Church of Christ on Kelly Spring Road Podcast

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Ian Boike

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Galatians one.

6 through 10.

Reading from the English Standard version.

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 you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I seeking to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

There was a paradox written in about the late half of the 1st century, and the paradox is most notably recorded by the author Plutarch in the life of Theseus.

In the thought experiment describes a ship.

And that as time as time goes on, the ship must have pieces replaced as they rot away.

And at some point, all the pieces on the ship will have to be replaced.

And after all these pieces on the ship have been replaced, is it still the same ship of Theseus.

And there are two schools of thinking when it comes to this thought experiment.

You have the materialist's view, and you have the formist's view.

This evening I want to dissect these two schools of thought so that we may understand how we are to view the scriptures.

And as Christians, do we get to change out the original documentation and the inspired word of God in order to make the scriptures more modern or relevant or inclusive to to today's society?

Or we commanded to keep the scriptures as they were written.

And this topic seems to be something that churches all across the globe and even individual Christians alike are getting confused.

And this evening, I want to start by discussing the formist's view of thinking.

And I don't know anyone who calls him or herself a formist, but the equivalent term that many of us may know for today's society is a progressive Christian.

And in the paradox that we mentioned just a moment ago, the foreist believes that as long as the ship of Theseus still floats and sails and is still made of wood, it's still the same original ship.

In other words, no matter how many original pieces you remove and replace, it's still the same historic chip.

And many who consider themselves to be progressive Christians do the same with the scriptures.

And there are many churches who have decided to allow LGBTQ plus people and to be pastors, elders, and elders and other members of clergy within their churches.

The United Church of Christ, the UCC, the Episcopalian Church, and the Presbyterian Church are just some of all the churches who have publicly shown that they are perfectly fine with adding members and allowing them to participate who are openly homosexual.

In an effort to be more inclusive, these churches have decided to to go and say against what the, what the scriptures teach.

This evening, we're gonna start out in 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

I don't have slides this evening, so if you would follow along with me.

1 Corinthians chapter 6, I'll be reading verses 9 and 10.

Starting in chapter 43 and verse 9 of 1 Corinthians, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Of course, Paul is saying this in in Romans chapter 1 and verse 26, Paul says something very similar.

Chapter one of Romans starting in verse 26 to 28, Paul says, for this reason, God gave up, gave them up to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.

Men committing shameless acts with men receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

So here we can clearly see that these churches are taking what they consider to be the rotted wood of the scriptures away from the ship that is the church that Christ established.

And I know this may not seem like an example that we see close to home here, but there are, this is happening in hundreds of churches across the United States.

And unfortunately, it does not seem to be a movement that is slowing down anytime soon.

And there are also churches who decide, hey, we should entertain instead of teaching.

And many mega churches now across Texas and other states now have Starbucks, bookstores, and uh and or food courts in order to entertain their members when they're not worshiping.

And in 2005, ABC News wrote an article about this.

One of the members of these mega churches said, in our family, we almost kid because we spend so much time up there because we just love it.

Said John, said Johnson Ellis, and he continues on to say, there's just a lot of fun things to do up here.

ABC News went on to state in this article, these mega churches are places where members can not only pray, but they can also work out in the gym, eat at the food court or browse in a bookstore.

And they are becoming more popular across the country.

Is this really what Christ had in mind for his church?

I think not.

And when Christ forced the money changers out of his father's house, In the New Testament, he strictly states that his house is a house of prayer and not a place of trade.

And there are 22 separate accounts of this, the first being in Matthew chapter 21 in verse 23, where Jesus said to them, it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.

As many of the people were defrauding the people within the temple.

And then we see in John's Gospel account in John chapter 2 in verse 16, we see something very similar happen and Jesus says, and he told those who sold pigeons, take these things away.

Do not make my father's house.

A house of trade.

The church that Christ instituted is not a house of bookstores, gyms, or food courts.

And here we can see again, clear evidence that these churches are stripping away the commands, the patterns, and the examples that we can clearly see in the New Testament.

All for the sole purpose of modernizing the church that Christ started.

Now I want to switch focus to the materialist's view.

Now that we've discussed the formist's view.

And I have never called myself a materialist because typically that has a different meaning.

But in this context, when it comes down to this paradox, it seems that the answer of being a materialist is what more closely aligns with what Christ had in mind for us.

The materialists answer to this paradox is if you focus on the material composition of the ship, it is not the same as all of its original parts have been replaced, making it a completely different ship altogether.

And this is how Christians should feel about apostasy in the scriptures.

And when the commands and patterns and examples of scripture, of the scriptures are being replaced, We as Christians need to stand for the truth.

Just as Paul stood for the truth when writing to the brethren in Galatia.

Brother Mil Milstead read this for us, but I wanna read it again just to put it in context.

In Galatians chapter one.

In verses 6 through 10, Paul says, I am astonished.

That you are so quickly deserting him who called you into 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 are, if, but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you another gospel, contrary to the one that we preach to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before, now, I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you have originally received, let him be accursed, for I am now seeking, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

And is it not interesting that in this account, Paul is not getting upset with these brethren, because the people were denying Christ, as so many other churches were.

Paul is upset due to the fact that they are following a gospel that is distorted.

Than the original Gospel of Christ.

In other words, these men were twisting the scriptures.

And so now that we understand the two forms of thought, both the formist and the materialist, I think it's now important that we understand what we as Christians can do to stand against apostasy in the scriptures.

The first is that we need to know the word of God.

If you would turn over to Psalm to the first Psalm.

I'll be reading verses 1 and 2.

The only way that we will ever be able to know the word of God is by spending time in His word.

The first Psalm verses 1 and 2 tells us, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.

Nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And on his law he meditates day and night.

And continuing on in the 119th Psalm, we see in verses 33 and 15 to 16, we are told again that I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes, and I will not forget your word.

And finally, in Colossians 3:16, we are told to let the word of God.

Let the word of Christ dwell dwell in us richly.

By teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And just as we are commanded for the scriptures to dwell in us richly, We also need to test the scriptures, just as the brothers at Berea did.

In Acts chapter 17.

We see a scene in which Paul and Silas have just been run out of Thessalonica.

And after they had been, after they'd been run out of the city, they immediately went to Berea.

Starting in Acts chapter 17 in verse verses 10 to 11, says the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

And when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

Now, these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

So Paul is trying to teach these men, and of course they don't have the New Testament scripture.

They have the Old Testament scripture and as Paul is teaching these things, they're actively looking through the scriptures to see and test if what Paul is saying is correct.

And this is how we need to be when listening to others.

And knowing the word of God and being able to discern truth from falsehood and from false teaching must be done before we can use it to defend the truth.

I would say, secondly, we need to hold the scriptures as our sole authority.

We need to make our Bible the authority that we run our lives.

And that we need to be prepared to use it as a defense for why we do the things that we do.

And and there are 3 men, I want to pull 163 scriptures from the New Testament from Paul, John, and Peter, who speak exclusively about being able to be prepared and using the word as our authority.

We'll start with 2 Timothy chapter 3.

In verses 16 and 219.

24 Timothy chapter 22 and verses 24:22.

Paul tells us all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching.

For a proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Of course, the second being John, and 23 John 13.

We see that John tells us everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God.

Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

And then finally in 21 Peter 21:29.

First Peter chapter 3 and verse 15 we are told, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.

So here we can see Peter, Paul, and John, all telling us that the word of God is what should guide us in this life.

As our sole source of authority.

And finally, we need to contend earnestly for the faith.

In Jude 3, we see an account where we are told that we need to be willing to stand for the truth even when it's unpopular, and even when it's difficult.

In Jude 3, we're told, beloved, although I was eager, I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

So we as Christians must contend for the Lord, even when tribulation, even when those outside in the world make fun of us and And make our lives very difficult because of it.

And so now that we've listed 3 ways, there are many more, but just the 3 that I've listed in the 13 forms of thought, some of you may be sitting here and questioning, well, how can I apply this to my life?

Well, the ship of Theseus and the scriptures of Christ are treated very similarly.

And in fact, People try and distort and twist the word of God just as they would ship of Theseus, like the ship who's rotted out and worn out wood planks are replaced in order to make the ship look and or sound current and up to date.

And while there's no recorded right answer to this thought experiment, I believe that the inspired writers and the scriptures lean towards the thinking style of the materialist.

And the scriptures are very clear about how God feels about twisting his words, and or taking away or adding to his examples because they don't happen to fit someone's weak, modern-minded mold.

In Revelation 22, We see John writing.

In Revelation 22 in verse 18 and 19, towards the end of the Bible.

John says, I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this book.

If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

And if anyone takes away the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share.

In the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book.

Now, of course, we look, we look at the context and we understand that John is only referring to the book of Revelation.

But if we go back to the beginning of the Bible, we see in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2 that God gives a direct command not to do this.

In Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2, God says, you shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.

And so we can understand that even though John wrote about it in Revelation, we can understand that God means this for everything in his, in the scriptures.

And the material composition of the scriptures should matter a great deal to us as Christians.

The commands, the patterns and examples of the scriptures are just as important as the overall ideas that they support.

For example, As we've discussed, many churches want to teach about grace.

They want to teach about love and all the, the warm fuzzy feelings, but what they lack is they don't want to tell you about what's involved in order to receive this grace.

And when we come together, we like to offer an invitation to accept the gospel of Christ into your life.

And if you're not a Christian this evening, God is waiting for you to come to him.

Before the foundation of the world, God, God set in motion a plan with you in mind.

In John 3:16, we're told for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The love that God offers is not just for the people who are already Christians.

It is for everyone on this earth.

And God offers you this free gift of grace.

But in order to receive this free gift of grace, there are conditions that have to be met.

You must first believe.

The word, and you must repent of your sin, confess that Jesus is the Son of God.

And finally, Be baptized for the remission of your sins.

We have everything here this evening ready to make you his child, to make you a part of his family.

And if you're already a Christian, Maybe you have a sin in your life that is eating you alive.

And I think everyone in this room understands what I mean when I say that.

And is it not wonderful that God's, that Christ's sacrifice covers you as well?

And we are told in scripture that the Lord will forgive us if we seek it.

In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9, we're told, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you need to if you need the prayers of the congregation or the prayers of your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ this evening, if there's any way that we can assist you, please come to the front as we stand and sing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Jim Boyd

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Good morning again.

If you're visiting with us, uh, every so often, the elders will speak to the congregation.

That's what I'm doing this morning.

Alan Dvorak is our normal preacher, and if you're in the area, uh, you want to hear somebody that actually knows how to speak, uh, with some profession to it, come back and hear Alan.

He, he always creates a great spiritual, um, message in a very good manner.

I want to start off by telling you a story about once when I was gonna go backpacking, uh, with a group of guys in the woods.

We're gonna be out for about a week.

And we looked at the weather and it was gonna be in the mid-60s, in the 1st 3 days, just a steady, drizzling rain the whole time, but we were going.

So as we set out, it was, it was kind of funny watching what people were doing.

And now, this was in the late 80s, so we had rain gear, but it was terrible.

Like if you wore it, you're gonna be drenched with sweat within the first hour.

If you didn't wear it, you're gonna be drenched with rain, so what was your choice.

So, There's guys that had it on, just kind of avoiding the misery thinking, you know, this is gonna, I'll take it off in a minute.

There's guys trying to hide under trees, you know, thinking, you know, I can keep the rain off me for a little bit.

This one guy goes over to a mud puddle.

He turned his back.

Razar and flopped back into it.

You roll around a couple of times and got up.

He's like, you babies.

So, what was he doing?

He, he was gonna be miserable, he knew it, he just decided to get out of the way.

Now, I, I didn't decide to go that route, but I think maybe he was on to a little something.

This is attributed to Mark Twain and before I get into it, I'm, I'm gonna do just a little aside.

It's been You know, less than 53 years ago, that Mark Twain supposedly said this, but they don't actually know if he said it or not.

It's been attributed to a bunch of different people.

A guy wrote a book about it, but even with the internet that Abraham Lincoln invented, we can't figure out if Mark Twain did it.

It just, it makes me appreciate the Bible even more.

And something's over, the words over 2000 years old, we can have full confidence.

It's pretty amazing.

But back to the point.

He said this, if it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning.

And if you're, if it's your dog eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.

Now that might sound kind of gross.

It might sound like what is he talking about, but really, what he's saying is this.

If you have a difficult task, if it's something you don't wanna do, if it's something that's unpleasant, maybe it's tedious, uh, maybe, maybe it's painful, maybe it takes a lot of attention you want to give, do those things first.

And there's, there's a lot of pragmatic reasons for it.

I, I looked on this one mental health site, and they gave a, a definition of procrastination from uh the Cambridge English Dictionary.

It says to keep delaying something that must be done, often because it's unpleasant or boring.

And then mental health professionals have decided to add to that definition with this.

Procrastination as a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term cost. Self-defeating.

Now, now, why would you say it's, it's self-defeating?

Well, if it's something that has to be done, the longer you put off, how well is it gonna get done?

Now, you're rushing, you don't feel comfortable, there's a lot of different reasons why.

And there's a guy named Brian Tracy who wrote a book called Eat That Frog, and it was about, why would you not do the things that you know are the most unpleasant first.

So, eat the frog is another way of saying, if you've got things that are important, no matter how unpleasant they are, you need to eat that frog first thing in the morning.

