reason is because that that's a foretaste that's a picture of a greater Feast that is coming.

So every Earthly pleasure that is actually good is just meant to arouse the greater Pleasures that await and to put all of our hope there he goes on to close it out he says I must keep alive in myself the desire for my True Country which I shall not fine till after death I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same some of you have been feeling this.

For years you've been feeling this it's like I don't feel home in my body I don't feel home here I don't feel home I I just don't feel like this is all it's supposed to be some of you have given yourself to toys and to Amazon purchases and to Hobbies into makeovers and career changes and friends and spouses and children and gone headlong thinking any of these things are going to satisfy and they're not supposed to because this is not our home those are all pale pictures of a far country that awaits us and that far country is glorious it is wonderful and hope of Resurrection is that.

God would lift up our gaze to not look at this life and to not put hope here but to put our hope in the perfect life that Christ lived to see that our sin was paid for on the cross and trusting in his sacrifice and to believe that Christ walked out of the Grave to secure for us an eternity with him in that far country every ounce of energy and hope that we have has to be there and my hope this morning is that you wouldn't leave and go back to a life where you're trying to find pleasure here.

But you would put all of your hope there but it comes through placing your faith in Christ that far country is greater and my hope and plead this morning is that you'd see it that's the hope of Resurrection that's the hope of what Jesus did when he walked out of the Tomb My Hope Is that you'd see it let me pray heavenly father I pray that you might help us see what your Resurrection did for us that we might stop chasing after lesser things in this life that we might put all of our hope and the life that is to come and that might change the way we live.

Now that might for some people mean right now you need to confront them where they are at and and compel them God I pray that you help them see I pray that you'd help them see that this life is not worth living for that if we put our hope in this life it's never going to be enough and that right now that they would Place their faith in you and they would surrender to you God I pray if there are Christians in this room that are struggling that you'd help the hope of Resurrection come alive and that that might change each of us the way that we live until we reach that far country with.

You we ask this in Jesus name amen we're getting ready to have a baptism baptism is a picture of faith in Christ it is a picture of someone who saw their sin and realized I've messed up and I've sinned against a holy and perfect God and I want to trust in what he did on the cross for me that he's paid for my sin and I believe that he rose from the grave and because of that I get to have a new life in Christ until I reach that far country you're not saved by what happens in these Waters it's a picture of the Salvation that has already happened in someone's life as they enter.

Into the baptism Waters and they're placed under the water it's a picture that they were dead in sin but they're now alive in Christ and they've been washed by Jesus and our brother Evan Bud gets to be baptized here in a moment I want to read his testimony and his words before he enters into the waters.

Not to Your Own Interests (Philippians 2:1-8)

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

Not Our Own Interests

Spencer Cary

Transcript

My name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the book of Philippians we're in Chapter 2 now we're going to be in verses 1-8 and uh now you thought maybe a precedent was set last week we are going to go through all eight verses y'all not one verse left behind we will finish the entire passage before I sit down so you can follow along in your Bibles yeah that was a joke one left there we go starting out right we're going to go through all eight verses and we are going to uh continue to walk through what Philippians is unpacking which is this theme of unity.

So we'll have the text on the screen also be on page 570 in your blue Bibles I think the fa the Church gets uh really an unfair generalization uh on a lot of different levels I think that in a lot of ways uh it gets generalized as a social club of of just connections that we get to make uh that there isn't a lot of depth I think that that is an accusation that gets thrown at the Church quite a bit I think another thing gets thrown at the Church is that it's just a place where uh we're just kind of concerned about money and it's just more of a of a business.

It's more self-serving I think there's a lot of different things that get thrown at the Church uh and what I've seen over the years is something something quite different my experience with the Church of Jesus Christ and the local Church is that is a beautiful place to see the Gospel in action I've seen that time and time again uh many of you some of you may not know this about uh eight years ago my wife and I we actually moved down here uh to plant our own Church um that's why we we moved back to this area was to plant our own Church and uh you know I didn't grow up Baptist and didn't know.

How Baptist did things and they said you got to have a a Church that sponsors you kind of Church that gets behind you and I was like well I don't know a lot of them cuz I didn't wasn't raised Baptist but you know I did know Chad and Matt who just started a few years before I moved down here with mil City and I was like well I I'll rock with them and uh so we moved down here and uh in that.

First year as we were getting ready to uh kind of launch out ourselves and plant our own Church right out the gate um my uh my wife had a Mis carriage and it was a painful experience and there was a medical procedure that happened after that um that left us with some uh with some medical bills and we were just kind of dealing with that grief and loss and also having to deal with those medical bills and I remember this is back.

When we were at Glenn Forest I remember in the parking lot one day chat came out and met me he's like here and he just handed me a water of cash and he said you know Church you know we want to come alongside you and this know you've got some medical bills coming out of this to pay for uh and we just want to help with this and I just in that moment just felt so deeply loved and cared for and at that point it was right out the gate of us.

So so many of the people in this Church didn't really know us that well at all and I've seen some version of that story over and over and over again I've seen people who've given up cars to uh to other Christians that are in need I've seen uh uh time and time again medic our bills or medical bills are just just paid off I've seen the Church rally in a lot of different ways I've seen people give up their Saturdays their their cherished time off to be able to take a trade that they use to help others and give it away.

For free to someone who's in need I've seen that story play out over and over and over again so in my experience the Church of Jesus Christ is a wonderful place to be it is one of the most supportive and loving and Powerful human experiences that you can be a part of and yes I do believe that there are some Churches out there uh they can be described with a lot of labels that don't seem like they really buy into the Gospel I would argue that many of those churches have lost sight of the Gospel or many of them really aren't made up of those who profess and follow Christ in a way that reflects.

The fruit that is born out in Christians but I think largely and our churches I think is no different I churches all across the world that buy into the Gospel and live it out in humility with one another and the reason that is is because of passages like the one we're going to walk through today it's passages like we're going to read and and sit in today so want to pray for us and then we're going to walk through this passage together uh Heavenly.

Father we pray that you might speak to us this morning that we might have Humble Hearts to receive your word and that we would see that this faith that we so dearly and deeply love is built upon something bigger than ourselves bigger than our individual selves and I pray you'd open our eyes to that so we might be the people that you have called us to be we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so last week Chad walked us through what it looked like to strive and unity together the Gospel is the thing that unifies us to strive and unity that theme is being pulled through the book of Philippians and it gets.

Continued to be uh uh taught in this second chapter as we pick up in verse one so if there is any encouragement in Christ any comfort from love any participation in the spirit any affection and sympathy all right let let me stop there for a moment when he says if there it's not if in in the idea of of this is a possibility like I If that you know if if that will happen this is actually if in this in the word of of sense like sense this is true what he's saying is.

If this is true and if this is true and if this is true and if this is true that's what he he's he's building upon here and if you ever been in conflict with a friend and you've ever been in argument and all of a sudden you've lost a thread on your friendship for a moment sometimes you got to State some true things you say bro I'm on your team like I'm I'm for you I'm not against you if you've been in marital conflict where the.

If you if you're married you have that's a reality which also if if you're uh if you're married you come to our training weekend it's one of the things we're going to talk about at our training weekend come up in a few weeks but if you've ever been a maral conflict where you know you've lost a thread on on things you might have to just stop and say some true things you might have to look at your spouse and say you know.

Listen I I love you I'm actually I'm for you I don't think football is more important than you I'm not going to let 19y olds ruin our our our date night tonight because they lost again no like I'm I'm you got to say some true things to make sure you're you're framing like you don't lose the threat on what you're actually uh shooting for and that's what's happening here is that there seems to be a little bit of disunity that's snuck into uh the Church at Philippi which is common to a lot of new testament churches.

And then the disunity that's happened he's stating some true things he's saying if there is an encouragement in Christ which is way of sense like yes there is if there's any encouragement in Christ if there's any comfort from his love and there is if there's any participation in the spirit and there is if there's any if there's affection which is tenderness or sympathy which is compassion if these things are true and they are verse two complete my Joy by being of the same mind having the same love being in full Accord and of one mind.

So Paul says complete my joy which I love that phrasing it shows his deep desire for this Church to be unified there's this this deep desire for them to be unified he wants this that it will complete his Joy if the Church is doing this which I feel this as a pastor because that just makes me so uh Joy filled makes me so happy when I see our Church unified striving together in love and he gives some descriptives here of what uh this Unity looks like he says having the same mind having this the same love being in full Accord of one mind that's the type of unity he's he's he wants them he desires.

For them to have this single-mindedness it's being wred in the Same Love Of Christ to have the same uh uh mindset and being a full Accord together when you see this it's beautiful like maybe you've been in a community group where all of a sudden you got a message on your group text or your group me and all of a sudden it came in and it was someone that said Hey listen I I lost I lost my job and I'm devastated you get that message that comes in and all of a sudden you get to.

See what having the same mind the same love being in full of cour you get to see that just come to life and all of a sudden someone says Hey listen I want to make you a meal I want to just I'm I'm don't don't I'm doing it I'm making it I'm bringing it over it all show up a group that week for group meeting time and everyone's cool with in the catch up and life section of your group meeting time of just this being it that we're going to talk through this everyone's.

Okay with just like I got stuff I'm working through but at the same time like I want to be able to yield some time to this because our brother is hurting our sister is hurting and then you get to see it in action when all of a sudden usually this is how it plays out is that there's two people that are kind of doing some of the talking here and caring for them and it's like this tandem this this beautiful kind of the same Spirit The Same Spirit flowing through them together where you're just kind of playing off each other's words and communicating the Gospel and applying the good news to someone who's struggling.

It's almost like you can finish each other's sentences because you're just on the same page because you're playing from the same Playbook we have the same mindset while that's going on you've got someone in uh a few chairs over that's just silently praying for this brother or sister who's struggling you got someone else who's already thinking about how how can we pull together some money to be able to help them pay pay bills while they're looking for a new job like you.

See all of this at work and it's beautiful and it's wonderful and none of that happens none of that happens if when you get that message on group me and you just go oh man this is probably going to dominate our group discussion for the next few weeks this is probably all we're going to talk about and they're probably going to need money and right now our budget is strapped and groceries cost way too much I just I don't we're have to chip in I just.

Okay well here we go because we got to care for this new situation that's popped up in our group that attitude that posture is the very thing that Paul is going to address in the next few verses that's something that kills unity in the Church verse three and four says do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interest of others.

If you want to destroy the same mind the same love this unity in the Church an easy way to do that is selfish ambition and conceit which is pride a way of saying this is that it's you wanting your own way for your own good for your own Glory so one thanks for one of things our own way for our own good for our own Glory that's our mindset that destroys this Unity that Christ has gifted to the Church now this selfish ambition this conceit is not anything new this is an ancient poison it's the reason why in the book of Proverbs 3,000 years ago Solomon was saying Pride goes before destruction and a hotty.

Spirit before a fall this is something that has existed for thousands of years in humanity this this mindset of just thinking only of ourselves for our own good for our own glory and when I hear stories of pastors who have train wrecked their churches their Ministries because they made it all about themselves that it was all about their own Glory when I when I've see this it makes me sad and it makes me sick and yet they didn't get there overnight they made a series of decisions that led them in this direction to this is where they are.

And then I look in the mirror and I see some of those same things in my own heart I see some of that same conceit that same selfish ambition and I realize I do like to get my own way I do like think to work out for my own good and my flesh really does like getting its own glory and you make decision after decision to get there which is the opposite of what he's calling us to he says but in humility count others more significant than yourselves he says Let each of you not.

Look only to his own interest but to the interest of others that we make these decisions over and over again for our own interest for our own good we count ourselves more significant than others all the time and and again it's it's a I think it's a series of decisions that you make over time until this is who you are happens in the Small Things the small things like cutting people off in traffic because if you ain't first you're last that's the mindset of a lot of us who drive just like I just and you just get I don't care I'm busy I'm I'm quick I I gotta I gotta get to work I got.

This and we'll cut people off left and right I think this happens in when you don't return the shopping cart back to the shopping cart rack in the parking lot oh man that's like that's a long walk I me they get paid to do this right so I'm I just I just leave it here and it's like you you consider your interest there not the interest of others also next time Pro tip just park by the rack just is that easy it's a little bit farther walk.

But you just park right there boom here you go you're welcome this happens in a lot of small ways this happens with roommates it's not a lot of pettiness can happen in in roommate situations this is not cleaning up after yourself not you know not not take care of your own dishes this is like when you when you set the milk down all the way to like the bottom but you you know if you like set the whole thing if you.

If you pour it all out like it's like I'm going have to do something about this so you leave like two sips and the next person grabs it and they like pour it into the serial and it's the saddest moment because you have no you have no cereal now because you counted yourself more significant than others this happens in bigger things this happens when we treat people like utility a means to our own end I mean if you're an employer this is treating employees like this say.

Well they work for me and what you see them as as a means to your bottom line they're a means of me making money as opposed to having a servant's mindset where it's like I to serve them and I'm serving their families by giving them good work to do and it's just seeing them as utility seeing as a means to your bottom line this happens with co-workers who climb the ladder and use the people around them to climb the ladder you might fake a friendship with somebody.

And then all of a sudden when you moved past them up a rung of that ladder it's like I you know you're not eating lunch with them anymore you're not returning calls and texts it was just for that season so that you can move ahead this happens with friendships where the only reason that you reach out to someone who you consider a friend is you need something and they kind of know it too when you call you Le hey how are you doing it's.

Okay but you won't also happens in friendships this is particularly true if you struggle with being an out of sight out of- mind person that friendships are for the season that they're with you but once you move on to something else move on to a new group move on to a new city you never think about them again because they were utility they were for That season they were for your benefit then and not later this happens in marriages seeing your spouse as a means to an end why.

Listen I I bring home the money I'm owed intimacy I'm owed companionship I'm owed child care I'm ow a clean house don't they don't don't you see everything that I do for her this happens with time and how we treat our schedules boy oh boy I feel this one that a lot of times when we think about our own schedules we don't count others interests as more significant than our own because when we think about our schedules we're the centerpiece of the schedule we're the centerpiece it's us.

And when someone asks hey look I'm really struggling with something right now would you want to eat and get lunch oh man just right now I'm so busy like I don't know like I mean I think like maybe in like four or five weeks on a Tuesday at like 11:30 I might have you know 45 minutes for you and it's like are you the president I like I look at the mirror sometimes like I'm to the president is my time so valuable that I can't make time.

For someone I can't you skip a workout or I don't work out but if I did skip a workout I can't I can't pull this I can't adjust this I can't count someone more significant than myself and make time for them and it's just like man I I I tell you what if the bank call you tomorrow and say come in on Tuesday at at 3:30 and we're going to give you $10,000 that you'd find time like that cuz you value that.

Because we value that but someone's interests above our own is like oh man I don't know I'll fit you in at some point or the reverse of that is if you're the kind of person that doesn't I I think it's good to be a person who plans I think it's good to have a schedule you might be the person that doesn't plan at all and you expect someone to drop everything immediately to meet your needs and you get frustrated when they don't I guess they what are we we're a Church family or you know we're friends it's like yeah that's fake you're not dropping everything.

For me because you are counting yourself more significant than them this happens when someone submits their humbly submits their desires or their feelings and conversation and you just dismiss it or you bulldoze over them or you don't listen this happens in social media when you know man so too often I get on Facebook which I just want to be on their less and less because it's just it's gotten to be just ugly but people just man they just say the ugliest things about family and friends and spouses making themselves the center of attention to get likes and they just trash their loved ones it maybe in like subtle ways.

But everyone knows what they're talking about they try to get everyone on their team and it's I mean it's it's self focused and it's Tacky by the way but you should do it for more biblical reasons than that it's just there's so many ways that we do this we make decision after decision after decision that's for it's our own way for our own good for our own glory and it's made worse because we live in a culture in an American culture which is we're we're kind of a post-enlightenment post-modern western culture which is basically we're the center of our universe that's what our culture sells to us you're the center of your own Universe along.

Ons side of the American dream and the pursuit of riches that really the American Dreams built upon everyone seeing themselves as the most important so they'll buy and buy and buy and buy and buy and fill in the machine and all that like just I mean all we make all these decisions and we're in a culture that just feeds this to us and then we bring that mindset of self-interest into the Church and that's why you get frustrated when you hear a song on a Sunday that you don't like I know I feel that and I have a say in what the music is sometimes every.

Now and then I'm like I wouldn't have chosen that song ever I you know I have sinfully I didn't mean I didn't mean to go here but I'm going go I've sinfully just W I've gone and gotten coffee during a song because I didn't want to worship it being petty and it's like that's so self-focused and self-interested that's we do this in a lot of different ways we do this in volunteering to bring the easiest uh item to group our volunteering.

For the easiest task to do or doing something just to be seen like I only want to serve in the Church if it's visible if I can see and be seen and get the glory we do this in community groups if you're the kind of person that dominates the discussion every week and you want to talk about and it's I got problems I need to talk about these things well so does everyone else in the room and if you struggle with being able to condense down what you need to say maybe write it down before him.

But look to the interest of others this happens in the discussion in community groups when when there's a side conversation happening over here when someone else is talking and it's like well y'all aren't being considerate of she's pouring her heart out over here and y'all just having a side conversation or you're on your phone and you're not paying attention so I'm reading the Bible maybe this happens in a lot of different ways in the Church this happens when we don't consider others words.

When we're in Conflict there are times y'all when I'm confronted in my sin or in my error and like I know about five or 10 minutes into the into the discussion that I'm wrong look it's like you've made some compelling points but there's that part of me that's like but no I'm going keep fighting for my own way this happens in a lot of different ways we bring this into the life of the Church we make decision after decision after decision after decision after decision decision after decision until we eventually become the people we never thought we would be until we become.

So self-focused and self-interested so blind to conceit and pride and we become hurtful people that are just drunk off of our own pride and selves let me tell you a story about a miserable King there once was a miserable King who woke up every day annoyed angry frustrated sad he woke up every day to his kingdom and he'd wake up first thing and he'd see his wife and his children and they weren't happy to be in his presence they were tired.

When they woke up and he was annoyed by this because don't they know that he's the king they should be happy that he Grace them with their with his presence this morning but they're not they're bickering over what to eat the wife is tired and he's like they I don't get the respect that I'm deserved and he leaves his Palace every day annoyed hops into his Chariot and goes across his kingdom and he's the kind of person who drives his Chariot weaves in and out of all the other chariots not actually getting really anywhere further or faster.

But just switching lanes all the time and then he gets to his work site where he oversees a special project and he gets there and his servants have not done the work like they're supposed to they're behind delayed yet again and an anger he lashes out at them he he he unloads on them and they respond The Recoil because they're so used to hearing this being berated by the king and then he leaves and he goes to lunch to his favorite lunch spot and his favorite lunch spot is UND Saft slow he takes it out on the waitress cuz she's not doing they're not not not bringing me the king what I want on my.

Timing I have I've got a schedule here I've got to move on to the next thing and that's how he spends his days to the next thing the next thing and then all of a sudden he's on his way home annoyed angry frustrated with the day and then his wife calls him and says can you stop by the grocery store I forgot this he's like don't you know how important my time is could you not thought about this ahead of time.

When you got groceries goes into the grocery store always in a hurry always low-key angry and then he runs to the checkout line and then he sees somebody who's also walking to the checkout line but they're like equidistant to the checkout so he speeds up because he gets in front of them and he kind of cuts them off and doesn't make eye contact because he's a coward a lot of confessions today sorry you guys and he checks out and he goes home annoyed and it's not the meal that he wanted he would have preferred something different and he sits in his throne and he surfs through his phone and watches videos until he progressingly puts.

His children to bed and then he goes to sleep angry preach this is a miserable king and a miserable Kingdom of his own making and this is how he lives his life and he's depressed and he's angry and he's frustrated and he's burned out what hope does a miserable King like this have the hope that he has is the hope that Paul points him to in verses 5-8 that's his Hope for Change verse 5 have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ.

Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped he say have this mind miserable King have this mind amongst yourself which is yours in Christ Jesus who Christ though who is in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped which Chad's going to spend more time in this next week with the phrasing here and waiting into this but what he's getting at is.

Verse 7 but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men that the God and Sovereign true king of the universe who made everything out of nothing and sovereignly rules and Reigns over every aspect of creation simultaneously before during and after the Eternal God who rules over all things loved his creation so much that he left the throne of heaven and he took on flesh and he dwelt among us and that he lived a life of perfection that we could not live and he went to.

Verse 8 being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross that the king took on Humanity to go to the Cross to die for miserable kings and queens who were only about their own interest and their own good he looked at us in our own sin and says I will will die for your sin I will die for your rebellion and then I will bring you into Resurrection Life I will bring you into a new life in Christ.

Well you will no longer be a selfish little king or queen but you will be a servant of the most high king and you will live your life out of this picture always looking to our Savior who humbled himself always looking to our King who loved us so much that he gave up his life for us us the only hope for miserable kings and queens is to look at the true king of the universe and to look what he did for us and the own overwhelming Act of humility that he displayed.

For us when we did not deserve it and our own pride and our own selfish ambition and desires that through faith we look to him and what he did for us on the cross and we submit Our Lives to him and then we spend the rest of our day is coming back to the Gospel to have this mind among ourselves that was so poly put and poly put in verses three and four do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility the humility that Christ displays count others more significant than yourselves Let each of you.

Look not only to his own interest but also to the interest of others the way that you get there is we look to Christ who was not selfish but selflessly came to save us that we look to Christ who in humility was beaten and murdered for our sin we looked at Christ who counted us significant enough to not leave us in our sin and to damn us to hell but came to save us we look to Christ who had our interest in mind.

When he went to the cross on our behalf when we understand what Christ Our King did for us it is then that we will live not not for our own way and not for our own good and not for our own glory and then we will make all the decisions along the way to live out of that truth and it means we'll be the kind of people that though we're busy give up time out of our schedule because our dear sister is going through chemo and I want to give her a ride not.

Because she forgot how to drive when she got cancer but because I don't want her to be alone will be the kind of people that when someone is suffering is like yeah I'm Gonna Make A Meal I'm make a good meal I'm GNA spend some time and I don't have in the grocery budget but I'll go over this month because I want to love them well and it's a good meal yall know what I'm talking about too some of youall been on a meal train before and you know who's putting in the work it's like yeah they put the time in and and and we're be kind of people that refuse to leave group meeting.

Time with our group we refuse to leave that house in disarray our our kids are tornadoes of Destruction and it's like and they're tired it's 8:30 and they're they're going to be grumpy in the morning but we're going to spend the next 5 10 minutes cleaning up and helping them reset the house because I love them and I want to consider their interest above my own would be the kind of people that volunteer to watch someone else's child so they can go on a date watch watch someone else's three-year-old.

So they can go on a date because we remember what it was like to have a three-year-old because three-year-olds can be terrist or if you haven't had a three-year-old you've served in Kid City and you've seen what kind of actions happen in there right now and it's like I want to give you some time so that you can go and have just you know three hours to yourself to just enjoy each other's presence because it's good for your marriage or you're the kind of married couple that considers single people and their interest above your own and invite single people into your family dinners into your life not forgetting about them.

But bringing them into your life because we're all the family of God we're the kind of people that when they see someone struggling maybe maybe you know of a woman in your community group right now who's just she's just struggling right now like the house is a mess and she's behind on laundry like piles of laundry you know what I'm talking about when all the laundry Stacks up on the couch and it's just a mountain and you want to like you want to like approach it.

But it's just it's un approachable and you're the kind of person that says hey I'm coming over to to help you I want to clean bathrooms I'm I'm I'm fold some laundry oh no it's okay no no no you're going to have to give me a Biblical reason for why I can't come serve you and spoiler alert there is none so I'm coming I'll be there in an hour we be get to be the kind of people who when we get the text message that says can we talk and you know that message is not just can we talk.

For 5 minutes you know it's going to be 45 minutes and it's going to be a difficult conversation that we don't ignore that text that we don't put that off because we consider their interests more than our owns more than our own that we get to use our giftings as Builders and mechanics and accountants whatever God has given you to do that you're good at to serve others in the Church what you should if you're good at something if you're good at building things.

If you're good at working on cars if you're good at spreadsheets and numbers you should and you should have the mindset that doesn't like I get paid to do this you have the mindset that says man I God who do you want me to serve next you should pray joyfully God who who do you want me to serve next who needs who needs something fixed to their house who needs me to go through their budget who do who do you want me to serve next.

God we should have this mind amongst ourselves and we should prayerfully eagerly wait for the opportunity to in humility count others more significant than ourselves to let each of us not look to our own interest but the interest of others but until we see Jesus as king we will never escape the tyranny of our miserable kingdoms so we have to look to Christ as our King first and if we look to Christ truly look and behold for what he has done.

For us it is then that you get invited into a better Kingdom and that is when miserable Kings become joyful servants let me tell you how the miserable king became a joyful servant he beheld Christ for who he is he finally realized that the whole universe didn't revolve around him but it re revolved around Christ and he saw what Jesus did for him and he said I want that and he gave up his Fox kingship to become a joyful servant and every day that he woke up even.

When he was tired he was ready to give himself away that even when his children bickered at the table over who gets to look at the box of cereal he came in and and and lovingly LED them through breakfast and helped them get out the door that when he jumped into his Chariot he drove a little slower and was a little kinder to everyone else in the road and he listened to worship music and redeem the time through prayer and worship arriving 3 to four minutes later than he normally would.

But at peace and when he AR when he arrived at his work site his employees servants were excited to see him because they saw the change that he had that had happened in his heart he'd become a servant leader and actually they worked harder for him they got more done working for him because when you work for someone who's a servant leader you're ready to run for through a wall for them because you love them and you know that they love you and he left his work site he'd go to lunch and the and the waitress he used to cringe.

When he would come in was now excited to be able to serve him because he was kind with his words and he was patient and he left better tips that he went through his Day always seeking to count others more significant than himself to serve others and he went home every night to a family that loved him who was excited to see him because he was a more joyful servant who did not make his family about himself and then one day someone asked him they got the nerve to.

Finally ask hey man what what happened I I don't mean to be blunt but you used to be a jerk like what's your secret you seem so much more at peace you seem so much more joy-filled than you used to be and he cracked a smile and he said how much time do you have I'll tell you of how I became a joyful servant by submitting to the humble King that transformation is offered to all of us that can be our story I think many of us run around in life always busy always frustrated never joyful and I think that the secret is found in this text.

And if you want to be the kind of person that actually lives a life forth living that is filled with peace and joy and fulfillment and satisfaction it is found and not looking to ourselves but looking to Christ and out of looking to Christ and looking to others interests before our own let me pray heavenly father I pray that you might help us who are filled with selfish ambition and conceit I pray that you might help us look to you to what you have done.

For us as not only the hope that saves us but as the model that sanctifies us that shows us the way to live God help us be not miserable kings and queens and kingdoms that never satisfy but joyful servants in the Kingdom that you've made but that comes through believing in the Gospel and truly applying it to our lives through repentance and ultimately delighting in you over all things we ask this in Jesus name amen the choice is ours if you want to be a miserable king or.

If you want to be a joyful servant that choice is offered to everyone and the only way that you get there is in faith it is by believing in Christ and trusting in what he has done for us and when you do that you are transformed as second Corinthians says if anyone is in Christ he's a new creat the old is gone the new has come you get to be this new creation this joyful servant that's offered but you must have that through faith.

And when you finally submit to the king through faith then you get to enter into the baptism Waters which are the waters that symbolize the inward change that has happened and that's what we get to celebrate today we get to celebrate the baptism of one of our brothers in Christ and the transformation that has happened in his life so I'm going to invite Isaac to come up and he's going to introduce baptism today.

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain (Philippians 1:18b-26)

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

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain (Philippians 1:18b-26)

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the book of Philippians we're in chapter 1 still uh we're going to be in the second half of Verse 18 all the way through verse 26 so you can follow along with us on the screen you also can follow along in a blue Bible it's on page 570 you can track along with us so the other day it dawned upon me that my oldest uh is going to turn nine this year which means that we're kind of at the halfway point of her being in the house.

God willing uh and that there's not a lot of years left to really you know influence to be able to show her what it means to love Christ what it means to display that love to others what it means to uh have a Gospel centered life like we don't have as much time it's and I'm also you know I'm not naive I understand that when she gets more into uh you know the teenage years that my influence is going to WAN a little bit and her wife as she starts to become her own adult uh person.

But it's just I mean it's kind of hit me honestly oh man um you know we you know we read the Bible at night we do some worship songs at night we we try to have some time where we talk about applying God's word to um their lives and to our lives and it's like I want to I want to maximize this time as much as possible because I'm losing it the time is is is running away and that's going to happen with each of my children as they get older old and as I get closer and closer to 40 which is typically the time where a lot of men start to ask Big Life.

Questions because you're at the halfway point of life and you're like I I mean this is like I'm I'm I'm nearing I'm nearing the end the halfway point is just going to keep going like and that's when you know midlife crises come into play and people make sometimes really bad decisions uh you know some of those are less bad than others uh you know some might say I'm going to get a car I I got to get I got to get the car.

Because if I don't get the car like what am I doing if I'm I got to travel I got to get to Europe I got to do this I got to do that there's all types of things some things I think are good people might say I got to go back to school I got to refocus I got to you know join a gym do CrossFit whatever it is like I but there's just this evaluation when you understand that time is a finite resource and you don't have much of it left.

But what are you actually going to do that reality check Dawns upon us and it does leave you asking questions like I'm just like am I am I always going to drive a Prius is that how this is like I mean I'm just kind of Peace meing this car together as it goes like am I am I going to like keep wearing flannels and rocking beards I started that Trend like in my early 20s and it's I mean it just kind of continued like those can like fall upon you and you start to re-evaluate and I think to have the really the the finite nature of time and really the reality that death will one.

Day come to us all I think that's actually a good thing to do I don't think you should do that at 40 years old I think you should regularly as a Christian think about that reality and to make the best use of our time and to live the best life that you could possibly live that we should ask the question what is the what is the ultimate life worth living now I have good news for us today the book of Philippians and where we're at in this part of the book speaks directly to that it gives us.

If you're asking questions about how should I live my life but is the best possible life I could live we're at the place that absolutely addresses that God has a good word for us today so I want to pray for us as we really lean into that question and then we'll walk through the text together heavenly father I pray that you would help us be open to receiving your word and that we would not just be hearers of the word but we would be doers and that comes through.

First acknowledging the Gospel and trusting in you and out of that Faith Comes repentance that changes the way we live so that we can worship and honor and Delight in you God I pray that you would do that work within us this morning so that we might be a people that take this life life seriously in Jesus name amen all right so we've been in Philippians in chapter 1 for a bit one of the things we've seen the last few weeks is that Paul in his imprisonment as he's in Rome he's in prison and house arrest the Philippians they're they're exchanging letters in this letter he is talking about how his imprisonment is being used.

To advance the Gospel it's encouraging Believers Christians on the ground in Rome and he was excited about that even as we saw last week that there are some people who were preaching from Bad motives from selfish ambition a rivalry with Paul but there are others who are preaching with good motivations and he goes regardless of the motivations I'm just jacked I'm rejoicing because the Gospel is being preached because Christ is being proclaimed so he's at this moment where he's just rejoicing that Christ is being preached and he has something else to Rejoice about in the back end of.

Verse 18 where we pick up when he says yes and I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my Deliverance that's his rescue he's going to be rescued as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by by death so he's not just rejoicing that the Gospel is being repe is being preached and being proclaimed he's also rejoicing.

Because he's going to be delivered and this is I I don't want us to miss this isn't the main point of this but he says due to your prayers through the prayers of the Philippian Christians and the work of the spirit that he's going to be delivered which just should really Center us on like prayer is unbelievably important God accomplishes his will through his people through the prayers of his people from Old Testament into the New Testament so we should be a people that are praying.

For God to work we have a prayer list that goes out to members in our Church who've opted to receive that text that goes out on Monday we have a prayer list that you can if you want things prayed for you can go on our website to uh I think it's one of the times if I had it off top of my head I'd tell you but I don't but it's somewhere in there you scan all the tabs you'll see pray and you can put in a prayer request it goes to that list we should do that.

Because prayer matters God accomplishes his will through the prayers of his people over and over and over again and don't I want us to miss that as we launch into the rest of this that they've been praying for his Deliverance they've been praying for Paul and he says I'm going to be delivered now that word delivered comes from the same Greek word uh for saved sotia so this is saved this is delivered and the question is okay from what from what are you going to be delivered is it what you were just talking about is it your imprisonment that you're going to be delivered from prison is he going to have his Tim Robbins moment.

Where he goes through the tunnel or the the what do you call those pipes that Shaw Shank and gets out into the water and looks up in the sky and he is free which if you don't know what I'm talking about I'm so sorry for you if you've never seen Shaw Shank Redemption first off how dare you like just you've missed out on something this is one of the top five movies if you have this Tim Robbins moment where he's just he's.

So excited to be is's going to be delivered is that's what's happening here so some will argue that's happening others will say no he's actually he's moved on that was so verse 17 we're on to new and better things in these next few verses what he says is is that they will turn out from my this will turn up for my Deliverance verse 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage.

Now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by by death others will say no no he's moved on from imprisonment he's talking about eternal Deliverance he's talking about death he's talking about the fact that because he believes that Christ was crucified for his sin and he put his faith in Christ and because he put his faith in Christ God the Father looks at Paul and says that he stands righteous because of the righteousness of Christ and not his own.

Because Jesus died for him he stands confidently waiting to go into the next life waiting to be delivered into the next life where he will be with Christ for eternity so some will say no it's it's more that's what's happening here I think the language here between two ideas I think he's being a little bit vague and koi for a reason I think he's kind of going with both and when you read the rest of the passage I think you'll see that he actually means both very practically as he works through this that he does expect to at some point be released from this Roman imprisonment and also he is eager.

For what is next after this life which he picks up in verse 21 for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain if I'm to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me yet which I shall choose I cannot tell I'm hardpressed between the two my desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better we'll pause there verse 21 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible like it is Shaw Shank Redemption top five level at of all the passages in the Bible this this right here is it you can come back to it over and over again and the deeper you weit into it.

The more satisfying it actually is to live as Christ to die as gain now his basic argument is pretty easy to follow if you're going to live it is for Christ if I'm going going to live a life it is going to be for Christ if I'm going to get out of this R imprisonment and continue my Ministry it's going to be for Christ it's going to be fruitful labor is the language he uses In this passage which will further unpack in the verses that follow that means more churches planted that means more Sinners saved that means more Christians discipled.