Give yourself a sense of, of responsibility or a sense of accomplishment, get started.

So, why do we procrastinate?

That, that's a huge question, isn't it?

So I normally print out my slides, just in case technology fails me, so the printer wasn't working.

It, it wouldn't print any black.

So I put it on my phone, I put it on my iPad, uh, I have my computer in case all that didn't work, and it didn't really stress me out because uh I'd known about it for about 3 weeks.

So why didn't I fix it?

Because I, I, in my mind, I didn't need it.

But in the last 3 weeks, there's been several times I went to print something and went and print black and I was like, yeah, I can do without it.

And then when I actually need it, I didn't have it.

So I put it off.

Why do you think I put that off?

I know a lot of different reasons.

We can get distracted about things.

Uh, a guy at work that knows me pretty well put this on my door.

Um, it was, I, I have like a little placard saying what my job is on the, you know, the, on the right side of my door.

Came to work and this sign was on my door.

He knows me pretty well, I think.

It says, Dear visitor.

In order to protect my concentration and sanity, I decided to implement a door policy.

Door open.

Very welcome to come in.

Yes, I would love to have a chat.

Door closed, please knock.

I will let you know if I'm able to talk.

If it's urgent.

I'll continue to work I'm or I will not continue to work.

And you should continue to knock.

I'm extremely easily distracted and will talk you to the end of time instead of doing much needed work test.

Now, he does know me.

I, I, I get guys that come by all and we'll just talk and talk and talk.

What's funny is he put two things on.

It says, never, uh, just go away if you need something.

He said he got this off Instagram or something.

This is the part that I thought was kind of funny.

This was urgent business.

The building or someone is on fire, you're bringing me coffee, there's a dog.

So In other words, the guy knows that if, if he, he knows me.

If something's going on that I don't like to do when I'm trying to eat that frog, I'll put it aside very quickly.

So I can just have a conversation and avoid taking the next bite.

Uh, maybe we, we don't like doing it because we're perfectionists.

Uh, and perfectionist, if you've known any, and I know we don't have any here.

Um, if we, if you're a perfectionist, You look at these tasks, and you know, you're, you're just dreading it, so you, you put it off.

Now, you would think a perfectionist would never put things off.

That's not the case.

Sometimes they dread the mental and physical effort they know it's gonna take to put it into something, so they just kinda put it off.

Uh, maybe you don't believe in your own abilities to do something.

You ever put something off for that reason?

You you knew something important was coming, but you just Yeah, I need to do it, but I, I don't think I can.

I don't know if I'll be able to.

Maybe I won't do it as good as I'd like.

How about fear and anxiety?

That's a huge one.

How many things, how many frogs in your life are, that you have to face that you've got to take care of it, you're just, you're scared of doing it.

It makes you super nervous, so you just kind of slide it down the road.

Let me ask you something, would that increase anxiety or reduce it?

It would increase it.

You would think it would make it less, but it's gonna make it worse.

Now, obviously, I'm going somewhere with this for this morning, and I'm talking about spiritual frogs.

They're huge, they're unpleasant, they're alive and wiggling.

Yeah, I'm not talking about fried, fried frog legs.

If you've ever had those, they're not that bad, but I'm talking about, you know, you're gonna have to crunch up those bones, pop those eyeballs as you kids you listening?

eating a frog would be gross, wouldn't it?

Well, eating a spiritual frog can be just as gross, cause you gotta look at yourself pretty hard sometimes.

And that's what I want us to do this morning is talk about eating the frog first, spiritually, the things in our lives.

If it's important, if it's difficult, if it's unpleasant, just do it first.

Get them out of the way.

Psalm 139 23-24.

Say, search me, oh God, and know my heart.

Have you ever prayed that prayer or do you put it off?

God already knows your heart, but you're asking God to know your heart.

Try me to know my thoughts and see if there's any grievous way in me.

And lead me in the everlasting way.

That's important.

We need to ask God for their help.

We need to get into our souls.

And have those things exposed so we know what's standing in our way.

And what might be some of those spiritual frogs.

Well, dealing with sin obviously is, is the one that jumps out the mind the most.

I, I had a young man tell me this.

He, he had a huge Spiritual problem that he just couldn't deal with him.

He put it off for years and he went through the cycle of guilt.

He went through all these things over and over and over.

And, and then he found that when he finally took on that, that huge spiritual frog, And ate it He said there were tadpoles everywhere.

That's not how he said it.

He said he couldn't believe how many little problems he had that were just being masked because he didn't take on this big thing.

So it's important if you got, if you got sin in your life, you gotta get on with it.

Forgiving others.

That's not an easy thing to do, reconciling broken relationships, letting go go of worldly attachments.

Living with faith over fear.

If I'm, I'm gonna say this comment and I feel kind of hypocritical about it because there's things I'm scared of in my life.

But we shouldn't have fear in our life.

We just should not have fear in our life.

Because there's nothing man can do to us.

That compares what God can do for us or to us.

Sharing the gospel Trusting God while suffering.

All those things can be really hard.

Now we're not, we're not gonna talk about all of them.

But we're gonna talk about a few that I think are pretty important.

First, I'm gonna start that dealing with sin.

In Matthew 7 verses 1 through 3 and then verse 163.

Matthew 7, and the point of reading this is not to get into the judgment part of it.

That says judge not that you be not judged, for the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged.

And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Why do you see the spec?

That is in your brother's eye, but not notice the log that is in your own eye, you hypocrite, verse 5.

First, take the log out of your own eye, then you will clearly See to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Again, I, I don't want to divert you by saying it's not telling you you can't deal with the speck in your brother's eye.

But if you've got that log in your eye, get it out first.

Remember I told you about the young man, he said when he, when he overcame what he thought was this huge spiritual hurdle in his life, he just couldn't get past and he did it.

He started finding all these little things he'd either neglected or was doing wrong.

And he had to get, he had specs all in his eyes.

And he had to get those taken care of.

Now, in 1 Corinthians 235:26 to 213, I'm not gonna read the whole thing.

I'm just gonna focus.

These, these would be, if these were in your life, They'd be huge spiritual frogs, wouldn't they?

Sexual immorality, idolaters.

Now, you gotta be careful about the idolatry.

Elijah mentioned idolatry and of this world, that anything that replaces the glory of God is idolatry.

Whether it's money, whether it's confidence in yourself, Uh, I don't care what it is, AI. If every place is the glory of God, it's idolatry.

Adulterers, homosexually homosexuality thieves, greedy drunkards, or vilers.

And you're probably thinking, well, I, I don't do any of those.

Well, maybe that's not right.

Maybe, maybe there are things on this list.

But you just don't want to eat that frog.

I, I would, I would say with confidence, I could probably look around this audience and say that somebody's got something on this list that may be bothering them.

And we should never look at anyone who's suffering with the giant frogs and, and look at them with disgust.

Because you might have a frog you need to chew on for a while.

And then in 217 Corinthians 210, There's another list So those are the giant frogs, right?

Well, let's, let's look at these.

You think, well, these aren't so, so bad in purity, sensuality, idolatry again, strife.

Have you ever known anybody that just loved to stir up strife?

There, there was a guy I used to work with.

He did it all the time.

In one corner of my office, there was a guy who was a total tree hugger.

I mean, you, you talked about anything in the environment.

He, he would just get all his hackles up.

He'd go after it.

There's another guy that thought we should all drink raw oil out of the ground, you know, it's just two separate guys, right?

So this guy would walk in our office and he would go, You know, I wonder why they don't shut down bike trails.

That could be harming worms.

And he'd just walk out, knowing that these two guys would just go at it for the next hour.

He loved to stir it up.

You ever seen the pictures of guys stirring the pot?

He was a pot stirrer.

Spiritually, the people can be stuck pot stirrers.

There's things that are pretty plainly evident in the scriptures sometimes that people just like to challenge.

To bring up strife.

Jealousy, fits of anger.

A lot of people struggle with that, and, and we tend to focus on men with that, but it's not just men.

Rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy.

Do you ever drive around, see these giant houses?

I make this joke all the time with the kids.

It's like, I don't want a house like that.

I just want the money to be able to have a house like that.

You know, that's a form of the in itself.

But do I dwell on it?

I hope not.

I hope I'm not envious.

Remember, envy is wanting something that somebody else has, regardless of what it takes, even if it's to their detriment.

So Now, let's look at James chapter 25, and we'll read verse 83, and then we'll look at 28 to 210.

And this is again.

Kind of a, a A dual thing here, talking about procrastination.

And then also, Just failing to do things that you know she should do.

Come now, you should say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such town and spend a year there and try to make profit.

Now, this isn't exactly procrastination, this is making plans, right?

About, hey, we're, we're gonna have all these big plans for the future.

Says instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

As it is, you boast in your arrogance.

All such boasting is evil.

I, I didn't go into a lot of research on how these tie together.

Alan, maybe that's a good question.

How, how does Knowing the right thing to do, and failing to do it, being sent, how is that tied to making all these big plans?

Well, if your big plans for the future, are causing you to not do the good now that you need to do.

It's sinful.

So Bev in a class, we we were talking about, she made a great statement.

She said, you know, we all struggle with this feeling of, I, I can't do enough.

I think most people feel like that.

I can't do enough.

Well, there's, there's two aspects of that.

No, you cannot do enough.

Jesus has done it all.

But the other aspect of it is, God doesn't want you to do everything.

He wants to do what you can do now.

So don't make big plans that interfere with doing good.

Do the things that you should do.

How about forgiving others?

In Classians 21000:13 says, bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other.

As the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

And, and it's not the only place that it's mentioned in the scripture.

It's in Matthew 6 and Luke 17, and Matthew 18 about forgiving over and over.

And it's, you, you're not given a choice.

You have to forgive.

But connected to that, is reconciling relationships.

Now, that is an enormous frog.

Any, has anybody here ever had a broken relationship?

Somebody that maybe is a friend, that is no longer a friend, maybe even an enemy?

Have you had a relationship with someone that, because of their stand on the gospel and your stand on the gospel?

You, you can't be the friend you once were.

You're supposed to try to reconcile those relationships.

And, and uh, it's not easy.

It's a big thing.

It's hard to do.

I've been on both sides of that.

I've had people that came to me to reconcile, and I've been to people to reconcile.

But I'll tell you, Once you, once you get that frog down your throat, it's gonna be the best meal you ever had.

So I want you to think this morning, who in my life do I have a broken relationship with and what can I do to reconcile it?

Maybe nothing.

Maybe there's nothing you can do.

But let's talk about that for just a second.

Before we get into this verse, I wanna.

Tell you some things to consider.

Maybe it just feels like the pain is gonna be too big.

Maybe you have this desire for justice or revenge.

Remember in Romans 12.

Vengeance is the Lord.

That's not our place.

Maybe our pride gets in the way.

No, he was wrong, not me.

He should come to me.

Maybe it's, maybe it's the fear of getting hurt again.

Man, if I, if I reconcile, I mean, he, he, he stabbed me in the back once.

How do I know it's not gonna do again?

Or I, I didn't do anything and he just turned his back on me.

Maybe they'll do it again.

I think we, we need to take a deeper look at what forgiveness really is, or, or maybe we have some unresolved bitterness that we just gotta get over.

Maybe it feels unfair.

Well, I'll tell you this, life is unfair.

But would God ask us to do anything that was not fair?

Was it fair that Jesus died on the cross?

Absolutely not.

Was it a hard thing to do so that we can have spiritual life?

Yes. So now let's look at this verse, Matthew 5.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, you should not murder, and whoever murders will be allowed for judgment.

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insult his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, you fool.

will be liable to the hell of fire.

So if you're offering your gift at the altar, and they remember that your brother has something against you, Leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First, we reconciled to your brother and then coming after your gift.

Did you notice it?

The wording there, it said, if you remember your brother has something against you.

But he's not right.

He was in the wrong.

I was in the right.

Then it's OK. Give your offering and go about your business.

Is that what it says?

It says, no, it has something.

It doesn't even say, it doesn't even mention who was right or wrong.

It says he has something against you.

Then you go to them.

Before you get on with what you consider your spiritual life.

In business as usual.

So, these are hard things.

Now, there's other things, we already talked about doing good.

That we might consider spiritual earthworms.

They're not as bad.

I mean, we've all seen kids eat earthworms or things like that.

These aren't big things.

I, I don't, I don't do my daily prayer and Bible reading.

Um, I'm easily distracted in worship.

Let me, let me just diverse for one second about distractions and worship.

I think it's not only are you, you may be easily distracted because your attention's not with it, maybe you don't care, maybe you've got a spiritual frog, you know, you gotta eat.

Have you ever found yourself that way?

You're in church.

The summer is going on, but your mind is just completely occupied with something that is eating you up.

Maybe there's things that are distracting you, so you're easily distracted.

But let me, let me diverse one second talk about you being a distraction.

So a lot of us, I love technology, a lot of us have phones.

And we, maybe we shouldn't pay attention to what everybody's doing around us.

Some people can just lock things out and go on.

But if you're doing this, I'm fairly confident you're not speed reading the Bible.

And if you're doing this, And it just continues and continues.

I'm fairly confident you're not doing a word search in your Bible program.

That can be distracting to others.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, well, they should just pay attention to their own business.

But if the things that you are doing are distracting to others, that's a problem.

Now, this one, this is a touchy one.

I want to make very, very clear.

I'm not talking about little children, I'm not talking about mothers with babies.

We all have health issues, but how many times do you get up in the service and go out?

If I want you to put yourself in like a corporate setting or just some setting.

And your CEO, somebody big, whatever the setting is in your mind, is talking to you and you just get up and walk out.

Now, I'm not God.

Uh, Allen's not God.

Whoever is reading the scripture is not God, but that is God's word being put out.

If, if you can't plan to be here on time, if you can't plan to be able to sit for 103 minutes, Maybe you gotta look at that.

Why are you going out constantly?

Now, I know this, this is a little bit mean-hearted, maybe, but it's actually not.

It, it is distracting if you get up 50 times during the service.

Again, I know there's things with children, with babies, people who have health problems.

I've, I've had to get up and go to the back myself.

But just think about things.

How about telling white lies or exaggerating?

I used to be terrible about this when I was, especially when I was young.

I don't do it much anymore, but you'll never know.

No, I'm kidding.

I don't do it anymore.

But I, I would lie about things that didn't matter.

I mean, literally didn't matter.

I, I got bit by a spider one time.

And Nobody believed what I was telling them.

It was banished, and I think I was in 5th grade, but you know what happened?

It was a grease fire and there was a baby in it.

I had to pull it out.

Why, why would I even do that?

It's because I wanted people to look at me and go, oh, that's cool.

That's what exaggeration is, really.

You want people to go, oh, that's cool.

Or maybe you're telling that little white lie to make life a little bit easier.

Complaining or grumbling.

We're gonna move on and patient and smart enough.

If you're a constant complainer, it's just no fun being around you.

And and you'll bring everybody around you down, and you will affect your own mental state.

There, and I, I can't speak to everything about it, but it's, I know it to be true.

If you will act happy, you will become happy.

I'm not talking about putting on a false state.

I'm talking about choosing to be cheerful, choosing to look on the bright side, choosing to find something good about people instead of bad.

Choosing to find things about this building you like instead of every other thing you don't.

And we don't hear a lot of that here, thankfully, but if you've been someplace where it's like that, I have Impatient in small matters, occasional gossip or idle talk, failing to encourage others, that's a big one for me.

I, I think all the time, there's a comedian, one time he said that he was, he, he makes His shtick is to make fun of mega churches.

And he said he was walking through the foyer and he saw Mrs.

Smith coming, and he quickly went.

Lord, please be Miss Smith.

Hey, Ms. Smith, I've been praying for you.

Now, why would he do that?

Cause he feels bad cause he probably knew he should have been.

Uh, I'll tell you the prayer list is awesome.

Uh, it, it makes it where you can have at your fingertips people you need to think about.

And I know there's families here that go through that prayer list with their kids, and that, that's amazing.

Uh, laziness and small responsibilities.

Being hospitable or friendly.

That's a hard, how many times?

Have you, and I'm, cause I've done it, uh, there's nothing I'm gonna say except for maybe murder, that is a, is a spiritual fraud that probably I haven't been guilty of.

How many times do you let the congregation said, well, that was an unfriendly group.

I won't ask her to say, uh, you know, raise your hand.

But now think about Do I look for visitors and go talk to them and go out of my way to make them feel welcome.

No, somebody else will do it.

We got deacons that will take care of it.

They're, they're handing out the cards.

Alan's gonna make every effort we can get there.

We got other friends.

It's taken care of.

They, they, they know we're friendly.

No, it, you get out of your comfort zone, be friendly with people.

Be friendly with people at work.

Not letting go of small offenses.

Now, these are, you know, these are just little earthworms, right?

They're not, no, we gotta get out of that mentality because they're, they're actually frogs, we need to start swallowing.

We may think they're small things, but remember we talked about the big things and the little things, right?

Is there really such a thing.

So, let me ask you this.

How do we eat that frog?

How do we get going on it?

Well, we need to pray first of all.

Going back to the prayer of the Psalm that at the beginning, ask God to look in your heart to find what it is you need to work on.

Pray for courage.

In Philippians 4.

Now, I want you to think about these spiritual things.

We always think about being anxious about external things.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God.

That could be something very internal.

That's giving you anxiety.

Pray to God about it, that he'll give you a spirit of confidence and courage.

Because if you do that, This is not perhaps the peace of God, or, you know, if you give it a chance, the peace of God, or, you know, maybe if you're lucky, The peace of God, it says, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

You may not even understand.

What makes you feel at peace?

Once you do these things, But that peace will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.

Take the first step to obedience.

And just know that you can do all things, because Christ strengthens us.

In Proverbs 35 and 6, trust in the Lord of thy heart.

Do not lean on your own understanding.

That gets in our way a lot.

Yeah, I think I know how, yeah, I've I've got this problem, but I think this is the way I should deal with it.

Well, maybe there's some other things you can do, seek accountability.

Uh, In Hebrews 13:17 says, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they're keeping watch.

So this is a shameless plug for the elders.

Nothing Nothing hurts you.

More than 10 Nothing hurts us more to know that you're struggling with sin, but Nothing gives us more joy than if you'll come and ask us to help you with that sin.

And we're not perfect, We know that But he, he's given us a responsibility for a reason.

He's given us guidance in the word.

We're not gonna lean on our own understanding.

We want to help you, and God, God has given elders to look over your soul for that very reason.

Not to elevators, But to make a service to you.

James 5:16 says, therefore, con, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.

I'll tell you, this is a big one for me.

I don't, I don't tell other people what my sins are all the time and ask them to pray for me.

Is it a trust issue?

Is it a shame issue?

And, you know, what is it that keeps me from doing that?

But if I do it, it says I'll be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.

There, there's so many things that we can do to start eating that frog.

But you just got to eat it.

That's the whole point.

You gotta eat the frog.

If you got a spiritual issue, you got to address it.

Let's go to God in prayer.

Father, we thank you for Uh, all the The wonders of creation you've given us.

Even, and this is light-hearted Lord, we know you've given us a sense of humor, but even as we consider the ugliness and the The foul taste that eating a raw frog would put in her mouth.

That same foul taste is in your mouth if we allow sin to reign over as if we If we haven't submitted ourselves to you in baptism, that same foul taste is our lives.

In your mouth, and Lord, we, we pray that you would help us to Look at ourselves hard, To use your word to do that.

To take on those things, whether they be what we consider big or what we consider small, we need you, Lord, and that is our prayer this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

In just a second, we're gonna stand up to sing an invitation song and uh I've said this many times and I'll say it again, the reason we stand up is one everybody's ready to stretch, service is almost over.

But if you're standing, it's easier to take a step.

If you're standing and people are singing, and you know the people here love you, it's easy to take a step.

In Exodus 8, there's a very, very funny thing.

Uh, Gary pointed this out to me years ago and I just always think about it.

When the, when the frogs were in the land.

And And Moses said, or Pharaoh said, plead to your God.

That they would be taken away.

Mos said, when do you want me to do this?

In verse 10, he said, Tomorrow.

Why would you wait till tomorrow?

And I thought about a lot.

Wouldn't it be convenient if the locust came before the frogs?

It would have been kind of neat.

But But here's all these frogs, and he said tomorrow.

Why would he wait until tomorrow?

You can't figure you could read that 1000 times and not figure out why he's waiting till tomorrow.

You may be looking at yourself and saying, why am I waiting till tomorrow?

Don't If you're not baptized and you haven't realized the forgiveness of your sin, don't wait.

Eat the frog now.

If you're a Christian and you gotta make things right, eat the frog now.

Let's stand on this thing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

If you'd like to turn to James the 2nd chapter.

James the 2nd chapter we'll be reading verses 14 through 26.

I'm going to be reading from the New King James. Version.

What does it profit, my brethren?

If someone says he has faith, but does not have works.

Can faith save him?

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body.

What does it profit?

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.

But someone will say, you have faith and I have works.

Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

You believe that there is one God, and you do well.

Even the demons believe and tremble.

But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works, faith was made perfect.

And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

And he was called the friend of God.

You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

For as the body without the spirit is dead.

So faith without works is dead also.

I've never been one to chase the eclipse.

But I think some of you actually went to other states in order to See the eclipse in its full time.

The eclipse doesn't last very long.

Uh, sometimes it's just a minute or so, uh, is my understanding.

But can you imagine what would happen?

If an eclipse lasted 3 hours.

And covered the entire land, say all of Huntsville or wherever you happen to live.

3 hours of darkness when the sun is blocked.

That's exactly what happened when Jesus was on the cross.

There was darkness over the land for 3 hours, the gospels tell us.

And we're going to talk about this, that in this evening's question and answer sermon.

If I can get things working here.

I think we may have some technical difficulties.

Here we go.

Our study this evening, as you can see, is a question and answer sermon.

Uh, so occasionally, for those who may be visiting and not familiar with this, occasionally I'll devote one of my sermons to answering questions that are submitted to me either by email or sometimes uh verbally.

The questions that we talk about are not necessarily related to each other.

In fact, the questions tonight are not uh related to one another.

They're on different topics.

And the answers that I give to these questions are my own answers.

They're not intended to represent some congregational creed or even for that matter, uh, perhaps the thinking of the other elders.

They can speak for themselves.

But these are my answers to questions that you pose.

Our questions this evening are twofold, and apparently I've lost my Ability to turn the slides.

The first question has to do with the darkness that was over the land for 3 hours during the time that Jesus was on the cross.

The second question And some of you are saying, why do you even talk about the second question?

You never get to the second question.

I'm gonna do my best this evening to get to that second question.

And the second question is about what happens to people after they die.

And so we'll uh fill in that particular question a little bit more as we get to it, when we get to it.

But here's the first question.

And uh I've just worded it uh because I wasn't given a specific uh question what was the significance of the darkness during the time that Jesus was on the cross?

I think that's a good question.

Why was there darkness on the earth uh on the.

In the land for 3 hours.

Luke says in chapter 73 in his Gospel, it was now about the 6th hour and there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour, while the sun's light failed and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

And so, uh, in other Gospels, Matthew's Gospel and Mark's Gospel, the same note is made that there was darkness over the land.

We understand that Jesus was on the cross for 6 hours, according to the gospel accounts, and the darkness prevailed over the whole land for the second half of that time, the 2nd 3 hours uh of that 6-hour period.

Well, what was the nature of this darkness?

There are some who would try to explain it by natural phenomena.

Uh, perhaps an eclipse, that's fairly unlikely because of the time of the year.

It was the time of Passover, the full moon, and the length of the time, as I indicated earlier, you don't see eclips eclipses that last 3 hours, and yet that's the, uh, that's the indication of the gospel accounts, 3 hours.

I even read, I even read one.

Commentator who said it must have been a sandstorm that blew in from the east and clouded the sun, and that was the, the darkness.

Of course, there's no textual indication of anything like that.

And so I'm gonna suggest to you that what we're dealing with in that 3 hours of darkness is a supernatural event of supernatural origin.

And if so, I don't believe it's random.

I believe it has some sort of significance.

But that's really the question, isn't it?

What was the significance of those 303 hours?

The text says that it was over the whole land.

I don't know how you picture that, whether you believe that the entire earth was uh under darkness, but the word land there can mean earth, but I suspect that it's unlikely in this context.

The darkness wouldn't mean much to people who were distant from Palestine.

And so I would suspect that that same word that can mean earth is translated land in other places, and I think that's probably the point here.

Well, what is the significance of these 3 hours?

Some commentators have suggested that darkness is associated with judgment and that that's why there were these 3 hours.

For instance, if you were to look at Exodus chapter 10 and verse 22, you'd be Talking about one of the plagues that was brought against Egypt.

Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt.

Now this is for 3 days, and that obviously is a judgment.

Uh, against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but also against the gods that these Egyptians worship.

When you move into the prophetic literature in Amos chapter 8 and verse 9, there's language there that associates darkness with judgment.

And on that day declares the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

I personally believe that's probably apocalyptic language.

not maybe intended to be literal, uh, but I believe that it also makes a connection, however, to darkness with judgment.

And there are other passages that likewise make that connection between darkness and judgment.

Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 30, if you're taking notes, Isaiah 103 verses 10 and 11, and even in Joel 3 verses 14 and 15.

Others, however, would suggest that the significance of the darkness was that God was commenting on what was taking place at Golgotha, that in fact, he was indicating the wickedness that was being perpetrated against his only begotten son who was hanging on the cross during these 3 hours.

In John chapter 3 verses 19 and 20, And this is the judgment.

The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed.

And so here's another connection that is made with darkness in the scriptures, and that is that darkness.

And wickedness are connected sometimes.

Uh, in Ephesians the 0003th chapter, the apostle Paul likewise makes that connection.

He says beginning in verse 6, let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

He's mentioned some sins previously.

Therefore, do not become partakers with them.

For at one time you were darkness, but now he's writing to Christians, you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

And so here are a couple of passages that make the connection between wickedness and darkness.

And what some commentators suggest is that those 3 hours of darkness were God's way of saying what's taking place here is absolute wickedness.

A fellow by the name of Douglas Mangum, one of the sources that I consulted, said the eerie darkness in the middle of the day indicates God's displeasure, and he cites Amos 8 verses 9 and 10, the passage that I mentioned earlier about darkness and judgment.

I'm gonna give you a couple of other comments by other commentators, but I want you to understand I'm giving you the viewpoint of some.