If I'm going to live huge win if I'm going to die huge win because if I die I gain I gain eternity I gain an eternal life with Christ I depart this painful broken marred sinful world and I get to be with Christ and that is far better so here is why I think this is one of the most important passages in the Bible it's hard to find a more succinct summary of what the Christian life looks like like this is the headline.

For the Christian Life and when I say headline I mean like how headlines used to be it used to be that you got a paper and that paper was like a physical paper and it smelted really good and you would look and you'd see headlines and the headline was a few words that summarized the whole article you could read the headline you get a general gist of where it was going nowadays headlines are not that they're clickbait sometimes have nothing to do with what's in the article.

Because journalism's lost complete ethic bearings and just but it's just the actual headline like what what actually like this is it like the old school headline you see this to live as Christ to die as gain that's the Christian Life and there's a whole lot more that can be said about that when you read the rest of the Scriptures but you have that right there and you understand what it means to be a Christian that when you actually trust in the finished work of.

Jesus when when you trust in his perfect life and the righteousness that comes through that that gets accredited to our account when you trust in his death that I a sinner and I need a savior and his blood covers me you trust in his resurrection that I actually get to have a new life in Christ because death no longer has a grip on me and that he ascended to the right hand of God the Father where he rules and Reigns from and I get to serve him out of that hope.

When you understand that the rest of the Christian Life is this you put all your chips on that hope on that reality you don't H your bets it's all in on Christ and now what to live as Christ to die is gain so I want to spend some time digging into this phrase because I think this phrase is unbelievably important if you understand what the best life is to live so let take a look at the first part to live is Christ he goes on to say.

If I'm to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me now he's going to go on to unpack this in the next few verses and just say that this is serving your brothers and sisters in Christ this is in service of the Church but that's what it means to live as Christ means to serve Christ to live is to serve that's the Christian Life to Live is to serve I went to a college called Presbyterian College and they had a a motto in Latin was called Dum vivamus servamus which was.

While we live we serve and at one point I'm sure in the history of our college that was attached to Christian values this is no longer a Christian College not remotely close but just like Harvard back in the day was founded as a seminary this was founded as a Christian College back in the day and at some point someone made the connection that the life that you live in Christ is one of service to live is Christ if you're going to be a Christian you're going to serve that is what it means to be a Christian and not only that that is the Pinnacle of human existence you understand what the what the what the.

Most maximized human life is do you understand what the good life is the good life is one that is found in serving Christ but in a lot of different ways I think our actions and our desires reveal that we don't really celebrate that Anthem that we don't really wholly Embrace that idea and then if you're in a bit of a midlife or quarter life crisis or you're just evaluating your time and you're trying to think through what do I do with the life that I have left like Paul is.

If I get out of prison this is what I'm going to do to live is this that if we're pose the same question that says if you had more time if you had more time in this life what are you going to do what is your gut instinct say what do your actions reveal I think if we're honest might reveal a lot of things that if I get more time what I'm going to do is I'm going to maximize my time to make money that I'm going to do what I can to make money.

Because money means freedom to choose freedom to do what I want freedom for me freedom for my family it means a lot of things that I can gain in this life this life is very temporary and I need to maximize my life and the aim of my life in a way that maximizes how much money I can have in my bank account I think for others that if you had more time that you'd be really focused on I want to be able to find someone to do this life with that I want to be able to find someone that I can journey through life that I love that I want I want that person.

For others who even might be married now might be just in a marriage that you're not happy with and it's like I if I I want someone I can actually love and journey through life with to live is if I had more time I could just have this if I had more time I could have the perfect family the right amount of kids who behave the just right amount of like all the things I want them to do that they would be involved in these Sports and would be uh uh good at this aspect of school and be able to have these type of careers.

If I could just uh have more time I'll be able to establish that type of family if I had more time I would be able to establish the kind of the kind of career I want but as you're thinking ahead primary focus is what kind of career I can have and the time I can put into that and the Legacy that I can leave through that and the work that I do if I had more time I would just grow to be a person that is admired by others that people would like me and I could leave that type of Legacy.

If I had more time I could live the kind of comfortable lifestyle that I want I could ditch the car that I don't like it improved the truck that I do like I could live uh I could level up in the house that I have I could have Comforts I could have the big screen TV if I had more time I could get happy if I had more time I could get healthy I think the Instinct within us and I think the actions that we display would reveal a lot of different things that.

If we had more time it would be a focus on this but to live would be this and listen I don't I don't think that I think having a good job and a and a spouse and a sweet family and a career that you like and being liked by others and being able to afford Stakes on the weekend like I'm I think those are good things and guess what Christianity is not opposed to those things this just not a a faith that's built on aestheticism this super righteous over-the toop lifestyle that's not what this is at all.

But here's the thing those things are not the Pinnacle of what it means to be a human those AR the the that's not what it means to live the good life not for the Christian at all that's not what it means that's not that should not be the central aim of Our Lives all of those things in our lives should be in joyful submission to the central aim of our life and that life is one of serving Christ which means that the money that we make is in service to Christ that.

If you get a pay raise it's like I God has blessed me with more so that I might not use it all on myself that I might bless others I might see other people in our Church family that are in difficult situations and be able to bless them that I might be able to reformulate my budget so I can send more missionaries because ultimately my money is a means by which I get to serve Christ that if God blesses me with a spouse that means I get to be in a one flesh Union that is in service to Christ that.

If I'm currently in one I get to rethink how our marriage is centered on the Gospel so that our marriage can ultimately not serve my needs or even my spouse's needs but ultimately in service of Christ that if you choose a career or you decide to switch jobs that every one of those decisions is like how do I submit this in the service of Christ how would I be a missionary in this workplace how will choosing this uh job help me serve the kingdom better you can go on and on down the list.

If I'm going to raise a family it's going to be one that is centered on the idea and the truth that is beautiful to live is Christ which means that I'm going to spend time with my children to help them understand that is the most important thing they could possibly ever understand and believe which means that I'm going to have make decisions as a father that says maybe we don't do the travel ball team this year and maybe I'm not impressing upon them that straight AIDS is the most important thing you can do to have the career that you want that I might even stretch them past bedtime on a night at community group knowing.

Good and well when I get home at 8:30 they're going to be really tired and awful at 6:00 in the morning when I'm getting them ready and the whole next day they might be a little tyrants but it's for a purpose because ultimately I want them to understand that to live as Christ and that this is more important we make decisions all the time that should be in service to Christ and should guide ourselves our families towards the ultimate good life that whatever Comforts that whatever whatever things.

God gives us in this life is in service to the ultimate aim that is to serve Christ that we would Le we would leverage every aspect of Our Lives towards making disciples and loving Brothers and Sisters in Christ and doing just to be blunt whatever God wants you to do now sometimes when you put a big emphasis on that there's a part of us especially in our Church where it's we we preach over and over again that you're not saved by works we beat that drum all the time that you're not saved by your Works you're not saved by your Works you're not saved by your works from Grace you've been saved through faith we.

Hit that drum over and over again for a reason because we need to understand that we trust in the perfect works of Christ on our behalf and that record stands for us you don't get into the kingdom of God by doing a bunch of good so we'll hit that over and over again but not at the expense of go 2 verse uh Ephesians 2: 89 and verse 10 which says that we are his workmanship that once you're in the kingdom of.

God you're created for good works which is not for you to get into heaven it's for your neighbors and it's for the advancement of his kingdom I love how Paul puts some very similar ideas in this passage into 2 Corinthians chapter 5 when he says in verse 8 and9 yes we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord see that similar language there i' ra I'd rather be at home with the.

Lord because that's my heavenly home it's not here it's there i' rather be at home with the Lord verse 9 so whether we are at home or away we make it our aim to please him and I want us to miss that we don't please him to get into heaven but we should make it our chief aim as Christians to say how can I please him how can I serve him how can I do this and I think the problem for us as a as Americans I think as American Christians I think we're.

So drunk off of Earthly blessings and Earthly riches and Earthly things that when the Bible confronts us on this when it comes to us and says You must live for Christ you must please him you must obey him a part of it just goes yeah I know but if I do that I'm going to miss out on some things and I just I want to just brutally murder that idea from us ever believing that is true because it's the idea that enjoying the things of this world is somehow better than what Christ has to offer us I I just want to kill that idea.

If I took my child if I took my son and I said we're going to get ice cream and not just any ice cream like we're going to the Baked Bear in Five Points which I've been on keto for a month and today is my first day off and sometime this week I'm going there because you can get ice cream and they take gooey butter cookies and they press it together into just I mean it's amazing and yeah I'm like that's where we're going we're getting that it's like that as that's the that's the best we got in Columbia we're going there and we're walking through five points and all of a sudden he sees.

A red shiny thing in the gutter and it's a one of those strawberry candies like the outside looks like a strawberry wrapper it's bright and shiny inside tastes like lip gloss you know what I'm talking about and he darts to it and he picks it up and he's like no no no dad I found it we're good I'm going to camp out here you go do whatever you want I don't have to walk that much further because I found what is going to satisfy me I would smack it out of his hand I would say you're not enjoying this no no no I don't you don't understand I want this i' smack it out of.

His hand again and have to look around and make sure that nobody's going to call the police you leave that for the kids in Five Points coming off of USC campus that's not what we're going to enjoy we're going to the Baked Bear I know we got to walk a little further son but that's where we're going because once we get there it's going to be good and it's going to be better than that filth that I'm going to stomp into the ground no that's what I do with my son and that's what God's trying to help us.

See yeah it's a little more effort to serve Christ takes a little farther to get there but it's good it's actually where goodness is found it's unbelievably good when you read Psalm 37 in Psalm 37:3 he says trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness he's saying trust in God and in trusting him serve him do good but faithfulness and then you get to verse four when it says delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart which people have Twisted out of context.

For their own purpose purposes and said you had Del lighten yourself in the Lord he's going to give you whatever you want it's like no no don't miss what it's sandwiched between verse three do good verse 5 commit your way to the Lord trust in him and he will act that ultimately goodness is found in Walking With Our God and doing what he commands and trusting in our savior and then obeying him that's where goodness is found not just goodness you get to delight in.

God through that and delighting in God who is the Perfection of beauty who is wonderful is good serving Christ is not drudgery it's not it's not a boring life no matter how much it gets depicted in movies or in TV the Christians live a boring life it's not service of Christ is not drudgery that is a lie you ask anyone who has followed Christ for decades they've pursued him in word and prayer regularly they have been obedient to make disciples they have entered into the baptism Waters and they have seen people testify that Christ has change them.

Because they got to be vessels of that being used to declare the Gospel to them you listen to their stories of how they helped other Christians get out of debt of how they helped walk with other brothers and sisters in discipling them you ask them if they would wish they had spent the last few decades doing something different that they would have would you would you have rather spent your time on endless amount of hobbies pursuing meaningless sex would you rather have watched a bunch more shows and bed a bunch more series would you have rather gone to a bunch of really fancy parties and gotten sosed is that what you have rather have done.

With your time if you ask them that question they're going to look at you sideways they're going to look at you like have you have you lost your mind absolutely not not because they've experienced what it means to Delight in Christ through service they know what it means to walk with their God and out of walking with their God serving others they have experienced that and that's better as we say every Sunday morning better than everything else and they believe that yet.

When I talk to people who have spent their years spent the last decade pursuing empty Pursuits chasing after worldly things I hear I'm s I'm tired I'm depressed I'm anxious I'm burned out because those things don't actually ever satisfy because that's not where true Joy is found to live as Christ is where true Joy is found service of Christ is not drudgery it is joy and when we realize that and believe that we become the Living Sacrifice that God has called us to be.

Then we tap into a greater form of joy that is better than anything this world has to offer so when he says to live as Christ of course I'm going to keep doing this what else would I rather be doing this is it and that's why he can so freely say in the next breath to die is gain death is gain because he knows if I die it's promotion to the big leagues I'm going to Eternity and that is far better and I think the problem.

For us is that so many of us are tempted to squeeze every ounce out of this life to squeeze every ounce of Earthly pleasure out of this life that we can't even see that that's better that I think that if many of us were told that you were going to die younger than you thought it would be scary and it would be sad and Paul just doesn't have that mindset he's so freed up in believing in Christ and understanding eternity and that this life is a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean of time that spent in eternity and how much better that is he's.

So grounded in that idea he says if you kill me good I'm I'm I'm going to get where I want to go faster where I'll behold the face of God where I won't have the stain of this body and its Brokenness and its pain and its suffering or I won't be in I won't be I won't struggle with sin anymore yeah I I'll take that all day long he says yet which I shall yet which I shall choose I cannot tell I'm hardpressed between the two to Live to Die My Desire is to depart and be with Christ.

For that is far better he's not suicidal y'all that's not what's happening here he just understands Eternity for what it is and he's just being honest he's like I'm heart pressed I know that I should I got more to I got more to do but man I want that CU that's better and if you've ever heard stories you've been around Christians who've walked with the Lord for years and they have a terminal illness there's a part of them that's sad because they're going to leave a wife or a husband behind and they're going to leave kids behind and that's painful.

Because death thingss and that's painful but if you press in and you ask but but are you are you excited about being with Christ and that face just turns and it's like yeah I am I'm really looking forward to that I believe our calculations are off if we think there's less reward in serving Christ and I think our calculations are off if we fear death we should live every day to serve Christ in any way that he desires and we should.

See the joy in doing that because it is wonderful and then when God calls us to be home with him we're ready for the gain that awaits us that's what Paul's articulating here now it's when you see how he's talking around this you see he's somewhat convinced I would argue he's somewhat convinced that he's still got more work to do and the history behind this is is that there's a few historical resources outside the Bible that say that he got out of this imprisonment and he ended up in Spain which is.

When you read the book of Romans where he wanted to go and take the Gospel now we don't know that for a complete fact whether he did that or whether this really was the last imprisonment I lean towards looking at this text and realizing that I think he expects to get out and then he expects he has more work to do and you get a glimpse of that mindset when you go through verse 24 and 26 which was what we close out with.

Today he says 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account convinced of this I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again so I think from this that he he thinks he's getting out regardless of where you where you land on that his mindset is if I get out.

When I get out it is for your progress and joy in the faith that's what he says the way I get to live as Christ the way I get to serve Christ is for your progress and joy in the faith later in Chapter 2 he's going to talk about himself as a being poured out like a drink offering which is sacrificial language from the Old Testament that he's gets to be a sacrifice for their benefit he gets to be a sacrifice.

For their joy and progress in the faith that's what it means to serve Christ brothers and sisters that you leverage your life in service of Christ for the good of one another for the joy and progress of the people in this room to know and love and enjoy Christ we do that first by remembering Jesus in a sacrifice for us what he did on our behalf what he went to the cross for us we look at that sacrifice and out of that and realizing the mountain of debt that he paid.

For that our sin that put him there out of that we overflow into worship and we say and try to leverage Our Lives to say how can I serve others that I might help them have joy in Christ progress in their faith in Christ that's what it means to live as Christ and that that looks like the group leaders we have in our Church family that are laying on the line for their groups and when group gets hard and it gets messy and it gets tiresome you.

Look to Christ and you say thank you Jesus you serve me I'm going to serve others too and I'm going to I'm going to persevere in this and the joy that's found in the hardship of doing that is watching people taste and see that the Lord is good and watching Sinners be saved and watching marriages be restored and watching people understand what it means to truly serve Christ and to give themselves away this happens when a brother or sister sits down with someone who is hurting another brother and sister maybe.

For hours maybe for days maybe for weeks and just sits with them serving them because it's for not my own good it's for the good of others and it's for their joy and for their progress in the faith so yeah this is a a negative situation and it's got negativity within it but I press into that reality because it's worth them knowing and enjoying loving Christ this means leveraging your hospitality for others which is hard cuz I don't know if you bought groceries lately.

But like two bags is a 100 bucks and I we feel it and it's like man I I mean I we can we do hot dogs like I just you can by the way um it's like you're leveraging this I'm I'm going to I'm going to put this in my budget I'm put this in my mindset that I'm going to give up time and money for others to invite unbelievers into my house to invite their Christians into my house because it's good.

Because it's ultimately for their joy and progress and the faith Faith this means hear this this means sticking it out with people that are described as messy or even toxic man there's there's so much of an ideology going around right now that says if you got messy people in your life you got toxic people in your life you draw all this boundary and that's your circle and they can't get in the circle because if they get inside the circle that's a problem.

Because self care is Pinnacle at this moment you got to care for yourself so they can't be let in and what I'm not saying is is that you don't keep in mind that you don't give all of your energy and all of your time to messy people but you go the gospels and you show me a time when Jesus drew a boundary around himself and said these messy people can't get in and you ain't going to find it you know what he did do with messy people with hurting people he spent time with his heavenly.

Father and he got away from the crowds and he was filled up so that he could serve others well and I just want to again murder the mindset a lot of murder language sorry I want to destroy the mindset that says I can't serve others because I have to only care for myself it's the opposite of the Gospel to live is Christ whatever that is fill in the blank to live is serving Christ and leveraging our lives for others joy.

For others progress in the faith and we do it over and over again because we ultimately believe that Jesus is better over and over again and that in and through those labors and those efforts we get to see other people as he says In this passage have ample opportunities to glorify Christ ample cost to glorify Christ so brothers and sisters we leverage our lives for Mission we leverage Our Lives to loving one another well for the good of one anothers and we do it over and over and over again and we give ourselves away.

Because ultimately we get to help others experience joy and progress and in that labor even when it is hard we experience joy that is found in him because that level of joy is only found in the service of others so that means we need to be honest about how we'd answer that question to live is what that we should be honest about what we are basing Our Hope in this life on but what we think the good life is to live is what.

And if that answer isn't Christ then we say I submit this to you Jesus and I put it at your feet and you Chang my heart and you help me repent and you help me to live is for you for the good of others and for the progress in the faith until Christ calls us home again I'm at the halfway point with my oldest and I've only got a few years of really PR primary influence in her life before she leaves the home and I.

So want the next n plus years just to say an embody in her to live is Christ baby girl to live is Christ and to die is gain that's the Christian life because I want her to be able to go into the world and see money not as a God but as a tool and she's like I'm just so that one day she'll say this is just a tool and I won't be anxious about this I'm not going to be needing to.

For all this but I will live for the good of others and I will leverage my finances for the sake of others that if God does call her into a marriage one day and she has a husband that they will enter into a Godly marriage that is in service of others that she chooses a job that it's ultimately going to be how can I serve Christ in this job if she chooses to spend her time she says I'm going to serve Christ as.

God blesses her with children that one day she's going to raise them in service of Christ and enjoying him and God willing is going to live a long life and I'm going to beat her to Eternity and then one day at the end of her life a legacy of serving others she's just ready and she's ready to go home and she's ready to depart this world because what awaits her is eternal gain and I will get to be there and welcome her there and invite her and we celebrate.

And then for the years that follow I get to see person after person after person after person who enter into the kingdom of God because she leveraged her life to live is Christ and saw death as only gain that is the life I want for her that's the life I want for all my kids that's the life I want for myself and that's the life that I want for every person in this Church to live a life that is for Christ and doesn't cling to this world.

Because ultimately death is better because we gain him me pray heavenly father I pray that you might break within us a love for this world that we might not cling to anything that it has to offer but we might truly submit Our Lives to you to be in service to you because that is eternally better that's where Joy is found and my heart doesn't want to believe that it wants to cling to the things of this world may you break that within me.

So that I might embody what it means to live as Christ that our Church family that is struggling with loving the things of this world whatever that might be that you might break within them a heart for others that comes out of loving you and serving others may you help us be able to answer this question Faithfully that to live as Christ and to die as again and if there's anyone here that has not trusted in you that this is not the central aim of their life at all I pray that you'd help them.

See that this world is not worth it and they pursuing the things of this world is not worth it but they would go all in on you and they would live for you so that ultimately one day death may be gain in Jesus name amen the band's going to come up we're going to take prepare to take the Lord's Supper on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread and he broke it he said this is my body that was broken.

For you he took the cup of the New Covenant he said this is my blood that was shed for you that as often as you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return and we are people that regularly come to the table of a meal that signifies death it signifies the death of Christ but also through faith in Christ death to ourselves which means that in the moments as you prepare to take the Lord's Supper as a Christian you get to.

Look at the things that we might say to live is what and we might fill that in and bring that before Christ and that we might repent joyfully H prly joyfully that we'd come to the table joyfully say thank you Jesus that you died for my own selfish ambition for my own selfish desires thank you Jesus that you died for this so that I might joyfully be able to spend what the this meal also points to Eternity the final meal that we enjoy with Christ forever that as a people between those two realities we get to live a a life that is.

For Christ expecting that one day death enters into game now if you're not a Christian if you never trusted completely in the finished work of Christ please don't come to the table this is not a meal for you what I want for you right now is to contemplate and to think that if you've banked your hope if you banked your life on anything outside of Christ if you're honest with yourself you're like I don't no I've never done that I've actually never believed My Hope Is that you would surrender to.

Jesus now because he's good and living a life for Christ is good and it's Joy filled and it's wonderful and ultimately it ends an eternal game but that can't happen unless you surrender in faith and I pray that you would now now so when you are ready come to the table with gluten free in that back corner over there if you want to know more about this if you want to know what it means to trust in Christ and surrender your life to him grab me grab another pastor we would happily walk you through the Gospel and what it means to believe and trust in him.

See that he is better heavenly father I pray that you would.

Rejoice in the Gospel (Philippians 1:15-18a)

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

Rejoice in the Gospel (Philippians 1:15-18a)

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we're continuing to walk through the book of Philippians still in chapter 1 a few more verses 15 through the first part of 18 so you go ahead and flip there be on page 570 the blue Bibles you can follow along there if you don't have a Bible at home please take that we want you to have a Bible that you can uh that you can read that you have access to and the text will also be on the screen.

If you want to follow there so we I make an assumption of the room most of us probably I would say all of us do good things from time to time you serve your neighbor do the extra mile at work like we we do good things but I think if we were honest that a lot of the times those good things are done for motives that aren't always pure we just I know maybe y'all are better than me I just see I.

See with them me like there's just there's a lot of selfish motives sometimes I mean may do a good thing but it may be for the sake of advancing your career it might be to make us feel good or maybe we just simply like praise like to do good things because we like the praise that comes with it now we realize that that's socially unacceptable right for that to be seen you know we got some teenagers in the room about the teenage years is.

When you start to figure out that like I I it's not good for people to know that I just did a good thing just to be praised right like you just you start to realize that I mean into adulthood like it just that's not a that's not a thing that works well it's not going to help you in the workplace like my kids are not good at that little kids are terrible at that they're not subtle uh they're not slick they're not Savvy my youngest what she'll do sometimes she's she's not four.

Now so she's growing a little bit out of this but my youngest she'll do like a good thing or she'll pick up her toys or whatever and then she'll come to me and she'll go and oh this is what this is about like you you wanted praise you okay good job now at some point she's going to goow around and realize that's not how you make friends and secure a job like I'm just I I challenge you to do something good at work this week and go to your boss and go and it's not going to it it doesn't go.

Well for you uh and if you do please record that I want to see their face it's just we know that's not it's not really acceptable but if we're honest there's a lot of that within us doing the right things for the wrong reasons last week we went through verses 12 through 14 in chapter 1 and we got to see that Paul's imprisonment helped Advance the Gospel it also helped embolden the Believers on the ground to share the Gospel as well and what we're going to.

See this week is that there are Christians on the ground in Rome we near where he's imprisoned that are sharing the Gospel some of them are doing it for the right reasons but some of them are doing it for the wrong reasons and we're going to take a look at that and after acknowledging that reality Paul is going to help us see he's going to reveal where we should place the most value and how that applies to our lives as Christians.

So I want to read these verses and we'll pray and we'll walk through this together verse 15 some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwi the latter do it out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel the former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment what then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed and in that I Rejoice let's pray heavenly.

Father I pray that you'd help us be open to hear your word this morning we as CH Just prayed are are needy sinners in need of Grace in need of instruction we need your guidance uh and and passages like this certainly reveal what is within us I pray that you would expose that and help us see the need for Faith see the need for repentance and running to you and seeing that you are better and this would ultimately result in a life of worship that glorifies you above ourselves we ask this in.

Jesus name amen all right so as we kind of introduce the book of Philippians this letter is different than the other letters that Paul wrote so God has inspired this is speaking through his servant Paul there's there's 13 letters that God used Paul to write to to help us see his wonderful truth this letter is very different than the other ones most of the time he's dealing with a problem in that Church or or or speaking to a leader who's dealing with problems within their Church and he's helping engage some of that Philippians is just different it's a joyful love you know uh uh based letter between a Church that deeply loves Paul and a.

Church that he loves and he's just kind of telling them what's happening on the ground and what's happening on the ground here is you've got some Christians who've been emboldened by Christ and out of good motives are declaring the mystery of Christ he's imprisoned in Rome and he's connected to those Roman Christians but there are other Roman Christians that he's connected to that are doing this for bad reasons we picked that up in verse 15 some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry.

Now there are people in the Church at Rome that are preaching Christ from place of envy and rivalry now this passage has confused commentators theologians who've been interacting with this text me like it just it's it's conf it's some confusing stuff here because he uses language envy and rivalry that typically when he writes in his other letters is attributed to those who don't know Christ those who don't follow Christ like envy and Roby especially paired close together that's applied to if your life is marked by this he says you don't know Christ he does this in multiple places in Galatians chapter 5 we're familiar with many of us with with the the fruit of the.

Spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentl faithness self-control right before that is the works of the Flesh and in Galatians 5 it says now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity Strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions Envy drunkenness orgies and things like these I warn you as I warn you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God he is saying that if your life is marked by this.

Then then you're you probably aren't a Christian you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God now the language here stands out the same word for Strife in the Greek which is the original way this is written the same word for strife and rivalries is the same word and that is paired right next to Envy so he's got these kind of close together and that helps see this is what marks someone who doesn't believe and isn't living out the Gospel he does this again in Romans 1 says they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness evil covet malice they are full of Envy murder Strife deceit maliciousness again Envy pair close to the same Greek.

Word for rivalry that is translated here here Strife this happens again and not just describing those who don't believe the Gospel but also those who are teaching a false Gospel false teachers in 1 Timothy 6 he says if anyone teaches a different Doctrine does not agree with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that Accords with godliness he is puffed up with conceit understands nothing he has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels About Words which produce Envy to Ascension slander evil suspicions again Envy paired up with the same Greek word that's.

For rivalry that's translated here as dissension so you see kind of how he uses these words close together throughout the letters that he's written and then you get to Philippians 1 and it's just odd because he's applying it to people who preach Christ and what he doesn't do he does not destroy their credibility he he does that in other places for those that are false teachers he doesn't do that here let's work through the rest of the passage it says somebody preach Christ from envy and rivalry.

But others from goodwi the latter do it out of love knowing that I'm put here for the defense of the Gospel he said there are some in the Roman Church that are preaching the Gospel for the right reasons for a place of love but then he shifts right back to in verse 17 the former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment so then we get a little bit of a clearer picture of what's going on there are people in the Roman Church that from a place of envy and rivalry specifically with Paul out of their own selfish ambition and their own self-interest are preaching Christ in.

A way to hurt Paul and a way to to to Really what it seems like push his influence down in that Church and lift up their own influence within this Church that's what's happening and the confusing part is how he responds in verse 18 what then only that in every way whether in pretense that's false motives or in truth Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice and when you read this against his other letters it's like wait what you take envy and rivalry very seriously and yet all of a sudden you're just what.

Then these people have hurt you personally they've Afflicted you and you're just like what then at least the Gospel is being preached at least at least Jesus is being proclaimed and I want to be like have you read your other letters man this is this is a big deal I me the same person that told Timothy to keep a close life on your keep keep keep a close watch on your life and your Doctrine like you care about how the those who proclaim the Gospel live and you care about the message like what What's Happening Here is Paul speaking out of both sides of his mouth what is he getting at that's the question that.

Kind of lingers a little bit and it's the answer to that is it's it's complicated it's a complicated answer but it's worth pressing into so when Paul says some D preach Christ it is very clear that he's talking about the Gospel he is saying they're preaching the true Gospel they're not preaching a false Gospel which means they're not false teachers and the reason you can say that very credibly is because Paul in all the places he talks about false teachers has zero patience.

For them I mean he absolutely extends zero kindness to wolves and sheep's clothing I mean he dismantles and destroys them over and over and over again I'm not going to give you three quick examples they're a lot more in the book of Galatians a Church that a letter that was written to the Church in galacia a region where he had planted churches after he left some people called the judaizers came in and tried to convert Christians back into following the Jewish law and saying you need this to be saved and he in chapter one at the gate in.

Verse 6 says I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel not that there is another one but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to the preach to you a Gospel contrary to the one we preach to you let him be a cursed as we have said before.

Now I say again if anyone is preaching to you a Gospel contrary to the one you received let him be a cursed that phrase let him be a cursed very literally means let him go to hell so he just said you're pre if anyone is preaching a false Gospel let him go to hell let him be a cursed he picks up in in in second Timothy he says but avoid irreverent Babel for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness and their talk will spread like Garing here false teachers he says their teachings are like an infection that are rotting out the body and will kill the body and he says among the them.

Are himas and philetus which he just called them out by name he doesn't play with false teaching and false teachers he says who have swore from the truth saying that the resurrection is already happened they are upsetting the faith of some and I'll give you one more again there's more but I'll just give you one Titus one says for there are many who are insubordinate empty talkers and deceivers especially those of the circumcision party they must be silenced these are the these trying to convert people back to the Jewish law to be saved he says they must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching.

For shameful gain what they ought not teach he says they must be silenced their talk spreads like gain green they can go straight to hell he has very very strong language for false teachers and he has no patience for false teaching at all and then you get to Philippians and you read this passage and it's like what they're marked by Envy and rivalry what what this seems like a big shift so nowadays there's a lot of uh 90s Nostalgia a lot of 90s Nostalgia I think that's good just I'm partial.

Because that's where I grew up but I think there's not enough focus on one of the best things that came out the 90s and that is '90s country music ' 9s country music was amazing it was so good I know some of y'all don't like country it's fine we can't all have good taste but '90s country music was the jam it was so good Allan Jackson Martina McBride George Straight were just killing it and then 2000's bro country came and it was awful they murdered country music it's.

So so so bad but it's making a comeback you guys cuz when Chris Stapleton took the stage at the CMAs a few years ago I mean just bringing it back it makes me so happy so so many good artists Zack Bryant I can go on for days on that but '90s country was just so good and there was one who is at the top who is killing it more than anyone else in country music can I can I get a guess that's exactly right G Brooks was killing it y'all no only one other artist has sold more physical units of music than G Brooks that's the Beatles number two is GTH Brooks that's wild he.

Was and I mean he was killing that decade and then in 1999 I walked into Walmart and I saw a display case and this display case had it just one artist all the CDs and I walked up to it and I saw a man who had an emo haircut before emo haircuts were even a thing yet and a soul patch and I saw eight of the saddest words I've ever read in the English language G Brooks in the life of Chris gains and he just became a pop artist and and I I got that I got the CD and took it home and it was trash it was awful it's like dude you were killing.

It in country and then you became this this really really bad pop artist it didn't work out for him it worked out well for Taylor Swift but not for him it was a big shift and it was like what are you doing it's so uncharacteristic of everything that you've put out and that's what I feel like when I read Paul In this passage I'm like you are are you Chris gaining us are you just like what have you lost the thread on everything that matters that you're about.

But when you press into this you see that's not it at all because one thing is abundantly clear that has not changed at all and that is that Paul deeply deeply loves the Gospel he deeply deeply values the message of the Gospel you can't mess with the message of the Gospel that's his Anthem you cannot touch that he still believes in the message of the Gospel he still believes and preaches and cares about those who preach that Christ who looked upon us in our sinful hopeless State who came and left heaven.

For us who lived a perfect life for us obeying the Old Testament law Paul still cares about the fact that Christ went to the Cross because he loves us because of his great love for us and that his blood was poured out for us for our offenses and for our sins and for our struggles so that we might stand justified through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross that when God the Father looks upon those of us that have Place Our Hope in.

Jesus and not our own good works but put all of our hope in Christ that he would see the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ and not our own sins and that in that faith we are reborn to a living hope that we cling to until Jesus takes us home he still cares deeply about the message of the Gospel he loves it and he has no patience for a false teaching that corrupts that at all because he understands that a false Gospel leads to a false belief which ultimately leads to an eternity in hell and he takes that very seriously which.

For the record we should care about that we should absolutely not tolerate a false Gospel at all we should not tolerate wolves and sheep's clothing at all I in Paul's time it was it was people that were saying the resurrection already come it was people that were saying that you had to do good works and obey the Old Testament law to be justified and our time it's different the main false Gospel that's rampant throughout the American Church is the Prosperity Gospel it's it's just everywhere and we should absolutely take that seriously we should take seriously the false prophets and false Gospel that's preached from people like Joel ostein and Joyce Meyer and TD Jakes.

Crlo dollar each of them preaching false Gospel leads to a false belief that leads to an eternity in hell we should take that seriously you might think that's a little judgy you calling individuals out and I'd say yeah it is Paul called out himonas and phileus and Paul makes it very clear in in 1 Corinthians 5 he says are you not called to judge those inside the Church it's a direct quote are you not called to judge those inside the Church he's saying hold those accountable inside the Church those outside the Church you have no business making any bit accountability you have no business in making any judgment call on.

If anyone outside the Church no inside the Church if they claim to follow Christ absolutely you hold accountable to what they say and how they live because the message of the Gospel is of utmost importance and we catch a glimpse of God's heart through his servant Paul to help us see that false teaching is seriously we should take that very seriously and I think the problem for us is that we we don't there's so much of it it's like we we don't I think we get more upset.

When someone has a different if you have a family member or you know husband wife brother sister best friend I think we get more upset if they pick up art of the deal by Donald Trump or Obama's Memoir than we would if they took Joel olin's life your best life now book I think we' be more upset about the the political difference there I think it' be more upset if our family or friends were watching news or watching MSNBC then we would.

If they were actually watching TBN which is a horrible Channel I mean they they put some good stuff on there like Billy Graham sandwich between kod dollar and TD Jake and Joyce Meyer and all and it's just like it's awful which the iron of that channel I think it's called Trinity broadcast network and some of those cats don't even believe in Trinity it's just it we should take this seriously which means that if we have family or friends that are being immersed in this type of we we we should lovingly and winsomely compel them to turn away from that cuz this a destructive force it has ruined churches in America it has ruined churches in.

Africa and South America taking a a a false Gospel to people who barely have anything and telling them to give their money so that they can be it's we should take it seriously as serious as Paul takes in 2 Timothy chapter 4 when he says for the time is coming when people who will not endure sound teaching but have itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to truth and wander into myths.

Because we live in a time where everyone wants to hear what makes them feel good wants to he what what their ears are itching for and it will suit their own passions and it's going to lead to destruction so when he's talking about these Roman Christians they're preaching Christ they're not preaching a false Gospel here and when you understand this this and what he's doing I think there are three questions we can ask of Paul and ourselves that will help us understand and apply this better I have three questions the.

First do we love the message like Paul do we love the message like Paul so when he says 15 some of the preach Christ from envy and rivalry and it goes on to say the former Proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment I mean just understand like Paul Paul was being hurt by this like I mean if you've ever had anyone I remember the first time that I was in when I was in high school and a I found out that a friend of mine was talking smack about me behind my back and I was like I thought we were friends that hurts that had to.

Have hurt him they are afflicting him I mean the the the most comparative thing I could say what's happening with him and Roman maybe here is if we sent chck to like the Middle East to do Mission work and then he gets arrested and he's imprisoned and then I just was like all right now's the time I don't just preach half the time I preach all the time I make the rules here now I'm taking over Community groups and I'll scrub his ugly face out of the website it's just out this is my house and I just said I'm doing it this is me and y'all be like is he doing.

Okay it doesn't matter how he's doing we're moving on it's wicked it's corrupt that's what's happening he's being afflicted by people who are preaching because they they Envy his influence they're out of their own selfish ambition so it had to have hurt him certainly but Paul has an eternal view in mind he says but at least they're preaching Christ at least they're preaching the true Gospel at least they're preaching a Gospel that saves and not a false Gospel that dams so at least they're preach in Christ cuz he cares more about advancing the Gospel than being personally maligned that's clear from his writings that he doesn't like those motives he doesn't like envy and rivalry.

Probably was praying for the repentance but he rejoiced that they were preaching a true Gospel and that Sinners were being saved so it's what those Rivals and what they were doing in that Church was it Wicked yes are these rivals operating out of as they're operating out of selfish ambition are they in danger if they keep following that track if it's all about themselves and all about themselves all about themselves are they in danger of becoming likeus and phileus and becoming false teachers that's certainly possible.

But is it it's clear from these writings here it's clear from what's Happening Here that their motivations though flawed their their motivations though sinful are not the same as someone who would preach that Jesus isn't really God which started in the first century but also continues in the veins of jehovas witness in Mormonism now and it's certainly not the same as someone who would preach a Prosperity Gospel saying that you come come down here and we'll pray over you give some money and we'll pray over you plant the seed of faith and we'll pray over you those aren't even in the same ballpark.

See yeah they're flawed but they're not preaching a false Gospel and there's a lot of nuance here that separates that out I think there are a misguided leaders that are hurting Paul and they've lost sight of what this is all about and I think it is possible that we don't get to see how this ends that some of those those teachers ended up straying away from the faith but they're not there yet and therefore Paul is still going to celebrate that they are preaching Christ and he's not going to treat him like a wolf I love what John Piper says about this he says Paul is more agitated.

When the Gospel itself is defective than he is when the people who preach the true Gospel are defective and I think that's a very good sum summarization of what this is now that doesn't mean we shouldn't care about leaders that doesn't mean we shouldn't care about character we announced a few weeks ago that Isaac who's been in the Elder and training process here for four years that we're going to install him as an elder after four years is a reason why we took that long we were evaluating his character we still should 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 care about the character of those who Proclaim name the Gospel we should care about that like.

If any of you move to another city and you try to find a Church I've helped different people who've left here and gone to different places I usually get on n Marks Church finder or Gospel coal uh Church finder and help them find a few churches but I tell them like you should care about their teaching so get on there read their doctrinal statements listen to a few sermons hear what they are teaching because that matters but if they show up and all of a sudden like the pastor is really into himself and like he's wearing $500 sneakers and it's just like you can tell like he's just trying to build his brand and you.

Get on social media and like it's just a lot of cringe posts about I mean you know what I'm talking about it's just like if if you see that it's like okay you should care about that you should care if there's just blatant self-interest in how they do their Ministry but you also should pray for pastors like that when you encounter them you should and you should be thankful at least they're preaching a true Gospel there's a quote that's attributed to Martin Luther that's.

God uses crooked sticks to make straight lines and it's like yeah yeah there's some crooked sticks including myself that God uses to preach Christ and we should celebrate that so when you encounter churches and pastors and authors and Ministry leaders that seem to be so self-interested should pray for them and pray for their repentance because that's a miserable existence making an idol out of yourself and your ministry is tiring and exhausting there's a quote from a Moravian Bishop Zen and dorf he said preach the Gospel die and be forgotten and it's like yeah that's it that's it preach the Gospel die two generations you everyone will forget you praise.

God because the message message outlasts the messenger even a broken one we should love the message of the Gospel we should love the message of Christ second question do we love the message more than ourselves do we love the message of the Gospel more than our own selves or to put it a different way what about our own selfish ambition what about our own Envy what about our own rivalry because what happens is that we're really quick to identify it's easy to.

See you know a slick preacher with $500 sneakers on Instagram doing all kinds of things and be like oh yeah that dude's about himself but we skipped a step because what Jesus teaches in Matthew 7 is take the plank out of your own eye so that you can see the speck in your brother's eye and we just skip that stuff and that passage gets misunderstood for lots of reasons on one side it's like oh God says you should never judge anyone and Tupac like just made that a big Anthem Only.

God can judge me and it's like no that's not what Jesus is teaching at all there he's saying take the plank out first so you can see the spec there's accountability built into that passage but the other side of it is is that we just don't like to do that we don't like to take the plank out that's hard work inspecting it's suspecting your own sin first is difficult work it's a whole lot easier just to look at everyone else so do we love the message more than ourselves are we willing to do the tough work of saying.

First okay where are my selfish Ambitions where am I envious where where am I uh creating rivalries with others and where do I need to repent of that in my own life first so I can clearly love the message over my own self so we should do that that's something I have to die to myself regularly because I I just my flesh I I want admiration and Glory I want that and I I regularly pray before I preach I say God not.

For my glory but for your own because I know deep down within me I want that Glory but we got to do that Soul work of looking within and seeing what's happening within us so that we can actually repent so what planks do we need to pull out in order to practice this well do you celebrate with others when they do well or are you quietly jealous of how their how it's going for them can you really celebrate what those you should be joyful about or are you just secretly.

So jealous that you're not getting what they've got how about this on the community group level when other community groups are just crushing it seemingly from our perspective another community group it's just it seems like it's just going so well are you happy for them are we imately envious of what's happening there which group leaders like that's a real thing right actually let me put group leaders to side for a moment let me talk to group members okay and I can say this.

Because I'm a group member now my wife and I we LED groups for 10 years and now we're just we're group members leading a group is hard leading a community group is hard it is you can talk to them you ask them hey is it hard and they'll say yes it is it's made harder when we're not being good group members when we show up once a month when the list goes out for meals and it's like I'll bring cups it's like you want to try a salad they make those in kits.

Now you just open it up you TI the bowl you just that's it like it's it's real easy it it's made more difficult when we stir up drama it made more difficult when we're complaining it's made more difficult when we say I want this to change and this change to serve my needs it's made more difficult when it's like I you got to revolve around my schedule it's made more difficult when we're not good group members so let's change let's love our group leaders y'all should bless them take them out to eat ask them how you could be a better group member all right group leaders.

If you get into a comparison game where you're just envious of other other situations that's a terrible drug and it just has no bottom cuz you'll just grow bitter and then you'll just hate groups all together you know not that I've ever experienced that ever in 10 years leading groups do you have a created rivalry in your head with another person person maybe it's at work maybe it's someone in our own Church another person and your family another person in your friend group do you have a rivalry that's like it's just in your head or maybe it's not even in your head maybe it's just like understood it's like Taylor and Kim Kardashian like they.

Just you just know it's just I think that was them right right front row yes okay it's just understood there's a rivalry between you and this other person person I sin I sin and it should be repented of and Reconciliation should happen is your work your ministry your life is it all about self and your selfish Ambitions are you making much of yourself or are we seeking to make much of Christ to his glory and not our own We Must Love The Gospel and the message of the go Gospel more than our own selves.

And when we do that we make the proclamation of Christ and him crucified the most Central aim of our lives but in order to stay on track with that aim there are things there are planks that must be REM removed there sin that must be repented of to make the Gospel primary third question do you rejoice in the message going forward do you rejoice in the message of Christ and him crucified going forward do we so deeply love this message like Paul we.

So deeply love it that we would care about that Gospel going forward and we just celebrate when it's preached there's a few different ways where we just that we fall short in this area I'm going to talk to a super Niche group of people in our Church I'm talking like probably less than five so I'm going to give this space like for a minute but if you're the kind of person that loves Theology and you also love being on YouTube and you love what's called discernment Ministries on YouTube be careful there are whole YouTube channels devoted to help you discern and heresy hunt and figure out who's the bad ones and some of those cats.

They spend they get a little too gleeful about taking shots at others and I just I I didn't throw up those names earlier I didn't throw out TD Jake and Klo dollar and Joel oin and Joyce Meyer flippantly I followed the ministry for years I had to reorient myself again this week with some of the really terrible things they say right but you better be real careful when you start throwing out names and lobing bombs that people that actually might be brothers they might be Sisters in Christ.

Because you're maligning a a Believer which first John has some pretty sharp words for you on so just caution they may listen they they may you you would never go to their Church and you would never quote them and they're just they make you cringe and like I'm tell there's a lot of goofy American Christian pastors out there a lot of great ones too a lot of great ones but a lot of goofy ones that you would never get behind but are they preaching Christ are they still preaching the Gospel.

Then you should celebrate that we should celebrate the proclamation of Christ we should Rejoice regard L of maybe our differences in opinions or even even differences in a little bit in character theological differences I whether it pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed in that we should Rejoice I don't care if you're Anglican or if you're Baptist if you're egalitarian or you're complimentary or you know what those words are and care I don't like I just I don't I don't in the grand scheme of things I I do care like lowkey level care.

But like a grand scheme of things I don't care if you're preaching Christ then go for for it just keep doing it don't let up I want to celebrate you preaching Christ not be so just judgy on the smallest of things like I even got the point like years ago I I would see Street Street Preachers and I even confronted Street Preachers back in the day how dare you do you not know how many people you're dissuading of following Christ.

Listen there are some bad Street Preachers out there Al some crazy Street Preachers out there who are wacko but there are some Street Preachers that listen that's not my style I I'm not I'm not going on the streets with the soap box it's not my game but some of them are genuine Brothers and Sisters in Christ who were just proclaiming the Gospel and sure we don't have a street preaching Ministry but I've got to the point where I'm like you know what.

Look in the mirror bro they've shared the Gospel with more people in the last five minutes than you have in the last five months so like just calm down and if they they're preaching Christ then like it's not my style but like I'm going to pray I want to pray for that dude I want to pray for them that the Gospel would actually sink into the hearts of those who don't believe we should Rejoice with people who are proclaiming the Gospel we should check our own s to.

See if we're actually sharing the Gospel or if we just think we can friend people into the kingdom and never use words which doesn't work totally fine with friending people but you got to share words at some point and I feel that within my own self we should rejoice when those who proclaim the Gospel and that means that we should be willing to acknowledge in the times where we're not doing that we need to if listen if we're not willing to get in the fight and share the Gospel with a friend with a neighbor with a coworker it's either.

Because we don't love this Gospel nearly enough or we love ourselves in our comfort way too much we should rejoice when the Gospel is preached and we should embody the part of the Roman Church that made Paul just joyful and he said out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel that should be us that that the latter do I love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel may we be a people that embodied that.

But out of love for the message in Christ and of love for those who do not have ears to hear and a love for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who will be emboldened to share the Gospel if we do it we should out of love preach Christ and then rejoice when those and rejoice in those who do let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us love your message so deeply that we would repent of the own sin our lives that keeps us from being Messengers and Heralds that bring you glory I pray that you would use us in spite of our sin in spite of my own folies.

God I pray that you would help us celebrate at the proclamation of your wonderful Gospel and the Eternal change that can happen because of it I pray for brothers and sisters that that may Proclaim Christ for selfish motives that you would lead them and and me into regular repentance upholding you as more glorious than our ourselves so that out of love we would stand on the Gospel and Proclaim it regularly to your glory and not our own in Jesus name amen man's going to come up and we're just going to close out in worship and singing Take a couple minutes to reflect we don't just like to hear the word.

But we like to be doers of the word but in doing the word and practicing this we must stare Within and see the sin that's within us must be repented of but that's not even possible if we don't actually believe the Gospel in the first place so first you got to love Christ and you got to love the good news of the Gospel you got to admit your own need for a savior and see that God loves us so much that he did come to rescue us and to put all of our chips on that and to make all of our Hope on that and from that belief we get to.

Look at the sin within us repent of it and then be those who proclaim the Gospel and rejoice in those who do.

The Gospel Through Suffering (Philippians 1:12-14)

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

The Gospel Through Suffering (Philippians 1:12-14)

Spencer Cary

|giv| Week 3: Faithless Complaints & the Faithful

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

Faithless Complaints & the Faithful

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here so we are in the final two weeks of walking through the Book of Malachi and we're also in our final weeks of our give Series so every year if you're new here we do a give Series where we pause to remember uh really the gift of Jesus and what it means to be in relationship with him uh we get so caught up in this season and really the materialism that gets attached to Christmas and every year we take a moment to reset.

Remember who this is about and what he causes to is being people that do not worship gifts or don't worship money or don't worship anything other than Christ and esteem him as as wonderful and great and we do that through a give project which you'll hear more about um as we close out today but uh we're going to continue to walk through the Book of Malachi and we are in chapter 3: 13-8 so you can follow along there you can also follow along your blue Bible uh that's all around you the page should be on the screen 4 608.

If I can read correctly from a distance but you can follow along as we walk through the text together uh we are in the Christmas season and uh that means that there are a lot of things that are happening one of them is uh Hallmark movies so yeah some of you excited uh 90minut easy digestible plots that are effortless right Netflix has gotten in the game like there you know there a story for you you know the the woman who is in the city and has the high powerered career.

But she goes to the countryside for Christmas and meets the guy and all of a sudden she has to choose between a career and the Man in the countryside and every time she chooses the countryside and the wonderful life you know what I'm talking about there's these revolving plots that happen that we're all so very used to there's one that happens quite a bit as well and it's the story of a of a dad who really is all in on his career he's traveling all the time he's working really hard.

But he's not present at home and at Christmas time he believes that he can buy his children's affection by buying them all the Christmas gifts in the world like this plot shows up in you know 90-minute movies it shows up all over the place it happens in real life as well and everyone who understands that story universally responds the same way Dad he doesn't want the gifts he wants you he he doesn't want the Christmas that you can provide he wants you he wants to go out back and throw the ball he wants to have time with you.

If you would just refocus and reenter your life in in a way that would see that your children are valuable and the little time that you have with them like we know that story and all of us are on the same page and saying dude slow down the gifts don't matter it's what you it's you are what matters and yet we don't apply that same logic to God God the Father we just don't we don't see that actually having a relationship with.

God the father and being with him is actually good that's where goodness is found it's not in the gifts that he can provide it's not in the life that he can provide it's not in the things that we want in this world it's actually found in him and we don't apply that same logic we so deeply understand when we're watching a movie to who our God is and we get so wrapped up especially in a season like this in what God can do.

For for us and defining that as goodness now we're not alone the Jewish people as we're going to see today we're also in the same boat confusing what is the goodness of God how is that displayed and really believing that that's bound up in the things that he can do for his people so we're going to see that we're going to see how that applies to us as we walk through another dispute that God has with his people in the Book of Malachi let we pray and we'll walk through this together heavenly.

Father I I pray pray that you would help us be present this morning that we might remember who you are that we might even some of us discover who you are that we might see you as wonderful and good and worthy of our worship not because of what you can do for us but because who you are and God I pray that you'd help us be present this morning to hear that and that we would not just be hearers of the word.

But we would be doers of the word we walk this out in faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in who you are in Jesus name amen all right so starting off in verse 13 your words have been hard against me says the Lord but you say how have we spoken against you you have said it is vain to serve God what is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts.

Now we call the Arrogant blessed evildoers not only Prosper but they put God to the test and they escape so if you've been walking with us in the Book of Malachi one of the things that you have seen over and over again in these disputes because each one of these sections of Malachi is a dispute that God has with his people and you see this God says this is what you've done here's the accusation here's what you've said here's what you've done people are like no not us how have we done this and that's what's Happening Here your words have been hard against me and they say.

Well how how have we spoken against you we wouldn't know never he said no You' have spoken hardly another version will say harshly another version uh will say arrogantly it's all capturing the same idea you have spoken arrogantly harshly hard words against the Lord and in verse 14 we see this harshness and really what's happening in this charge says what prophet is there in keeping his charge his charge the NIV I'm going to put the NIV which is another version of this up there.

Because I want us to see what's happening here it says you have said it is feudal to serve God what do we gain by carrying out his requirements so this is a little bit different than what we've read before where they're complaining or lamenting before God they're talking amongst themselves this we his language what God is describing is conversations that are happening amongst the people of God so what's happening is the people are complaining against the Lord together which is what happens you know people who are disgruntled seem to find each other.

If you've ever worked a job if you've ever been in an office or worked in a shop or wherever like the most disgruntled people just find each other and they complain about their boss they complain about their work they complain about fill in the blank and that's what's happened with the people of God is they they've some people have been finding each other to complain together against God so what are they complaining about what the content of their beef with God it starts in.

Verse 14 it says you have said it is vain to serve God what is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts so they're saying what is the point in worshiping God what profit is there what gain is there in worshiping God it's not going well for us what's the point of worshiping God this language of mourning is is is the type of lament worship they would bring before God what's the point in worshiping.

God it's not it's not giving us any gain that we can really see that we can really feel that we can really grasp and we saw a little bit of this earlier when the uh earlier with the dispute with the people of God when they were bringing their sacrifices before the Lord they were bringing uh bad sacrifices disobeying the law bringing blind animals and all types of animals that should not have been sacrificed going through the motions of worship and now they're just complaining about going through the motions of worship what is the point what is the profit what is the gain in worshiping.

God and it becomes a really self-centered self-interested approach to the Lord that God has not done me any good so what's the point in even serving him what's the point even going to the temple and offering worships what's the what's the point of even going to the synagogue and hearing the rabbi preach like what is the point what is the prophet and they continue this complaint in verse 15 it says and now we call the Arrogant blessed evildoers not only Prosper.

But they put God to the test and they escape so this is similar to what we've read earlier in Malachi they are mad that those who are not of the people of God that don't worship God are prospering so the Persians still roll over them at this point in history and they're mad about that when they come back to the promised land the their sworn enemies are taking have taken over parts of the promised land and they're mad about that and those people that don't worship.

God they seem to be doing well and we aren't are you going to show up for us oh God cuz we're not prospering and they are and they're not being punished and they're comparing themselves to the people that are around them which as I told my daughter last night is a miserable existence it's a miserable existence to compare yourselves to others in childhood it's miserable but it's also Miserable as as an adult consistently compare yourself to others one of the things that we're having to deal with with our oldest she's in the.

Third grade and and this has started to happen but she's got friends in her class that have phones and that's going to continue to happen and she's already kind of wondered wait a second why don't I have a phone and those conversations are going to continue to ramp up and they're going to be more and more like hey why don't I have a phone my friends have a phone why don't I have a phone and the comparisons are going to continue in that direction and one of the things is going to be difficult.

For her that we're going to have to have conversations with over and over again is to say listen I'm not their parents I'm yours you belong to me and we have made a decision that it's going to be a while before you get a phone especially a smartphone because we have basically a decade long case study on what that does to young girls so no we're you're not going to have a smartphone for a very long time and what she's going to inevitably what going to happen in her soul.

Because she's a human is is that's not good you're you're denying goodness and and what she doesn't see is no we aren't we're actually giving you goodness by not giving you this device that could warp you no but we do this it's so innate to who we are to compare ourselves to others to say oh no like I what are you holding back from me oh Lord that the others have that is good now that complaint needs some context for when that's being said in history I mean that that matters.

For any statement that's made in history I can make the statement right now that Germany is dominating influence in Europe I mean they are a dominating influence in Europe and they are because they're the most powerful economy in the EU if I said that in 1940 that's different that's a whole different ball game so context based on generational difference differences and time matters so when is this statement when is this complaint that they are saying being said and why does that matter.

So the complaint they're making against God here is a few Generations after the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah Malachi is one of the is the final book of the Old Testament and it's believed that happens just a few Generations right after the events of Ezra and Nehemiah and if you read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah what you will see when the people return from exile to the promised land is that there's this renewed fervor in love for.

God there's this renewed worship for God as they're rebuilding the temple and as they're rebuilding the walls and as they're uh reading the the law and rediscovering the Covenant there's this renewed fervor for God and with that renewed fervor for God is this expectation that things are going to get better and then it kind of doesn't by their standards they don't still Ru over their land things aren't seeming to be all that much better and we we we saw even last week uh that they aren't one of the things that chat B us through last week and the last uh dispute that.

God has with this people is that they're not actually giving to uh giving their tithes to the lord they're holding back from the Lord and part of that when you can of look into the context is that they probably don't have as much it's easy to to to give a tenth when you are prosperous a little bit harder when you are not so things aren't going well as they expected and the their enemies are ruling over parts of their land they just things aren't going like they want it to be and they're saying.

Well what's the profit of following God what's the point in worshiping God because it's just not getting better now I think that context is important for us and the Western American Church because I believe that we have similar complaints because what happens with us is that many of us will place our faith in Jesus get baptized or maybe we'll go through a season of rediscovery of God and loving his word and passionate maybe you get married you're like I want to actually take Faith seriously as a family or you start to have a kid you start to go I want to take.

God ser seriously we have these Mountaintop experiences where we're starting to have a fervor and a love for God and what happens is is that we believe the false narrative that if I'm just following God and I'm doing what I'm supposed to then things are just going to get better and then life hits you in the face repeatedly over and over again death loss betrayal debt joblessness the works and what happens when you get hit over and over again as you start to question is.

God good it is he because I'm just I'm getting destroyed left and right and I I is he good now the reason I think that question seeps in very easily I think there's there's a few different threads for that I think part of that is is that the American Prosperity Gospel is so rampant in Western American Church and we like to think of that as just the you know the C dollars of the world who are buying Jets those are the worst versions of it.

But it's way more than that it's this consistent message that shows up of be you got you follow God you'll be healthy you'll be be good you'll be fine your life will be good profit gain it's all over Instagram It's All Over YouTube it's all over just it's it it fuses its way to where the goodness of God ultimately is what he can do for you if he plac your faith in Jesus watch him work won't won't he won't he work I mean just over and over and over and over again it seeps its way in all different places I think that's part of the problem I think I think also part of the problem.

Is is that we just have this understanding that goodness is found in the things goodness is found in the substance material substance there's this material idea of just goodness is these things and therefore if God is good he must display his goodness with these things if he just gives me these things then he ultimately is good I think also we just very basically we lack a very biblical Theology of suffering the the the New Testament you cannot read the New Testament without understanding that there is a baseline theolog theological like you you are going to suffer and ultimately that is.

For your good that if you are called in Christ as a Christian you will suffer and it's actually seen as something that is good for us I mean James 1 says count it all joy count it all joy my brothers when you meet Trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing now it says can Joy my brothers when you meet trials.

When really important word meaning you are going to meet trials you are going to suffer and he's trying to help them count it as a joy because ultimately that suffering is going to produce steadfastness and as Roman says it'll have its full effect it be like I mean just it's just just I think we lack this and we're surrounded by so many bad ideas and bad philosophies of the day bad theology bad preaching dumb Instagram dumb Tik Tok I mean just we're surrounded by.

So many ridiculous detached from the Bible ideas and I love what Eugene Peterson once said he said all the water and all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside that all the water and all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside so yes we are certainly surrounded by so many bad ideas so many bad philosophies so many bad theology so many bad streams but the reality is is that we're we still have the ability to believe what is true we have his word we have the Holy Spirit that don't have to get inside the boat that don't have to get in we are responsible ultimately.

For discernment and filtering out all of that so we might actually believe what is true and some of that means you've got to realize that you might have some metaphorical people that are around that are complaining and giving you bad ideas Bad Company as First Corinthians says ruins good morals so I don't know what that is for you if that's seeping into your soul you might need to Source where that is and who that's coming from maybe it's people that you follow maybe it's things that you have heard maybe it's fill in the blank.

But there's a group of people in the promised land that are just complaining and they're complaining against God because they believe what is not true the goodness is found in what God can do for us in this life mostly materially but that's not the only people in the Promised Land when you get to verse 16 you see that then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another so there still are people who fear the lord who love him who realize that goodness is found in him that Delight in him.

For who he is and not for what he can do in prospering this life now there's still people that love God and that worship him and that fear Him and they're speaking together and this is what God says and some of this is in the time of Malachi and some of this is we're going to see is forward looking the Lord paid attention and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name they shall be mine says the.

Lord of hosts in the day when I make make up my treasure possession I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and one who does not serve him so we get this picture of people who in the midst of their suffering are fearing God and I want to take a look at some of that forward-looking language that is.

For the people of God who persevere in faith so that first part it says the Lord paid attention and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name those who fear the lord are his they belong to him so much so that their name is written in a book of remembrance which is something that we see from the Old Testament into the new right we're walking through the book of Exodus in the last year we saw that Moses.

When he's pleading on behalf of the people he says in Exodus 32 but now if you will will forgive their sin but if not please blot me out of your book that you have written there's this idea of that those who remain faithful they're written and recorded in some book of remembrance The Book of Revelation completes this theme at the end of the story in Revelation uh chapter 3 it says the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life I will confess his name before my.

Father and before his angels Revelation says and if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire there's this idea throughout the Scriptures that that those who are faithful those who trust God those who persevere they're written in a a book of remembrance a book of life there's a recording that is taken of them now for their time that makes a lot more visual sense for them because they were very used to it at the time Kings kept a record.

So Kings at the time both Jewish and non-jewish Kings they kept a record of who did what in the Kingdom that was good who did what in the Kingdom that was bad they kept a record of all of this so it's very picturesque for them that the God of the universe the king over all things keeps a record and keeps an account of who is faithful so he says God I I will remember I have a book of remembrance and you'll be written in.

And then I want to to see what he has to say about those in the book of remembrance verse 17 they shall be mine says the Lord of hosts in the day when I make up my treasured possession and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and one who does not serve him so God says couple of things he says those who fear me those who are in this book of remembrance they are my treasured possession dude where his treasured possession that.

God holds his people dear to him he Treasures them he keeps them safe like if I if this week in our office is next door if Chad philli started a fire because I don't even know what he's doing back there sometimes if he started a fire and the building was going to burn down and I had to get some stuff out of my office I'd choose the most treasured possessions and it it would be very quick CU on my bookshelf there's a pocket Bible it's an old kjb pocket Bible it was my grandparents pocket Bible and that's a treasure possession I'd grab that and above that is I have a I have a signed copy.

Of one of wle Berry's limited edition poetry books which for very limited amount of people that's a big deal but it's it's one of the best authors of the last century he I got him to sign it a book fair I'd grab that I might even grab there's at the end of the bookshelf there's a picture it's of chett but it's of Chad looking at himself so like one day um one day I was at his office and he had this uh he was looking at his computer.

But his computer has two screens and one of them just had a screen saver which was a his profile picture on our website and he's looking at it so I snapped the picture because it looks like he's fawning over himself and I sent it to him it was a big kind of inside joke and then all of a sudden he like before he went on sabatical like printed it off and put it in a frame just you know cuz we listen we make jokes about each other all the time from the pulpit cuz we're fun we like to have fun.

But we are close we're good friends and he knew he's going to be gone for eight week so he put that picture up there for me to remember him and it's just like it's a good inside joke it stays up there so I probably wouldn't keep that I if I'm grabbing things maybe if I have the time but definitely the other two objects I'm grabbing those and the reason why I'm grabbing those objects it's because they're dear to me they're treasured and I want to keep them safe.

God he says I'm you're you're mine you're my treasured possession just think about that if you're in Christ God Treasures you he Treasures you and he will ultimately keep you near to him I love that language which that we a treasure possession and he goes on and he says and I will spare them like a man spares his son who serves him and this is the language of a father who loves his son father who loves his son and I mean not just giving trying to buy his affection at Christmas.

But just absolutely loves his boy and if you're a parent you get this you understand what it means to love your children and that you want to spare them suffering you want to spare them like that that's like I right now we're so I I read a book called coddling of the American mind years ago and I'm very convinced by the arguments in it not they're not Christians but very convinced the arguments in it one of the things they're critiquing is helicopter parenting.

So we're trying to grow in our family to not be the helicopter parents so my oldest is in the third grade and we're trying to allow her to have more free play in our neighborhood where we can't see her but that's very hard because I've seen a lot of dat line and it's just hard where for Christmas don't don't tell her but we're getting her a a a Garmin smart watch that allows her to message us send out a SOS signal.

If she's in trouble but has GPS tracking so I feel a little more comfortable less helicopter sending her out in the neighborhood to play with kids where I can't see her because it's good for her ultimately to have this free play that is going to be good for her to make her a better adult now the reason why that's hard for me and my wife is because we don't want her to get hurt we want to spare her that like we don't want our children to be hurt we want our children to be.

Okay and that's something that's so distinct to parents we love our children and God says I I'm going spare them like a man spares his son who serves him like I I'm going to like like like a God who loves his child that doesn't want his child to suffer that's how I see there people who fear me who love me and in the days ahead you will be my you're my treasured possession and I will spare you and when that happens everyone will.

See the distinction between those who trust in Christ and fear Him and the wicked who reject him and ultimately complain about him because they've misunderstood the goodness of God now that question lingers of okay well when that's prophesying this when when is that going to happen in this side of the Cross we know exactly when that was going to happen so I passages like Romans 8 which makes M Malachi 3:17 come to life Romans 8 says he who did not spare his son.

But gave him up for us all how will he not also with him gracious ly give us all things and the good news of the Gospel is that God loves his people so much that he did not spare his only begotten son that he had his son crushed on a cross to absorb the wrath for our sin that we deserve so that we might be spared so that we might become his treasure possession and so the Judgment might might not fall upon us.

But it might fall upon Christ so Malachi is pointing forward to that day when Jesus is not spared but those who trust in him are and as Romans says As Romans says how will he not graciously give us all things that if we're spared this judgment and more than that we're graciously given all things what are the all things and it's not Material in this life it's Christ in life with him so as Malachi and the complaint is what is the profit of keeping his charge what's the profit what's the gain what do I get you get everything you get everything that ultimately matters you gain him in life with him forever you get the.

Fruit of his righteousness credited to our account you get to behold his face and etern you gain everything that ultimately matters so what is it worth what's the profits worth everything as Paul so succinctly puts in Philippians 3 when he argues indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and for him the loss was reputation the loss was he suffered greatly physically he suffered in hunger he suffered in he suffered shipwrecks he suffered everything as I count everything as a loss.

Because the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish so all the things that you might cling to in this world and say that's good he says no it's garbage it's rubbish no where am I in order that I might gain Christ and be found him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from.

God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in death and the Very things in this life that we're so tempted to believe that are ultimately good it's nothing it's fleeting it doesn't last it's not worth putting your hope in it the difference between those that do not know God and those who do is not bound up in the things that they have in this life it's bound up in who they ultimately worship and we have Christ and he's worth everything he's worth all the loss that you might suffer in this world he's worthy of it and he's better as.

We say every week he's better than everything else so that means that we we have to stop measuring the goodness of God and the things that we can get here and now and then all the different ways that we struggle with God because we are frustrated because of what he does not give us it means that we have to submit that in Repentance before the Lord and also believe that he is good regardless of anything that's added in this life now as we do give we get to do that every year as a reminder.

Because every year around this time we talk about this we talk about how there are things that Vive for our attention and our affection there's so many things that you can buy now on Amazon there's so many things you can level up to in life the next house the next truck the next whatever it is that you desire and when we don't get it we get frustrated we get discontent and maybe it's not even maybe it's not even a big truck maybe it's just the simple things like I don't want to be in pain anymore more I want relationally things to go.

Well for me I want my marriage to go well for me I want friendships to go well for me I want my job to go well for me there's so many things that we put value in in this life and when those are taken from us is when we start to shake our Fist and at least at give every year we get to address one of the big ones which is materialism it is money it is the things that we want to worship and lay our lives down.

For so we close out we're going to worship and then Isaac is going to come up here he's explain the next phase of our give project we're excited about and we're going to get an opportunity to actually in the coming weeks display that at least we don't love the things of this world so much so that we might give up a chunk of change a bit of our budget maybe bit of our regular giving so that we might submit our finances to the.

Lord and not love the things of this world that we so if we're honest deeply love but even more than that the hope would be is that we would not be like those who complained amongst the people of God who questioned God's goodness because he did not deliver in the ways that they wanted him to but we just be like the boy who gets his dad and just says I want him I don't want the things you can give me I just want want you and we'd be a people that whatever it is in this life that that we put value in we just put it away and say no I got you.

And if I got you I'm good let me pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us submit to what is difficult teaching you help me submit to what is difficult teaching from your word there's so many things my heart strives to love above you but you're more beautiful you're more wonderful you're more satisfying and I pray that we believe that I pray that we' live like that's true that if there's anyone here that hasn't actually fully done that for the.

First time ever they haven't actually believed that you're ultimately better they would actually believe that they would have faith that you would give them Faith to believe that you are better the goodness is found in you and for the rest of us who are sinners trying to rid our elves of seeking the pleasures of this life may you help us in Repentance and in worship submit these things to you that we might see you as good in Jesus name amen.

|giv| Week 3 Project

Malachi Week 4: Marital Fidelity

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

Malachi 2:10-16 Marital Fidelity

Spencer Cary

Transcript

My name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here I hope you all had a good weekend especially the women who are on women's retreat I hope that was a blessing to you yeah some of you had a little more fun than others and I just want to let you know that my children are good at cleaning up toilet paper so we're going to be in Malachi 2: 10 through 16 this morning you can go ahead and turn there it's on page 467 our blue Bibles uh the text will be on the screen as.

Well as we walk this together as we're continue to walk through these different disputes that God has with his people through his Prophet Malachi I think Americans and Southerners are fairly okay with unsolicited advice and opinions uh for the most part like I think it like if I'm in the line at cookout somebody comes to me and says hey did you know that you can like upgrade your drink to a milkshake for a dollar more I welcome that I say B blessed and highly favored this is amazing that.