I don't necessarily agree with all that they write and I'm gonna point out a couple of things that I think are incorrect.

This is DA Carson's comments and he says, the darkness that came over all the land from noon till 3 p.m.

, that's what the 6th hour and 9th hour referred to was a sign of judgment and or tragedy, he says.

But the most telling background is Amos 8 verses 453 and 10, and to a lesser extent, Exodus 10:21 and 22, we looked at both of those passages.

Both passages portray darkness as a sign of judgment, but Amos mentions noon, the turning of religious feasts into morning and says, I will make that time like mourning for an only son.

He can continues by saying the judgment is therefore a judgment on the land and its people.

So if darkness is connected to judgment, then this is God's way of saying there's going to be judgment for what's taking place here.

And I'll be honest with you, I think you can make a good case for that.

I think when you read some of the things that Jesus said in the Gospels, uh, in the Olivet discourse and other comments about the future of Jerusalem.

Jesus said the people were going to suffer as a result of rejecting their king, rejecting the Messiah.

But he goes on to say, but it is also a judgment on Jesus.

For out of this darkness comes his cry of desolation.

We'll say more about that in just a moment.

The cosmic blackness hints at the deep judgment that was taking place.

And so DA Carson and incidentally the next guy as well, they will say that the darkness represents not just judgment against Israel for rejecting the Messiah, but a judgment against Jesus as he represented us on the cross as he was punished for our sins.

The darkness, it is suggested by some, is God's way or was God's way of indicating that he had, and this is an expression that I've heard many times, perhaps you have as well, of God's turning his back on Jesus.

In fact, one of the things that Jesus says, one of the seven sayings from the cross about the 9th hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli lema abbatini, that is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That of course is the beginning of a psalm, and so some have suggested that Jesus is indicating here that God had in fact forsaken him.

There are other passages, both in the Old Testament and New Testament that talk about Jesus burying our sins.

In Isaiah 53 and verse 4, the idea of burying our sins is there, verse 11 as well in Isaiah 53.

In 163 Peter 2:24, it is said he bore our sins in his body on the cross.

Hebrews 9:28 uses similar language.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says that he who knew no sin became sin for us.

And some have taken those passages and they've concluded that what happened was Jesus took our sins on personally, that's the view of some.

He essentially became guilty of our sins and so received punishment for all of the sins of mankind.

Others would suggest that Jesus didn't actually become guilty of sin.

That would be a problem, would it not for him to be a sacrifice for sin?

He would no longer be the unblemished lamb that was required uh for sacrifice or even for that matter.

Peter describes him as in First Peter 1, this unblemished lamb who died for our sins.

But some have said he didn't take on our sins personally, didn't become a sinner or guilty of sin, but he did take on the punishment for our sins.

And so this comment by Bob Utley, I, I disagree with this comment.

I think Utley has a lot of good things to offer in his writings, but I think he's off here.

He says theologically, it was a symbol, the darkness of God's turning away from his son as he bore the sins of the world.

This personal spiritual separation, as well as the burden of all the sins of all mankind was what Jesus feared most.

So Utley would say that Jesus was actually separated from the Father on the cross.

That's why he says what he says in uh quoting from the Psalms, why have you forsaken me?

And so he took on our sins in that sense.

JM Boyce makes these comments.

He says, what happened during those hours of darkness?

We know the answer.

During those hours, the Son of God took the burden of our sins on himself, was punished for them in our place, and experienced such terrible alienation from his father that he cried out at the end of that dark period, Eloi, Eloi lama sabhana, which means My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The darkness veiled the anguish of the Son of God while he was bearing the punishment for our sins, because it was not right for human eyes to look on him in his suffering.

At the same time, the darkness cried out against the blackness of our sin and testified to the tremendous cost to God of our redemption.

So at least a couple of these guys are suggesting that the significance of the darkness was twofold.

It was obviously some sort of judgment, but that judgment extended even to Jesus, who took on the punishment for our sins.

There's a lot of discussion about whether Jesus became a sinner.

And as I said, there are some who would argue that he became guilty of the sins of mankind and was punished for that reason.

Others would say he didn't personally become guilty.

But he bore our sins in the sense that he took the punishment for our sins.

I would remind you that in Ezekiel 18th chapter, God said some things about whether sin can be transferred from one person to another.

In fact, Ezekiel 93 is an rather extensive illustration in which the prophet talks about 3 different generations.

Father, Son, grandson, and the generations are different from one another.

I'm not gonna take the time to read through that whole passage, but here's the upshot of the teaching in that chapter in verse 20 Ezekiel says on behalf of God, the soul who sins shall die.

The son shall not bear the guilt of the Father, nor the Father bear the guilt of the Son.

The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

That's from the New King James version.

And I think their translation of Ezekiel 18:20 is better, much better than the ESV for instance.

So, what is Ezekiel saying?

He's saying that you can't transfer either sin or righteousness from one person to another incidentally, maybe not so incidentally.

We'll talk more about that in the series that I've begun on the doctrine or the systemic theology of Calvinism, because Calvinism teaches that very thing.

It teaches that Adam's sin has been transferred to all of us by physical generation.

The guilt of that sin is attributed to us.

When we're born And so we become guilty of Adam's sin before we've ever done anything.

And they would also argue, they would agree with the idea that the sins of mankind were transferred to Jesus just as Calvinism will also argue in terms of the justification of mankind that the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to individuals as well.

Ezekiel says no.

That's not true.

Righteousness is upon the righteous.

And the sin, the guilt is upon the sinner, not others.

And so I would suggest first of all, that we should discard the idea that Jesus became guilty of our sins.

And I've already mentioned, there are some difficulties with that viewpoint, because Jesus needed to be the perfect sacrifice.

The unblemished lamb, all of those animals in the Old Testament that needed to be unblemished physically speaking, they represented Jesus Christ, they foreshadowed the sacrifice that he would make, and he is no longer unblemished.

If he is accounted guilty of mankind's sins.

I'm gonna say something that may shock you a little bit, but I believe that the question of whether God turned his back on Jesus is essentially a moot question.

And by that, I simply mean, whatever you think about that, I don't think it matters because I don't think that's the point behind the business.

Of Jesus being on the cross.

I don't believe Jesus became a sinner.

And I don't believe that Jesus was punished for our sins.

Someone said, what?

That's why I, why I disagree with these guys because they've concluded that Jesus bore our punishment.

Jesus, the text says in the Gospels, Jesus claimed that he came to give his life a ransom for all men.

He didn't just die to suffer punishment for your sins or my sins, but for all men.

Poured out his blood for the remission of sins is what he says in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 28.

I think that's the sense in which Jesus bore our sins.

Not that he took the punishment for our sins.

But that he provided for us what we could not provide for ourselves.

That was a sacrifice that was adequate for the forgiveness of sins.

You and I couldn't even offer our own lives for our forgiveness.

Because we're already staying with sin when we violate God's law.

And so as we're seeking forgiveness for those sins, we can't offer what God requires for the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9:22 is one of the most important verses, I think in the New Testament.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins, no forgiveness of sins.

What you and I needed was a sin sacrifice.

We couldn't provide it for ourselves.

But God allowed Jesus to provide that sacrifice for us.

I want you to think about something.

What is the punishment for sins?

Someone says, well, physical death.

No. No, you're not going to die because of your sins.

You're gonna die because of the curse that was placed on mankind because of Adam's sin.

But you don't die physically.

That's not the punishment for sin.

I've often wondered about that comment that Jesus bore our punishment because he died on the cross, and yet death, physical death is not the punishment for our sins.

It's not the penalty for sins.

Separation from God, that is a consequence of sin, is it not?

Your sins have separated you from your God, Isaiah would say in the Old Testament.

And we know that the concept of being dead in sin is throughout the New Testament in Paul's writings.

Dead meaning separated from God.

But that's not the ultimate punishment for sins.

I want you to look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 53.

2 Thessalonians chapter 1, we're gonna read just a couple of verses here.

We're going to begin In verse 6, Paul is writing to encourage the Thessalonian Christians, and he says, uh, we'll start in verse 230.

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.

Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, inflaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment.

Here it comes.

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.

When somebody sins and they remain in those sins, they are separated from God.

But that same person can obey the gospel, be forgiven of his or her sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, and go back into fellowship with God.

And Jesus said, that person doesn't have to die spiritually again.

You can remain in fellowship with God spiritually alive for the rest of your life.

That's not the punishment for sin being separated from God in this life.

That's a consequence of sin here in the temporal sense, but the punishment for sin is eternal separation from God.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus did not experience that.

You can argue whether you think Jesus was separated from his father.

And I'm going to tell you I think that's a moot question.

Because even if he was temporarily separated from his father, that's not the punishment for your sin or my sin.

The punishment for our sins, should we still be guilty of sin when the Lord comes, is eternal separation from God.

And Jesus did not experience that.

Hebrews says he's seated even now at the right hand of the majesty on high.

So what happened at the cross?

Listen carefully.

Jesus did not take our punishment.

He offered the solution to your sin.

And that solution involved dying, shedding his blood so that you could be forgiven.

And if you're forgiven, You're not going to be punished.

God's not gonna punish people who are forgiven.

He's gonna punish the unforgiven.

And so what Jesus did was not take on punishment, because neither physical death or temporary separation.

Or even physical suffering is the penalty for sin.

But the punishment for sin is eternal separation.

Jesus didn't suffer that.

He didn't take on that.

He bore our sins in the sense that he provided the solution for our sins, a solution that you and I couldn't provide for ourselves.

Because we couldn't die for our own sins even.

We are already blemished.

By those sins.

I think that's the sense in which Jesus bore our sins.

He provided the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.

That we could not provide.

So let me give you my answer here.

And that is, I'm inclined to believe that the darkness was supernatural, we pretty much assume that and constituted God's commentary on the witness, wickedness being done to his only begotten Son.

I think God looked down.

On that cross.

And to make his statement about how tragic, how terrible that act was that was being done to his son.

I think that's the reason for the 210 hours of darkness.

Well, if you have further questions about that, uh, you have two options.

You can come and talk to me or you can submit another question that we'll talk about it some other time.

But uh as I said I would, I want to go to the second question.

Here's the question.

The quotation marks mean that this is exactly what I received, although there was some other commentary, and I'll share that with you in just a moment.

But here's the question.

If you die for a short time and then are revived by doctors, is it possible to see God during that time?

Someone says, well, who cares?

Well, a lot of people are interested in what's going to happen to us after we die.

And so, uh, the questioner added a little bit more, said, I bring this question up because I've seen some Instagram posts where people are certain that they saw Jesus after dying for a short amount of time and then were revived by doctors.

Well, I want to suggest to you some relevant passages here.

One of them was read by Ralph in the scripture reading.

I, I know that that reading begins in verse 2000 that that Ralph read and it's talking about faith and works, but there's a comparison made at the very end of that uh pericopy between the relationship between faith and works and the body and the spirit.

Faith without works is dead, being alone, James says, even as the body without the spirit is dead.

He's really talking about faith and works, but he's given us some information about death.

Death, physical death is the separation of body and spirit.

Spiritual death is the separation of man from God.

Death is a separation.

That's why eternal death or the second death is eternal separation from God.

And Paul describes that as destruction, and you can well imagine why.

So, I think James 245:216 helps us out by giving us some information about what death is.

And then there's a story in Luke the 29th chapter in verse 63, uh, is the, is the point that I want to make.

There's a girl there who has died.

And Jesus has been summoned.

He comes and he raises her from the dead, but I want you to notice the language of verse 26, and her spirit returned and she got up at once.

Jesus told the mourners that were there, uh, she's just sleeping and they laughed him, they laughed at him, they mocked him.

Well, they knew she was dead.

And from what's said in verse 216, I'm convinced she was dead.

Her spirit had already departed and James says, when the body and the spirit are separated, you're talking death.

But when Jesus raised her, what happened?

Well, her spirit came back, returned to the body, uh, that it had originally occupied, and he directed that something should be given her to eat.

There's a passage in Ecclesiastes 22.

In this passage, there is a description of some of the effects of aging.

And the passage, that section ends by saying, and the dust of our, our body, dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Once again, when the body and the spirit is separated, now you're talking about death.

And frankly, to answer this question, it's important for us to define what it means to be dead.

And so I'd like to do that.

Um, I'm gonna use, uh, a, a number of illustrations to talk to you about why that's important.

How many of you have heard the expression saved by the bell?

Yeah. There's some dispute about where that phrase came from, its origin.

Some have suggested that it's actually, you know, came from boxing that I suppose that's possible.

I always thought it meant we were saved by the bell at the end of a school period when somebody asked you a question you couldn't answer and the bell rang, you were saved by the bell.

Some of you have even felt that way and some of the Bible classes that I've asked.

When I asked the question and nobody's answering, the bell goes off, I guess we're all free then, right?

But that expression probably came from a different source.

Back in the 18, excuse me, 1800s and 19th century, bells were sometimes placed on graves as a safety precaution so that if unintentionally, someone was buried alive and they revived while in the coffin.

They could ring that bell and there would be a cemetery night watchman who if he heard a bell ringing he knew somebody was in trouble that meant that somebody had been buried alive and it was time to dig furiously to get that person out.

They would tie string, a string or strings to the hands of the dead, the dead person with the idea that if that person wasn't actually dead, Then that person could summon help by ringing the bell that was on top of the grave.