For $8 you can get a milkshake a cheeseburger and french fries and chicken quesadilla and sure the long-term Outlook isn't great but the short-term benefit is wonderful I appreciate anyone who's willing to give me such good news on opinions like that I think there's a lot of different areas that if someone were to speak into your life you'd welcome that and you'd be thankful that they pointed out something that was so helpful I do think it has its limits though there's a few different areas that.

If someone's looking over your shoulder and says hey this you go no uh uh mind your business like that's just I think there's a few different areas two in particular are money and romance right so if someone wants to speak into how you spend your money typical God American response is I made that money I'll I'll spend it how well please mind your business like if someone wants to come and speak into your marriage address speaking of your relationship you're like ah no I'm good you You' you've stepped over the line like I think that's kind of two general areas I think that we're not.

Okay with I mean if I'm honest like if someone want to helpfully come alongside me look at our budget and say I've looked at your budget and I have have a few suggestions on how you can cut costs here here and here that my gut instinct would be thank you for your opinion which is my stock way it's like my phrase for saying I'm I'm good with what you have said so some of you have heard me say that to you.

Now you know going forward if I say thank you for your opinion it's I'm good like I'm I'm moving on from this right I just think there's something in us that just doesn't want those two areas to be touched and Malachi says oh yeah well how about I talk about both of them uh intensely for a couple of chapters and that's what we're we're waiting into now is in the next few weeks uh we're going to look at God speaking into the marriages of the people and also the money and the finances of the people and he's coming.

For both of them so this week specifically in this third dispute we're going to see God speaking to the marriages of the people and there's a part of us that's going to want to say mind your business but Malachi is going to say do you belong to God okay then no I'm going to speak into this and I'm going to speak into the relationships amongst the people of God so we're going to see how God addresses the people and their marriages.

And then as the Church how we get to look at this and see how it applies to us today so let me pray for us then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for being able to come and worship you and sing praises to you offer up prayers of Thanksgiving to you and also that we get to receive your word God I pray that you'd help us receive it for it is a difficult word just as it was.

For the people of God thousands of years ago may you help us receive it and walk this out in faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in you ultimately because you were worthy of it we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so Chad finished up the second dispute last week where God is uh correcting the priesthood the priesthood at the time was uh conducting a charade they were they were simply going through the motions of worship it wasn't real true heart worship wasn't offering the sacrifices they were supposed to.

But they were facilitating this system and God calls out the priest priesthood for their failures and then he shifts into this third dispute picking up here in verse 10 have we not all one father has not one God created us why then are we faithless to one another profaning the Covenant of our fathers now other versions will say why do we deal treacherously or why do we betray one another that at the beginning of this dispute he is dealing with some of the the faithlessness that's happening to one another that he establishes very early on in Malachi that he is the.

Father of this nation he's the father of the Jewish people that means that they are the family of God and they should treat one another as family but they're not doing this like they are supposed to there's faithlessness happening towards one another and then he shifts this into two specific areas starting in verse 11 Judah has been faithless an Abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign.

God may the Lord cut off from the tent of Jacob and any descendant of the man who does this who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts and the first area he's going to address is the intermarriages that have happened amongst the people of God they have married the daughters of foreign Gods now there are Skeptics that will lch on to this and see see your God is against interracial marriage your God is an ethnocentric God and that's completely misreading the text this has nothing to do with Jewish people marrying Persians this has everything to do with marrying someone who does not worship the one true.

God that is embedded into the Old Testament law this teaching that says you shall marry someone who also loves the Lord with all their heart with all their soul with all my you should absolutely enter into marriage only with those who have the same Faith this is in Deuteronomy 7 it's in multiple places but we're going to just see one in Deuteronomy 7 it says you shall inter you shall not intermar with them giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters.

For your sons for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will destroy you quickly so it's this teaching of do not marry foreigners who worship foreign gods don't do this the people are far too weak in their faith they're far too weak to marry someone who doesn't share the same God I mean they this in Deuteronomy when they received that law that's just after.

God did this miraculous wonderful work bringing them out of Egypt that we got to walk through in Exodus last year and he brings them out and they immediately they're not even amongst the people of the the surrounding Nations it's just them and their God in the wilderness they worship a golden calf he says do not settle the land of Mary forn wives because you were far too weak to do this now the reason they would have wanted to do this and the reason why this was common at the time was.

If you're going to settle into a new area if you're going to be with people who are not of your own it was advantageous for you to marry off your daughters your Sons because that helped establish trade that helped establish treaties that helped establish covenants with other people so that you could live in peace with another and so that everyone could Prosper so there was a financial advantage there was a Prosperity advantage to actually marrying someone who worships a foreign God.

But it came at the cost of their own faith and the reason we know this is because of the whole rest of the Old Testament like the whole rest of the Old Testament is the people of God inter are Maring with the foreign people and worshiping their gods and setting up asholes and and making sacrifices to ba and giving child sacrifices sacrificing their own children to the God Malik all these surrounding Gods from around the surrounding Nations they get pulled into that worship I mean Nehemiah.

When he's addressing this which is really just before the the prophet of Malachi Nehemiah when he's addressing this uses Solomon as the prime example he says in Nehemiah 13 He says did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women among many nations there was no King like him and he was beloved by his God and God made him King over all Israel nevertheless foreign women made even him to sin and he says Solomon who was the wisest King we ever had Solomon who was a great king the the downfall of Solomon and ultimately the splitting apart of the Kingdom of Israel in Judah came down to the fact that he chose to.

Establish relationships with foreign countries foreign peoples by bringing in their daughters and marrying those wives and ultimately he worships their gods and he says if Solomon has fallen into this what shot do y'all have what are we thinking what are we doing here who you want to marry is not your free choice does not matter if you love them does not matter if you think it's going to gain you some financial advantage it's going to establish some treaty with a different people the most important aspect of who you marry is who they worship that is the most important aspect of marriage who they worship.

Because marriage is not just a two-party Covenant it's not just a two-party agreement it is a three-party covenant it is man wife and God and that's clear throughout the Scriptures God is the centerpiece of marriage and the reason why is because marriage ultimately is a picture it's ultimately a smaller picture the bigger picture which is God's love for his people the marriage reflects that bigger reality God's love for his people Ephesians 5 so beautifully teaches that when it begins with husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up.

For her that ultimately marriage is this picture of God's sacrificial love that God loves his people so much that he gave up his son to be crushed for his people that sacrificial love of God for his people gets to be reflected in marriage it is bigger than than ourselves and that is why from the Old Testament into the New Testament the teaching is the same when you get to First cor or second Corinthians 6 Paul teaches the same thing from the Old Testament in.

Verse 14 and following he sayso not be unequally yolked with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what Fellowship has light with Darkness what Accord has Christ with bellal that's another name for Satan what portion does a Believer share with an unbeliever what agreement has the temple of God with Idols we are the Temple of the Living God and he says don't be unequally Yol don't marry someone who is not a Believer don't marry someone who does not love Christ like you do and he has pretty Sharp Images here what partnership is righteousness with lawlessness fellowship with uh light with light versus Darkness Christ versus the evil one you're sons of.

God and if you're not in Christ the Bible says you're Sons and Daughters of Disobedience what what are we you don't have a share with them they don't love God they worship idols and this teaching gets pulled into the New Testament because the Covenant of marriage is not just man and wife it is man and wife and our covenant God now for us maybe you're single and you you desire to be married and maybe you've made a list of things that you value in a spouse maybe you're like I you know I want him to be financially secure and to have a good 10year plan or I want him to brush his teeth I I.

Want her to laugh at my jokes and her laugh not be annoying like I just I I don't know whatever that is for your list like I don't maybe you got a list of things where it's like I I want this and I want that I want this I want that I'm not going to compromise on this or that or this or that but let me tell you something if Jesus is not at the top of that list if at the top of your list isn't do do they love Christ and not just say they are a Christian.

But love him and display him with the fruit of the spirit that they they are committed to the people of God in the local Church that they he that he is uh or she is uh immersed in his word and loves him if that's not at the top of the list of whom you are going to marry then I'll just be honest you're doing it wrong that do they love Christ that is the most pinnical question so much so that if you have that as the question every anything else on the list is he tall enough is she is she fing the blank that those pale in comparison to Christ.

And so much so that that some of those other things become less important because it's not that this man loves Jesus and this woman loves Christ I don't care if he's not 6'2 he's worth that so have that as a category so deeply in your mind as you're thinking through this because what will inevitably happen is you'll start to justify who you want to marry you'll start to make compromises you'll say yeah he says he's a Christian and I mean you he got burned by the Church he's Church her from a few years ago.

But like you know he does want to read his Bible and you he kind of part goes hard in the weekend but like I don't know like I can probably win him over a little bit I can probably win her sway her a little bit over you know if you if we progress into this then I we know we I'll start reading the Bible with them we'll pray together like when we get married like I'll I'll get them involved in our community group it'll be fine we'll work we'll work it out.

And while God in his grace does sometime use spouses to lead their other spouse to Christ that does happen I would also say that that is very much a cautionary tale because it also goes arise so often and there's so many ways that if you choose to marry someone that does not love Christ where your values are ultimately going to be petted against theirs in ways that you didn't see coming I mean very practically when you go to raise children one day.

When you go to raise children one day and you want to raise them in the faith and you want to take them and bring them here on Sundays you want to uh let them be involved in kids City and in student Ministries it's going to be very hard if you've married someone who says Nah I think I'm going to take him hunting this Sunday I think that's more important is our father son experience so I'm going to take him hunting this Sunday it's going to be very hard.

When you're trying to uh teach the Gospel to your children and and help them know who Christ is and he or she is undermining that at every turn and I got a buddy whose whose wife left him and clean I mean just cleaned his clock and the divorce and took the kids and she recanted the faith and she absolutely done everything to seow doubt in in her in in her in those kids' Minds with not just him but with Christ and he gets them once every two weekends and he does everything he can to display Christ to them.

But that's a reality you need to Grapple with before you choose spouse do they love Christ deeply if not then you're going to be in a difficult situation now if that is your situation the Bible does give us a word on this gives us a helpful uh Scripture from 1 Peter 3 it says likewise wives be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.

When they see your respectful and pure conduct so we do have some some wonderful wisdom here for what happens if you're in a marriage where someone doesn't believe the Gospel and I'll be honest this is this is even more difficult for women because we teach that that that men are supposed to lead in marriage therefore she's supposed to follow him in submission in marriage and if he doesn't value Christ that gets r really tricky it's very difficult but we have a word here that says you wi the moed by the conduct meaning that you make.

Jesus look good in the way that you live and the way that you love your husband the way that you show respect and the way that you that we have a word here that says you get to display Christ and I think this is also down the line applicable to husbands as well that if you are married to someone who's not a believer that you get to display Jesus make Jesus look good by how you love your wife and when you do this there will be opportunities.

For you you to declare who Christ is but that's difficult and the reality is is that if you are single you should not sign up for that and if you are married you should absolutely take the words of First Peter and run with it as a as a life Anthem I'm going to display Christ in my marriage to my children I'm going to display Christ in my marriage to my spouse I'm going to pray unceasingly for my spouse I'm going to I'm going to love them.

And when times are hard and we have different values and he doesn't want this she doesn't want this I'm going to surround myself with Christian Community my group is going to be praying for me my group's going to be praying for my spouse but I'm going to stay in this because of the second big thing that Malachi addresses and that is that divorce is actually not an option and that is the second part of this the second part of this dispute with the marriages of the people and that is divorce picking up in.

Verse 13 and the second thing you do you cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and graning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand so there this is a lament from the people like we're offering worship we're doing the we we doing the things we're bringing it to you you're not finding favor upon us oh God and they end up asking why verse 14 but you say why does he not why has.

God not shown favor on us in our worship why is God not uh shining upon us why the Persians still rule over us what is happening why oh Lord and it says but because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless though she is your companion and your wife by Covenant did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit and their Union and what was the one God seeking Godly Offspring.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers His Garment with violence says the Lord of hosts so guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless all right that's a difficult text for various reasons that we're going to get to in a moment and it's vague at parts to kind of figure out what he's doing here let's start with the clearest implications from this text and what he's saying in.

Verse 14 he says because the Lord was witnessed between you and the wife of your youth to whom you've been faithless though she is your companion Your Wife by Covenant and what he just said was was a condemnation of the divorces that have happened amongst the people of God that you have been faithless to the wife of your youth you have divorced the wife of your youth that is what he's calling out here and then verse 15 it says did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their Union and he brings up that truth we just walked through it's a three-party covenant that my spirit was there.

When you join together I'm with you and you're breaking this apart this is Genesis 2 language the two became one flesh and God is with them in that Holy Union and you're breaking it apart that's not supposed to be and he goes on he says and what was the one God seeking Godly Offspring so guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth he says in this one flesh Union you're supposed to stay together you're supposed to have a Godly Offspring a Godly Legacy of faith that carries on from generation to generation to generation and this bless one flesh Union and here is where this gets.

Pretty difficult verse for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers His Garment with violence says the Lord of hosts so guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless all right there's a lot going on here I want to be frank with you this is one of the most debated verses in the entire Bible okay so we got back up a little bit and understand how we get here.

So the Bible is translated mostly Greek and Hebrew a little bit Aramaic all right that's the original languages It Was Written in and they those Scriptures were recorded down and manuscripts the original manuscripts are lost to time however there's a very rich tradition of scribes copying down these Scriptures for thousands of years and it's guys there are more copies of the Bible around the world more manuscripts around the world than any other ancient document it's not even remotely close there's a rich tradition and what's crazy what's Wild is is that over 99% of all the different scripts and Scriptures that we have across the world from written in different centuries copy down and copy down.

And copy down over 99% of that when you line all of those words up they match every single I mean you I have a a community in Alexandria an ass syat Community here that wrote and recorded Scriptures for years and for years and for years when you line them up they line up like 99% just wonderfully dot for do Mark for Mark that's it's amazing the Holy Spirit has guided this for so long so wonderfully so reliably but every now.

Then every now and then you get two different texts and they say something different just a little bit so much so that's like actually they use this word here but this community used this word here but when you line them up together it's actually the exact same thing so we know that that's exactly what this means and there's a group of people that are huge Bible nerds called textual critics that devote their lives to these languages to make sure that we're understanding this is what the original text said we're able to trust our Bible.

So well but every now and then in the rarest of circumstances you're going to see two different textual Traditions that line up and you're going to go oh okay what's being said here is two different things and there's a whole like Rich tradition of how to figure out what was the original meaning what was the original thing saying and verse 16 is one of the RAR circumstances where it's like oh boy this is actually something where there's two different meanings here and I want to walk through them the.

First here is what we read in the ESV the ESV says for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers her garment with violence says the Lord so what's being taught there and what's being displayed there is that when a man divorces his wife he shows a great Act of hatred towards his wife he shows a great lack of love a great hatred towards his wife and ultimately covers the Garment of violence and that's the euphemism.

For cruelty dishonoring her so that's one way to read this text then there's another way to read this text and I want to read a few different versions that capture this different idea starting with the nesb for I hate divorce says the Lord the God of Israel and him who covers His Garment with violence well that's different God hates divorce and he hates the man that that hatred is extended towards the man who covers his wife with a garment of violence who who ultimately dishonors her like this the ne captures that as.

Well I hate divorce says the Lord God of Israel and the one who is guilty of violence says the Lord who rules over all the NLT which is a which is a solid paraphrase of the Bible says for I hate divorce says the Lord the God of Israel and then it shifts a little bit it says to divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty so it moves a little bit away from God's hatred towards divorce to the man who does it to God's haes divorce and this act is a Act of hatred towards his wife.

Now God hating divorce and the man involved in it and this being an act of hatred towards her spouse are actually two different meanings and the rarest of circumstances in the Scriptures you got to figure out okay well which one because those are different and I'm not going to shock you here I'm not a textual critic scholar I know some of yall were thinking that like this guy he's just so wise no I'm nowh like that that is so far above my pay rate like I even.

If I tried really hard like I I was in classes with some of those guys in seminary and I was like I'm I'm I ain't doing that like I've got no business in being in classes with these guys so we're not we we're not skilled enough to look at this and go I you you know I based on the original language A or B okay and what happens is sometimes in these rare circumstances in the Bible what we'll do is okay.

Well I need to pick one and I want to go in my gut and I don't like the idea that God hates divorce and hates the one who's divorced so I'm I I don't I don't know about that I I'd rather go with the other option this is an act of hatred so what do you do in situations like this I think you first look at the context of the passage and kind of see what's clearly being taught and then you back away from the text and you take the text against the whole teaching of the Scriptures and you realize that actually I think both of those have truth to them I think.

If you look at the whole of the Scriptures I think you're going to see God does hate divorce and also it is an act of Cruelty towards the one who's involved so let's look at context directly and then we'll kind of back out a little more so one thing that's very clear from directly from Malachi divorce was not a part of the original plan for marriage there's a reason God used uses Genesis language here did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit and their Union in.

Verse 15 there's a reason that shows up this was not a part of the original design oh Jewish people you're doing this and you're not you're not you're not in line with how God originally designed this to be this beautiful Covenant is meant to last a lifetime it's meant to reflect something bigger than yourselves so so marriage is meant to be it it divorce is not a part of the original plan the second that's very clear from this context divorce and their context harmed women it harmed women.

Now some commentators will push this and they say well what's actually happening here is that the people of God when they settled back into the promised land they weren't like you know the elites they weren't part of the social you know they didn't have all the money and Prestige and what the some of these men were doing some of these Jewish men were divorcing their Jewish wives so they could marry Persian wives of Greater status to advance and I think that's a fine way to.

Look at this I don't know if you could really say that with certainty that that's exactly what happened here but what is clear is that divorce harmed women you can see that historically you can see it in the Scriptures it it it made them it it took them like back then it's not like that not not a lot of women could survive on their own without a husband that just that just was the reality so that harmed their ability to provide.

For themselves if they were widowed and and they divorc that stigmatized them stigmatized them greatly so they might not get remarried that that also meant that if they didn't have sons they didn't have social security because that was your Social Security back then if you didn't have sons you didn't have a way to provide for yourself so divorce harmed women it was indeed an act of Cruelty towards your wife and there was a lot of you see this being pulled all the way into the time.

When Jesus comes along of woman being divorced just for you know because she burnt the food I mean just some some heinous things that were happening happening so I think in the direct context you can see that very clearly but when you zoom out and you look at this in the context of the rest of the Scriptures I think it becomes pretty clear that God actually he does not like divorce this is not a part of his original plan and when.

Jesus is being challenged on this in Matthew 19 this is what he says so clearly he says verse 6 so they are no longer two but one flesh what what therefore God has joined together let not man separate and he's pretty plain with this let let no man separate this don't tear what has been brought together the marriage is meant to be a lifelong Covenant that God's ultimate desire is for that marriage to continue now I know when I say all of that some of you who know your Bible are like wait a.

Second though I I think the New Testament gives us like like two different two different uh reasons for a Biblical divorce and that is correct we've taught on this in the past this is not the first time we've taught on the subject matter and we've gone more into detail on our in our Matthew 19 sermon on this about some of these allowances there's the porn clause in Matthew 19 which is dealing with gross sexual immorality and then you've got in uh 1 Corinthians 7 abandonment by an unbelieving spouse these are two that we we've taught on in the past.

But I don't want to spend time in that because we've done this before and I'd point you to those sermons because m Malachi isn't nuancing here Malachi is speaking very plainly here he is arguing against divorce and the harm that it causes and that is a faithless act now I understand I understand that teaching that a is deeply unpopular in our culture and B is not done at a vacuum meaning it's not done in a neutral environment we don't have like we have pre-loaded experiences and opinions like I I get that I I I know it's deeply unpopular and the reason it's deeply unpopular is.

Because marriage in this culture is so much about happiness it's it is about your personal uh happiness and joy and that and that is the air that we breathe it's in all the the media that we consume it's in the stories that we live in that marriage is about personal happiness and when marriage fails to make you personally happy then get out move on you don't want to live a whole life that's not happy move on to something that brings you more happiness and that's the very air that we breathe in the context of the marriage that we understand in our culture.

Therefore preaching this right here makes that deeply unpopular and I also know it's not done in a vacuum if you're like me some of you are children of divorce and I mean my parents got divorced when I was four and two Christmases is pretty sweet but outside of that it kind of stinks it's pretty painful it's hard there's a lot of just of suffering that comes along with that for the years that follow and the years that follow into adulthood right and I'm also know that that some of you have walked through divorce and the pain of divorce and I understand how difficult this is and we don't approach this neutrally at all.

And while it is very difficult Malachi is not nuancing and I think it's for a reason it's to feel the force that really shows up in verse 16 for the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel covers her with a garment of violence says the Lord so hear this guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless we want our soul our spirit to be so United with Christ that he guards us from this Folly that he guards us from this path that he defends us that he keeps us guards us I mean we we want to embody what Ephesians 5 teaches to be.

A people that understands that God's his God's place in marriage in the first place but what that means is is that we have to trust God over our own cultural instincts over what we want we have to actually trust God and that is hard to guard ourselves in your spirit and to not be faithless requires trusting God's word when we don't want to because here's the reality if you get all of your romantic desires if you get to marry the man or the woman that you want to marry even though they don't love Christ.

And if you get to end the marriage that you don't want to be in if you get those things ultimately you will get what you want but you will engage in something that is faithless towards Christ and you miss the point all together and the plea from the Scriptures here is don't don't trade your faith in for a fiance don't trade your freedom in your faith in for some for a freedom that that ultimately will not satisfy don't do it It ultimately displays a level of unbelief where we just don't trust God's word I don't care what God's word says I don't care what the Bible says you don't know my situation you don't know.

How hard this is ultimately is a step of Faith to trust God and persevere in a marriage that is difficult ultimately for our good it is difficult to walk in singl and finally find someone who likes you and and and makes you feel good and then to have to look and see they don't belong to Christ and make that decision I can't be with this person it takes a faith to trust God that ultimately his word is better than our own desires and that's difficult it's very difficult I mean you ask pastors I I'm right.

Now I'm taking classes and I'm reading all these pastors who are in these counseling books and it's just like it's clear the most difficult situation that a pastor is probably ever going to face one of the most consistently difficult situations is going to be marriage and divorce hands down this is extremely difficult but we can trust him and we can believe that he is good and that what he holds out in front of us though we don't want it ultimately is good and we can as that text ends as this dispute ends guard ourselves and our spirit and not be faithless I want to end with going to 2 Thessalonians 3 and I want to.

Read this and I want to pray this over our Church because this passage has some some some connections and language to this difficult dispute that I think is helpful to receive I'm going to read this first and then we'll pray I'm going to pray this over Us 2 Thessalonians 3 3-5 it says but the Lord is faithful God is faithful y'all he's faithful towards us even when we are faithless he will establish you and guard you against the evil one that our.

God does he would defend us from the evil one who would love to Snuff out the flame of faith in our lives he will guard us verse four and we have a we have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command that God has a confidence that ultimately we will walk in obedience even when it is difficult verse 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ may.

God direct our hearts towards his deep Abiding Love and the steadfastness of Christ so bow our heads and I want to pray this over us as we close out heavenly father with such a difficult teaching I pray that you'd help us have Open Hearts to receive this may we love you so deeply because you are faithful God you are faithful you are faithful despite of our desires in spite of our desires you are faithful may you establish us oh Lord may you guard us against the evil one who would love.

For us to end up in marriages that we should not be in who would love for us to choose our own instincts over trusting you may we do your will and keep your Commandments by trusting you with both our singleness but also with marriages that are the source of so much pain or may those who have been through divorce even divorce for unbiblical reasons may you direct our hearts to your love and to your steadfastness that we might even though we have failed even though we have suffered even though we've walked through some of those difficult moments of Our Lives.

When we persevere in faith even when in the past we may have acted faithlessly may we be a people who allow you into the most sensitive areas of our lives so that we may be faithful in all things and may you guard Us by the power of your spirit working in us that we might be faithful amen B's going to come up and we're going to take the Lord's Supper no doubt this sermon touches on some of the sorest regions of our souls and our stories and I just want you to.

Remember that our God is good he is worthy of our trust and our faith and in faith even when we have sinned even when we have misstep even when we have Str strayed from the path even when we've not obeyed God's word in faith Jesus gives the invitation come to the table that if you belong to Christ the table is open for you you don't have to come forth in shame but you can to come forth in the grace that covers you and the shame that was born on Christ on the cross.

Then the night that he was betrayed he took bread and he broke it and said this is my body that was broken for you and he took the blood he took the the the the cup which is the cup of the New Covenant he said this is my blood that was shed for you that is often you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return so we get to come to the table no matter what your story is no matter where you are.

If if you believe and you belong to Christ you get to come to the table and Praise Jesus that even when we're faithless no matter what we're walking through even though when we're Sinners and we no matter what we're walking through that God's love is sufficient and his grace is enough so you get to come to the table and you get to take of this remember our savior whatever you're walking through through out of that Grace and that mercy and that kindness that.

Jesus shows us we get to ask Lord the difficult questions we get to ask him Lord what do you want for me what is faithfulness what is obedience and then we get to walk that together out as the Church if you're not a Christian we don't want you to take part in the Lord's Supper we want you to take part in Christ because he's worthy of it and trusting him is ultimately better than anything this world has to offer so when you are ready come to the table there's free in that back corner.

Malachi Week 2: The Charade of False Worship

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

The Charade of False Worship

Spencer Cary

Transcript

So we are in our second week of the Book of Malachi as we finish the year off in this uh last prophetic book in the Old Testament we're going to be in Malachi 1: 5 through 14 which you can turn there and follow along with us as we walk through the text together uh we introduced this last week and we said that Malachi is made up of six different disputations these are six different disputes that God has with his people and we're in the.

Second disputation the second dispute that God has with his people and this one specifically is a rebuke of the sacrifices that the people of God were bringing to the Temple of the sacrificial system that was being practiced at the time now in order for us to understand what's happening in this rebuke you really need to understand the positive version what was actually the ideal version of what was supposed to happen and at times in the history of Israel did happen when it was actually a beautifully worshipful system.

So I want you to to imagine a levitical priest from the tribe of Levi who God has called into by the nature of the tribe that he was in and his Calling On this man's life to be a levitical priest his father was a Le a levite levitical priest his grandfather was levitical Priest he is carrying on this Legacy of being a priest who helps the people worship at the temple and every day he wakes up up and he's joyfully praising.

God to own the calling of being a priest and as he puts on his Priestly garments he's singing Psalms and and praising God that he gets to lead the people in worship and then he puts on his Priestly garments and he Praises Yahweh he Praises God then he walks out into uh the inner part the inner parts of the temple where he's going to facilitate worship where he's lighting incense where he's ready to receive these sacrificial offerings and he's praising God saying I get to help the people of.

God worship I get to help the people of God experience what it means to have a covering for their sin that our sin can be atoned for through sacrifice and he owns that beautifully and wonderfully and then in walks a man who's from the Judean Countryside and this man is a man who has a farm and on his farm he has all types of livestock and one day he looks at his livestock and he sees he's a bull the most wonderful beautiful strongest bull that he could sell on the open market.

For a lot of money and he looks at his Hired Hands and he says that bull right there that's the one that's the best of what I've got and that is what I'm going to take to the temple tomorrow we all go to the temple family work hands all of us are going to the temple to offer this bull as a burnt offering as a sacrifice for our sins and the next day he takes that bull with his family and his and his whole uh his people and they start walking towards the temple and they're singing Psalms of a sense these are the Psalms they would sing as they ascend towards the temple.

For worship and they arrive into the temple and he takes that bull and he brings it to that levitical priest joyfully celebrating this wonderful offering the best of what he has to bring to this priest who's joyfully worshiping saying is this what you've brought for sacrifice and he says yes it's the best of what I have to offer praise God this will be a wonderful burnt sacrifice that is what it was supposed to be and at times in the history of Israel that's what it was.

But that's not what it is when Malachi is prophesying that's not what's happening at the temple so what we're going to see and the second dispute that God has with his people is we're going to take a look at some of the corruption that had really seeped its way into the sacrifices some of the Corrupt Practices that were happening at the time as we look at this and their context we ultimately will see really the root of this corrupted worship and really how that root and I argue that rot still exists even.

Today so let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of Jesus that claims us and saves us and sets us apart to worship you and to Delight in you and to glorify you and I pray that you'd help us see the gift that it is to worship our King and I pray that you would expose by the power of the word of God by the power of your word you'd expose the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and that we would receive your word and we'd walk this out in worship and repentance and faith and delighting in you.

Because you're worthy the other we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so verses uh 2 through 5 as we walked through that last week was the first dispute that God has with his people and what we saw if you weren't here last week is that God out the gate before he spends the rest of this book rebuking the people of God that out the gate he reminds them that I love you you are my people I love you oh people of Jacob oh people of Israel I love you that his Covenant Love begins this book and it's the foundation.

For what everything he's going to say next but he needs his people to remember I love you fiercely with this wonderful Covenant Love and out of that love that he has for his people he begins to rebuke him in the second dispute verse six a son honors his father and a servant his master if then I a father where is my honor and if I'm a master where is my fear says the Lord of hosts To You O priest who despise my name.

So he's speaking in terms that were very crystal clear to the people of God that would have absolutely understood this language and really the force of what he is saying he says Israel I am your father oh people of God I'm your I'm your father you are my son you are my child where's the honor that is due to me like they they understood the fifth commandment in ways that we just don't the type of Honor that a parent is is deserved he said where is my honor as your.

Father he used the language of servant and master which is language that was really uh familiar to them as an ancient near Eastern World they built into the very fabric of their economy and all the economies was this servitude system and he says Where is My Honor where's my fear where's my obedience where is this o Israel what you have shown is that you don't fear me you don't honor me you actually despise me which is a a sharp rebuke I mean.

If we if we received a rebuke like that like if your boss called you in the office and if your rev you laid out all your work for the year and then said you know by your work what I can so clearly see is that you hate me that you despise me that's what your work shows if you if you heard that I mean that would be the start of a very scary moment it's like oh okay you've got my attention.

Now let's talk like that's a strong rebuke and he says what you have shown is that you despise my name and this is ratcheted up even more for a culture that understands honor and shame more than we do so he calls them to account and it continues in verse 6 but you say how have we despised your name so he gives their their rebuttal wait wait how how have we despised your name they're incredulous wait you're saying that we don't honor we don't fear we don't how how have we despised your name oh.

God and then God continues in verse 7 by offering polluted food upon my altar but you say how have we polluted You by saying that the Lord's table may be despised verse 8 when you offer blind animals and sacrifice is that not evil and when you offer those that are lame or sick is that not evil so he answers them you've polluted the worship you've polluted the offerings and specifically you've done this by offering blind and lame animals for sacrifice now that's rooted in the Old Testament law right.

So Leviticus or Deuteronomy 15:21 says talking about sacrifices but if it has any blemish if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God Leviticus 22:22 says animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar so clearly in the law and you might wonder okay it's in the law sure.

But why why is that a big deal I mean it's a blood sacrifice it's an animal what does it matter what condition it comes in because it's going to be slaughtered the reason this is important and anytime we're approaching the Bible anytime we're approaching teachings it's try to understand why those teachings are in place in the first place okay and what is clear here is that it shows the heart behind the sacrifice what they are bringing shows the heart behind their worship.

Because sacrifices are supposed to be and this is going to blow our minds sacrificial it's supposed to cost it's supposed to cost you something and and this isn't costly worship at all I want you to imagine we get closer to Christmas and there's end of your Christmas parties I want you to imagine that your your boss says you know you guys have had a stellar year it's been a great year for the company I want to reward y'all with a Christmas party like the most epic Christmas party we've ever had.

And then you show up and it's a Christmas party that has wonderful food and wonderful drink it has a great band I mean it's just a night that you are certainly going to talk about in the office for years to come this I mean he's he's he's giv out Christmas gifts and bonuses all kindes of stuff this a wonderful Christmas party and he just tells them it's because I love youall we're taking some of our our profits this year and we're blessing you this is what you've earned congratulations.

And then the next week you get your paycheck and you look at your paycheck and it's about $1,000 left and you're like wait what you go to the accountant you say Hey listen I'm I'm short $1,000 and the accountant says oh yeah that's for the party it's it's everyone came out of their paycheck this year it's for the party your joy for for that gift that was being brought to you in the party is now wrath because you've been robbed you would have just taken the, that that's what's happening here it's it's the presentation of a sacrifice and it's not a sacrifice a blind animal is not sacrificial at all it's not a gift at.

All because that blind animal could not be sold for anything on the market it's worthless I mean if you try to go and take that blind animal and sell at the marketplace the moment that Ram like just rammed its head into the wall and fell over homeboy trying to buy it just lifts it up looks at his eyes and says it's blind this is worthless you're trying to Def me this means nothing it would be a deep dishonor and the people deep down they know this you know how they know this.

Because of how God really puts this into context in the very next phrase he mentions the Persian Governors so they're still ruled at this point by the Persians he mentions really the Persian Governors that were ruling over them he says with that blind offering that you're bringing present that to your Governor will he accept you or show you favor says the Lord of hosts he says try passing off these blind sacrifices try passing off these lame animals try passing that off to one of the governors one of the rulers who you can.

See try passing that off and see if that gift gets you anywhere be like trying to bring your Christmas gift in for your boss like a good a good boss who doesn't like do a bait and switch of the party like an actually good boss you bring in your Christmas gift and it's a half eaten tray of cookies and like a you know half open drank bottle of Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe's that's like a week and a half old that's.

Now like not even barely cooking one and it's like here's your gift you'd never do that we'd never present that to somebody who has influence in our life no chance it would be a great dishonor your boss would get that and be like what in the world is this trash and I've got my eye on you it's just we would never he's saiding you would never present this blind animal to a governor to a governing official you would never try to pass this off as a gift how low the people of.

God must have thought of him must have thought of their God that they could try to present these animals with the appearance of sacrifice with the appearance of worship when really they're keeping the best animals for themselves they're keeping the best of what they have for themselves and God the God who brought them out of captivity the the God who's forgiven them the God who loves them sees this and he rebukes it and he continues in verse 9 he says.

Now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us with such a gift from your hand will he show favor to any of you says the Lord of hosts verse 10 oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not candle fire on my altar in vain I have no pleasure in you says the Lord of hosts and I will not accept an offering from your hand so he continues this rebuke this charade the appearance of godliness and bringing worship.

God just says if just one of you priests if just one of you had a Zeal for me had a Zeal for the law had a Zeal for what is good which next week we'll spend the rest of this disputation we'll spend talking more about the priesthood but right here he's just like if just one of you had Zeal for my law and for me that you would stand up and you would shut the doors of the temple and say no one else comes in here that you D the Flames of sacrifice and say nothing else gets sacrificed in this altar.