That may seem like a lot of effort, if, if you're, you're convinced that somebody's dead.

The problem was that death in centuries past was determined when no pulse was discernible or it appeared that a person was no longer breathing.

But unfortunately, there are some physical conditions and there are nurses in the audience here who know a lot more about that than I do.

Hopefully, I'll get all this right.

But there are certain physical conditions where you might not be able to get a pulse, or you may not be able to discern the breathing.

It's so shallow.

So the question becomes, when does death occur?

Is it when the heart stops?

Well, maybe not.

You, you probably maybe even known people whose heart stopped and then somebody jumped them with those uh electric paddles and started their heart going again.

Were they dead during the time that their heart had stopped?

Not by legal definitions, no medical definitions.

What about when brain activity ends?

Well, we may be getting closer to it.

I'm gonna share with you some definitions.

The first one is from Cornell University.

The official definition of death, according to the UDDA.

Uniform determination of death act.

I love that.

I the quote irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.

I'm not sure if I accept that definition because I've known some people whose brains I thought were probably not working.

But they were still alive.

They were moving and breathing, etc.

I just.

Now, the next definition I give you only because of its source.

Teach mesurgery.com.

I saw, I saw that source and I had to use this quote, OK?

I mean, you got to trust a website that will teach you surgery online.

Here's their definition, criteria for declaring death.

No audible breath or heart sounds for greater than one minute, no palpable purp pulse, and you can't feel it for greater than one minute, no palpable cardiac pacemaker pupils are fixed, dilated, and unreactive to light.

I've actually preached some sermons where people were in that condition by the end.

Even with modern medical technology, it is sometimes difficult to determine if someone's dead.

And the reason I bring all this up is the question assumes that somebody has died for a short time and then they've come back to life, which I would define as a resurrection.

But bear with me.

Let me give you two illustrations.

Um, in India back in 2024, November of 2024.

There was a young man who was 25 years old, and they had pronounced him dead.

He, he was both deaf and mute.

He was staying in a home for the mentally impaired, and he started having epileptic seizures.

He was rushed to the hospital and they concluded at some point that he was dead.

163 doctors declared him dead.

Of course, they didn't do a proper postmortem examination.

So, They take his body and they put his body on top of a funeral pyre.

Do you know what that is?

It's a heap of wood where you're gonna burn a body.

You're going to incinerate this body, this dead body.

Only when he got up on the pyre, he became alive because he was never dead.

There were problems uh with those doctors, they were all suspended because they had failed to confirm that this guy was actually dead.

So I guess you would say he wasn't dead dead, right?

Well, here's another uh example of this.

This actually happened uh in Iowa, in the United States, that other one was in India.

This is a woman.

Who was under hospice care.

She was a resident at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa, and her health had been declining.

She was beginning to show some of the signs that death was close.

You nurses know that there are signs where people can say, OK, it's not long.

These, these are some of the signs that somebody's going to pass.

So, she enters this hospice care on December 28th, and on January 3rd in the morning, They believed that she passed away, uh, a staff worker uh was unable to feel her pulse and called a nurse and the nurse likewise, could not find any pulse.

She was, her eyes were open and fixed and unresponsive.

Her mouth was open but no detection of any breathing.

And so they declared her dead.

She had had some minor seizures prior to this, and so she had some of the signs.

So they, they took the body of this woman to the funeral home, and the funeral home director uh gets to the hospice care at about 7:30 and he takes the woman back to the funeral home about an hour later after he gets her there, he unzips the body bag and finds out that she is gasping to breathe.

She's still alive.

And so she was then transported to a nearby hospital emergency room.

They found that her breathing was shallow.

She passed away two days later.

I guess she died again.

No, she wasn't dead the first time.

Somebody had been careless about that and that long-term care facility was fined a total of about $10,000.

I would have fined them a lot more than that, but that's just my personal.

So the question I wanna ask, and the reason I bring this up is when you say when somebody dies for a short time, how do you know that they're dead?

Are they really dead, dead, dead?

Or are they just in a situation where it's difficult to determine that there's any signs of life?

Does that make sense?

And I offer these two illustrations to suggest that that's possible, that sometimes people just don't show signs of life, but they are in fact still alive.

I want to share with you another quotation.

While the exact nature of what happens in the seven minutes after death is still a subject of scientific inquiry, some studies suggest that the brain may remain active and coordinated, potentially replaying memories even after the hearts.

Stops with some people experiencing near death experiences.

So you look at these definitions and those are the things people are looking for to determine if somebody has actually died and one of them is when the heart stops, but apparently sometimes the brain keeps going.

Now, if this question is asking about people whose hearts have stopped, but then they are revived and the assumption is that they died and now they're back alive again, I think that's an assumption that we don't need to make.

I read some really interesting things about near-death experiences.

I'm not gonna share all that.

It's not maybe real germane to uh our, our study this evening, our question.

But the study of near-death experiences has only been going on for about the last 45 years or so, and it's really interesting uh information you may want to look into that.

But some people who've had near-death experiences, in other words, if there was something that stopped, it got started again, it wasn't irreversible.

They report being aware of what's happening around them even after their breathing and heartbeat stops, suggesting this potential for continued consciousness.

Well, I want to share with you some additional.

Um, scriptures that I think are relevant.

One of them is the story, the account in Luke 16 of Lazarus and the rich man.

You perhaps remember that story where Jesus talks about a poor beggar named Lazarus and a rich man who failed to help this beggar who was placed outside the gate of his, uh, his home.

And the text says they both died.

The rich man died and was buried, and the angels carried Lazarus to Abraham's bosom, and the, the bulk of the story has to do with these two men who are in apparently the Hadaean world.

They are not in heaven.

Because Lazarus is with Abraham, he's not with God.

Jesus is not there.

He's with righteous Abraham, while the rich man is in torment, he's already suffering, but he's not in hell yet.

He's in the Hadaean world, the world of the unseen.

And of course, there's dialogue and Abraham makes the observation that nobody from the suffering side can come to the good side, nobody can go from the side where Abraham and Lazarus are over to the suffering side.

There's a great chasm between those two sides.

My point though, is that when those people get there, there's no leaving there.

The rich man would like Lazarus to go back and warn his brothers.

Nope, they have the law, Abraham says.

That passage, if you believe that that same arrangement still exists today and not everybody does, if you believe that that same arrangement exists today, then even the spirits of those who have died, they don't go to see God, they go to the Hadaean world.

Now I'm gonna put a caveat here.

I think you can make a fair argument that that situation has changed because of the death of Christ.

But regardless, um, that story would suggest that you don't see God even when you are in fact dead.

Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verses 5 and 6 says, for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten.

I believe what the writer is saying is that the dead don't know anything about what's going on here.

They know nothing.

Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished and forever.

They have no more share in all that is done under the sun that they've left this world.

That's their spirit is gone and so they don't participate in any of the things here.

So let me tell you what my answer is, and I'm gonna say right away, I think there are some details that we may not be able to answer that the, the, the scriptures just do not give us.

But here's my answer.

The question speaks of dying for a short time.

I'm not sure that that's possible and the term clinical death seems to be used to distinguish between people who meet some standard for death and those who are actually dead.

Oh, his heart stopped, he was clinically dead. Really?

Did his spirit leave his body?

That's how the Bible describes death.

And we have medical standards to try to determine when somebody's body has ceased to function anymore.

In truth, the Bible doesn't reveal many details about what happens immediately after actual death.

The spirit of man goes to Hades, according to Luke 16 Acts 2, talks about Jesus going to the Hadean world.

Although I cannot explain some NDEs, and I would gladly hear from the rest of you if you can.

I believe that they are the experiences of people who were not actually, and I'm using a technical term now, dead, dead.

I mean really dead.

Dead as in the spirit has left the body, dead like Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, dead like Jairus's daughter, whose spirit returned to her body.

Because Jesus called it back.

So that's, that's my answer to that question.

I really appreciated uh the songs that uh Ian had selected for this evening.

I didn't talk to him about a theme, but there was an obvious theme in his songs and it had to do with Judgment Day.

There's a great day coming.

There's a sad day coming.

There's a day coming when we're going to have to stand before God.

And I will say this.

Once my spirit leaves my body, there is nothing more I can do.

To prepare myself for that day.

And the song we sang is, Are you ready?

Are you ready for that day?

Because all the preparations that can be made must be made here in this world, in this life.

Because once we pass from this life, once our spirits leave our bodies.

There's no changing.

Our lives God will judge us on the record that we have presented up to that point.

Are you ready?

That's a sobering question.

I don't know exactly what's going to happen to people or how, what their circumstances are in the Bible, I'm not sure gives us all those details.

But I will tell you this.

Whether or not you're ready is the most important question you will ever ask.

Nothing else even comes close.

Because the punishment.

For not being ready.

His eternal death, eternal separation from God.

We can't even fathom that.

It's hard to imagine what it would mean to be separated from the God who made us.

The God who showed his love by sending His Son to die on a cross at the hands of wicked men.

And that God saying depart from me.

Consigning us to blackness.

Consigning us to judgment, to punishment.

Forever And ever And ever There's no end.

You and I have a hard time wrapping our minds around that because we live in a finite world.

Everything seems to have a beginning and an end.

That punishment will never end.

But likewise, the reward in heaven for those who are ready, who have availed themselves of the solution for sin, forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ.

That reward will also go on.

And all And all Are you ready?

If we can assist you this evening in obeying the gospel, becoming ready if you're not a Christian, baptizing you into Christ, that's what the scriptures say you need to do in order to get ready.

If you're a Christian and you haven't been living so that you are ready, you need to think about the consequence of meeting your maker in that condition.

It doesn't even bear thinking about.

It's just horrifying.

If we can assist you in getting ready, then we want to invite you and we do so as we stand and sing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Expect that I probably spent much of yesterday, as many of the rest of you did.

Watching the television, watching the news stations, the Weather Channel, so that you could kind of track the bad weather that was moving through not just the state of Alabama but also uh Mississippi and up into Tennessee.

And we were fortunate that there were tornadoes, but that they went around us, not directly through the area where most of us are located.

And I hope and pray that you didn't suffer damage from the winds and the rain that took place yesterday.

I sometimes find some amusement in the uh Meteorologists who talked themselves to death trying to cover these storms for hours, but on the other hand, I really do appreciate the fact that they try to keep us abreast of danger and to warn us when it's time for us to take shelter maybe in a more secure place.

And every time I see this, even though I'm grateful that we, as far as I know, did not suffer any lasting damage, I'm mindful of the fact that those tornadoes went through other places and there was hail in West Alabama.

Some of that rather sizable, the kind that Egypt suffered, I think, in the plague, enough that it would damage property and would perhaps even seriously injure or kill an individual who was struck by hail that size.

And so I'm reminded of some of the scenes that I've seen in on television after tornadoes have gone through a community and they're interviewing somebody whose house has basically become just a pile of rubble.

In one moment they have a home and in the next few moments the winds, the tornado have basically destroyed all of that and they're standing next to a pile of rubble and their possessions are here and there and in the next county.

And you can see on their faces sometimes the, the confusion, the despair.

They're distraught over the fact that their lives have just been torn apart by this tornado.

What do we do When life becomes difficult, and I'm not talking necessarily about tornadoes.

I'm talking about any number of things that can happen to us in our lives where we suddenly have our lives just torn apart.

The tornadoes of life tear through our lives, and they leave behind emotional and Spiritual damage and destruction.

Some people give up.

Some people just give up, they surrender, and others will actually blame God for not protecting.

Why did God let this happen to me?

And then some people will actually turn to God even in those kind of circumstances.

We sing a song entitled Count Your Blessings.

In fact, we sang it fairly recently.

And it's a song that encourages us to take stock of the good things that God has done for us.

Ephesians 1 chapter verse 3, Paul reminds us that all spiritual blessings, God has given all these blessings to us in Christ.

And the psalmist would say in Psalm 33 and verse 2, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

This morning, I'd like to take a little closer look at this song.

It's a familiar song to most of us, I suspect.

I grew up singing it and I think we remember the lyrics, but I wanna make some observations about That song, and I want to say some things about counting our blessings.

The fact that sometimes maybe we don't make a full count of those things that God has done in our lives that benefit us spiritually speaking.

The song Counts your blessings has 3 verses.

And the first verse, uh, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to read it.

I think you're probably familiar with it.

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed.

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The second verse says, are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy?

You are called to bear.

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, and you will be singing as the days go by.

The third verse says, so amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged, God is overall.

Count your many blessings, angels will attend, help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

I want to make several observations about Blessings and particularly this song.

It's obvious that every verse mentions the difficulties of life.

This song is concerned with our circumstances when life is difficult.

Oh, it's easy to be happy and uh to draw close to God when life is going well and everything is good in our lives.

But it's the difficult days that make us sometimes falter.

And the song talks about life's billows being tempest tossed on these billows or being burdened with a load of care.

Being burdened with a heavy cross or cross that seems heavy to us.

And amid the conflict in verse 3, all three verses mention the difficulties of life.

And all three verses likewise mention the effect of difficulties of life.

Have you noticed that?

Look at verse one.

Discouraged thinking all is lost when you're tossed to and fro by life's billows, burdened, carrying a heavy cross, even sometimes doubt, doubt about whether God's really looking out for us and will protect us.

And then verse 3 repeats the concept of discouragement.

And all three verses likewise, describe what will happen to us or the effect of counting our blessings.

For instance, in the first verse, if we'll count our many blessings, it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your many blessings, name them one by one.

We often pray, Lord, we thank you for all the many blessings that you bestow upon us.

How many times do we count them one by one?

And I'm not necessarily suggesting that we need to do that in our prayers or that our comment has To be extensive to include every possible blessing that God has given us.

I would suggest to you that would be a long list.

But I wonder if we do the count, do we ever talk about the specific blessings, or do we just simply say thank you for all the many blessings?

It'll surprise you if you name them one by one.

What the Lord has done in your life.

Verse 2 says, and every doubt will fly.

Once you begin to think about what God has done for you, even in the midst of, as it says here, uh, a burden being burdened with a load of care.

Your doubt will fly, and you'll be singing as the days go by.

I think singing here is supposed to represent happiness, rejoicing, even in the midst of difficulties.

And then finally in verse 3, count your many blessings.

Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

Well, the 4th observation.

is that this song acknowledges that life has difficulties.

Well, I understand that's pretty much an obvious statement, and the song has listed some of the possible uh descriptions of difficulties in life.

But I say that because I think sometimes almost subconsciously, Christians begin to think that because they are Christians, that therefore there won't be any difficulties in life.

If I'm God's child, then surely my life will just be easy and there'll be no storms, and that's not the case.

It has never been the case with Christians.

God has not promised to make us immune from persecution or even from the difficulties that come as a result of time and chance, things like tornadoes and floods and fires.

Acts records the persecution of the early Christians.

We're familiar with the persecution that the apostle Paul and others endured as a result of their preaching the gospel.

Later on, Paul, towards the end of his life would write indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Paul says, count on it.

There are gonna be some difficulties in your life.

And although we are encouraged to count one by one.

The song also assumes many blessings, and I think it's interesting every verse uses that word, many blessings.

Count your many blessings, and that's what we need to remember when we're looking at a situation in life where things are not going well for us, at least that's our perception, where we're struggling with negative things, with bad things that happen in our lives.

Remember, count your many blessings.

Well, I'm going to say something that probably you'll think about the deepness of this thought, and that is we can't count blessings if we don't recognize them.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

If you're gonna talk about counting your blessings, you really need to, need to know what those blessings are.

You need to be able to recognize those blessings.

When Moses listed the blessings and curses for Israel in Deuteronomy 28.

In the 1st 13 verses, he talks about how if they'll keep the covenant, God says, I will bless you in all kinds of ways.

But then beginning in verse 15 and really all the way through the end of the chapter until verse 68, there are curses that will come about if Israel does not keep the covenant.

How they would be uh their their uh their situation would be determined largely by whether they kept the covenant or didn't keep the covenant.

And I would guarantee you, if you'll go back and read those blessings and read the curses, Israel didn't have any difficulty recognizing what the blessings were versus the curses.

Read the curses beginning in 15 when you have the opportunity, and they, they're horrible.

God says, this is what's going to happen to you.

And I don't think any Israelites had any trouble when those things were happening to them, understanding, these are curses.

These are not good things.

In our lives But I want you to think about the fact that sometimes what seems to be a curse is actually a blessing.

I read a story about a gospel preacher.

He was staying with a farmer apparently holding a gospel meeting and staying with this farmer and in the morning they get up to sit down for breakfast and here's the farmer.

He's already in his bib overhauls and so as they begin for breakfast, he bows his head and he begins to pray.

And the first thing he says is, Lord, I hate buttermilk.

And the preacher, you know, he's vowed, but he kind of opens his eye and he's a little bit puzzled about that where this prayer is going to go.

And then the farmer follows that with another loud exclamation, Lord, I hate Lord.

Now the preacher is beginning to get a little concerned about where this prayer is going, and he opens his eyes and he knows there's some other people who are a little bit uh Concerned as well.

And so finally, without missing a beat, the farmer says, oh Lord, you know, I don't much care for raw white flour.

And now he realizes everybody's getting a little uncomfortable.

The preacher does.

But then the farmer continues, he says, but Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits.

So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing.

And he concluded his prayer by saying it will probably be even better than biscuits.

So sometimes the things that may seem negative to us, things that perhaps don't seem to be blessings, but rather curses, maybe we need to reconsider those things.

I, I realized as Jonathan was talking about Jonah that he probably grabbed the best example that I could find in Scripture practically of someone, of something happening to someone that might seem like a very negative thing.

When was the last time you were swallowed by a big fish?

think that'd be a blessing.

Something we pray for?

Well, I sure hope today's the day I get swallowed by a big fish and spend 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of that fish.

That would seem kind of a negative thing, right?

But I guess if you're at the bottom of the sea, you're being tossed around by the storm, and you're about to drown and a fish comes by and swallows you, and now you're safe.

Well, that puts that great fish and swallowing being swallowed by it in a very different perspective.

And this sermon would have been shorter if Jonathan hadn't used that example because I'm gonna go ahead and use my other examples, but I thought I'd point out that that's a very good way of illustrating that what might seem to be a negative thing.

Could possibly turn out to be something very good for us in a physical or spiritual way.

But I'm gonna go with the examples that I used, and I've got 4 of them that I want to show you.

The first one is from the apostle Paul's life.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul begins that chapter by talking about some revelations that he had.

Uh, it's obvious he's talking about himself as he continues in the text there.

And he talks about these revelations.

They were great and surpassing the surpassing greatness of these revelations, things that he heard that he could not repeat.

But then he says in verse 7, so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh.

A messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon you.

For the sake of Christ, then I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

You know, people have done a lot of, uh spilled a lot of ink to try to define what the thorn in the flesh was, and I don't know that you can say for sure, not even from this text, but I will tell you this, it's described in two different ways in verse 33.

It is a messenger of Satan to harass him.

Now, I'm gonna guess that's not a good thing.

In fact, Paul pleads with the Lord 3 times that the Lord will take away this thorn in the flesh.

So it certainly wasn't a pleasant thing apparently.

But that thorn in the flesh is also described as something that was given to him to keep him from becoming conceited because of the visions that he had seen.

Do you think that Satan gave Paul this thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited, so that Paul would be humble and spiritually healthy?

I don't think so.

I think this messenger of Satan, this thorn in the flesh, also performed another function, and that was to keep Paul humble.

And so what may have seemed as a very negative thing in Paul's life actually was providing a spiritual benefit.

And the benefit was that it humbled Paul and caused him to rely on the Lord's strength, and not on his own strength.

That is a benefit.

The second example.

I want to take from the end of the Beatitudes there in Matthew chapter 5.

Blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst have to write, blessed are those who mourn.

But when you get down to verse 10, they take kind of almost a different flavor.

Now, all of the beatitudes are what we would call contrary to the world's values.

But verses 25 through 23 in a very special way, don't seem to fit very well with our concept of what being blessed is all about.

In verse 25, Jesus says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom.

Of heaven blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Blessed is the one who is persecuted.

For righteousness' sake.

That's not what we would normally call or consider a blessing or even a blessed state.

Some versions that are a little freer in their translation may say happy is the one.

When was the last time you were persecuted for being a Christian and you were happy about it?

He thought that was a good thing.

And yet Jesus says, blessed is the one who is persecuted, and he actually gives the reason why it is because the reward that is given for that kind of loyalty, that kind of faithfulness, the one who will stand for righteousness, live righteously, despite the consequences, perhaps even persecution.

Great is their reward.

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In the third place, In Acts chapter 23, the apostles were preaching.

In the temple and they're arrested by the council.

The rulers of the Jews.

And they appear before this council.

The council really wants to kill these men.

But instead they just beat them and then release them.

When was the last time any of us were beaten for our faith?

That's what happened to the apostles.

And so when they come back with the rest of the church, it says they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

They rejoiced that they had been persecuted. Why?

Because they were suffering for righteousness sake.

They're the perfect illustration of Matthew 23:21 to 13.

That's why they rejoiced, because they realized the kind of reward that comes to those who remain loyal and righteous before the Lord.

Blessing or curse?

Well, I think most of us would consider a beating a curse, not a blessing.

But in this case, apparently it was considered to be somewhat of a blessing.

And then finally Paul's imprisonment in Rome.

Maybe you remember in the book of Acts that Paul will complete his 21rd missionary journey in Jerusalem.

He comes back to that city and he's there for a few days and then through some accusations of some unbelieving Jews from Asia, Paul ends up being assaulted in the temple area there.

And he's being beaten and then the Romans come down out of the fortress Antona, which was adjacent to the temple, and they rescue Paul, and they carry him off into the fortress.

And then he's sent to Cesarea where the governor was.

And although he has done nothing wrong, he'll spend 23 years incarcerated there in Cesarea.

And in order to protect his life, he's compelled to appeal to Caesar as a Roman citizen, had the privilege of doing.

And so then he'll take this laborious journey to Rome, where he'll spend another two years, not in a prison, but in a rented house, but not free to go wherever he wanted to go, but confined by the Romans.

I want you to realize that in Romans chapter 22, written on the third missionary journey.

Before Paul comes back to Jerusalem, he talks a little bit about his travel plans for the future, and he says to the Romans in chapter 15 verse 22, this is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you, a reason he'd previously given.

But now since I no longer have any room for work in these regions and Since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while.

At present, however, I'm going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints.

So Paul's wish was to go west, to go to Rome, visit with the Christians there and then be helped by them on his way even further west to the area of Spain.

Well, that didn't happen, did it?

He ends up being put in prison, as we've just noted, and he'll spend the next 2+ years getting to Rome.

Where Luke says in the very end of that book of Acts.

He lived there 2 whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Blessing or curse, being arrested in Jerusalem.

And by the way, protected now from the Jews.

And so now he's carried to Rome, which is what he intended to do anyway, although not under those circumstances.

And even as he wanted to preach the gospel in in Rome, as he talks about in Romans chapter 1 verses 13 to 33.

Now he has that opportunity to do it.

He's a prisoner, but he's in circumstances where anybody who wants to come and see him can see him in this rented house, blessing or curse.

Which was it?

Well, I would say that Paul's plans were expedited.

By what happened at the end of his 3rd missionary journey.

Maybe we need to think more about what a blessing is before we count our many blessings.

And I'm going to suggest to you that whatever benefits me spiritually is actually a blessing.

Now I understand that that means that sometimes blessings may be a little uncomfortable.

And I think that's the problem.

I think we have this concept that a blessing is always something that makes me feel better or is makes life more convenient.

Something that helps me in my life, although we sometimes view that only in physical terms.

But the truth of the matter is, whatever benefits me spiritually is a blessing, even if it doesn't make me more comfortable, even if it isn't easy to endure, but if it produces in me greater spiritual strength, greater steadfastness, greater endurance, guess what?

It's a blessing, not a curse.

Let me give you a couple of examples of that.

In the beginning of James's epistle.

He says in verses 2 and 3, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

Well, shades of beatitudes.

That's what that sounds like, isn't it?

Rejoice when you're persecuted.

James says, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

James says, do you realize that some good things can come out of these trials?

If you become more steadfast because you've been tried and strengthened by resisting those trials, is that not a blessing then at least?

As we've defined it, whatever benefits me spiritually is a blessing.

Take a look at Romans 5 verses 3 through 5.

Paul says, not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings again, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

When I read verse 3, The first thing I think And I know it's not in the text.

But I think, well, maybe.

Because suffering doesn't always produce endurance.

Sometimes people's reaction to suffering is like what I said in the very beginning.

They surrender, they give up, or they begin to blame God.

But Paul says, suffering can produce, that's what he means.

It can produce endurance, steadfastness.

Doesn't always.

And so whether that suffering becomes a curse or whether it becomes a blessing, do you see it really depends on me to some extent.

How do I respond to that?

It can be quite the blessing, and that endurance can produce character and character producing hope.

There's a chain here, and it starts with what might seem to be a curse, not a blessing.

Well, my point this morning is not to say that we can't recognize blessings that you never know.

It is to say that we may not always recognize when God is blessing us.

Because we have a tendency to say, well, now, this is a bad thing for me.

I think persecution, we would typically conclude is a bad thing.

It's a negative thing in our lives.

Jesus says, that's a blessing.

Good can come out of that.

You can be rewarded for that.

Just like James says, we can be made stronger.

More steadfast by the trials that we face.

And so what we consider to be negative may in fact result in our spiritual benefit.

And that makes it a blessing, not a curse.

Has that happened with you?

Have you ever found that something that when it began this trial, this difficulty, this, this negative experience in your life, when it began, you thought, oh my, can things get any worse?

But as time went on, as you try to meet that trial by with biblical principles, remaining faithful to God, you realize that you become stronger as a result of that, not weaker.

That's a blessing.

That's a special, uh, a spiritual benefit.

And that's the point I'm trying to make.

Discipline, the Hebrew writer would say, is painful in the moment.

But it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Just another illustration.

It's sometimes the things that really benefit us spiritually.

are difficult to endure.

Sometimes they seem negative.

Sometimes they seem to be more of a curse than a blessing, but we need to remember what blessings are.

The song that we've been looking at this morning encourages us to count our many blessings.

And so I think doing so will cause us to be grateful to God.

Give thanks.

I appreciated Quinn's selection of songs.