If just one of you would stand up for righteousness just one of you had a Zeal to do what is good and would shut the doors but there's none among you that are doing this none of you are standing up to end this charade this farce this Bakery and God continues verse 11 for from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the Nations and in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering.

For my name will be great among the Nations says the Lord of hosts so God reminds them who they're trying to con he reminds them who they're trying to trick I am the God God who amongst all the nations All Peoples from the farthest stretches of the Eastern sky where it rises to the farthest skies in the west where it sets everywhere across the world is what he's saying I will be worshiped incense will be offered that's the picture of worship worship will be offered amongst all the nations do you know who you're trying to con do you understand who you are trying to trick I'm the.

God over all peoples and one day you're going to see me worship among all the nations and you think that you can bring this type of charade before me what a travesty here is what the people fail to see God doesn't need their sacrifices God doesn't need their worship God doesn't need the temple he didn't need any of this God is inexhaustible he will be worshiped amongst the Nations he he doesn't need this worship but they believed they could bring their worst and pass it off as their best they belied they could come to the temple with this charade and it was all going to be good.

God says you don't know who you are worshiping you don't know who you are conning here and he continues in verse 12 but you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and its fruit that is its food may be despised but you say what a weariness this is and you snort at it says the Lord of post which what he just said was is not only are you doing a charade not only is all this fake you're bored with it you're you're bored what a weary what how weary is this he's like you're bored with this Con and you even picture that like just day in day out the priest who.

Doesn't care about his calling just doing it it's a job just puts on his Priestly garments and walks out there and says all right what you got next um you that animal looks good yep B in there drop your money off of the the offering plate like if just day in day out just bored with it and God is incensed by this you're not only is a charade you're bored with it and then it gets worse he says you bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick and this you bring as your offering shall I accept that from your hand says the.

Lord so not only are these lame and blind animals and they're bringing their worst not only it's everyone just kind of bored with this charade there are even people who are bringing sacrifices that they took by force which means that the kind of people that had a field and they saw their neighbors Ram wander into their field and they said that's a nice one I'll take that for myself that'll be the one that I offer at sacrifice uh at at the next Temple Festival.

So I don't have to get rid of any of my own what a a great deal and the ram wanders in he takes it into his fold and his neighbor comes out and says have you seen my Ram it's about Yi it's got spots on it oh there it is oh you found it so oh thank you so much and he says nope it's mine now takes it by force and then thinks that he can go and offer that as a sacrifice to.

God it's like are you kidding me do you know who you're trying to con here shall I accept that from your hand says the Lord the this is how corruption had seeped into the people of God who either did not read the Torah did not read the law or read it and did not care but just said this is what we do we're going to continue bringing these sacrifices that's what we do and God ends this first half of the disputation the.

First half of the dispute in verse 14 he said cursed be the cheat who is a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished for I am a great king says the Lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the Nations so God calls them cheats you have cheated me out of what is rightfully mine God owns everything everything belongs to God everything I mean we're very individualistic we're very you know capitalistic culture and I earn this no.

God gave this to you you are a steward we are stewards of what God has given us we are co- reigning with God on this Earth bringing Dominion to this Earth but that ain't yours it's God's and he and he's calling this out you've cheated God out of what he so rightfully deserves but I will get by Glory amongst the Nations and the Nations will fear me so that's the first half of this and you got to ask the question like what why why do they think they could do this what's going on in their brain.

When they're in their soul when they're actually doing this because we don't give there's not like further verses that explain exactly why they did this we can tell a little bit from the context and I think you could read into this and kind of see kind of the most plausible reasons but I think one of the big ones is is that bringing a sacrifice is costly it just is it costs money cost time cost the energy of your like it that it's costly.

So I think part of them really just love what they had and they they love this world they love Earthly treasures and being able to pass off a lame sacrifice was just easier I think it's also very possible that really they really wanted to do was to give the appearance of godliness to get the appearance of worship to we give the appearance of what it looks like to be a holy man of God a holy woman of God that they' pass this off.

Because they like the appearance without actual sacrifice without actual worship so next week what we're going to do is we're going to look at really the priests and their role in this but this picture that he ends with here in verse 14 is something we need to sit in because what happens sometimes is that we can read things like this and distance ourselves because it feels foreign to us cuz spoil alert next year between songs we're not going to bring out a ram and cut his throat like that's I know that's going to shock you.

But that's just not what we do here and there's a reason we don't do that first off be wildly weird uh second Jesus fulfilled that entire system so people wonder why why don't you why why does the Old Testament law not continue like it because is Christ Christ becomes the final sacrifice fulfilling that system like that the whole book of Hebrews helps poetically and wonderfully help helps capture this idea the reason we don't offer sacrifices is because Jesus was the final sacrifice that everything in this system this offering of unblemished rams and unblemished Bulls and unblemished uh pure offerings this is all meant to point.

For that was the main goal was a shadow of what was to come it was ultimately pointing forward to the unblemished perfect sacrifice of Christ when Christ comes fulfills this with his death on the cross and his blood is shed for the sins of the people for the rest of time we point back to the Spotless land that died in our place in Christ so that when we read this though it feels foreign because we're so far removed from it because we don't do this it feels ancient feels foreign and it's easy us to read this.

Look at the people of God and even have the mindset of how Wicked is this how broken were the people thinking they could do something like this which honestly is a little bit of a historical historical fallacy that's just what a lot of people do when they look back at history people look back at history and said I would have never done that back then I would have never I would have acted justly I'd have been a warrior for what is good and it's like probably not CU you're Sinner and your heart's Wicked and you're more influenced by the by the culture of the time just like every single human being.

For the last thousands of years so no you're not like some Star Spangled awesome example that would stand out no you're just you're just not and it's and we'll do that sometimes you just read this and just kind of separate yourself from it all and it doesn't do it reflectively we so the way that we should read this is to understand the truth of what's happening in this text and actually look at our own hearts and ask some questions of ourselves of what's happening in our hearts.

When we worship the God in what ways do We Worship the Lord that has the appearance of godliness but in actuality it profanes the name of our God like in what ways do we bear the name of Christ but our actions and the way that we live show something different in a way that God Says by the way that you are living it shows that you despise my name so the question here is how do we worship though not in the same form.

But actually has the same kind of substance and Same Heart that's the bigger question that's at play for us as we read this text now there are a few different words for worship in the New Testament a few different words in the Greek that help capture worship the the two main uses are a type of worship that is praise singing kind of prostrating yourself humbling yourself before God so the main use of worship in the New Testament is that picture this praising of.

God like the songs that we just sang okay that's the first main use of worship in the New Testament you see over and ever again is this humbling joyfully praising the Lord the second main use is service it's the type of Life Worship how we honor the Lord with our lives How We Worship the Lord with our lives and how we live our lives so praise and life and those are the two main uses of worship in the New Testament then we should.

Look at how they worship with the system ask those same questions of our own lives within those two categories and that's what I want to do for a moment I want to look at how we might have the same Folly the same error when it comes to praise worship and Life Worship so first how might we be a people that have the same sinful patterns that the Israelites did and how we praise and bring our praise and worship to God so some of us might worship boldly on a Sunday with hands hands raised singing loudly and what we're really doing is we're more worried about how people.

See us how they see us lift our hands and how they hear our voices that we know the words of this song and and and what we're doing there is we're more concerned about how we look as opposed to actually worshiping God for who he is and that makes us the center of worship this is a really big danger for those who lead in worship because one of the problems is is that when you lead in worship sometimes it can be.

So performative you can so Focus so much on on on the technical aspects and how you sound and if we're on beat and all the different technical aspects of worship it becomes performative that you lose the thread on what it's actually supposed to be helping lead the people of God in all of who Jesus is and worshiping our King for who he is I mean years ago Raz this is a quote that he loved I don't remember where it came from.

But basically the the idea that came out of it was is that if the all the electricity was taken out of the building could we still worship God like we're supposed to and it's like oh that's man so there's a performative aspect that gets in the way that we're not actually thinking and worshiping God like we're supposed to some of us go through the motions of Sunday worship sing the song and we listen to the sermon and the whole time it's happening the whole hour and 15 minutes it's happening or 90 minutes depending on who's preaching how many jokes he's got to tell and the whole time that's happening your mind is elsewhere you're thinking.

About things from the week last week you're thinking about things you got to do today you're thinking about things that are coming up and you go through this just check in the box and sing King of Kings cool pray all right sermon cool all right and then you're out and you're just going through the motions we're just going through the motions check in boxes as opposed to seeing what we have here as a gift a gift that God has given us that we get to come together with the people of.

God and worship him and Enlighten him for who he is because he's wonderful and he's worthy of it it's good for our souls to do that now way this can happen and less can happen in our Church because of how we giving but there can be a little bit of part of worship is I'm bring my offerings and I want to be seen as someone who gives I want to be seen as a giver which the offering plate could make that a bigger temptation.

But we've robbed you of that so you got to do it at these boxes in a way that would be more performative which doesn't happen as much but it's the heart behind it is I I want to be seen as someone who's generous who's seen as someone who brings their offerings before the Lord and it's not about actually sacrificially giving God joyfully this is what we're bringing to you but it's it's about being seen there's a lot of different ways this can play out the heart behind it is all there it's a charade it it it's checking the boxes it's being seen it's not actually worshiping like we're supposed to that.

Second category of Life Worship this honor and worship that we're supposed to have we're supposed to give to God in every aspect of Our Lives that's a bigger one that many of us fall into and it's especially hard because we're in the South and Southern Christianity is just I mean the overwhelming majority of people in the South will claim to be a Christian like people from the north move down here and they're like there are churches everywhere do you not see this this isn't normal and it's not there like more churches per capita in the South than almost anywhere in the world and what happens is is that Christianity is just who we are it's.

What we're supposed to do and what happens is is that anyone claims to be a Christian in the South and what happens if if there is any bit of regularity in Sunday worship that Sunday becomes the Pinnacle of what it means to be a Christian that this is it this is the height of it but it doesn't actually show up in the other aspects of life doesn't show up in the regular repentance and walking this out in community doesn't show up and reading the Scriptures and being convicted doesn't sing up in the prayers and humbling ourselves before the.

Lord and it's this life that says I'm a Christian but the rest of life doesn't back it up at all now the way this happens in the South profaning the name of the Lord claiming the name of the Lord and acting very different it shows up in business practices shows up in using the name of God to gain Social Capital with others or business Capital with others that's why when I see a Jesus fish on a bumper on a a business card I get a little nervous oh boy you know I I used to.

So many of you know this I did Real Estate uh by vocationally I was a pastor and a real estate agent for years and now I'm just full-time here I still have my license but uh for years my license at the same place is at a brokerage um and my brokerage I love like I just I love them it's a Rowdy group of people it's kind of known to be a Rowdy group of people they just they're they're good at what they do.

But they have fun and it's a Rowdy crew and I for years would go to the office and they knew I was a pastor and you know just some jokes that kind of come with that that they're fun but they really I think they appreciated me I'm not a moralist I don't tell people how to live I tell them who to live for I tell them about Jesus but I'm not going to tell them how to live so you can live your life do whatever you want and I and I operated in there.

For years and one of the things that I found incredibly frustrating is that there was uh another brokerage that really built their name off Christ they they kind of built their branding off of Jesus and what was wildly frustrating was they also had a reputation from some of their agents doing some shady stuff and I heard our guys talk about that brokerage and make fun of them oh yeah they're Jesus he real Christian over there and they did some of the most unethical things in the market and it just drove me nuts.

Because I had a bunch of Rowdy group of people but they did things ethically and right and as a Christian I'm there and I'm trying to represent Christ and I got agents across town just doing stupid foolish wicked things infuriates me that mess happens all over the place people that bear the name of Christ that use the name of Christ to advance their career or their their their their resume in a Christian culture and its wickedness and it profanes the name of.

God you must despise the name of God to practice like that so it can happen the way way that we live our lives in the business world how we work it can happen in the offerings that we bring to the Church so the money that we bring to the Church if it's if it's given off of stuff that's stolen from other people stolen from the government and what's owed to the government stolen from from any anyone or anything and we bring that and say.

God here's your gifts here's your offerings that aspect of our life has not been Sanctified it's not Jesus is working it show that's not worship that's a charade it's not breaking your heart to do what is actually good honestly with this category it's just it's anything that claims the name of Christ anything that simply that that simply has the appearance of godliness has the has Jesus slapped on top of it but actually is not backed up at all or maybe it's you're the kind of person that that has the mindset of I'm just I'm doing good.

So I can get into heaven and I'm just getting Kingdom credits through just claiming to be a Christian and doing the things and whatever but it actually isn't backed up by a life where the heart has been so sh so changed and captured by Christ that though we walk sometimes in sin and make mistakes that we're walking that out in Repentance and worshiping and delighting in him if it's not that then you're just going to the motion and you're checking boxes and it doesn't honor.

God there two main aspects of worship but it's praising here in a Sunday or the lives that we live it really shows our hearts that we're not all that much different than the Israelites whether it's we're doing it to be seen as holy I'm checking boxes so I can be seen as one of the good ones or if it's just the idea of of well it's just what we do we're seveners and we're Christians therefore we just we do the things.

When it's actually not a vibrant faith that costs a vibrant Faith where Jesus said says take up your cross and follow me to deny yourself and follow me that the moment that Christianity becomes you having to be someone who's repenting of sin or being obedient to his mission or being sacrificial with your life towards others or the moment There's an actual cost like I don't know about that that's a little overly religiously that's just a little bit too much for me it's just what we do and that's the heart.

But how we approach this and the reality is is our approach to God what what what what's really revealed in how we actually approach life is that sometimes the way that we the way that we that we live our lives earnestly for things that we can see for Governors that oversee us for for for employers that oversee us for the people that actually can bring the the change we can see in our lives that will do more earnestly for those worldly things than we will.

For God and it reveals what's happening in our hearts and it reveals that any of the practices that we bring here in a Sunday or in groups or whatever is more of a charade brothers and sisters Ecclesiastes is correct there is nothing new Under the Sun we we we repurpose and we repackage the same old practices the same old things we're just like the Israelites and there was a prophet that was raised up to help them see the error of their ways that Malachi is trying to help them.

See don't do this don't do this here don't don't don't engage in these practices and we have a better Prophet a better priest and our great high priest in Christ and a better King in Jesus who came and shed his blood for us and offer sacrifice blood to cover our sins and his perfect righteousness to stand for us and it invites us into that kind of faith we put all of our hope in Christ and then calls us into a worship that Romans 12:1 teaches I appeal you there appeal to you.

Therefore Brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as the Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship though he place all of our hope in the finished work of Christ he changes us and then sets us apart to present Our Lives as a Living Sacrifice to God that we might lay down our lives to follow him and to worship him and to Delight in him and it would show up in all the different aspects of how we sing and how we live and what we do.

But I'll finish back with verse 14 when the Lord says cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it yet sacrifice to the Lord what is blemished for I am a great king says the Lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the Nations just remember God doesn't need this he do need this he's going to be worshiped amongst the Nations he's going to be glorified every knee is going to bow to him he doesn't need this this.

And if this ever becomes a charade if this ever if we ever the Church that preaches a Gospel and doesn't live if weever a Church that says all the right things but that doesn't actually back it up with our lives if all this just becomes checking boxes and just performative then man let's close the doors let's lock it up I'll go back to selling real estate I mean just we'll lock the doors we'll sell this building off that educational Wing you can make condos out of that thing this could be a nice little bar in and and and music venue I mean let's close up the doors and say move on.

Because God doesn't need a half-hearted people that are just going through the motions he wants a people who laid down their lives because we love him so deeply and we realize eternally what that he's worth it and we be a people that backed that up with our lives not as perfect people because we're going to make mistakes but where we see our sin we're confronted by the good news of the Gospel and we trust in him as our only hope and and we walk this out worshiping him and honoring him.

But if that ain't it we'll close the doors and move on but there are four Elders here that are never going to let that happen first their own lives and then as we lead forward we want to be a people who don't treat this as a charade but take the Lord seriously and the good news is God loves us enough to reveal this to us God loves us enough to be able to reveal what's happening in our hearts Stay With Me loves us enough to reveal what's happening in our hearts.

So that we can go to our community groups this week and confess sin and confess where we're falling short confess where we've treated this like a charade that we can be a people that actually are changed by Jesus and become better worshippers come better people who Delight in him but also there might be some of you where all this has ever been is going through the motions and all this has ever been is checking boxes and I want you to see.

See so clearly this morning God loves you enough to confront you and to call you into an actual real sacrificial faith in him don't treat this like a charade don't treat this as checkin boxes he's actually worth it and he's good and when you truly discover who our God is and you lay your life down for him you'll see that everything that comes after that is wonderful and is delightful and is worth it let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help convict us of sin I pray that you'd help us.

Remember the good news of the Gospel that saves us so that we can be a people that actually worship you we can be a people that actually lay down our lives for you because it's good because we gain more of you because you died on a cross for our sins and you have a Heavenly home that await says and that's worth it it's worthy of Our Lives May we be a people that worship you not half-heartedly but truthfully in Jesus name amen man's going to come up and as we prepare to worship take a few moments to just breathe and pray.

Remember who this God is remember who he is and that he's worthy he will be worshiped amongst the Nations every KNE is going to conf is going to Bow every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord that is who our God is he's worthy of it so prepare your hearts to respond in worship but if you don't know him the invitation is there for you to actually know him and to surrender him and for this not to be something that you check off.

But to be a means of delighting in him because he's worthy of it.

The Glory of God, Pt. 3 (34:10-35)

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

Exodus 34:10-35- The Glory of God, Pt. 3

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning so Fall allergies have hit me in full effect so you're going to hear some earthier tones this morning as we walk through the text today we are in the Book of Exodus chapter 34. verses 10 through 35 is on page 43 in the blue bibles if you want to grab one of those you can follow along the text will also be on the screen the past few weeks we have looked at the glory of God that Moses made this bold request to.

Behold the glory of God Show Me Your Glory and we saw that glory in God's goodness are are the same terms that in asking to see the glory of God his wonderful goodness would be uh displayed and we looked at that as God's uh Fierce love and his Fierce Justice held together to displays the character and the goodness of our God and then last we we looked at that the really the centralized aspect of God's glory some of the most powerful aspects of who he is and his goodness is displayed in his revealed face and that what Moses was asking was actually too wonderful.

For him to behold that as a sinner beholding God in this in his face which would lead to certain death that Sinners cannot gaze upon the glory of God because of our broken sinful natures and our broken sinful bodies and we looked at that bold request with the hope that one day we will behold the face of God that the end of the story for Christians is beholding the face of God in eternity forever and ever amen that we will get to gaze upon the Perfection of beauty and who he is forever and that's where we are going.

But there's also another aspect of God's glory to begin to look at today that as we finish out chapter 34 we're going to look at that what that means for us as Christians as we still get to meditate on the glory of God so let me pray and we'll want to this together heavenly father I pray that you would open our hearts to receive your word that with glad and generous Hearts we would receive it that it might shape us to be a people that are.

So in love with you and so in love with your glory that we would seek you and that comes through the initial step of faith that comes through daily enjoying you that comes through repentance that comes through worshiping you like we just got to do and I pray that you'd give us a wonderful vision for them in Jesus name amen all right so Exodus 32-34 we've been in this for a couple of months now and what's happening in these chapters is the people who were had received the Covenant of Moses they'd received the Ten Commandments.

And then they immediately rebel against God they reject him and worship a golden calf instead Moses coming down the mountain sees this and then he goes and he pleads with God do not destroy this people and then and then we get to see in the coming chapters there's this lingering is the Covenant going to be restored is God going to restore his Covenant with his people and then the past couple of weeks we've seen yes this Covenant will be restored and the rest of this chapter in 34 is kind of repeated language bringing up different uh passages that we saw on in Exodus 23 different aspects of this Covenant as it's being renewed.

So a lot about what to walk through is going to sound very familiar you've been walking with us through Exodus so we're going to start off in verse 10 it says and he said behold this is God speaking behold I am making a covenant before all your people I will do Marvels such as have not been created in all the Earth or in any Nation and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you and I just I.

So appreciate that verse before we walk through some of this repeated aspects of the Covenant being renewed that they rejected God they rejected him for a golden calf and God not only is granting forgiveness and restoration he says I'm going to do Marvels with you such have not been seen which is incredible if you've been with us through Exodus because you've seen God's Marvels poured out on the Egyptians you saw them cross the Red Sea we've seen God provide daily Manna.

For the people these are wonderful Marvels and God's saying I've got more that I want to do with you that I'm gonna do awesome things with you which is an incredible statement if you work for a big giant wonderful company I mean lots of employees a wonderful CEO and all of a sudden you at the break room for lunch and like a like a like a thoughtless child you took your tinfoil burrito and threw it in the microwave hit five minutes.

And then walked away and then came back and the microwaves on fire and the rooms on fire and the whole business Burns to the ground and it's all caught on footage backed up to the cloud and your boss invites you to your house and his house and shows the footage of you thoughtlessly throwing the Brito in hitting and walking away and you're waiting for the pink slip you're waiting like this is it I'm done and he looks at you and he says you messed up.

But I'm still gonna do awesome things with you you're gonna you're gonna stay on board here we're gonna rebuild this thing and I'm gonna do awesome things with you you'd go what I burnt your business to the ground what and now I get to do awesome things with you our God is wonderful y'all this is what he does he works with Sinners who Rebel all the time and he looks at us and he says I'm going to do marvelous things with you it's wonderful.

And then he continues in verse 11. observe what I command you this day behold I will drive out before you the amorites the Canaanites the Hittites the parasites the hivites and the jebusites take care unless you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go lest it become a snare in your midst you shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their ashram for you shall worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous.

God lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and when they hoar after their gods and sacrifice their gods and you are invited you eat of his sacrifice and you take of their daughters for your sons and their daughters after their gods and make your sons after their gods this is repeated language from Exodus 23. God when we walk through that section we got to see how God has judgment coming to the people of the land the the jebusites the Hittites the Canaanites this people who have committed all types of atrocities and Abominations they've done things like sacrifice their own children to foreign Gods they've done all these things and judgment will.

Fall upon them and he's saying do not make covenants with them lest you fall into the same trap of worshiping therefore in Gods don't in a marriage don't know this judgment will be upon this people don't do it we saw that in Exodus 23 and God is bringing that language back to remind them don't do this lest you chase other gods which by the way just happened and we see this more directly in Exodus verse 17. it says you shall not make.

For yourself any gods of cast metal now some repeat language from the second commandment in Exodus 20 but there's there's a phrase in there that wasn't there before that is very much a reminder of what just happened the word the phrase cast metal that comes right out of Exodus 32 the same language when Aaron is making a cast metal calf of gold and that's kind of thrown in there to help them see don't don't break the second commandment in this way that you just did be like showing up to the new business show up to the new break room and all of a sudden above the microwave is do not microwave burritos in this microwave.

And everyone knows it's you Jason that that notice is for you bro that's a reminder you you worshiped this cast metal object don't worship foreign Gods especially the one which you just did continues this renewing Covenant language in verse 18 you shall keep the Feast of unleavened bread seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you at the time appointed the month of Eve for in the month of bib you came out of Egypt all that open the womb are mine all your male livestock the firstborn of cow and sheep the firstborn of a donkey shall be Dean with a lamb or.

If you will not redeem it you shall break its neck all the firstborn of you all the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem and None Shall appear before me empty-handed so again this is language we've already seen we've seen it in Exodus 13 when they Institute the Passover and and the Redemption rights for the firstborn it's a reminder that I your God your Redeemer redeemed you out of Egypt by striking down the firstborn of Egypt I redeemed you from slavery and you will.

Remember this through Passover through Redeeming the firstborn over and over again this language being brought back into the Covenant again and it keeps going with language on resting and feasting in verse 21 it says six days you shall work but on the seventh day you shall rest in plowing time and in Harvest you shall rest you shall observe the Feast of Weeks the first fruits of Wheat harvests and the Feast of end gathering at the Year's End three times in the year shall all your mouths appear before the.

Lord God the God of Israel for I will cast out Nations before you and enlarge your borders no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in a year and it's this language if you're going to rest that you were slaves in Egypt you recogn the machine where you work seven days a week and did not rest and I redeemed you and I'm bringing you back into this rhythm of working six days and resting on the seventh it goes back to Creation you're not a slave to a foreign Pharaoh you belong to me and you will rest and you will feast you'll.

Remember we walk through this in Exodus 23 the keeping of the feasts that help the people regularly celebrate that they are the people of God and they get to do that through their whole Feast calendar which if you if this is if you weren't with us for Exodus I'd encourage you to go back and listen to some of these sermons where we walk through these different aspects of the Covenant that's being renewed again in verse 25 it continues you shall not offer The Blood of My Sacrifice with anything leavened or let the sacrifice of the Feast of passive remain until the morning the best of the.

First fruits on your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God you shall not boil a young goat at its mother's milk which we saw this language in Exodus 23 but it's instructions on in this Covenant you're going to keep the sacrifices in the way that I tell you to do and you're not going to mix them in a way with some of the Pagan ways of offering Sacrifice from the Pagan practices like boiling a young goat in its mother's milk you won't do what the people of the land do you are going to do what I am telling you to do as my people separate from the Nations.

So this covenant's being renewed with some summarized language from before and it's getting wrapped up here in verse 27 and the Lord said to Moses write these words for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel he's like write these down bring them back to the people and and he's he's he's summarizing that bringing it to a to a conclusion here you you are my Covenant people I'm still going to walk with you still gonna be with you I will be your.

God you will be my people Moses has to be joyful at this point knowing yes we're back in favor with God and in verse 28 it says so he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights he neither ate bread nor drank water and he wrote on the tablets the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments so he spends the next 40 days and 40 nights with God supernaturally sustains him with complete dependence upon him during this period of time through an absolute fast from both bread and water and he spends this 40 days and 40 nights with.

God ready to bring down the good news of this renewed Covenant to the Israelites and then when he comes down the mountain there's something different about Moses and that is because you cannot experience the power of our God like Moses did and leave unchanged you don't experience the power of God like this and leave unscathed in the best way possible he Journeys down the mountain we pick it back up in 29. when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone.

Because he had been talking with God Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses and behold the skin of his face Shone and they were afraid to come near him but Moses called to them and Aaron all the leaders of the congregation returned to him and Moses talked with them so Moses tablets in hand joyfully excited to tell the people you're not going to be abandoned God Is With Us starts coming down the mountain and then all of a sudden the people who are at the base.

See this light in the distance approaching and this isn't like a flashlight in the darkness or something different about this light and and this light has power in it and all of a sudden it's getting closer and it's getting closer and people are starting to to cringe a little bit they're starting to Shield themselves it's too much they're starting to be afraid and then at some point they piece together this is Moses and there's something about him his face is shining.

Now at some point as the people are stirring and Afraid witnessing Moses's face shining at some point someone has to tell them Moses you face is shining like get him a mirror get him a pail of water let them see this but your face is glowing there's uh one Theologian some or one commentator I think nailed it he said Moses glow is actually an Afterglow from being in God's presence this is Afterglow somewhere between Moses's profoundly wonderful experience with God when he asked to.

See his glory somewhere between him God covering him in the cleft of The Rock and passing by and in the next 40 days and 40 nights that he spent with God somewhere in that time Moses is very complexion changes his face begins to Glow with the glory of God there's Afterglow shimmering from his face displaying emanating the glory of God and that is because Moses experienced his glory and his power in a way that no one really has since Adam and Eve and you don't get to experience.

God like that and leave unchanged he has this intense experience and now Moses who's the the mediator he's the one in the middle between the people and God needs an intermediary for himself because the people can't stand in his presence and they're they're scared so he needs something that's going to kind of Shield a little bit this Glory verse 32 afterward all the people of Israel came near and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.

And when Moses had finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face so now Moses in order to be with the people and them not be fearful he has to put a veil of his face I mean this is very similar to the Tabernacle and we spent some time looking at the Tabernacle that in the innermost part of the Tabernacle was a place called the holy of holies this room is where God ruled and reigned from and there was a a curtain a veil that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the Tabernacle and this veil was needed.

Because God and His glory is too wonderful for Sinners to Behold Him so this Veil separates God from the people and in the same way there's an Afterglow of Glory bound up in the face of Moses and there's a veil that is needed so that the people can be in his presence so that Moses can be amongst his people which I just for a moment this isn't the main part part of the story but I just I appreciate if you've been with us long enough in Exodus just Moses as a person to study as a character study with things helpful to do sometimes we want to be like Christ.

Okay doesn't mean that you know you study David so you can slay Giants I'm not arguing for that but I'm saying is that sometimes it's helpful to look at different people in the Scriptures and notice things about them one of the things I love about Moses is that he is Meek he's Meek he is mild and God uses the meek and the mind to do wonderful things the meek shall inherit the earth for a reason so sometimes we just get it twisted we get in our ideas that strength is this idea that is not biblical.

But actually meekness is strength and God uses his meekness to the point now where he has to he's so powerful he has to keep his face bound up again it's not the main point of story but it's worth examining its own so verse 34 it says whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him he would remove the veil until he came out and when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded the people of Israel would.

See the face of Moses that the skin of Moses face was shining and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him and this is the pattern of ministry going forward after Sinai in fact this Mark's really the pivot in in the wilderness narrative where they're leaving Sinai and the ministry is going to be this point for going forward in the wilderness with Moses and his people and Moses is going to regularly enter into the tent of meeting he's going to meet with.

God and that is going to come out and teach them more about his laws where we're going to get the Book of Leviticus and numbers in Deuteronomy he's going to teach them more about who their God is and his face is going to continue to Glow and that's just what is going to continue to do and I just one commentator he talks about Moses and I'll summarize what he said but basically he just said this is really Exodus 32-34 this really does establish Moses as he's the goat the prophets he is the greatest I mean he just he's just amongst all the prophets in the Old Testament he he stands apart I mean even the.

Last few chapters when the people rebel and Moses comes down and he stands between them and God and he pleads with God mediates for the people and then when God says all right you can go to the promised land but I'm not going and he says God I'm going to go where you go I don't want the promised land without your presence God if you're in the wilderness that's where we'll be from that all the way into asking to see the glory of.

God we've got to spend some time looking at that to coming down the mountain and now the rest of his ministry he's going to have this these these intensely wonderful experiences with God where he leaves with some glory on his face just shows who Moses is as a prophet the reason why he was so revered and so rightfully respected for centuries to follow and Judaism I mean that and just what he brings to them which is something that is the foundation.

For their belief it's the law it really does help us see the ministry of Moses going forward how wonderful it is now that's the end of chapter 34. we this this hint of what's what's going forward is that he's going to regularly go into the tentative meeting he's going to meet with God it's going to come out he's going to have glow on his face he's going to teach the people the law now when we try to understand the Old Testament.

Okay when we're studying the Old Testament we're studying these stories one of the difficult parts of interpretation is that I understand these stories isolated by themselves but to actually understand these stories in light of the bigger message of the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation what we're trying to do is understand these stories in Light of Christ and that takes work it takes slowly reading passages like this and trying to understand like What's Happening Here how does this correct to this bigger story of God's Redemption.

And then every now and then we get a wonderful gift from the New Testament because every now and then the New Testament does the work for us and that's what we have for this story right here that second Corinthians 3 is that chapter that helps us look back at this story and understand it in Light of Christ for the rest of our time that's what we're going to be we're going to be in second Corinthians chapter three on your blue in your blue Bibles that's page 561.

If you want to follow along but we're going to the text will be on the screen as well second Corinthians 3 is really interpreting Exodus 32 through 34 in light of the New Covenant of Christ it's looking back at the event that we've been in the last few weeks that really find their ending in the story that we went into today it's understanding that in Light of Christ now let me give you some context for second Corinthians because we're jumping into a book.

Second Corinthians is a defense written by Paul who's an apostle it's a defense of his ministry of the Gospel and his apostleship to the Church at Corinth who at the time was Wayward in sin but also being led astray by people who were coming in and teaching a different message so Paul is having to defend his apostleship and defend the ministry of the Gospel that he established when he planted this Church so but he's going to use Exodus 32-34 to make that bigger Point pick it up in.

Verse 1. are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you which by the way that's rhetorical and I think it's sarcasm he's like do we need a lot of recommendation answers no you verse 2 yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us written not with ink but with the spirit of the Living.

God not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts so Paul says that I don't need a letter of recommendation to be able to justify the ministry that we established here the letter of recommendation is your changed Hearts it's the Holy Spirit changing your heart and that didn't come through reading the law so he says tablets of stone that's what he's talking about that didn't come through your interactions with the law which we catch a hint of what teaching has been weaving its way into the Corinthian Church it's at the same teaching that's weaved its way into many churches at that time and that was uh Jewish Christians who were upholding the law.

Saying you can have Jesus but you also need to obey the law so we see hints of that teaching that it's weaved its way into here and Paul is establishing no it is the Holy Spirit that changes Hearts verse 4 such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us but our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be Ministers of a new covenant not of the letter.

But of the spirit the letter kills but the spirit gives life so he highlights here's the difference between the old Covenant and the New Covenant the old Covenant of the letter it kills it highlights the death that we deserve because we cannot uphold the law because of our sin the letter kills the spirit on the other hand gives life as one commentator puts it he says the spirit alone gives life because only the spirit can change the heart thereby enabling God's people to keep his commands.

So he says the law wasn't what changes your heart it's the spirit of God that changes your heart you know how we know this Exodus 32. the people receive the Ten Commandments and then 10 seconds later say you know what golden calf disregarding the second commandment let's worship this instead if the letter was sufficient at changing the human heart the Old Testament would read radically different because I don't know if you've read the rest of the Old Testament it goes poorly.

For the people over and over and over again it feels like watching a train wreck in slow motion on repeat the letter does not change it only brings death it only highlights the death that we have because we cannot be changed through our good works and Obedience of the law the change that happens that truly matters in the human heart it's by the power of the Holy Spirit he continues now if the ministry of death which I just appreciate it's like we're talking about the law right the law is wonderful and good he's like New Covenant the help the ministry of death carved in letters on Stone came with such Glory that the Israelites could.

Not gaze at Moses face because of its Glory which when we read the Bible we should go wait a second I know that story which was being brought to an end will not the ministry of the spirit have even more Glory for if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory I don't want us to miss what he just said there the old Ministry the old Covenant was a Ministry ultimately of death highlighting the condemnation that we deserved.

And if that came with this glorious picture that we just saw of Moses coming down the mountain face glowing if it comes with some Afterglow how much better is the ministry of the New Covenant that we have it's so much better because we have the Holy Spirit verse 10 indeed end this case what once had Glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it four if what was being brought to an end came with Glory much more.

Well what is permanent have Glory so he finishes off this this first part is really interpreting those that story Exodus 30-34 and he says boy oh boy that which came to an end at glory in itself how much more glorious is faith in Christ and the spirit changing our hearts in a way that never ends has so much sweeter that's so much better so he makes a pivot there and interpreting Exodus 32-34 now he's about to apply it to the people.

Verse 12. since we have such a hope we are very bold not like Moses who were put a veil over his face the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end but their minds were hardened for this day when they read the old Covenant the same Veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away yes to this day whenever Moses is read a veil Lies over their hearts he says those who put their hope and the law those who put their hope and their own good works and their own good behavior through obedience and law he's talking about the Jewish people he says that Veil still.

Covers their hearts they can't see and behold God they don't know him they're looking for life but they're actually only receiving death because obedience to the law doesn't save and it never will and they're missing out on the glory of God there's a wonderful picture we've looked at for weeks now they're missing out on his glory their hearts are hardened their eyes are darkened they cannot see and behold God for who he is the veil Still Remains the only way that Veil is removed.

So that so that you can behold God but trusting and the finished work of Christ it's about trusting that he fulfilled the law on our behalf it's by trusting that he went to the Cross to die for our sins by trusting that he conquered death of the Resurrection it's by putting all of our hope in Christ and not the law because if your hope is in the law and if your hope is in good works the veil remains verse 16.

When one turns to the Lord the veil is removed now the Lord is the spirit and we're the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom he says that when we turn from our sin and from our hope in the law from our hope and good works and obedience and we turn to Christ the veil is removed and when that happens there is freedom there's wonderful freedom freedom from condemnation to sin freedom from a need to be good to be good to obey the law to do all the right things freedom from this ministry of death and freedom to Christ Freedom 2 beholding.

God Freedom two not having to go back to the old yoke of obeying the law but trusting the finished work of Christ as our holy hope there is freedom that is found in faith in Jesus alone there's freedom to enjoy him and to worship him and to Behold Him with this freedom we get to Behold Him and as we Behold Him we are changed and this is where the argument ends Verse 18 and we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the.

Lord beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit just as beholding God changed Moses it's literally it changed his complexion so beholding our God through faith transforms us and it lifts the veil off the heart so that we can actually Behold Him so that we can experience more of his glory but it's continual it's one degree of Glory to the next one degree of Glory into another degree of Glory which I don't fully I can't fully picture what he's getting up there.

But it sounds incredibly awesome this idea that will conform more to the image of Christ from one degree of Glory to the next last week we sat in this picture of the end state of reality for Christians that's beholding God's face with new eyes and that's it that's where we're going and I want us to miss that that should be so like ingrained in the fabric of our being that we would look at this life and say I don't want what this life has to offer.

Because what what what what awaits me for eternity is is infinitely better but don't miss that that's not the only picture of Glory that we give because there is a regular daily aspect of beholding God from one degree of glory to the next and to the next and to the next and to the next and that's called sanctification that's called becoming more like Christ don't miss that right that we get to behold God regularly in Daily and when we do that it changes us from one degree to the next and to the next into the next some of you all have known Christians who have walked with.

God for decades I mean you've got you've gotten to see someone up close change the spirit work in their heart daily and daily through the decades and it's wonderful when you get to see that and if you have it if you haven't got to see this long-term play out I encourage you to spend some time with some of our older Saints in this Church get to know them in their stories and I'm sure what they're going to tell you is is that yeah they're not perfect at all far from it.

But they are different than what they were 50 years ago are different they were 40 years ago and that was through daily beholding God from one degree to the next to the next to the next in a way that they're not as anxious as they used to be they're not as angry as they used to be that there's this peace there's this love there's this Joy there's this faithfulness there's this gentleness there's this kindness there's this self-control that they've grown into.

Because the fruit of the spirit has been shaped in them because from one degree of glory to the next they have taste it in seeing that the Lord is good and they found their refuge in him and they've seen that he's actually truly better sometimes trying to take in faith just feels like I just don't know what I got you I mean I'm just so broken I'm so messed up I don't know if I'm gonna get this that's a great place to be in.

Because that's the best that's the beginning the Genesis of faith is recognizing that I'm broken and I need Jesus but boy oh boy faith is a lifelong journey from one degree to the next and the invitation is there you want the glory of God do you want the glory of God do you want to behold his face forever one degree at a time to the next and to the next into the next this comes through the things that we talk about all the time and we won't stop talking about them.

Because they're wonderful that comes through beholding God and his word this comes through growing in prayer this comes through repentance this comes through being open and honest at your community groups on care nights this comes through walking in the light with brothers and sisters this comes through uh Faithfully following Jesus every day from one degree of glory to the next so the invitation is there it's waiting for you you want Jesus believe in him you want more of them taste.

See every day and you're going to experience them from one degree of glory to the next into the next to the next and to the next and to the next and boy oh boy we won't even come close to the finished product not a chance but every degree of Glory ends up being better every degree of Glory is the spirit changing us until one day we will actually Behold Him and there will be no degrees left it'll just be Jesus let me pray Heavenly.

Father we pray that you would help us behold you and worship right now and when we leave here we pray that we be a people with veils off for hearts beholding you every day because you are beautiful and you are wonderful and you're better than anything this world has to offer and I pray that you would help us believe that with everything in us we would Bank Our Hope on that reality Jesus name amen band's going to come up so so much of the message sometimes gets mixed up especially in southern Christianity that following.

Jesus is about cleaning your life up and it's about getting your life together getting your stuff together so that you could be back in Church that you can so you can be around the Christians and I just want to say that's Moses y'all if you came looking for Moses and trying to clean your life up that's that's a Ministry of death don't do it some of y'all I just want to extend the invitation of Faith to actually behold God for who he is and that doesn't come through cleaning your life up doesn't come through a bunch of good works that comes through surrendering to our.

God so believe and surrender to him and behold him for who he is and then walk the journey with us as a group of broken Christians that are seeking to grow to be like Jesus one degree at a time.

The Glory of God, Pt. 2 (Exodus 33:18-34:9)

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

Exodus 33:18-34:9- The Glory of God, Pt. 2

Spencer Cary

The Glory of God, Pt. 1 (Exodus 33:18-34:8)

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

Exodus 33:18-34:8

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are in Exodus chapter 33 18 verses 34 through 34 Verse 8. we're going to be in this passage uh for two weeks we're gonna hit it from two different angles I was in it original intent was to make this one sermon and then it was just like nah there's no way too too much so we're gonna look at this from two different angles this morning so you can be on page 42 in the blue Bibles around you uh the text will also be on the screen you can follow along uh with us.

So we uh uh pastors just got back from our pastor's Retreat um so the four Elders four Pastors in our Church plus our pastor and Elder and training Isaac we all went up to Lake Greenwood we do this once a year we get away it's uh we call it 100 Fun 100 work it really shouldn't be called a retreat because I think Retreat implies like getting away to rest um which it is not that but we spent a lot of time praying and debating and it's been formative and how our uh in shaping kind of the future of our Church and it's also a lot of fun we get to hang out together it's the.

One time of year we get to have some fun together one of the ways that we do this is we have a meal competition so we divide up teams every year uh there's this year it was Raz Chet and myself and Isaac and Matt and you have a breakfast and a lunch and a dinner and the goal is to execute the best set of three meals and every year it's come down to basically who takes two of the three uh and you know I'm not here to boast or brag.

But we did win uh and that's two years in a row for me which is nice because I was on a three-year losing streak up until a few years ago but uh we made a lunch where we did basically Cantina 76 style tacos all right so each you know Raz chat myself each took a taco we owned that taco as a part of the lunch so Chet made a delicious fried fish taco that was the best razzmade a carne asada Taco which lost us the round I'm not bitter about it I'm fine we could have had a sweep would have been two years in a row that's fine I made this Nashville hot chicken taco.

And uh and I was you know I brought Chet in because I was like we need to we need to make sure the flavor profile on this Taco is money like we got to make sure I don't want it to just be all overwhelming on the front end and then that's all you can taste I want some heat and some flavor on the front end I want you to bite into it and we were messing with the flavor profile to make sure that happens I want you once you swallow it the aftertaste to just be delightful.

So much so that as you continue to to chew on this you want more of it and I stuck The Landing it was great but that's a little bit of what Moses has been experiencing as he's walked with God from orib from that Horeb up until now that he's gotten to taste the Lord a little bit got it to see who he is experience him from Europe all the way to his uh the the ten plagues and experience in God and we saw last week a little bit that he was there was a temporary tent of meeting where you get to meet with.

God he met with him and he went into the cloud at Mount Sinai there's all these instances where Moses has gotten to experience more and more of God and what we get to today is this bold request from Moses who wants more because as he's experienced Our God he wants more of him and this bold request is what we're going to look at today and not just the request itself but how God responds to this bold request to see the glory of.

God and we're going to get to see how wonderful our God is the richness of his character and His glory and his goodness and what that means for us as Christians looking at this so let me pray and we'll walk through this text together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel that saves redeems sets us apart to be a people who regularly get to taste and see that you are good you get to see how wonderful you are and the songs that we just sang and the Scriptures that were read.

Now in this text that we get to walk through together Lord may you open our hearts our eyes and our minds to experience you that may respond in faith and in Repentance and in worship and ultimately delighting in you we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so we pick up basically right where Chet left off last week so Chet walk us through uh that after the golden calf incident so after the people reject God for a golden calf instead and the tablets are broken and the Covenant is shattered there's this wondering what's going to happen next and what Chet walked us through last week is.

God saying you can go to the promised land I will make good on this you will get to the promised land I'm just not going to be there so you can have the land of it's flowing with milk and honey but I'm not going to be there and Moses just he just responses oh no where you are is where we're going to be if you're in the wilderness we'll be in the wilderness we're not going to the promised land without you.

God It's a Wonderful response and we pick up right in that same this is the next part of the interaction in verse 18. it says Moses said please show me your Glory please show me your glory now as I said earlier Moses has experience of the presence of God and some of his glory since he was called at Mount Horeb which when you look at the two kind of interactions of Mount Horeb he's fearfully kind of oh oh with God.

Now he's kind of boldly walking it's just a really cool difference in how he's experienced God and he's wanting more of him but it at Mount Horeb as he's walked with them through the plagues as they exit Egypt and the temporary tent of meeting that we saw last week is he's got to experience God over and over and over again as they went as he went into the cloud at Mount Sinai and he got the Ten Commandments even in Exodus 24.

When they when Moses and the elders have a meal at the feet of God and his presence on the mount he's gotten to experience God more and more and more now he just says Show Me Your Glory it's a profound request it's it's a big deal he has not experienced this what he's asking for here he has not experienced yet now we'll get into next week more of what's happening in that request but there's really two ways of reading this request one is that he's asking this as a representative of the people of.

God which he is he's asking this on behalf of Israel as their representative the other aspect that you can look at this is say that this is a personal request from Moses so show me us as a representative of your people Your Glory or God showed me personally Your Glory now theologians and Bible nerds debate back and forth which one it is and I would argue that I think both of them are true there's no way you can hear Moses request disconnected from that he's represented of the people of.

God so what he's saying Show Me Your Glory he's asking for a sign here that there's no right up until this point the Covenant is not good has not been restored okay the people are still in rebellion and God is he's not brought wrath on them fully but he has not restored the Covenant yet and there's a little bit of him asking on behalf of people of God give us a sign Show Me Your Glory are we good God so there's that aspect that that absolutely is a part of this.

But I don't think that's all that there is I think there's another aspect of this that has both a representative of God of the people to God and himself that he's saying God show Me Your Glory because he doesn't say show us your glory Show Me Your Glory that he wants to know more of God personally however that's a big request that's a huge jump from the interactions that he's had with God to show me who you are and your glory that's a big leap one of my favorite shows on YouTube which me presenting that makes it seem like I watch a lot of shows on YouTube one of the only shows I watch on.

YouTube and it happens to also be my favorite is a show called Hot ones all right and this show it's very simple it's a guy interviewing celebrities while they eat hot wings that's it they ten different hot wings and the first Wing is a milder sauce and it gets progressively more intense as it goes along and the Brilliance of it is that celebrities most of the time when they do interviews they're fake they're just not being themselves and I get that.

If you if I had to be interviewed all the time I'd also probably would be fake I think I would be tired I think I would just tell you what you wanted to hear I would probably say all kinds of things so a lot of times you hear these interviews they're just they're acting they're faking their way through it but the Brilliance of this show is that as they're eating these hot wings like their guard is let down their mouth is on fire like they they just start talking freely.

So it's pretty it's a pretty incredible concept but the first Wing is mild towards the end they're scalding all right and the eighth Wing is the same sauce every time it's called the bomb okay now it's technically not the hottest sauce it's not on the Scoville level the hottest sauce of the tin but by testimony of people it is the hottest sauce like every celebrity who eats it there's like this is like eating battery acid it scalds them and if you just want to spend 10 minutes watching compilations of like Shaq and Jennifer Lawrence and all these celebrities just like crying and losing it and melting and falling apart and drinking milk.

Because it's burning their lips and their tongue and their throat and their stomach it's worth it but they don't jump from one to eight y'all that's not how that works they progressively build their way up to it and Moses has had like Wing One Wing let two level experiences with God he's got to experience God and His presence and some pretty profound and amazing ways but what he just asked for was Next Level okay what he just asked for is the bomb level experience with.

God and he doesn't know what he's asking fully otherwise he would have asked it and if we don't have time to get into that this week but if he does experience the glory of God and what he's asking he'll die because he can't see the glory of God as a sinner and live but he's asking for this unbelievably profound experience with God Show Me Your Glory and this is how God responds verse 19 and he said this is the Lord I will make all my goodness pass before you and will Proclaim before you my name the.

Lord now a couple things here he says Show Me Your Glory and then God says I'll make all my goodness pass before you so goodness and Glory are the same here and how God is described by to describe himself that's important because for us glory is a very difficult concept to imagine it just is it's an American it's a western it's just Glory it's just not something we we think through well biblically we have ideas of it they're just not the most biblical ideas uh there's a movie that came out a few months ago called air uh it's a sports movie it's about how Nike landed Michael Jordan and his shoe contract.

So if you like sports movies and you like NBA basketball like I do to ride up your alley so 10 of you will love it all right so in air the whole bit the whole what's about is they're trying to land Michael Jordan Nike can't land Michael Jordan on their own because at that point they're a cute little running shoe company they're not cool at all in fact Adidas was the favorite to land Michael Jordan at the time because Adidas was the shoe at the time.

But they do this is a whole build up like it's a whole storyline of how they actually get to finally had an interview they got to sit down with Michael and they make their pitch the pitch isn't going well they're blowing it Michael Jordan's not interested at all and then in the most Pinnacle moment of movie Matt Damon goes off script who's the main character and he just makes this appeal to Michael Jordan he gets the speech and as the speech is going there's this Montage highlights of all of Michael Jordan's highlights and basketball and the music's building up and he says this to Michael Jordan the shoe is just a shoe until someone steps.

Into it then it has meaning the rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness we need you in those shoes not so that you have meaning in your life so that we have meaning in ours and it's a little ridiculous because we're talking about a shoe and a basketball player let's worship y'all it's like so we we need meeting in our life so that you can be in these shoes now what he's capturing there is Glory okay that's what he's going.

For so we want to we want to we just want to be able to touch your glory Michael and it's showing all of his best moments in basketball as this speech is going on now the reason this speech has ridiculous and over the top as it is the reason it even makes sense is because Michael Jordan is arguably the best basketball player that has ever lived one of the best athletes that's ever lived and I know some of you are big LeBron fans you're like no.

But wait listen I'm not here to argue that I don't like LeBron or Michael Jordan to be honest you can have that debate on your own Michael Jordan is one of the greatest athletes that has ever lived the only the reason that scene even makes sense is because he scored 30 points a night over his career which is ridiculous in basketball for his career he averaged 30 points a night he won six titles in just heroic fashion okay if Michael Jordan doesn't do that there is no movie.

If he's a bust Matt Damon isn't fawning over him saying I just want to touch your greatness that's not no because of what Michael Jordan did on the court right because he was great on the court that's why that scene makes sense it's not because he's a great person which if you know about Michael Jordan he's a jerk I don't care I don't know Michael Jordan but every person that like he just pieced together all the stories it's not a likable person and maybe I'm a little bitter.

Because not only did he keep the Charlotte Hornets who I grew up brewing for from ever making the finals he ended up buying by he purchased the Charlotte franchise after his career and ran that franchise into the ground so for 30 years Michael Jordan ruined basketball for me but that's not the point the point is is that he was great on the court had nothing to do with him as a person but that's how we understand Glory y'all we understand Glory about the great things that people do it's the great things that you do that make you glorious that's how we understand Glory and certainly.

God is great because of the things that he has done but that is not the only reason he is glorious down to his very essence and his very being God is glorious he's not just glorious because of the things that he's done he is glorious he is the epitome of what glory is and in the English language the best catch-all term that we can have is is all the goodness of God which is wonderful but that doesn't even capture.

Because language can't even capture the glory of God it just can't he says I will make my glory who I am my goodness who I am past Before You O Proclaim my name the Lord which we spent on some time on earlier in Exodus that even his name is wonderful and glorious because of all the character that flows out of his name so God is glorious he says and continues and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show Mercy on whom I will show Mercy.

Verse 20. but he said this is the Lord you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live and the Lord said behold there's a place by me where you shall stand on the Rock and well my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of The Rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back but by face you shall not.

See shut my face shall not be seen which awesome we're not spending any time on that this week that's all next week so there's a lot of questions that come out of that a lot of things you want to talk about that's next week okay so as that chapter 34 verse 1. the Lord said to Moses cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.

Now that that right there is sandwiched between some pretty big verses and passages and you got to skip over that and keep going but that's a big deal what he just said when he said cut for yourself two tablets of stone Moses probably went oh yes the Covenant is going to be restored that's what he just said it's been lingering here are we going to be able to go on the promised land with you are you still going to be our.

God are you still going to be your people and when he says cut for yourself two tablets of stone that I'm gonna write the Ten Commandments on oh yes Hallelujah God is with us he's not going to abandon us this is good news keeps going verse two be ready by the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain no one shall come up with you and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.

So very similar to what we saw in Exodus 19. this is a holy moment a holy event no one comes to the mountain no animal comes to the mountain nobody continues verse 4 so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him and took in his hand two tablets of stone the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the.

Lord so this is when everything he said about hiding them to cleft The Rock and putting his hand over him all that's happening right here and again it's wonderful and we're gonna spend all our time next week looking at that right there for the rest of our time and God descends by Moses this is what he says and this is where we're going to spend the rest of our time on verse 6. the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord a.

God merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin but who by no means cleareth the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children of the children's children the third and fourth generation and Moses quickly bowed his head toward the Earth and worshiped so God audibly vocally describes himself he says not a prophet speaking on behalf of God God descends in this powerful moment and he describes who he is the.

Lord the Lord his wonderful name Yahweh and that it is further described with this description this is the goodness of God you want the goodness of God summarized this is it I'll make your my glory and my goodness pass before you this is the description right here this is the goodness of God and this is one of the most powerful statements throughout the Old Testament this phrasing that God describes himself with is used over and over and over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament numbers 14 Deuteronomy chapter 5 and Deuteronomy chapter 7.

Second Kings 13 second chronicles verse 30 or chapter 30. Nehemiah 9 all over the Psalms Psalm 35 78 86 99 103 106 145 Jeremiah 20 Daniel 9 Joel 2 Jonah 4 it is either quoted or alluded to over and over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament so if that is the case and this is a summary description of the goodness of God then we should spend some time looking at how wonderful this description of God is and that's what we want to do we want to.

See that the goodness of God and the glory of God is not just a visual experience that Moses gets to be a part of but it is a description of who he is it is his character and it shows really the wide range of God's goodness and his character and if you were to categorize this in two broad categories one is the love of God the fierce love of God and the second is the justice of God so let's work through this starting with this.

First part of the description which is really the love of God so the first thing he says is that he's merciful and gracious God is merciful and gracious that is literally on display in the fact that he does not bring judgment upon the People by wiping them out when they reject him for a golden calf at the base of the mountain he's merciful he relents he doesn't bring his judgment upon them he's merciful he relents he's gracious maybe he gives favors to people that they don't deserve they don't earn this favor.

But he's merciful and he's gracious one of my favorite parts of the musical Les Mis is the very beginning when the main character Jean Valjean this is set in the French Revolution he gets out of prison when he gets out of prison and that period of the French Revolution he's can't get work starving he's he's a social pariah and he ends up on the doorstep of a bishop in the Catholic Church and the bishop acts like a Christian and he takes him into his house and it gives them a meal it gives him a bed to sleep in he takes care of them in the middle of the night Jean mil Jean grabs a bag.

And grabs as many valuable items in the house as possible loads it up steals his stuff and gets away now he doesn't get very far policeman catches him brings him back to the bishop knowing where these items came from and he says this man says that you gave him these knowing good and well he stole it and the bishop looks at Jean Valjean right for the police officer and this is what he says he says but my friend you left so early surely something slipped your mind and it goes and he grabs two silver candlesticks and he gives them to him he says you forgot I gave these also would you leave the best behind.

But remember this my brother see this some higher plan you must use this precious silver to become an honest man and he gives him the silver he says take this use this change your life and spoiler alert that's the whole rest of the musical it's in living a better life and it's such an overwhelmingly beautiful picture of the grace and the mercy of God that he he stole from him he stole fine objects lots of riches and he says now take this awesome we attempt to steal Glory from.

God all the time all the time as prideful human beings we sin against God all the time endless amounts of sin and rebellion and God and His mercy and Grace says take this also he gives us himself he's unbelievably gracious and merciful in spite of our sin he shows Mercy when we don't deserve it and it gives Grace when we don't deserve it God is unbelievably gracious and merciful and the nice thing he says is he's slow to anger he's slow to anger.

Now it's even slower when you understand this and read this wisely when you understand this theologically okay what happens is that Skeptics what they'll do is they'll say you know the Old Testament your God is just he's like a he's like an angry child like the people do things they sin against him and then he just pours out his wrath immediately and it's like you're not you're not a wise reader of the Scriptures you certainly don't understand this theologically because if you think that.

God is experiencing their rebellion in real time you you have completely misunderstood our God it's hard for us to picture and imagine but God created time so if God created a time and think of the time as this represented by this pen okay God created time he's outside of time okay so he's that means that God existed and Eternity passed Before Time which that breaks our brain and we can't reprimands around that but it's biblically true he existed in eternity past.

Okay is always existed and then he operates within time that he's created so the people of God Rebel here at this moment in time he sees it coming in eternity pass when we Rebel in this part of time God sees it coming way before it happens and God exists in eternity future which again breaks the brain and it presents a lot of other questions that I'm not going to resolve for you but God is slow to anger because he sees a rebellion way before it even happens and he doesn't destroy us.

God is he's so slow to anger y'all he sees it coming and he sees it coming and he's slow and he's patient and he's enduring and he's steadfast he's so slow to anger when I think about this in light of my own self man I just for all of sin and fallen short of the glory of God and I'm just like I know it because my children they do think sometimes and I'm like because I'm experiencing in real time and I'm just I'm not slow to anger I'm working on it.

But I'm not slowed anger God is slow to anger he's so unbelievably slow to anger with impatient as we sin and as we mess up and as we rebel against him he's slow to anger he's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness abounding y'all and steadfast love and faithfulness that we do not deserve like we we can't categorize how rich that is we don't have we don't understand that like I play this game with my kids sometimes uh when we when I put them to bed and I say I love you.

So much and they say I love you too and I say well I love you more and I say I love you most and I say well I love you mostest and they're just because I love you times a thousand times infinity my kid watched Toy Story he said enter to infinity and beyond it's like nice move kid and we do this back and forth because I love my kids I have steadfast love and faithless my kid there's only one other person in the world that gets more of my stuff as love and faithfulness and that's my wife.

And then it's my children and then there's a gap that just that that's that's what happens it's just I I have this steadfast love and faithfulness towards my kids and that right there and if your parent you understand this this is even true for friendship there's speaking of steadfast love and friendship all of that pictures is a is a poor picture in comparison to the steadfast love of God you think you love your kids you don't understand the love of God you don't understand how steadfast and is his love and his richness and kindness and his faithfulness towards us he's.

So unbelievably loving towards his people and it continues keeping steadfast love to thousands for giving iniquity and transgression and sin God forgives his people of their sin and their repentance is a forgiving God he gives second and third and fourth chances all the time and y'all we love Second Chance stories we eat that up the plot line for so many movies and books we love the story when somebody gets out of prison and restarts their life we love the woman who declares bankruptcy.

And then restarts a business and then it succeeds we love those stories and that story Thompson Infinity you're getting the picture at this point God gives a second third and fourth chances over and over again he's so forgiving he's so unbelievably forgiving of all of our waywardness and Rebellion how how much of a relief must have been for Aaron when Moses came down the mountain with two fresh tablets man we're in he's not he's still with us he still loves us.

God is unbelievably forgiving now these descriptions he could spend sermons on each one of them they're just wonderful and as an American westerners like that's we like that aspect of the goodness of God preach right tell me more of that the next part we're less comfortable with and many of us If we're honest we wouldn't say this is an aspect of the goodness of God because it goes on to say God says but who will by no means cleared the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children and the children's children to the.

Third and fourth generation now that exact phrasing is the same language that we saw in the second commandment when we walked to the second commandment a while back in Exodus same same phrasing that if you if you persist in sin the Obama means clear the guilty and what's being pictured here is generational sin and I'll say what I said then all those months ago still true I think John Piper Nails it when he describes this he describes this right here generational sin as like a disease.

If you're father gets the flu that does not automatically mean that you're going to get the flu it's how that works okay however if you get the flu did your chances of getting the flu because you live in the same house rise yes and so it is a generational sin you grew up in a household where father was abusive and cruel and hurtful maybe even outwardly religious went to Church every Sunday but by no means resembles Christ and he Christian sense and you can grow up in that household.

See cruelty vileness hate does that mean automatically that the moment you turn 18 when you bounce out of the house that you're gonna up and leave the Church and never come back no that's not how that works is it more likely possibly could be and you play this out for any type of sin pattern but if you are rounded enough inherit some of it the mystery of this is hard for us to wrap our minds around but you can pick up this generational sin and that that literally plays its way out and this story.

Because they're going to wander in the wilderness and they're going to settle into the promised land right now as a Church where a bunch of us are going through a reading plan a two-year Bible reading plan and when the Book of Judges which is a pretty painful book to be in because when you're reading the Book of Judges you just see over and over again this playing out they reject God they worship idols instead and they their kids worship idols.

Then their grandkids worship idols and it's just painful and by the way if you want to opt into that reading plan email me come talk to me after this I add you to it you'll be a little bit behind us but you can join with us it's just to help us continually read the Bible together as Church but you see it all over the Book of Judges you see it all over the people of God they they reject God they worship idols and they pass that on down to the Next Generation the Next Generation and we just.

For honest we don't like this how's that good how does that display the goodness of God how how is that I think the reason that we have that heart posture as westerners is because we are largely insulated from absolute Injustice and I'm not saying that Injustice doesn't have in America I'm not making that argument it does but it ain't like it is in the global South main like it is in other parts of the of the world ain't like it is in other parts of History it's just not and the way brothers and sisters in in Nigeria we're brothers and sisters in the Church in Nigeria who in the middle of the night extremists islamist.

Groups come in Murder Men kidnap they're 13 and 14 year old girls do horrible things them and force them into marriage and then forcibly convert them into Islam that ain't happening in America it's just not you think our Nigerian brothers and sisters aren't looking at this passage and saying praise God that he doesn't he by no means clears the guilty they long for the justice of God people experience Injustice long for his Justice to roll down like a raging River they want Justice flow and I think that's a weakness.

For us as westerners a weakness in our assessment of the character of the goodness of God we need both we need both a fierce love of God and as Fierce Justice we need both of us one commentator puts it on this passage he says this makes good sense in light of what would just happen which was then rejecting God for the golden calf and It prepares the way for the renewal renewing of the Covenant furthermore it indicates that Divine love and punishment must be held in balance it is wrong to give priority to one over the other.

So you read that and you are left thinking okay but still like how how can both of those things be held together how can God have this steadfast love and mercy and Grace and all of that while also not clearing the guilty like how do those meld together if you read the Old Testament you're like I don't know how that works I want to have faith and trust to you but how does that work and then you flip and you flip and you flip and you flip.

And then you get to the Gospels and wear that overlaps perfectly and wonderfully is the cross that's where the love and the mercy and the grace and it's Rich forgiveness and his Justice flow together flows of the blood of Christ on the crossed that's it because God steps into the timeline and says I'll be the one that accomplishes what I am about I will be the one that comes and absorbs the Wrath that they deserve for being Rebels against me I will be the one that absorbs their sin on the cross and I will give to them is love forgiveness grace mercy and the righteous of his kindness the cross is where all of this.

Makes sense that's where the balance comes together Colossians 2 13-14 and you who were dead and your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh that's the sinful nature of your flesh God Made Alive together with him Heaven forgiveness all our trespasses that through the cross that's what's offered but it only happens verse 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demand it's legal demand is death for the wages of sin is death Romans 6. by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal to man this he set aside nailing it to the cross that is where Fierce love and the fierce justice of.

God come together beautifully what God is announcing about himself the Lord the Lord who he is is most beautifully displayed at the Cross of Christ and when you realize them pull up a seat at the table taste and see that he is good take refuge in him so we open this website sorry that's our memory verse for the month the more that you experience Christ like Moses he's got a taste of God he's got to experience him and say I want more of Me Show Me Your Glory and we get to.

See the glory of God at the cross and when we pull up a seat at the table to worship Him and behold him we respond like Moses Moses hears this and it says Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth end worshiped and so do wait brothers and sisters the more you experience the Wonder and the glory of Christ the more it should lead to worship you should Show Me Your Glory show me your goodness show me your character experience him in his word and in prayer gotta want a seat at that table I want you I want you.

God you should worship and Delight in who our God is now there's some of you that have never had a seat at that table some of you have never experienced the goodness of our God you've never experienced his Fierce love and his unbelievable Justice and it's offered at the cross through faith you can lay down your life at the cross and say I want you Christ I want to experience your goodness I want you I want everything you have to offer and the moment I pray that you would do just that.

Let me pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel we're thankful that thousands of years ago when you declared your character and your goodness that we get that see that so beautifully displayed at the cross God I pray that if there's anyone here that has not tasted and seen that you were good that has not trusted in you as their only hope God I pray that you would absolutely melt their heart right now they would surrender their life to you.

For those of us that love you better struggle with our sin and struggle with understanding your Rich love and your mercy and your forgiveness got to pray that we'd be able to just respond like Moses bowerheads and worship in Jesus name amen Matt's going to come up we're going to take the Lord's Supper if you're a Christian we invite you to come to the table when you are ready Jesus Took on the night that he was betrayed he took bread and broke it he said this is my body that was broken.

For you he says take and eat took the cup of the New Covenant and he said this is my blood that was shed for you that as often as you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return so as Christians we come to the meal of remembrance remembering what Jesus did at the cross remembering his goodness displayed at the cross so when you've considered your sin when you've considered our need for God come joyfully to the table knowing that our.

God is steadfast in love and rich in Mercy and Grace come and worship and then stand and sing there's gluten-free in that back corner of there if you have a gluten intolerance if you are not a Christian please don't come to this table if you had a Christian come to Christ pray and receive the good news of the Savior who came to rescue you.

The Tabernacle (Exodus 25-27)

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

The Tabernacle

Spencer Cary

The Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 24)

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

The Mosaic Covenant

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the book of Exodus and we are in Exodus chapter 24 uh today which in your blue Bibles is page 37 if you want to follow along there the text will also be on the screen one of the things that I get to do as a pastor that's very fun is about once or twice a year I get to perform wedding ceremonies and they're a lot of fun it's a it's a big powerful moment to be a part of and one of the things that I do in weddings is I use traditional wedding vows I try to.

Find more traditional language for the vows that uh that the husband and wife can are going to commit to do in with one another so here's a few of the lines from what I use I promise to love and support you in times of Plenty and in want in sickness and in health till death do us part and what's powerful about that moment is that as the husband and the wife are saying those words there's no way they have absorbed how weighty and how hard and how wonderful and how difficult it is going to be to live out those vows there's nothing that can prepare you.

For being able to live that out like I promise to love and support you through all kinds of things what if he gets really into like weird Niche Hobbies like puppetry Sports which is a thing what what if she decides to be a mom fluencer and goes hard after that like what through all of that like how do you love and support someone through things that you may not care about at all in times of Plenty and a want we all think about the plentiful times where things are going to be great where he gets a raise.

When she gets a raise and he gets six figures and all of a sudden we can buy a boat like that you have in mind is everyone as they're projecting out their marriage and say over time we're going to keep growing in income but what about the times when you were in want what about the times where he loses his job he can't find work for four or five months what happens when the bills are mounting up and a kid sticks a bean in his ear and has to be taken to the ER in the middle of the night.

And then all of a sudden you've got a thousand dollar medical bill that just gets put on the stack what about times of sickness and in health one of the moments at the end of life where five six seven years she's fading away from dementia she's not even remembering who you are what about till death do his part when you're holding his hand as he breathed his last breath no you're not ready for all of that when you take those vows you're taking a leap of faith to.

When the time comes you're going to be ready those are powerful in weighty words that you commit to as you enter into the Covenant of marriage today where in Exodus 24 and we're going to watch the nation of Israel enter into the Covenant relationship with their God and it's going to be like a bit of a like like a wedding where they're going to commit to following God and there's a lot that's built into that that they can't even begin to.

See yet so we're going to look at the details of this Covenant ceremony that we're going to see in Exodus 24 and then we're going to look at it as Christians looking back at that and what that means for us in our Christian faith now so let me pray and then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel that we just got to sing for the truth of the Scriptures that opens our hearts.

God I pray that you help us be present I pray that you'd help us here and receive so that we can walk out your word and faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in you we answer this in Jesus name amen all right so the back end of Exodus we've said we're taking a little bit differently we've moved around a little bit we've taken mostly topically so let me just kind of reorient where we are in the Book of Exodus uh as we step into 24.