He led at least 3 of my favorite songs this morning.

I want you to think about the same passage.

That we looked at in the very beginning.

And for some reason, we're not advancing.

Let's see if we can advance.

There we go.

It's Ephesians 1:3.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

I emphasize many blessings, just like the song does.

And I think that's what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 1:3, every spiritual blessing.

Think about all the spiritual blessings that we as Christians have and understand that all of those are because of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Every spiritual blessing in Christ, but that raises the question.

To everyone this morning.

Have you been baptized into Christ?

Have you entered into that spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ?

Because that's where the blessings are.

Outside of Christ, as Paul would write in Ephesians 2, we're without hope, and the spiritual blessings that are available to the Christian are not available to us.

This morning, do you want to be blessed by God?

Given every spiritual blessing, forgiveness of sins, hope, fellowship with other Christians, guidance, protection spiritually.

And an eternal reward.

All of those blessings are there, are there for you, but they are within that relationship with Christ.

If we can assist you in being baptized into Christ this morning, then we want to encourage you, and we do so as we stand and sing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Scripture reading this evening will be Psalm 47.

Psalm 47.

I'm, excuse me, I'll be reading out the new King James Version.

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples, shout to God with the voice of triumph, for the Lord Most High is awesome.

He is a great king over all the earth.

He will subdue the peoples under us and the nations under our feet.

He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob, whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God.

Sing praises.

Sing praises to our King.

Sing praises, for God is the King of all the earth.

Sing praises with understanding.

God reigns over the nations.

God sits on His holy throne.

The princes of the people have gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God.

He is greatly exalted.

A number of years ago, there was a campaign for Twix candy bars.

I really like Twix candy bars and I like their campaign.

The campaign with various commercials went kind of like this.

An individual would be asked a question.

That they really didn't want to answer because it was a loaded question.

Honey, does this make me look fat?

Or they had said something and then realized that it was.

Totally inappropriate or something.

And so, they would immediately, you know, cram the Twix candy bar in their mouth and begin chewing as though, well, I can't say anything right now, you know, I'm, I'm protected.

Well, I'm suggesting to you tonight that that's something you can use.

Not Twix candy bars.

But I'm gonna give you a get out of jail free card like the Twix candy bar would allow you to avoid the responsibility of answering a question or taking the consequences of what you had said.

And it's very simple.

You just say it was divine sovereignty.

And that just ends the discussion.

It was divine sovereignty.

And so, husbands, if you accidentally say the wrong thing and your wife begins to give you that look, just say it was divine sovereignty.

I'm not responsible.

Or perhaps you forgot Mother's Day, I'm warning you ahead of time, or maybe a birthday, an important birthday, just say it was divine sovereignty.

It wasn't me.

I was destined to do that.

And young people, it'll work for you too.

Because a lot of times when parents say to kids, what were you thinking?

Why did you do that?

What's the response that we sometimes give?

I don't know.

Scratch that.

From now on, it's, it's divine sovereignty, OK?

And I'm kidding, don't do that.

But Divine sovereignty will work just as well, maybe even better than Twix candy bars.

Now, someone says, well, how does divine sovereignty get me out of the hot seat if I've said something or done something that, that I don't want to have to answer for?

Well, let me give you the reason for that, and it's a quotation from, uh, and I believe his uh name is pronounced Lorraine Bettner, but he is quoted in a book by Spencer called Tulip.

Spencer is an advocate of Calvinism, and he quotes Bettner.

Here's what Bettner says, Everything.

was infallibly determined and immutably fixed, can't be changed by God from the beginning.

And all that happens in time is but the accomplishment of what was ordained in eternity.

See how that works?

You can't be blamed for saying something unkind to your wife.

It was divine sovereignty.

It's already been determined before the world began, and you, if you forgot the birthday, it's because God determined that you were gonna forget that birthday.

To get out of jail free card.

You're not responsible.

Everything that happens has been ordained in eternity and cannot be changed.

Divine sovereignty.

What is sovereignty?

Well, the Oxford, the concise Oxford English Dictionary says that sovereignty means supreme power or authority.

To give a little bit more elaborate definition, sovereignty means what a sovereign has, namely control over his kingdom.

God's sovereignty, the idea that God is in control of the whole universe, Geyser says, is a doctrine clearly taught in the Bible.

And so God has power.

He's in control of the whole universe.

Now, I hear people say that sometimes we need to remember that God's in control.

Be careful.

With what you're saying, because some people would use the same language, only they mean what Lorraine Bettner says, not what the Bible says.

We'll develop that more, but let me give you another definition.

The meaning of sovereignty could be summed up in this way.

To be sovereign is to possess supreme power and authority, so that one is in complete control and can accomplish whatever he pleases.

Donald Trump is not.

A sovereign Because he is limited by the Constitution, whether he likes it or not, he is.

He doesn't have complete control.

There are checks and balances in the government that would restrict him from doing certain things.

He is not a sovereign according to the definition that we're looking at, but God is.

And he is sovereign over all that he has created.

Divine sovereignty refers to the power of God over all His creation.

We began a discussion of Calvinism, and I intend over the months of the rest of this year to talk more about the main tenets of Calvinism with the idea of identifying them and showing how they are not uh biblical concepts.

And uh Calvinism teaches that divine sovereignty is essentially responsible for God's choosing and not choosing election and reprobation of all mankind.

When we talked about Calvinism, when I introduced it, I suggested to you the acronym of pilot.

No, that's backwards.

It's tulip.

You have to go from the bottom here to go up.

And the reason it's in that order is because the foundation doctrine for those five main tenants, total inherited depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints, all of them stem from the first doctrine and that's total inherited depravity.

But undergirding the whole system.

is the concept of the sovereignty of God.

And so it's important that we understand what the Bible teaches about God's sovereignty and for that matter, man's free will, and that's what we'll be talking about this evening.

The doctrine of unconditional election.

is based on a misunderstanding of divine sovereignty.

The thinking goes like this.

If salvation were available to all, and the gospel, uh, the great commission is go and preach the gospel to every creature, make disciples of all the nations.

If salvation were available to all, and some men could choose to reject the gospel offer of salvation, the Calvinistic way of thinking is that the sovereignty of God would be negated.

If God Want everybody to be saved.

And some could choose not to be saved by rejecting the gospel call.

Then God's not sovereign.

He's not in complete control.

People are able to thwart God's will.

And so you can begin to see perhaps already how the sovereignty of God is an important doctrine for the uh systematic theology of Calvinism.

A proper understanding of divine sovereignty does not contradict the idea of conditional election.

And I want you to look at the you that is up on the screen, unconditional election.

What we said in the first lesson on Calvinism is that Calvinism teaches that God before anything had been created.

God had already decided he had chosen already those who would be saved, and of course, by implication, also those who would be lost.

If you weren't chosen to be saved, then obviously you're going to be lost.

There are only two alternatives there.

And so that election was unconditional.

God didn't look forward to see how you would behave or how I would behave or anybody would behave.

He simply chose various individuals independent of their works.

Or their character or anything that they might accomplish in their lives, God chose certain to be saved and others to be lost by implication.

Unconditional election.

But what I'm saying to you tonight is that if we understand the divine sovereignty correctly according to the way the Bible talks, there's no contradiction with the idea that God chose those who would be saved on a conditional basis.

Now, we still have to clarify the nature of God's choice, but that it was unconditional.

is not biblical.

And so we'll develop that as, as we go along.

God decided who would be saved in the beginning.

He decided that everyone who would believe in His Son and be conformed to the image of his son would be saved.

And whether or not we're in that group of saved people is a choice that we make, that we have to make.

For some religious people, however, The doctrine of divine sovereignty means that everything that happens does so because God ordered it to be so.

I hasten to point out, of course, that like pre-millennialism, which has more flavors than Ben and Jerry's ice cream, so Calvinism has people who are uh not all exactly on the same page.

But Calvinists typically believe that God, in order to be sovereign, he must control everything that happens.

One writer says it this way, this is the fellow I mentioned earlier, the author of the book Tulip, in which he defends, explains, and defends Calvinism.

He says man may connive and scheme following the counter plan of their god Satan, but they cannot bring to pass so much as one act contrary to the will and plan of God, who fordained all of history from the largest event to the most insignificant.

Everything you will do tomorrow, according to this view, God's already determined it.

Kind of makes you feel a little bit like a robot, doesn't it?

Or a computer that's been programmed.

I want to bring up the quote that we looked at a little bit earlier.

Bettner says everything was infallibly determined and immutably fixed by God from the beginning.

You can't change your life from the way that God has determined that it's, it's going to happen and all that happens in time is but the accomplishment of what was ordained in eternity.

Now, surely you are already beginning to think about some of the consequences of that idea.

For instance, When Debbie and I went to Florida College, I thought I chose her to be my wife.

Turns out the Calvinist says that God had determined that I was going to be married to Deb before I was ever born for.

She was born before the world was ever created.

Oh, I'm so tempted to make a comment here, but I got into trouble this morning.

I'm going to preserve my safety this evening.

But I thought I was in control.

I thought I was the one who said, not that one, that one.

Turns out, according to the Calvinists, God had already decided that Debbie and I would be married and that we would have uh 2 children, 23 sons.

We foolishly thought that our 2nd son was gonna be named Amber Renee.

Turned out his name is Jonathan Martin.

But that also had apparently been determined before we were ever born before the world was created.

So, the choice of a spouse is not your choice.

God's already determined that, uh, economic decisions and families, all that's been arranged by God.

Someone says, well, that seems, it seems like you're taking a look at those quotes again.

There's no wiggle room here.

That's exactly what they're saying.

Everything in your life has already been predetermined and cannot be changed.

Everything What about my sin?

If I violate God's law, did God determine that, that I would do that?

Did he decide that that's what I was going to do?

Not anticipating what I might do, but determining what I would do, and that's what that doctrine says.

I'm not being unfair to them.

I wanted you to hear from the Calvinist viewpoint what they understand about God's Power his sovereignty.

Does the Bible teach this?

And the answer is no.

In 1 Chronicles chapter 29 verse 11, The scripture says, yours, oh Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens, and in the earth is yours.

Yours is the kingdom, oh Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.

In your hand our power and might, and in your hand, it is to make great and to give strength to all.

God is sovereign.

And we'll look at a number of passages that will confirm that very point.

But what is it that the Bible teaches about God's sovereignty?

Some disturbed a little bit by the extreme predestination that uh we saw in these quotes just a moment ago.

Some in response to Calvinists uh view of divine sovereignty, they would deny that God is presently sovereign over all things.

And so they would argue that uh he will be sovereign in the future, but right now he's not, and I think that's an unbiblical position to take.

And I'll try to support that.

They argue Satan is identified as the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2 and 2.

He's identified as the ruler of this world in the Gospel of John.

How can that be if God is sovereign, if he's in control of everything?

What does that leave for Satan?

How do we reconcile those kinds of statements about Satan with a God who is indeed sovereign in complete control.

Of the creation.

Well, first of all, I would argue that we don't need to deny the sovereignty of God.

The Bible clearly teaches that truth.

I'm gonna just suggest a few passages, we could spend the rest of the evening and my sermon would be timeless.

To borrow a little bit from this morning.

We could spend the rest of the evening putting together passages that affirm the power, the control, the sovereignty of God.

But just a handful here, Psalm 47 2, for the Lord, the Most Highest to be feared, a great king over all the earth, for God is the king of all the earth, sing praises with the psalm.

Psalm verse 7 says, In the 33th Psalm verse 3, that the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.

The superlative statements, God's not in the group.

He is above all.

In 2 Chronicles 20 and 6.

Oh Lord, God of our fathers, the king says, are you not God in heaven?

You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.

In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

Again, just plain statements of God's sovereignty.

Isaiah the prophet in chapter 14 and verse 24 beginning, says the Lord of hosts has sworn, as I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him.

Underfoot, and his yoke shall depart from them and his burden from their shoulder.

This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations, for the Lord of hosts has purposed and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out and who will turn it back.

If God decides he's going to do something, who's going to stop him?

Job makes that statement in his conversation with his friends.

The friends make the same statement.

They believe in the sovereignty of God, uh, despite other uh errors in their thinking.

And then in 1 Timothy 6:15.

Which he will display at the proper time.

He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and Lord of lords.

In the 93th Psalm and in verse 3, the Psalmist said, our God is in the heavens.

He does all that he pleases.

He is sovereign.

But the Bible also teaches that you and I and all other human beings have free will.

I want to share with you a quote from the book Predestination and Free Will.

On the one hand, the author's right, we believe that God made us morally responsible beings with the ability to make meaningful moral decisions, and they parse that sentence carefully as you'll see as we go into some of this.

God made us morally responsible beings with the ability to make meaningful decisions.

Then if we were not able to make meaningful decisions, then why Scripture exhort us to turn from evil things or to lead godly lives.

If we were not responsible for freely choosing our actions, then how could God justly reward or punish us for them?

That is for uh our actions.

I think that those are good questions, and they're questions that I have asked those who would defend the idea of Calvinism.

Every invitation to obey the Lord's commands is an admission that God man rather, has the ability to choose his path, that he has free will.

We could illustrate that, I guess in the Old Testament by looking at the fact that God set before his people decisions, options, choices.

In Deuteronomy 11:26, see, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.

The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today to go after other gods that you have not known.