So in Exodus 19 God calls the people to Mount Sinai the Israelites are out Mount Sinai and then they receive the Ten Commandments which is really the header of the law we walk through those Ten Commandments one by one now what follows that for that is some laws pertaining to a few different things we looked at the laws pertaining to servitude we look at some of the laws last week that pertained to the feasts and then at the end of chapter 23.

God previews what's going to happen when they enter the promised land when God pronounces his judgment on the people of the land and creates a a promised land and a space for his people to be in his presence he's previewing that this is what's coming and then we get to chapter 24. we pick up in verse 1. then he said to Moses come up to the Lord you and Aaron nadab and abihu which neighbor and by who are the sons two of the sons of Aaron in 70 Elder seventy of the elders and worship from afar Moses alone shall come near to the.

Lord but the others shall not come near and the people shall not come up with him all right so again it's hard to remember where we are but Exodus 19 all the way up until really verse 4 of chapter 24 is actually all one day we've been in this for months but this is all one day and there's a lot that's happening in this one day and he's calling them as they're going to ratify this Covenant that he makes with his people a covenant is an agreement the treaty that he's making with his people.

But this Covenant that he's about to ratify the people are about to finalize that started in Exodus 19 earlier in the day which for us was months ago but if you can remember back when Exodus 19 this is when it all begins in verse 5 and 6. now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the Earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

So this is when the Covenant began earlier in the day saying you are going to be my treasured possession my kingdom of priests my holy nation that's what they're going to be to the lord they're going to be a kingdom of priests so that means that the surrounding Nations that will be around the promised land they do not know God they do not honor God you get to be a kingdom of priests that declares the glory of God to the surrounding Nations he did not know him as my holy people in keeping this Covenant keeping the Ten Commandments and the law.

And then when we get here to chapter 24 this Covenant is being ratified it's being finalized and what we're about to witness and the ceremonial events that are included in this are a little bit foreign to us it's it may seem even weird if you've never encountered this in the Scriptures before but we have to remember we're very far removed from the context of the people three thousand years plus removed from an ancient nearest in context where this would have been more familiar ceremonial aspects.

For them it's foreign to us in the same way that if you took the Israelites and put them in a time machine and brought them to today and if they're out in front of a building and then there were people in front of this building and then all of a sudden they stretched out this long red ribbon and then somebody came in with giant swords that had handles and then cut that ribbon and then all the people clapped and they walked inside that would be pretty foreign to them.

Because they're not they don't know what that is but we know what that is it's a ribbon cutting ceremony it's a business opening up that's so we're removed from the context here and some of these details are going to be difficult to wrap our minds around what's happening but I just want to give you the highlights of what we're about to see we're about to see God come together with his people his kingdom of priests they're going to come together both parties will be represented there will be sacrifices that are made the terms of their agreement are going to be read The Ten Commandments.

And then they're going to come together and celebrate and a big Feast that follows and that's the gist of what we're going to see the details we're a little bit removed from so let's walk through this together verse 3. Moses came and Moses came and I told the people all the words of the Lord in all the rules and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words of the Lord has spoken we will do and Moses wrote down all the words of the.

Lord so this is what we're seeing right here is the rehearsal before the ceremony which is going to be the next day so he he reads the words and says all right are y'all in are we doing this and the people like at a rehearsal or saying yes all the words the Lord has spoken we will do it's all right come back tomorrow next morning and we're going to finalize this he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel.

So he builds an altar and this altar represents the presence of God this represents God's presence as a part of this Covenant agreement that he's making with the people then he builds in Rex 12 Stones 12 pillars and these 12 pillars represent the 12 tribes of Israel now both parties are present for this agreement verse 5. and he sent young men of the people of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen II the Lord so then he sends out young men and they gather sacrifices animals to be slaughtered.

Now and if you keep reading you're going to learn more about what these sacrifices are later in the Book of Leviticus but they offer burn offerings and peace offerings burnt offerings which you we can learn about later if you keep reading these are are for atonement the idea of this animal's death and its its death is covering your sin and Rebellion so this is atonement and also peace offerings which is meant to celebrate the fellowship that they have with God so they have burnt offerings and peace offerings which is foreign to us.

But that's what it represents that you all have sinned and you need covering for that sin and also fellowship with God those are offered together and then Moses does something very specific with the blood of the sacrifices for six and Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half of the blood he threw against the altar so he takes some of the blood of the sacrifices puts in the basins represents the people and then on the altar which represents.

God in this transaction and this Covenant ceremony blood goes on both bringing them and tying them together now super smart nerdy commentators theologians debate what's the significance of the blood and what's happening here and bringing them together and you can read some commentaries they're going to make compelling arguments about what's actually happening here is the inauguration the beginning of the kingdom of priests that some of the language here similar similar to later in Exodus 29 when the levitical priesthood the actual Priests of the people are consecrated.

When they are really inaugurated as the priests will represent the people and carry out the sacrificial system and all the responsibilities but actually What's Happening Here is that the whole nation is the kingdom of priests they're going to be a kingdom of priests to the surrounding Nations so a lot of the rituals here that this this Blood that's being spilled here it's meant to signify that and that's fairly compelling and then you see other commentators that go no what's actually happening here is that this is very very ancient near Eastern Covenant uh marital type ceremony stuff this is the coming together of two parties together as one.

And then the feast that follows after this which we'll read about in a moment this is actually this is more of a wedding and they'll make compelling arguments on both sides but guess what both are true because it is a little bit shades of the kingdom of priests who are going to represent God people and it is also to come together of two parties God and His People Israel together in holy Union that's what's happening in this ceremony and the ceremony continues in.

Verse 7. then he took the book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people and they said all the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient so no longer rehearsal we're in it now they are giving their vows all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient we're talking about The Ten Commandments and What flows out of the Ten Commandments the rest of the law they're saying we're in I do we're doing this we're going to be obedient.

God we're going to follow your laws and your words and your statutes I do so it's red they commence their vows and Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words and that becomes a very tangible reminder of what is at stake in this Covenant part of what's Happening Here is is that in this Covenant you need covering so some of this is atonement type being poured out on the people.

But also this is a sign of what's going to happen if you break this Covenant it's a sign of judgment that you've committed to follow the law you've committed to be obedient but if you aren't obedient this is what's going to happen judgment is going to come so shades of atonement and shades of judgment are found in the pouring of the blood on the people and then we pick it up and verse 9. that Moses and Aaron nadab and abihu in the 70 and 70 of the Elders of Israel went up.

So we're going to see them actually go up and they're going to now leave this part of the way of the ceremony and they're going to have a reception they're going to have a feast to commemorate this ratification this I do this commitment in this Covenant relationship with God and his people verse 10. and they saw the God of Israel there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heaven for clearness and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel they beheld.

God and ate and drank and boy oh boy when you read verse 10 11 there's a lot of what what's happening at this this reception this and there's a lot going on here and there's a lot of debate over what's happening here because the Hebrew kind of gives some flexibility on interpreting how this is I don't want to get caught in the weeds of this section I just want to give you a general idea of what's Happening Here the people of.

God represented by the seventy Elders the priesthood which is Aaron and his two sons the beginning of the priesthood and Moses they go further to have reception before God and they behold the glory of God they behold his wondrous Glory we sang that Revelation Song earlier holy holy holy and all the imagery that went with that from The Book of Revelation they're catching a glimpse of that they're they're getting to eat a meal before the glory of God it says before his feet not his face which we.

See later on in Exodus 32 that if you see the face of God sinner is in the presence of a holy and perfect God in the face of God cannot stand and live but they are before the feet of God in ways that kind of break our brains and they have this meal before the glory of God and I can't the the imagery here and how spectacular and wondering how all filled this is that after this holy ceremony and commitment they have this wonderful glorious all-inspiring reception it's powerful.

And then once that's done it continues in verse 12. the Lord said to Moses come up to me on the mountain and wait there that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the Commandment which I have written for their instruction this will be the tablets The Ten Commandments are written upon so Moses rose with his assistant Joshua and Moses went up into the Mountain of God and he said to the elders wait here for us until we return to you.

Behold Aaron and her are with you whoever has a dispute let him go to them so the Elders of the people Moses Aaron Aaron's two sons they moved up the mountain to have this feast this reception and then they Moses and Joshua continue to ascend up the mountain further and we're going to see in a moment that Moses is going to be the one that keeps going and this is symbolic here because Moses is the one who's leading them in the wilderness and later on Joshua is the one who is leading them and to the conquest into the promised land.

So both of them enter up the mountain further verse 15 then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain and this is where I think Moses keeps going Joshua doesn't go the full distance verse 16 the glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days and on the seventh day he called out to Moses out of the midst of the cloud now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain and the sight of the people of Israel which just imagine being an Israelite deep at the base of the mount looking up and seeing the.

Glory of God like a like a devouring fire encircling the mountain maybe you can see in the distance there's a tiny little person that's Moses and he he's going to enter into the presence of the glory of God and that's how this chapter ends in verse 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights and this is the finalizing of the Covenant that began in Exodus 19. the Covenant that.

God is making with his people that's called the mosaic Covenant the Covenant through his servant Moses to the people and the two parties coming together and it's an awesome event it's a Monumental event the people of Israel would remember for years would tell of for Generations that they committed to following God they committed to being obedient to God to display the Holiness of God unlike any other people and it began back in Exodus 19 but there's something very significant there's something very significant back in Exodus 19 that gets brought into what we read in.

Verse 24 and we can't miss it he says now if you will obey my voice and keep my Covenant you will be my treasure possession now if now therefore if you obey my voice if if is a conditional statement which shows this Covenant is what is called a bilateral Covenant the Covenant that they're making here is a by lateral Covenant it is a two-sided Covenant it means that disagreement to be held in place it's responsible upon both parties which is familiar to us almost every contract you can think of that we would sign and this world both parties have to fulfill the obligations in that contract that's what's happening here this is a bilateral Covenant.

If you obey my voice if you keep my Commandments if you do this then God will find favor upon them will protect them will provide for them that's the exchange here obedience favor if this is very different than the Covenant of Abraham which is back in Genesis 15. that if you are reading through the Bible and you get the first really or the second Covenant that you see in the Bible in the Book of Genesis chapter 15. God makes a covenant with Abraham and that one is not a bilateral Covenant that is what's called a unilateral Covenant one that.

God chooses Abraham in order that he might bring he might bless the Nations through Abraham by building a great nation through him and in that Covenant that God makes only God is responsible it is not incumbent upon Abraham to keep that Covenant God is going to keep that Covenant promise I am going to bless the Nations through you that is only the work of God but in this Covenant it is different in the Mosaic Covenant that we just read that we just saw celebrated and ratified that is a two-party Covenant the Covenant of Moses clarifies the people must live in right relationship with.

God and if if they break their marital vows if they don't abide by the law if they don't obey the voice of God the marriage is over if they become an adulterous people and chase after foreign Gods this Covenant will be shattered one of my favorite I always actually say my favorite rom-com is the breakup the breakup throwback to the 2000s just show a fans raise your hand if you've seen the breakup so I know what I'm working with all right generally half.

Okay I love that movie my family we love that movie if you haven't seen it just go to YouTube and type in the breakup dinner scene that's all you need the rest of it's good but I could literally look at my parents and go tap tap tappy tap tap tappy and they're gonna go Gary on the kick drum it's wonderful it's hilarious we love that movie but when I saw that movie in theaters and then other people saw other people did not like it and it's not.

Because they were dumb it's because it's because they were disappointed they're like they they break up why do you want to watch a rom-com or about a breakup they break up and it's like did you not see the title yeah did you not it's literally in the title it's called the breakup I mean goodness if if Old Yeller was called he shot the dog you would not be disappointed at the end when he shoots the dog you see it coming it's in the title The Breakup.

But it makes the rest of the movie difficult to watch at times because you're watching a couple just break up and that's what it feels like if you know the rest of the Old Testament and when you read Exodus 24 in light of the rest of the Old Testament man it can be a painful read because you're seeing them take this vow I'm gonna we're gonna be obedient God we're going to do it and you know they're going to do everything they're going to do exactly what.

God told them not to do but they're going to forsake God they're going to chase after foreign gods and you also know that ultimately God's going to bring judgment upon them the Assyrians the Babylonians and judgment is going to be poured out on the people all the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient this Earnest desire we will be obedient and then the looming word that's attached to that in Exodus 19 is if if and when you.

See that for what it is it's like how could the people commit to this all the how how did they know what they were getting into and there's a little bit of when you read it it's like what is God doing calling this people into this Covenant knowing good and well that they are such a wayward people knowing that they're so driven to chase after other idols they're going to so deeply struggle to fulfill this what is God doing and even calling these people into this Covenant there are a few reasons I'm going to give you three quick ones.

First God is Creator he is the God The Sovereign God over all things he gets to dictate the terms of the relationship so when the people say we'll be obedient they should God is Holy and we should be holy as God as holy so when he says that he absolutely is with they should want that they should agree to do that but there are unable due to their sin they're unable this Covenant will be shattered and that's the second thing is they just the Mosaic Covenant reveals that the people of.

God couldn't do this in the first place they could not obey the law which means that which doesn't mean that this Covenant has no purpose if they cannot obey the law But ultimately what that does reveal is is that there is someone who is going to have to obey the law there is someone who's going to have to say all the Lord has spoken I will do and be obedient and it's going to have to come through Abraham because that Covenant is a promise that will come true and ultimately it's going to come from the tribe of Judah ultimately he's going to come from the household of David in the Covenant that is made there.

Later on and of course the descendant who comes to fulfill this Mosaic Covenant in a way that the people could not fulfill it is Christ that ultimately this Covenant was made so that Christ could come and fulfill it for the people so that Christ could obey the law perfectly and at the right time Jesus is born and for the next 33 years he lives under the Mosaic Covenant and obeys it perfectly every single law every single marking he spotlessly righteously.

Then instead of having another oxen slaughtered and blood spilled to cover the sins of the people Jesus Takes that perfect record and he goes to the cross goes to the Cross where his blood is poured out to cover the sins of the people there's a reason we as Christians sing songs like there's a fountain-filled blood there's a reason that we're seeing as Sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains for those who do not know the Gospel that sounds weird.

But the hope that we have in Christ is is that that's our only hope we could not obey the law we could not fulfill the Mosaic Covenant we are sinners in need of mercy and the blood of Jesus is poured out on us on the cross and that's our hope and then when Jesus is buried and Rises on the third day and conquers the power of death and its grip that is held upon us he ultimately is fulfilling Exodus 24 he's fulfilling this Covenant which means we as Christians get to.

Look back at Exodus 19-24 we get to look back at this Mosaic Covenant differently and the key to understanding it and our relationship with the law is in a few places but one of them is Romans 7. so go to Romans 7. start again verse one this is how we as Christians get to approach the law or do you not know Brothers for I am speaking to those who know the law and specifically context here in Romans this is he's really talking to Jewish Christians right.

Now Jewish Christians who had spent their lives trying to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant on their own he says I'm speaking to those who know the law that the law is binding on a person as long as he lives four verse 2. a married woman is bound by the law Bound by law to her husband while he lives but if her husband dies she's released from the law of marriage highlighting that the Covenant that you make in marriage is binding until death do you part.

But when he or she dies it's no longer binding verse 3 accordingly she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive but if her husband dies she is free from that law and if she marries another man she's not an adulteress meaning that if her husband dies and then she remarries she's not adulterous because that Covenant of marriage is over and a new covenant begins in its place and this Paul takes that understanding.

And then explains the law likewise verse 4 my brothers you also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another to him Jesus who has been raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God he's saying your relationship with the law is over it's over that marriage is done you have died when you place your faith in Jesus death to life happens and you were born again into something and someone knew a new creation in Christ.

Therefore because of the death of Jesus is because this new established Covenant of Faith you aren't married to the law anymore you're wedded to Christ you belong to Jesus and not the law of verse 5 4. while we were living in the flesh our sinful passions aroused by the law we're at work and our members to to bear fruit for death verse six but now we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive so that we serve in the new way of the spirit not in the old way of the written code.

So Christians we have a new covenant in Christ we have a new relationship in Christ the Israelites served under a bi-lateral covenant that required both sides there is no if in Jesus there is no if in Christ there is no two-sided agreement in Christ Jesus unilaterally unconditionally saves us he redeems us and then sets us apart to be a people for his own possession and then he puts his Holy Spirit in US and then God carries us and Carries us and Carries us and Carries us all the way and to our future Promised Land which is eternity with.

God that is a unilateral Act of God that is not a two-sided Affair God unilaterally saves us the bilateral Mosaic Covenant ultimately was meant for Christ to come and fulfill it so that we would not be a people that worked for our salvation but trust only in the finished work of Christ which means brothers and sisters some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a bilateral Covenant some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a two-party transaction some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a conditional faith it's not and some of you some of you have this misunderstanding that being a Christian means being a.

Good person that you bring your good works and you maybe even see yourself as a good person that I'm a Christian because I go to worship on Sunday or I'm a part of a community group I read my Bible or I pray or I serve others or I give or I do all these things which are good things to do and you say I'm a Christian because of all these things that I do and your misunderstanding that's that's not the Gospel you're a Christian.

Because God and His Rich kind Mercy saved you in spite of your sin he redeemed you and some of you may not see yourself I'm okay now I'm not I'm not like that I don't I don't see myself as I actually see my sin but like I just I I feel this need like I've got to do I gotta prove I gotta I gotta grind I gotta I gotta I gotta keep earn like I'm gonna lose the favor of God because of the sin of my life I just got I gotta and it's this endless toil and this endless striving where your soul is never at peace and it's never in rest and you keep.

Thinking that your side of the agreement you've got to fill and the works that you do I've got I've got to keep filling it up as if it's some type of scale that's going to balance out and there's not enough good works in the world that could ever outdo this in our lives and then there's some of you that have you know I have some of you like I have this I understand this by Grace have been saved through faith it's not of works I'm not saved by works I'm not saved by works.

But all you can see in this relationship with Jesus is your sin that all you can see is is the sin beneath you this indwelling sin that's in all and it leads you to a place of no longer actually seeing Christ in in overshadowing your sin you you all you can see is your sin and therefore it leads to this pattern of self-loathing of self-hatred that in this relationship with Jesus all you see is your sin and you don't like yourself at all and that's all you can.

See and you might protest but you don't you don't know me if you knew the thoughts there in my head if you knew what I did in the quiet of the night if you saw my sin if you knew there's no reason that God should want me and all you see is your sin and I want you to hear the words written by a pastor named Dane ortlin that describes the unilateral love and mercy of Christ that you so desperately need to hear.

So I just want you if that's you this morning I want you to hear this so very clearly he says that God is rich in Mercy means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels through which Divine Mercy passes but homes in which Divine Mercy abides that the parts of you where you feel the most shame and regret that your life is not a hotel where God's mercy comes from a moment that Fades away it is a home where it abides it means that it means the things about you which make you cringe the most make him hug hardest it means his Mercy is not calculating and cautious like ours it is.

Unrestrained flood-like sweeping magnanimous it means our haunting shame is not a problem for him but the very thing he loves most to work with hear that again The Haunting Parts the parts that make you cringe the most are the parts of you that Jesus Delights in working with the most it means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit our sins cause his love to search forward all the more it means on that day when we stand before him quietly unheardly we will weep with relief shot at how impoverished a view of his Mercy Rich heart we had that is the unconditional unilateral Mercy of.

God this is not a two-party agreement it's a one-sided affair with a deep Abiding Love of God that we sang about earlier where his Mercy is so much more than we could ever possibly imagine that's the God who loves you that's the God that loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you and to rise for you so that you might not stare at your sin so that you might not put your works in your hope and works.

So that we might be a people that when we see our sin we see our glorious savior that's the Savior that fulfills Exodus 24 that's the Savior who died for us and that's the Savior we get to sing about let me pray for us Heavenly Father I pray that you would help us see how wonderful it is that we don't live under the law that we don't have to fulfill the obligation the requirements of the law that we get to when we.

See our sin look to you as our only hope and I pray that for the Christian in here that is so deeply troubled by their sin in a way that they cannot seek you clearly that today you would absolutely open their eyes to the mercies of God that they so desperately need to see and I pray that you would go to work in the hearts of anyone that have not that has not experienced this yet who asks in Jesus name amen we're going to sing one more song and the reality is that some of you have never actually tasted and seen that the.

Lord is good some of you have never actually seen the good news of the Gospel and made that your only hope that maybe you've thought all along that being a Christian means I got to clean myself up or being a Christian means I've got to bring I gotta get back into Church I got to do good things I gotta be a good Christian and I want you to hear so clearly this morning that's not the Gospel the Gospel is you seeing your sin and seeing Christ as your only hope we're about to sing a song called all I have is Christ in it and it says you looked upon my helpless State that's our confession.

God you looked upon my helpless state because I could not fulfill the law because I could not be obedient enough you looked upon my helpless state it led me to the Cross some of you have never made that decision some of you have never actually made that commitment to say I need Christ I'm a helpless State I am a sinner and this morning the invitation is there our God is before you sang Come experience my mercy and my goodness and my love and my grace it is offered.

But you have to take it you have to take a step of faith and place your hope and the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus and my hope is this morning so as we sing this song some of you need to sing this as a confession of what you believe but something you need to confess it for the first time foreign.

Slavery (Exodus 21-23)

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

Slavery (Exodus 21-23)

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Foreign good morning so my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here so we made a shift last week in the book of Exodus where we left the Ten Commandments and entered into what most people think of as the law this is the teachings and the Commandments of God of how we're called to live and love and honor and worship Our God and live in harmony with one another so for the rest of Exodus into Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy you're going to.

See these these commands that are helping the people understand how to worship God how to live in harmony with one another last week Chet kind of introduced the law as a whole that he kind of gave us Calvin's framework for how to view it that some law is civil that deals with kind of the societal structuring of Israel as a nation that some of it is ceremonial that deals with uh some of the the priesthood and the sacrificial system and then some of it is moral these are morals that.

God has always wanted his people to follow and then with that frame where we get to approach the rest of the law coming out of the Ten Commandments in the into Exodus 21 and then we get to the first two verses of Exodus 21 which says now these are the rules that you shall set before them when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing so that is our.

First entrance into the law when you hear that you might go wait what that I haven't encountered that in the Scriptures before God sets them free from slavery in Egypt gives them the Ten Commandments and the very first thing that shows up is slavery isn't slavery bad isn't God good when you read this is it 2023 or 18 23 there's this feeling in this as we approach the text here and Exodus 21 has a lot to say about slavery and in his passages like these that Skeptics have taken and latched on to attempt to delegitimize Christian faith there's one uh atheist thinker as a podcast his name is Sam Harris and Sam Harris once said.

The entire civilized world now agrees that slavery is an Abomination what moral instruction do we get from the God of Abraham on this subject consult the Bible and you will discover that the creator of the universe clearly expects us to keep slaves and that's kind of an argument that you will hear is that no your Bible justifies slavery and a lot of Christians will just kind of respond saying uh-uh no like I disagree that's not true but if you believe that.

Then what do you do with Exodus 21 what do you do with the parts of the Bible that speak about slavery from the Old Testament into the New Testament that is what we're going to be doing today we said that we'd be approaching the back end of Exodus differently than we did the front we went verse by verse all the way up to this point now we're approaching the last part of Exodus topically and we're going to look at the topic of slavery starting in Exodus 21 and through the rest of the Bible.

God willing when we are done I'm going to show you how the Bible dismantles any attempt to uphold slavery and that ultimately how God brings about individual Christian change in our hearts on issues like this that ultimately snowballs into societal change away from a system of servitude that has dominated Humanity for thousands of years so that's a big task let me pray and we'll walk this together Heavenly Father I pray that you would help us be present this morning that we would.

Listen that we would not be quick to make judgments on the text but we would sit in this and think through it and we would see what your ultimate desire is concerning slavery in Jesus name amen all right so back to verse one and two it says now these are the rules that you shall set before then when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years into the seventh he shall Go free for nothing now we run to a problem immediately.

When we read this text and it has to do with the word slave there are words in the Bible that we're not familiar with that we may not be familiar with like cistern or threshing floor and if you don't know those terms you go and you look them up you learn what that is and then we come back to the text and we try to understand it but no one in the room is unfamiliar with the word slave in fact I would argue that everyone in the room has a pre-loaded understanding of what slave means and what slavery is that.

When we hear the word slave we think of the horrible practices of American slavery we think of African men and women who were stolen and put in Chains and put on ships were 1.8 million black men and women died on the way to Europe on the way to America we think of the horrors of them Beyond the seller's block and going into a brutal system that's what we think of I would argue whether consciously or unconsciously that's how we approach the text.

Because we're so familiar with this word and this concept is a part of our nation's history so when we read when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years and seventh he shall Go free for nothing what we need to do is to strip the context that we know for that word and put it aside and try to understand this word in its context and that's we're going to look at first it's context in the Old Testament so slavery was a widespread practice at the time that Exodus was written it was all over the ancient near East and we there are all types of cultures that was very much a part of the.

Fabric of their economy the slavery and servitude class built many empires we saw this early on in the book of Exodus we saw in the book of Exodus how the Hebrews were enslaved how they were forced into labor we saw the brutality of that that Pharaoh at the at a whim could just decide I'm going to kill all the firstborn males amongst my slaves we saw a Taskmaster beating a Hebrew we saw that they could not leave we saw the brutality that as a picture of slavery in the ancient near East that one that of one of conquering enemies making them subject to you and building your Empire with their labor.

Now we saw how God violently rescued them out of Egypt now they're in the wilderness they're receiving the law before they enter into the Promised Land and when they enter into the Promised Land they're going to run into situations where people fall on Hard Times where they lose everything and there was no social safety net in the ancient near East if you lost everything if you'd had no money you could not buy food and you starved and if you could bag it to get enough you might make it.

But you most likely would die there was no social safety net so a lot of people would sell themselves into slavery because that's better than death at least you're not starving to death that was a widespread practice at the time as well now God takes that practice modifies it for the people of God and to A system that we would most likely understand as indentured servitude which if you can remember American history classes and entered servitude was there are a lot of Europeans that that could not afford the ship ride over to America to start a new life.

So they would sell themselves into indentured servitude they get to the states they'd work as an injured servant to pay off the debt for a few years and they would be free and that's more of what we see with the system that God has modified for the people of God in the book of Exodus 21 and onward we see this again in Leviticus 25 verses 39 41 it's as if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you you shall not make him serve as a slave he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a Sojourner He Shall Serve with you until the Year of Jubilee that's the seventh year.

That we saw in Exodus 21 you'd work six years then you're set free on the seventh then he shall go out for you from you he and his children with you and go back to his own Clan and return to the possession of his fathers now notice the qualifications that is put on that he's not going to be like a slave treat him like a hired worker take care of him or her and when he gets back on his feet and he has worked.

For six years release him and not just empty-handed he will retain The Inheritance that God has given to the people he will go back to the land of his forefathers he will retain that inheritance and not go out empty so God takes the system that was common in economies across the ancient near East and he modifies it basically to a system of indentured servitude that is more worker employee style relationships but they're working with that word slave and that is the word that they get that they're using to show someone who is working and not getting paid.

For their work that when you go back to Exodus 21 you see some other qualifications that are put on this system Exodus 21 verse 16 says whoever steals a man and sells him and anyone found in possession of him he shall be put to death so this has to be something that someone volunteers into you cannot force someone to do this you cannot steal them into slavery and if you're caught selling or you're caught with someone who's a stolen person forced into slavery you will die you will get the death penalty.

So that if the American South lived under the Mosaic law there would not be a lot of people left that's just the reality of how God treats people who are forced into slavery you sell or you buy you die that's the law then these other qualifications We're not gonna go through them all because we're not the time they cannot be killed verse 20 when a man strikes his slave male or female with Iran and the slave dies under his hand he shall be Avenged not going to mistreat you're not going to kill.

So the qualifications once they had worked six years that they didn't like the prospects of being free that they could permanently enter into servitude we see that in Exodus 21 verse 6. and then there are other laws in Exodus 21 related to slavery that were so far removed from the context that are hard to understand but the gist of the majority of them is to help them see that this is different than the ancient near East it's different than the surrounding Nations they're meant to protect the people within the system itself and that's how God's people are to treat one another.

Now it's a little bit different Leviticus 25 there's there's if there's a Sojourner or a foreigner who is in your land who decides to sell them itself into slavery they need to understand upfront that it's permanent they don't get that seventh year Redemption at the Year of Jubilee so if there are foreigners in the land they sell themselves into slavery it will be permanent so that's a bit of a system that was very different than the surrounding Nations and very different than how we understand American slavery that was built off of stolen people and brutality.

God was doing something different and it stood out among nations as different but if we're honest as Christians living in the New Covenant of Christ as Christians we look at all of this still and go yeah but why take something that was common and reduce that down why modify that why not just end it all together why why what's this what what's this about someone being going in a permanent servitude like I don't there's part of us that looks at this and says yeah they're treated like hard hands yeah they're different.

But what's why didn't God just end it all together this is certainly better than we have in our heads when we hear the word slave but this still feels like it's not enough we what we as Christians need to understand when we read about slavery and the law is that God was doing something that was uniquely different that was counter-cultural to the cultures of that time and that thread of doing something different than the Nations different that was counter-cultural that threat is going to be pulled into the New Testament.

Because when Jesus comes along he's going to flip the law on its head that's what chap was getting out last week that Christ come and fulfills the law and that means that there's certain civil aspects to servitude that are fulfilled in Christ that no longer remain so Christ fulfills the law so we don't we're not under the Mosaic law anymore but there's even something more unique that's happening in Jesus approach to the Mosaic law the law of Moses that if you.

Look closer you'll begin to see that God goes a step further with the law to show that the law did not capture God's ultimate desires for his people the law was not the finished product it did not capture the heart of God and how he expects his people to live in community with one another and that happens in a few different teachings multiple times Jesus quotes the law by saying you've heard that it was said but I say to you you've heard that it was said which is ironic.

Because that's Jesus who is God who gave them the law you've heard that it was said but I say to you and he's doing something different he's flipping the law on its head I'll give you one clear example of how he does this he does it with a divorce in Matthew 19. in Matthew 19 he's teaching on divorce he says as they're asking him questions about divorce he says they said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away they're quoting Deuteronomy 24 as they're asking.

Jesus about marriage and it says he said to them because of your Hardness of Heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it was not so and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery he says this because of the hardness of the people of God's hearts they weren't ready for this because of the hardness of their heart they weren't ready for the ultimate desire of marriage and because of that they were not able to live under the law as relates to marriage and let out the desires of what.

God had always wanted for marriage so he says but I tell you now here's the real desire you stay married that's the desire for marriage this happens also in Matthew 5 verse 38-39 since you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth that's out of our main chapter today which is Exodus 21. he says you've heard that it said eye for an eye tooth for tooth but I say to you do not resist the one who is evil.

But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also he says but I say to you and then gives them what God ultimately wants for his people Jesus is helping them see that the Israelites were too hard-hearted they were too Wicked to receive God's ultimate desires for his people and how they should live and treat one another so Jesus is doing that in his teachings pressing on this then he fulfills the law perfectly with his life.

And then he goes to the Cross where he has his his blood is poured out to make atonement for the people of God for all of our sins and then he rises from the grave defeating death and making a way for his new covenant people to be born again to have a new life in Christ Jesus ascends into heaven and the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church and empowers the Church to finally start to live out the ultimate desires for what.

God has for his people in this new covenant faith so what I'm going to argue is that God has a more subtle but I say to you throughout the New Testament a more subtle but I say to you that is going to change the way his people approach slavery in servitude but in order for me to do that from the New Testament we've got to go back to redefining slavery again because when you get to the New Testament there's a Roman system that is different than Israel's there's a Roman system that we need to understand that we we can't just read that and think of what we commonly know as slavery we've got to understand.

The Roman system itself so in the New Testament which was written in Greek there's one word for slave it's doulas now do loss and if you have an ESV Bible around you there's this blue Bibles around you that's the English Standard Version the way they translate doulas and it tells you this in a lot of the prefaces of the ESV the way they translate do loss is one of three different ways one of them is Bond servant if you've read that in the New Testament that's the Greek word dulos bond servant we're going to get to that in a moment.

But that was a branch of the servitude system of Rome that was more like indentured servitude you'd work for six years then you'd be free work for seven years then you'd be free it's also translated as slave which is a different part of the Roman system that's permanent slavery and then every now and then it's translated servant and what the ESB is doing with uh the word when it translates its servant is it's it's telling us that it doesn't give us it the the text has enough context where it can be translated either Bond servant or slave.

So that's the ESV just punting and saying you need to figure out from the context whether the spawn servant or whether this is slave so that means we also need to understand the difference between a bond servant and a permanent slave enroman Society so up to a third of the Roman Empire was in the servitude class think about that up to a third of the entire Roman Empire was in the servitude class and many of them were what were called Bond servants let's deal with that word.

First Bond servitude was very much like indentured servant servitude that if you fell on Hard Times just like an engineer East there was no social safety net there was no one coming to bail you out if you didn't have the money you couldn't buy food if you couldn't buy food you died so a lot of people that would get into debt and not be able to pay it off would enter voluntarily into Bond servitude you'll become a bond servant and your debt would be paid and you'll be able to work that off over a seven year period and there's a lot of people that were free that would do this that would sell themselves into.

This I mean a lot of bond servants were doctors a lot of bond servants were teachers they just fell on Hard Times and they had uh to sell themselves into Bond servitude in order to survive because there was no social safety net so it's similar to how Israel did it but very different because there weren't a protections built in if you sold yourself in a bond servitude to a free Roman you were property there there's you are you were property they can do with you what they want.

So if you're going to intervoluntarily into Bond servitude you better choose someone who is nice because they absolutely could do whatever they wanted to you so that's one aspect of servitude in the Roman Empire's Bond servitude the second as a class of permanent slaves and that's when the New Testament is going to translate that slave slaves in Roman society were permanent unless they could a buy their freedom so make enough money on the side to be able to purchase their freedom or be unless their Master freed them.

But you did not volunteer for permanent servitude in the Roman Empire much of the Roman slaves were people that were stolen and sold into it so that's that was a big I mean this the stolen uh man's ceiling and and enforcing people into slavery uh to make money was very much a part of the Roman Empire this was also uh enemies who roam conquered and said we're not going to kill you but we're going to make you slaves and permanent servitude was harsh there are a lot of people that ended up with really brutal jobs working in the mines until they died it was a brutal system some criminals were forced into this as.

Well and they were treated horribly permanent slaves were treated horribly it was very common to sexually exploit slaves in Rome very common practice now this happened also a little bit in American slavery we see that even with Thomas Jefferson but sexual exploitation in American slavery was still stigmatized because of racism with white slave owners it was not stigmatized at all in the Roman Empire you could rape your slave no one it was commonplace you did whatever you want with them they're your property they belong to you and that was a brutal part of Roman slavery was the sexual exploitation that was widespread and not stigmatized at all you could physically beat even kill your slave.

In the Roman Empire was not uncommon so you did not want to be a slave in the Roman Empire at all I've seen some Christians attempt to try to clean up a little bit historically you just can't the Roman system was brutal so that's the context for the Greek word doulas says it shows up in the New Testament that Jesus steps into so what does God expect of as New Covenant people they're Skeptics that will still go but your new testament still justifies it your New Testament says things like Ephesians 6 5 Bond servants obey your Earthly masters with fear and trembling and the other passage is just like that one Colossians 3.

First Peter 2. and they'll say see your Bible justifies slavery it justifies servitude but I argue if you're willing to do the work you're going to see that God is doing something counter-cultural and different with his new covenant people for the rest of our time the New Testament I want to show you what God is doing so be very upfront about this the New Testament does not make its aim to overthrow governments or overthrow oppressive systems that is not the aim of the New Testament on a whole bunch of different subjects whether it's slavery or poverty whatever the the New Testament does not have the approach of overthrowing governments in oppressive systems that's not what.

The New Testament is doing so the Gospel is doing the Gospel brings about radical individual change that calls people into a new covenant of Faith where they look differently with the Holy Spirit changes them and molds them into the image of Christ in a way that looks different from the world and that individual change ultimately snowballs into societal change and we see that historically because when Christianity started to spread across the Roman Empire when it became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire you saw servitude start a decrease.

So why why is that the case where's the New Testament argument for that where's the but I say to you that ultimately dismantles the idea that you can own people as property so much so that it changed the Roman Empire let's start with how the Scripture firsts uh dismantles the purchase of New Slaves then we'll move to uh those who already have slaves we're going to look at the seed Bedford abolition for the freedom of people from the system that shows up in the New Testament we're going to start with how the New Testament dismantles the purchase of New Slaves.

First Timothy 1 10. in first Timothy 1 10 Paul is like he does in a lot of his letters he's giving a list of sins that he's ultimately going to address with the Gospel but in first Timothy 1 10 he says the sexual immoral men who practice homosexuality enslavers and then he goes on to say Liars perjurers and whatever else this contrary to sound Doctrine so that word enslavers that is the term used for man stealing that's forcing people into slavery that follows the Old Testament law and Exodus 21 16 that would give people the death penalty.

For being caught with stolen people so we see that that part of the law isn't civil it's actually moral and that from the Old Testament end to the new forcing people into slavery is not the heart of God so enslavers no that's sin forcing people into slave trading throughout the Scriptures is either out either explicitly condemned or it's very much looked down upon and I'll have time to get to the Book of Joshua because if you may be familiar with the Old Testament.

But even the Book of Joshua when they don't obey the Lord and bringing his judgment upon the Canaanites and they make slaves instead there's judgment for that God never not once commands his people not once does he command his people to ever Force anyone into slavery the Bible roundly condemns this the Old Testament roundly condemns forcing anyone into oppression I mean over and over again the prophets are are attacking oppression in the land then you get to the New Testament.

Jesus starts to teach something even different he starts to teach things like love your enemies which when you follow the threat on that realizing that no we're not going to force people into slave we're not going to conquer enemies and force them into this system love your enemies so when you look at how the Bible approaches how people are made permanent slaves through Force you start to realize there's no biblical justification for that at all and without New Slaves you don't have a system of servitude at all that you're not able to make New Slaves.

So without forcing anyone into permanent slavery you don't have a system and that's what first Timothy flow of the Old Testament in the New Testament is planting the seed for Don't force people into this which begs the question but what if they volunteer what if an individual Christian decides what if a person's decides they want to they want to sell themselves in to this you can't take first Timothy 1 10 you can't take some of the arguments against forcing people into slavery and apply that to someone who would sell themselves into Bond servitude that you can't do that the Bible does not go there.

So that begs the question is some form of indentured servitude okay is some form of bond servitude still okay is it okay for a Christian to look at his brother who is in need and say yes I'm going to help you I'm going to pay your debt off come and work for me for six years and then I will release you what does the Bible have to say about them well then you've got to look at some other passages to see the right Christian ethical approach to helping those who are in need.

When the early Church began and began to explode in the book of Acts in Acts 2 verses 4 44-45 it says and all who believe were together and had all things in common that some of the first Acts of Christians had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need that you see very early on they had all things in common that they helped each other that they obeyed the teachings of.

Jesus that showed up over and over and over again when Jesus in Luke 12 33 amongst other places says sell your possessions and give to the Navy these aren't conditional statements you get read into this that there's some type of back-end service that's going to be required First John 3 17 says but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him how do you see from the New Testament this radical change that you're called to love and help and serve others that somewhere in that embedded is some type of exchange to where they become property.

For a period of time and more to the point the New Testament explicitly forbids a Christian from selling themselves into servitude First Corinthians 7 23 you were bought with a price do not become Bond Servants of men do not become Bond Servants of men that if they were to sell themselves into Bond servitude they would be sinning against God which means that if a brother came to you to do that and you allowed them to enter into Bond servitude you are facilitating sin and rebelling against the will of.

God so the New Testament gives us the prescription to those who are in need over and over again you help them you don't make them do you value themselves as image bears to become property as a condition of help so If There Are No New Slaves can't force people into this and it's a sin to actually have them sell themselves into this then eventually you don't have a system of servitude then eventually as we see in the Roman Empire servitude starts to decrease.

But let's dive a little deeper here let's live in a hypothetical if you're a new Christian and 55 A.D and you're convinced of the arguments that I just made from the Scriptures you're convinced that I can't make New Slaves of anyone what do you do with your current slaves or more practically what could happen in this day and age you take the Gospel to a culture that still has servitude built into their economic fabric what do you do when you take the Gospel there and they say you've convinced me I'm not going to join in slavers I'm not I'm not I'm not going to cause anyone else to sin what do you say to that.

Brother who's a Christian master especially when they go but yeah the New Testament Ephesians 6 5 Bon servants obey your Earthly masters of fear and trembling I'm not going to make new ones but what can he not just can where's the justification that I need to release the ones I currently have and that's the second thing I want to look at not just the purchase of New Slaves what do you do with current slaves so if they were forced into slavery in the.

First place that's an easier thing to address it's easier to point to First Timothy 1 and Exodus 21 that shows you're participating in a system that's morally repugnant and Evil that you need to repent and release someone who was forced into slavery that's an easier argument to make so it's all right you've convinced me the permanent slaves that I have I'm releasing them they're now free but what about the current Bond servants that I have I paid off their debts I got three years left to serve out their sentence just let them serve it out I I paid a lot of money.

For this so what do you say to the current master that has Bond servants I'd start by going to Ephesians 6 9. so after Paul makes the argument about Bond servants obeying he gets to verse 9. and he says this Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven that there is no partiality with him so I would say to them and say okay they want to continue to serve out their sentence fine you cannot threaten them anymore zero force zero threat to which they might reply.

Well if I can't threaten them if I can't use Force what if they decide to leave what if they decide they don't want to be Bond servant anymore threat and force is what keeps the system in place in the first place and I'd say you can't threaten them anymore but if I can't threaten them you understand they're going to walk free and I would say exactly exactly that is the ultimate desire of God anyways is that he wants them to be free.

But I have fields that need to be worked I have things that need to be done the only way I'm going to keep them here is if I pay them exactly now you're tracking yes you're going to pay them what they're worth you are no longer going to force them into this and in fact not only am I going to tell you that you can't use the threat of force to keep them in place I'm going to tell them they should seek their freedom from you which is what Paul does in.

First Corinthians 7 First Corinthians 7 starting in verse 20. it says each one should remain the condition in which he was called were you a bond servant when called do not be concerned about it but if you can gain your freedom Avail yourself of the opportunity which is a convoluted way of saying do it if you can Free Yourself do it four verse 22 he who was called in the Lord as a bond servant is a free man of the Lord likewise he who was free.

When he when called is a bond servant of Christ you were bought with a price do not become Bond Servants of men so I would show that Christian master the ultimate desire is that we would only have one master and his name is Jesus that we only have one master that we serve so yeah you cannot use force and I am going to tell them to go free and if they want to go free you let them go otherwise start paying them.

And then finally I would take them to what I think is the death nail that begins The Snowball Effect that ultimately unravels the system and that is the book of Philemon the book of Philemon is the shortest letter that Paul wrote Paul is writing to a Christian slave owner a Christian Bond servitude or Bond servant owner a master named Philemon and the whole subject of the letter of Philemon is that he is telling him and convincing him you need to free your runaway slave anissimus.

So anisimus is with Paul and he's writing back to Philemon and this is what he argues with Philemon in verse 8 he says accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required I'm bold live in Christ to tell you what you should do verse 9 yet for Love's sake I prefer to appeal to you I Paul an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus have Love's sake the sake of love I'm appealing to you I appeal to you.

For my child onesimus whose father I became an imprisonment and then he goes on to argue in verses 15 16 4 this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever no longer as a bond servant but more than a bond servant as a beloved brother I'm writing to you and appealing to you out of love that you should take onisimus back no longer as a bond servant no longer as property taken back as a brother he is arguing free him.

And then it goes on to say and if you have more verses he basically just says and you owe me anyways because I led you to Christ which is like the ultimate Flex so you're going to do this can you imagine the New Testament churches that were getting these letters that were circulating around and someone brings the letter of Philemon it brings it to this Church and they read the Scripture aloud can you imagine the Holy Spirit softening the heart of Christian Masters realizing that's it that's what I'm supposed to do can you imagine.

God working in their hearts to bring about radical individual change that ultimately helped them see what the heart of God was all along that we are not supposed to make people property if you don't make image Bears property brothers and sisters there are certain subject matters in the Scriptures that take a lot of legwork to understand and slavery is one of them it is one of the most complicated subjects in the Bible and with a few passages ripped from the overall text of the Scripture Skeptics may make you believe that your faith condones making people property don't let them there were certainly a lot of Christians in this very City in the 1800s that made.

Bad biblical arguments to continue the evils of American slavery but they were wrong they were wrong but also don't miss for a moment that the argument against slavery it did not originate from Skeptics it didn't originate from atheists in fact that argue if there is no God and we're all fighting this out together that's kind of the way you'd want to do it to gain power no the argument against slavery never came from anywhere else other than the Scriptures the fight.

For abolition came directly from Christians who were looking at the Scriptures and realizing what it truly said are the seeds for abolition were planted in a I love what the historian Thomas Kidd says he says Christian thought was never uniformly anti-slavery of course until long after legalized slavery vanished in the 1800s and he's dead on because there were Christians in this very City that were not uniformly anti-slavery in the slightest but the sources of anti-slavery thought were always powerfully Chris Christian and you can't study the history of the abolition movement from the UK into America and not.

See that the threat of the Scriptures was always heading towards abolition for there's only one person that is supposed to be our master and his name is Jesus First Corinthians 4 1 this is how we should regard us as Servants of Christ stewards of the mystery of God let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we get the whole counsel of your word that we get to see your heart that teaches us and molds us into a people that sees one another as image bearers that sees one another with love I'm thankful.

For the work that took place to bring about the societal change that was planted in individual Hearts 2000 years ago in Jesus name amen the man's going to come up and as we worship I want you to see how good it is that we have a master in Christ and that we get to be his servants he is very good and he is worthy of our worship the one we serve says come to me all who labor and are heavy later and I will give you rest that is the master we get to serve and that is the.

God we get to worship so y'all stand and sing.

The Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:15)

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

The Eighth Commandment

Spencer Cary

Holy Week (John 12:20-26)

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

Cost of Redemption (John 12:20-26)

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Happy Palm Sunday we are taking a break from Exodus feels like we're in the thick of the Ten Commandments it's been a lot it's been a lot to digest and we said you know what let's take three weeks to just celebrate this Holy Week to celebrate Palm Sunday today and the Triumph and entry into the City and we're going to be in the Gospel of John chapter 12 verses 20-26 we're going to look at a story that directly follows the triumphant entry and celebrate Palm Sunday.

Today and then we'll have good Friday which we would love to see you here for Good Friday for our worship night and then Easter Sunday and then we're even going to spend one extra week celebrating the season we're going to have we're going to look at the Ascension the week after uh Easter so three weeks to give us a little bit of a break from Exodus and celebrate uh this season's we'll be in John chapter 12 verses 20-26 the text will be on the screen in the Gospel of John there is this building anticipation.

For when Christ is going to complete his work there's this phrasing that Jesus says my hour has not yet come the hour has not yet come my hour has not yet come there's this building anticipation for the hour to come as you read the Gospel of John and then he rides into the city on Palm Sunday and he is celebrated like a king the people chant Hosanna Hosanna this is shades of of the of of a Messianic King who is coming in to save us and they were expecting this uh this political revolution that.

Jesus was going to breathe not bring not realizing that he was actually coming to save them from their sins and there's this joyous time as Jesus triumphly enters into the city treating him like a king and then directly after that story we get this story right here which only shows up in in the Gospel of John and we're going to see as we walk through this how this uh is a celebration of the ultimate work of Christ and really a celebration of the Gospel and we get to really.

Look at this and celebrate what Jesus has done for us and then following that there's kind of two two costs that Jesus gives to his people that if he's giving up his life this is what he expects in return so we're just gonna take a moment and celebrate that and celebrate the good news of the Gospel in our lives as we walk through this we're going to be starting in verse 20. I'll read it I'll pray and then we'll walk this together in.

Verse 20 it says now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks so these came to Philip who was from bethsaida and Galilee and asked him sir we wish to see Jesus Philip went and told Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus and Jesus answered them the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains alone.

But if it dies it Bears much fruit whoever loves his life loses it whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life if anyone serves me he must follow me and where I am there will my servant be also if anyone serves me the father will honor him let's pray thank you Jesus that you came and thank you for your work and I pray that you would help us receive your word this morning that you'd open our ears and our hearts to receive it and that we would celebrate and worship who you are with glad and generous hearts and we would respond in faith and In Worship and repentance and delighting.

In who you are as the God who saves thank you Jesus amen all right so this story follows right after okay Jesus rides into the city like a king verse 19 into verse 20. okay I know exactly when this story happens after the triumphant entry but this is the next story and it's significant verse 20 it says now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks now the word for Greeks there and the original Greek text is helenace.

So Greeks is what the ESV chooses because we're not really familiar with that term hellenists but the hellenists were not just Greeks they were just Greco-Roman background they were non-jewish Gentiles who were very much in Greco-Roman culture and it says that they're in town for the feast to worship at the feast which means from the context is that they seem to be as the biblical New Testament category would call them God fears these are non-jewish Gentiles that have abandoned Greco-Roman religion and the gods of greco-rominism and have seen.

God is the God of the Jews is the one true God but they're not Jewish they're Outsiders but if they're here to worship at the feast like they're they absolutely seem like God fears it's something the people that actually have abandoned their former ways and trust this is the one true God and they no doubt have heard of Jesus Jesus is a celebrity in the land at this point by the time he goes to the Cross everyone knows who Jesus is in the land of Israel and he came in like a king people chanting Hosanna Hosanna these Greeks probably either would have been there to.

See that they certainly would have heard about it because the whole city is abuzz the Rival of Jesus expecting what is this great prophet going to do and like many others they want to see Jesus in verse 21 it says so these came to Philip who was from bethsaida and Galilee and asked him sir we wish to see Jesus Philip went and told Andrew Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus so they they want to see Jesus but you can tell from the text they they can't there's some type of barrier that keeps them that they're going to fill up one of his followers to.

See if they can have access to Jesus now it's very possible the reason they can't is because at this moment Jesus might be teaching in one of the inner Temple courts so you have the temple and you have these Courtyards the three inner Temple courts are only for Jews and those who have been circumcised and then there's an outer court it's called the court of the Gentiles and that's where they could be as close they could get to the temple so it's very possible that we don't know.

If it's clear from the text that they are in the outer Temple courts Jesus was doing some teaching in the temple courts but they can't get to him and they wish to see him whatever the case we we don't know for sure they can't get to Jesus they go to Philip and I said we wish to see Jesus and here's what's peculiar about this story we don't know if they actually see Jesus that's the text doesn't tell us like it doesn't say that he met with them it's possible that he did it's possible that he didn't.

But in John's Gospel that's not what he's trying to focus on here he's not focusing on their meeting he is focusing on their request right next to how Jesus responds to this request and that's what's significant here 23 and Jesus answered them the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified Now's the Time this anticipation has been building my hour has not yet come the hour has not yet come the hour has not yet come John 2 4 John 7 30 John 8 20.

There's this theme of the hour has not yet come then Jesus triumphantly enters into the city as they chant Hosanna Hosanna what is he going to do next these hellenists want to see Jesus and in response to that he says the hour has come the son of mans be glorified what does he mean by that well he means Glory by Death the arrows come to be glorified by death it says in verse 24 truly truly Jesus says truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains alone.

But if it dies it Bears much fruit the hour has come for Jesus to die and in just a few days on Good Friday he is going to the Cross now most of us aren't from the Midwest so that grain reference may be lost on our ears because we don't grow grain down here but it would not be lost on them what he is teaching there that a seed from the grain is growing and it's alive and is a part of the grain stalk the sheep.

And then it when it falls off it's lost its life source and it dies but when it goes into the ground and the rains come it will be reborn to something brand new and Jesus is referring to that as a way of speaking about his death and answering Gentile Outsiders like that you cannot miss the significance because what he is pointing to is the Pinnacle work of redemption that all of redemption history has been moving to this point where his hours come the Scriptures have been awaiting.

For the hour to come all the way back in Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned against God and broke Fellowship by trusting the word of the serpent in that moment when the curse of sin is being told by God that sin is going to corrupt every aspect of creation we get what theologians call the proto-evangelion that's a fancy Latin way of saying the first Declaration of the Gospel where he says one day one day the seed of Eve is going to come and he is going to crush the head of the serpent the one day someone is coming in the line of eve and he's going to crush the work of evil.

And then later on in Genesis in chapter 22 as Abraham is being called we see that God has chosen of specific people a specific tribe and he says in your Offspring shall all the all the nations of the earth be blessed that one day the seed of Eve is going to come through you Abraham and through you this seed of redemption is going to bless the Nations and then we've been in Exodus we've been walking through the law and we see that Israel was called to follow the law.

But we know that they cannot follow the law we know they break Commandments over and over and over again and then even Moses prophesies in Deuteronomy 18 he says I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers there is this growing expectation that someone is going to come from amongst our people the hour is going to come where this is going to get fixed and at the right time Jesus comes and he fulfills the Old Testament law by about banging it perfectly.

And then he heals the sick and he feeds the hungry he performs Miracles he raises the dead as we saw last week in the fourth Commandment he challenges the religious establishment and they're misrepresenting the heart of God he's going to establish a new people and then the time has come for him to die and after this statement in just a few days is going to be arrested it's going to be arrested and then I'll be ashamed and he'll be beaten and I'll be flogged he'll be mocked and his flesh will be torn apart and they will force a crown of thorns on his head and they will put a wooden cross on his mangled back.

And they will send him up the hill of Golgotha or they will nail him to a cross and they will raise him in shame most likely naked and exposed and he will slowly suffocate to death to atone for the sins of man and to purchase a people for himself and then like a grain of wheat he'll be placed in the earth in a borrowed man's tomb and the seed of our Redemption will be placed in the earth as we wait as we wait.

For death to meet its conqueror and then on the first Easter morning he rises and he defeats the power of death so that Hellenist so that Outsiders so that outcasts can finally have access to Christ so that there might not be any bear they won't have to go to Philip they won't have to go to anyone they have access to Jesus because through his death and his resurrection they now have access to Christ the hour has come and you will get to experience life with.

God forever you will get access to God the Father through Christ the son by the power of the Holy Spirit that ultimately what we see here is when the text tells us when Jesus says it remains alone but if it dies it Bears much fruit that ultimately the fruit of his Redemption is us that's every Outsider that did not know Christ who finally trusted in Christ and that now that we bear the fruit of righteousness that he provides within us like that that is the fruit of redemption.

So that response to a bunch of Greek hellst who want to see Jesus it previews the whole mission of God and Jesus answered them the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it Bears much fruit our hero is tipping his hand to where this is going but in just a few days he's going to die on the cross.

So that every tribe and every nation every tongue can experience God forever now the cost of redemption is his life is believing and what he has done for us following that Jesus gives a cost a cost that we bring to the table and the next two verses these two costs that he's going to outline are unbelievably important the first is your life and the second is your service so let's look at that first one in verse 25 he says whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it.

For eternal life what a provocative thing to say what a powerful thing the challenge us in I mean a lot of times people think of Jesus and he's they have this picture that he's just this wise Sage you as children tugging at him and he's picking them up and Swinging them around and that is our God that is Jesus but that's not the only picture of our Jesus he's a prophet and he drops prophetic truth bombs like this that mess us up he is absolutely attacking our approach to this life here on Earth.

And when he says lose in the original language in the Greek lose often means also destroy or ruin the idea here it's not just losing your life but destroying your life ruining your life if you want to ruin your life love it be about maximizing pleasure having your best life now cling to this life and you're ultimately going to lose what is truly important life with God if you love your life you will lose it you cannot have both you cannot have.

Jesus and this life is a one of the best scenes and what I would argue is the best Indiana Jones movie the Last Crusade Jenna some of you might think that's controversial we can have the argument about Raiders The Last Arc and all that stuff as long as you don't say the Crystal Skull movie which was nowhere in the stratosphere of the Last Crusade but in the Last Crusade the very end when they've been seeking the Holy Grail this treasure and in the end.

When they finally have it and the whole tomb begins to shake and this earthquake happens and it falls out of the hands of that lady and the chasm divides the the Holy Grail this treasure and her and she falls and then Indiana Jones grabs her and she's off the she's off hanging off the cliff about to fall into the abyss but she sees that treasure she sees that Holy Grail that means eternity it means life all the things that in this story it means and she sees it and she begins to reach.

For it and he's like no take my hand I can't hold you can't hold you in you grab this take my hand and she can't help herself she wants the treasure so bad and then she slips through his hands and falls into the abyss and dies and then the whole earthquake shakes it again shakes and then Indiana Jones Falls and he falls in the exact same situation but this time Sean Connery is there his dad it grabs him by the hands and Indiana Jones has the exact same Temptation he sees the Holy Grail he's it's with an Arms Reach he's just he just tries to reach he wants it and Sean Connery looks at Harrison.

Ford and he says Indiana Let It Go Let It Go you you're gonna die if you do this don't do this take my hand and he's the hero and he makes the right choice but that's us y'all that we see this life and what it has to offer and we think if we that if I cling to this life I can get pleasure and joy but we got one hand on Jesus and one hand on this life and thinking we can have both.

Jesus is saying you can't have both that if you try to cling to this life you're going to lose it you're going to ruin it don't do this ultimately Jesus wants us for himself and clinging to him is our only hope you cannot have this life and everything that it offers in comparison to Christ who offers so much more Jesus says if you love this life you're going to lose it but if you want to save your life he says you need to hate your life in this world try selling that on a t-shirt in the Etsy Marketplace Bedazzled as a provocative thing to say you need to hate this life hate is a very.

Strong word and it's also a nuanced word my my children when they were my oldest when they were three and four they would use the word hate that hear us use it and they would use it we would say don't say hate because three and four years old they weren't ready for that word they want them going in the preschool saying I hate you to a kid that took their toys like this is not no you're not ready for that word.

But that put in their mind that this was a naughty word like it was a bad word so now they're a little bit older and we've said hate and they'll say don't say hey it's a bad word and I said well it's not I've had to explain to them we've told you early on this is a word that wasn't for you but now you're getting older and you're getting a little bit of wisdom and learning the English language and now we're teaching them the hate actually is a Biblical word we're supposed to hate sin we're supposed to hate evil we're supposed to hate Injustice and I'm trying to teach that.

But it's a nuanced word and Jesus is clearly nuancing his use of the word hate here and really hate is an opposition to love here and he's doing something with that word Jesus is not literally saying you need to hate this life in the same way like he's not saying you should hate your job and hate your wife and your husband or your friends you should hate your kids you should hate your family you should hate everything you've got he's not saying it literally like that.

But while he's not using that word literally he certainly means it very seriously and how he's using hate here and the way that it's being used on opposite in the opposite of love is that you should so love Christ that you should so love the things of God love Jesus love his people love what is good that your love in comparison to the world that your approach would look like hatred of the world indifference to the world I love how one commentator puts it he says people whose priorities are right have such an attitude of love.

For the things of God that all interest in the Affairs of this life appear by comparison as hatred let me read that again people whose priorities are right have such an attitude of love for the things of God that all interest in the Affairs of this life appear by comparison as hatred that you would so love God and the things of God by comparison look like hatred you know a lot of folks don't know this the restaurant that sells the most T-bone steaks in the world is Waffle House it's Waffle House Awful Waffle Wahoo they sell the most T-bone steaks and you might think by that logic.

If you've never had a steak well if they sell the most they must be the best and you go to Waffle House the first time and you need to stay and you'd be like oh this is what it means to have a steak and you'd be so wrong you'd be so utterly mistaken you'll know a wonderful place to get a steak Raz Bradley's house as Bradley is one of our pastors and he makes wonderful steaks he makes the steak called pecania it's the steak you get at a Brazilian steakhouse that's just.

So good he makes even what uh it's called wagyu steaks okay it's fancy Japanese beef and he makes these steaks and they're so good and y'all it's one thing I love about Raz he's so hospitable he would love for every one of you to come to his house and have Wagyu steak in fact I think you should today he's out there doing security for us or whatever it's called safety for us I would love for you to go and ask him I want to come to your house and have wagyu beef make me this glorious steak.

Because once you put that in your mouth you will experience what true steak is supposed to be and you would look at Waffle House and go I hate that I don't want that I'm never eating that again because you've actually experienced what ultimately is good God wants to ruin your taste for this world by his great love he wants to ruin your taste for this world he wants you to taste and see but the Lord is good blessed is the man who takes refuge in him Psalm 34 he wants you to taste of him.

See that he's ultimately as we say all the time so much better than everything else because he is what a prayer what a prayer to pray Lord ruin my love for the ruin it because I want you and I want you alone because what he offers it is so much greater we should invite God to ruin our love for this world Jesus wants that for us that we'd so deeply love God the thanks of God that our approach to this world would be no it's not even close.

So that's the first thing it costs your life and your approach this life and the second cost is your service your service in verse 26 he says if anyone serves me he must follow me and where I am there will my servant be also if anyone serves me the father will honor him one of the problems of American Christianity is that faith in Christian faith is treated like a mere function of your life that it's a social aspect of your life as.

If that you could put on this Christian faith like a uniform on Sundays only a few times throughout the week and exchange it for whatever setting you're in that Faith Becomes of your function in our social aspect of your life and not what it's supposed to be the guiding Compass of our life that we're meant to be servants and that service is displayed through following him that we be followers of Christ who serve him like that one of the when I'm talking with people in the South about faith and I'm doing evangelism most Christians in the South are going to answer the question are you a Christian they're going to say yes most people are.

Going to claim to be Christians in the south but what I'm asking what I'm looking for what I'm seeking for and someone is not just identifying with Christ not not talking about him as he's just like a part of their life or who they identify with I'm looking for the language of the follower I'm looking for the language of a servant that Jesus they've so loved him and so believe that he is good that it changes the way they live their life they seek to serve Christ do you merely identify with Christ is it merely someone you can put on or put off given the social setting that you're in or are you a servant.

Of Christ because don't miss this he's saying this on the way to the Cross when he says where I am there will my servant be also he's on his way to the Cross as he says that so this service for for some is even unto death which we we at America are so insulated from them we have brothers and sisters across the world who are being persecuted and they take that literally that it may cost their life and serve in Christ there will my servant be also.

But I fear that many Christians in America would not be willing to serve Christ if it meant even having an uncomfortable conversation with a co-worker let alone unto death and he's calling to a deeper service and I feel this that the American part of me wants Comfort it wants it doesn't want suffering for the sake of the Gospel it doesn't want to serve in a way that would make me uncomfortable but a prayer to grow in would be Lord Where You Are there your servant will be also what a prayer to pray where you are.

God is where I want to be are you willing to serve Christ and do whatever he tells you to do that language of servant for us is difficult because we're so far removed from the New Testament world in the context of a servant class where the closest parallel I can think of is military service if you're in the military you belong to the military and your commanding officer says do something you do it you serve wherever he wants you to go or he will are we willing to have that approach to.

God that we'd serve him at a minimum that's going to be the things he tells us to do in the Scriptures at a minimum that's going to be everything from work and prayer and the disciplines all the way down to where is the Holy Spirit leading you what is he leading you to serve where is God at that you need to be at in your service to him I'm growing in as a Christian not sidestepping the Holy Spirit and it's nudging it is leading in my life.

Because there are times where God says I want you to do something and I just go well but I what kind of qualifications do we have for that as opposed to just being someone say okay no God where you are is where I want to be where you want to surf where do you want me to be are you willing to pray boldly and ask the Lord where do you want me to be Lord what do you want me to serve what do you want me to be doing.

For some of you that may be as simple as serving in Kid City or serving as a leader in training or a group leader for some of you that may be stepping in to pastoral Ministry or being a missionary and going to the ends of the Earth but here the costs that he has for us that he costs our life and it cost your service and then don't mess what he says to follow it up with he says if you do this the.

Father will honor him father will honor you which means that if you look at this in the context of the rest of the New Testament that speaks like this that it is good to be motivated to receive honor from God but that's actually a Godly motivation which is weird for for many of us I know it's weird for me it throws me off because it shouldn't I have the I don't know the internal intrinsic value of just serving Christ is it wrong to seek honor from him as.

If in some way we're robbing God of Glory it messes with because we're so we in our Church we so preach and live that we're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God Alone there's so much of Who We Are and you hear very clearly this isn't for your salvation he's not you're not doing these things unto me to be saved safe being saved by Jesus is by believing in what he has done alone.

But once you are a Christian this is for you and what's being held out for you is in your service to Christ that you'll be honored and you should desire that and C.S Lewis's weight of Glory essay he talks about this he talks about uses the phrase I love it he says the undisguised pleasure in being praised that we should have undisguised pleasure in being praised by God and he Compares us to a dog I don't know somebody like I'm not a dog in comparison to.

God you're much worse but C.S Lewis he talks about us like we're a dog I have a dog her name is Piper she's a big Labradoodle which some of you want to know yes we did name her after John Piper it's a pastoral nerd that's what happened but her name is Piper and when I drive home and I pull up in the driveway and she hears my car pulling up which is impressive because I draw the Prius and it's real quiet and she she hears it she runs to the front of the house she gets on the couch she looks out the out the window she waits.

For me and then when I open the door she's standing in front of it and she's so excited she's got a full body waggle just just going for it just prancing her feet are prancing she just wants to be praised she has she has this uh undisguised pleasure and being praised she seeks that she wants it she wants that type of praise and love and affirmation we we should have that approach to God that in eternity we should have this undisguised pleasure in being praised it does not Rob.

God of Glory for him to honor you I mean think about the language of the parable of the talents and the parable of talents what's the language that Jesus uses the phrase that we long to hear well done good and faithful servant boy oh boy we should long for that type of Honor we should live our Christian lives longing for the day when Jesus says well done good and faithful servant where he bestows that type of on or upon us and we don't know all we don't have great vivid pictures of what that is in the New Testament of what type of Honor that is of the storing up riches in heaven that he speaks.

About we don't have the most vivid pictures of that but if Jesus says it's honor we certainly should believe that and that we shall live our lives in light of them cost your life and it costs your service but boy oh boy you will be honored I so appreciate this brief story in John's Gospel that on his way to Good Friday and on his way to Calvary colonists they just they wish to see Jesus and then we get this response that shows exactly what his work is.

For we see what it's all about that the hour has come where he will go to the cross for us because of his great love for us so that we might have our love for this life ruined by his great love and serve them into eternity and at the end of the week he takes all of our sin to the cross and he walks out of the grave and he makes a way for Outsiders like you and me to experience Our.

God forever many of you have said and expressed the same desires as these Outsiders I wish to see Jesus I wish to see Jesus I want to know him I want to be with him I longed to see him this is how let God ruin your love for this world let him ruin your love for this world serve him with all of your heart so that you might be honored that is the path that he's forging at Calvary as we head into Good Friday and we sing songs about the death of.

Jesus this is what it is for a people that he has purchased for himself that do not love the world but love him deeply and serve him and to Eternity Matt's going to come up and we get to worship and we get to take the Lord's Supper as we remember the good news of the Gospel but on the night that he was betrayed he took he took bread and he took one he took the cup of the New Covenant he took the bread he said this is my body that was broken.

For you he says often as you eat this you remember Jesus death on the cross that we take the cup the cup the New Covenant this is my blood that was shed for you he says that as often as you eat and drink this we get to proclaim the death of Jesus until he returns Christians as you come to the table you'd remember what happened on Good Friday and what Jesus did for us and that the seed of redemption was placed in the Earth and that on Easter mourn he burst forth into life making a way.

For us to experience Jesus into eternity when he says Proclaim my death until I return when he returns all things are made new and that day for those of us that have trusted in Jesus as our only hope and have laid down our lives to follow him and have served him there's an honor that is coming that we can't quite understand but it's very good and we should aim our Christian lives for that day but there are some of you there are some of you that have not actually had your love.

For this world ruined by God you have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good you have not believed in him you have not given up your life to him your life is not in service to him and it's because you don't know him and I so deeply we don't want you to come to this table I wish for you to see Jesus I want you to meet him I want you to know him I want you for the first time to lay down your life friend I want you to pray a prayer that says.

God ruin my love for this world I want you to experience the love that he poured out for us on the cross and say I want you Christ pray a prayer that says ruined for this world so that I might live for you so that you might one day experience the unmerited grace of his honor that he bestows on his people so don't come to the table right now come to Jesus heavenly father I pray that you would help us be.

So captivated by your sacrifice of the crossed it would be so overwhelmed by how you were placed like a seed in the Tomb the Obesity overjoyed by the resurrection we get to celebrate one week from now that we respond in faith that there's anyone here that does not know you I pray that they'd wish to see you and they would give their life to you God ruined their love for this world so that they might love you God there are so many of us who trust you who follow you they want one hand on this life and everything it has to offer and one hand on you.

God I pray that we cling to you ruin our love for this world over and over and over again help us die to ourselves so that we might live to you and service of you and worshiping you For Your Glory.

The Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-6)

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

The Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-6)

Spencer Cary