Well, wait a minute.

He just gave two options.

Do people really have a, uh, uh, an ability to choose one or the other or were those decisions made for us by God before the world began?

That's the Calvinist view incidentally, as you already understand.

After the people had left the wilderness wandering and they'd entered into the land, Joshua had helped them conquer the land as the leader of the people after Moses.

And then at the end of Joshua's life, he says in chapter 24 verse 15, and if it is In your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve.

Either the gods your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites and whose land you dwell.

But as for me in my house, we will make the decision that God has already made for us.

I'm sorry.

That's a different version.

I'm reading from the ESV that says, but as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua said, we're making our decision.

And we've decided to serve the Lord.

There are other passages that operate along the same kind of argument, that is, there are invitations extended to mankind.

Matthew the 11th chapter comes to mind.

You may have already thought of this passage where Jesus says, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy lady.

How many people would that be?

Well, that would be all of us, wouldn't it?

At some point in our lives, all of us are laden and are laboring and are heavy laden with our sins.

Come, Jesus says, all of you, what a cruel invitation if Calvinism is correct and most of humanity can't make that choice, even if we wanted to.

Of course, they argue we don't because of our corrupted nature.

Later in Jesus' life, he would look over the city of Jerusalem.

And say, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, those who are sent to it.

How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.

I would have gathered you, I would have protected you, provided for you, you didn't want to.

Well, wait a minute.

Calvinism says that the people didn't really have a choice.

That Jesus can say, I would have done this for you, but the fact of the matter is, it had already been predetermined by God that those people were gonna reject Jesus. Predetermined.

I didn't say that it wouldn't happen.

I said God had given them no other choice, didn't have free will to make that choice.

Jesus says, you could have, I would have provided for you.

There's a term that I really don't use very often.

I don't think any of us do.

It's the word antenemy.

JI Packer in his book Evangelism and the sovereignty of God describes the meaning of antinomy.

It's when you've got two truths.

Both with evidence that they are true, but there seems to be some difficulty in believing both things at the same time.

And that's where people find themselves when they look at what the Bible says about divine sovereignty and what the Bible says about man's free will.

How can God be sovereign and have control over his whole creation if in fact, I can do what I want to do?

Does that not destroy the sovereignty of God?

That's The difficulty that people wrestle with.

Packer writes, it is an apparent incompatibility between two apparent truths, and antinomy.

An antinoy exists when a pair of principles stand side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet both undeniable.

There are cogent reasons for believing each of them, each rests on clear and solid evidence, but it is a mystery.

To you, how they can be squared with each other.

How do they harmonize?

You see that each must be true on its own, but you do not see how they can both be true together.

And I've already suggested that God is sovereign and the Bible teaches that, and that man has free will and the Bible teaches that.

How do we reconcile these two things that at least to the Calvinistic mind seems to be irreconcilable.

Can God be sovereign?

If man chooses to act contrary to his will.

And the Calvinist shouts, no.

If you can act against God's will, then God's not sovereign.

He doesn't have complete control.

You are in control, at least of that particular part, your corner of the universe.

Another quotation that helped define some of these things.

There's a fundamental difficulty in the notion of an omnipotent God creating men with free will.

For if men's wills are really free, this must mean that even God cannot control them.

That is, that God is no longer omnipotent.

Well, I don't agree with that statement, but it's pretty clear.

If you can make a decision that God doesn't want you to make, then God's not in control.

He's not omnipotent.

You can thwart his will.

Karl F. H. Henry in his book God, Revelation, and Authority says this.

To be morally responsible, man needs only the capacity for choice, not the freedom of contrary choice.

At the bottom, I've got a box and it says, what?

Because that makes no sense at all.

Oh, you have a choice, but your choice is this one option right here.

Well, what other option do I have?

You don't have any other options.

Well, that's a different kind of choice then, isn't it?

That kind of sounds like I'm pretty much determined to go that one way.

So he continues, human, human beings voluntarily choose to do what they do.

The fact that God has ordained for ordained human choices, and that his decree renders human actions certain.

Does not therefore negate human choice.

You know what that is?

That is the assertion with tongue in cheek that man has freedom of choice when he really doesn't, because he only has one choice he can make.

That's a nothing doctrine.

It doesn't even make good sense.

If God has control of all things, why would man ever sin?

Oh, it means that God's determined that he'll sin.

God makes him sin.

Well, that raises a whole plethora of questions.

Like for instance, is it just for God to send me to a place of eternal torment if in fact, God is the one who made me sin and he condemns me to eternal torment on the basis of those sins.

Parent puts a cake on the table.

And children gather around, you know, oh, that looks so good.

It's got icing on it.

I love that kind of icing.

And the parent says, Yeah, go ahead, get you a piece of cake.

And of course, children being obedient, uh, they get pieces of cake and then the parent says, What?

You're eating the cake?

Shame on you.

Line up.

I'm gonna spank every one of you.

Well, you'd begin to wonder if that parent's got all of the marbles rolling around in the same direction.

And yet that's what the Calvinist says about God.

And you know the answer to that?

When you say, well, that sounds to me like God's not a just God, you don't have the right as a human being to question God. Really?

You mean I can't understand from the scriptures even what justice is, what holiness is, what fairness is?

Can he even make Man, can man even make his own choices?

Again, quoting Bettner from another source, God so controls the thoughts and wills of men that they freely and willingly do what he has planned for them to do.

So you have a choice, but you know what, you're gonna always make the choice that God wants you to make.

Cause it's been preordained what choice you will make.

Oh, that's foolishness.

We need to understand that the Bible speaks of God's will in more than one sense.

And I'm gonna suggest to you a couple of different senses.

But the idea that these guys, these Calvinists are presenting is that man has freedom of choice, but he willingly always chooses what God wants him to choose.

So when you sin, if you sin, You made the choice that God wanted you to to make, because God's sovereign, he's in control of everything.

Thus Calvinists pay lip service to man's free will, but in actuality, they deny it.

You are a robot.

You've been programmed by God before the world began, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I titled the last sermon out of my hands.

Because that's exactly what Calvinism says.

It says that your salvation is out of your hands.

It's God from beginning to end, and you virtually have very little to do with it.

And you can see that as we've laid out this idea of sovereignty.

The scriptures speak of God's will in the sense of this is the decree of God.

This is what God says is going to happen, and there are plenty of passages that affirm that when God decides to do something, that's what's going to happen.

Uh, Psalm 33 and verse 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

We already looked at Isaiah 14:13 to 27, verse 27 says, for the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Do you and I have any problem accepting the idea that God is omnipotent?

He is the Almighty God, and if he decides to do something, he has the power to do it.

I don't have any problem with them.

I don't think you do either.

Isaiah 46 and 212, declaring the end from the beginning, God does, and from ancient times, things not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

What we do understand from the scriptures, passages like Ephesians chapter one, is that God uh decided on a plan of redemption and he brought it to fruition and it was going to happen because he is the Almighty God.

He is a sovereign God.

Paul describes that plan, at least in some detail in Romans 219.

Verses 25 to 22.

He says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

God had a purpose before the foundation of the world.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined, what did he predestined them to do or be, to be conformed to the image of his son.

In order that he might be the first born, Jesus, that is, among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he also called, that's part of the process, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified.

That's past tense.

He also glorified.

Is he not talking about the future for us?

It is so certain that it is going to happen when a sovereign God decides that's what's going to happen.

That it's past tense already in a sense.

He talks about it as though already having been accomplished.

I understand.

I'm not saying what the Calvinists say about your life and my life.

For all of the things that happen in this world.

What I am saying is that God had a plan.

And he decided what that plan was going to be and how it was going to be carried out and God's will.

Will happen.

Alan Turner in his book The Christian Calvinism said whatever God proposes and Himself carries out and himself carries out will in fact happen.

I believe that's an accurate statement based on some of the things we've read so far.

But sometimes when we talk about the will of God, we need to understand that we're talking about God's will in a different sense.

I can read in my Bible, the will of God, meaning those precepts that God wants me to follow.

This is God's will.

This is his law.

This is what he wants me to do with my life.

Hebrews 23 29:23, for you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.

Mm, you mean I, it's possible that I don't do the will of God?

Oh, absolutely.

Here's God's laying out the, the, the way he wants me to behave, but I have the right to choose not to do that.

And in fact, Jesus says in Matthew 22:23, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Listen to me.

If Everybody has to do what God wants them to do His will, then all people will be saved.

Cause that's what Jesus said.

Those who do the will of God are the ones who are gonna enter into heaven.

But of course in that same periccope Jesus is saying that there'll be people who will not enter heaven.

Just another problem with this whole view of the divine sovereignty.

Passage in 24 Peter verse 3 chapter 3 and verse 9.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Depending on who you think Peter is speaking about, whether he's speaking about the Christians to whom he is writing there, the Christians that are spread out perhaps over 5 different Roman provinces, or whether you think he's talking about mankind.

He's talking about mankind.

And why would anybody be lost if God wants His will is that everybody comes to repentance.

In 1 Timothy 2 and 33, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

That's what God wants.

So why won't it happen?

We're told it's not going to happen.

We're told that there's 2 roads and most people are following the road that leads to destruction.

There are very few, Jesus was asked at one time, how many are going to be saved?

Few are going to be saved.

I don't understand that.

God wants all people to be saved.

Well, that's his desire.

But you and I have the choice.

The ability to decide whether we will follow his preceptive will, whether we'll follow his commands, his instructions.

Man's free will allows him to choose to obey or disobey God's perceptive will.

His will in that sense, as the word is used in that sense, doesn't force man to act in any particular way.

We can choose And so as a result, there are things that happened that God neither purposes or desires. What?

How can God be sovereign if things happen that he doesn't really want to happen?

Well, man's sins are in this category.

If I understand the Old Testament prophets and even the New Testament writings correctly, Isaiah said in verse 60 chapter 65 verse 12, God said, I will destin you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter because when I called, you did not answer.

When I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.

So here were people who did things that God did not delight in.

God called them and they were able to say no.

Reject the call.

That doesn't sound like the description.

Of God's sovereignty that we read earlier.

And then let's put a little bit of icing on the cake here.

Jeremiah 19:5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire has burnt offerings to Baal.

Jeremiah is talking about the sins of the people, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind.

God said, I never wanted that.

But you're doing it How does that work with the sovereignty of God?

Well, I want to conclude here, but I wanna make a statement here very quickly about my intentions.

I would like to have talked this evening about the sovereignty of God and prophecy.

Because I think there are some interesting precepts that we need to wrestle with, but I'm going to leave that for, no, I'll just go ahead and do it tonight.

Just kidding.

I'm gonna leave that for another sermon.

So we'll talk more about God's sovereignty and particularly with respect to prophecy.

If God says something's going to happen way off in the future, is he not going to have to determine how people are going to behave in order for that purpose to happen?

Well, we need to talk about that, but time doesn't permit that this evening.

And I'm probably gonna let Ian discuss that.

There is, of course, a sense in which everything that happens is under the control of God.

Even those things that are contrary to his perceptive, I may have perceptive, but preceptive will.

Because he permits them to take place.

If God wants He can make all of us do exactly what he wants.

I believe he has that power.

That's part of being sovereign.

But God chose to allow us.

To demonstrate our love.

Our gratitude.

In obedience to his will, if we choose to do so.

The fact of the divine sovereignty, I, I hope you realize this is critical to our salvation.

This isn't some esoteric discussion about, well, OK, God's sovereign, you know, let the Calvinists fight about that.

Listen to me, our confidence in the promises of God rests upon the sovereignty of God.

What good are promises if the one who made them is incapable of fulfilling them?

In keeping them.

If God says, I'm going to give eternal life to those who are conformed to the image of my son, do you care whether God can fulfill that promise?

Of course we do.

Why else would we be here this evening?

Why else would we order our lives the way that we do?

Our prayer life depends upon the sovereignty of God.

Why pray if there's no one listening who has the power and authority to answer our requests?

If God doesn't have the power to, to answer our prayers, and, and I know there's the, the, the, there are other factors here we could talk about Providence, we're gonna do that.

But just the bottom line is, can God do anything about what you're asking for in prayer?

Why would we pray otherwise if we didn't believe?

And a sovereign God.

Here's what I want you to take away from this study of divine sovereignty besides the fact that I don't know when to shut up.

The Bible clearly teaches both the sovereignty of God.

And the free will of man.

And because God is sovereign, because he has control of his creation, God will carry out his purposes, and no one can thwart his plan.

God has set forth his desired will for mankind.

We have it revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

But every individual has to choose whether to submit to that will or not.

And Jesus said, the ones who will enter the kingdom of heaven are the ones who do the will of the Father who is in heaven.

The final judgment's going to occur.

It's part of God's plan.

It's part of his purpose.

We're going to stand before Christ and give an account for the things done in the body, whether good or evil.

And it doesn't make any difference what choices we make.

We cannot escape that appointment.

It's going to happen.

Because God is sovereign.

It's part of God's decreed of will.

He has decreed that's an event that will take place.

And so neither Satan Nor evil men can act with ultimate impunity.

They are going to have to give account just as we will.

Well, I want you to remember these two passages, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Peter Timothy rather 2 verses 3 and 4, if you wanna get the whole sentence.

This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

God has provided a way for you and me.

To be saved, to have fellowship with God for eternity.

But the decision is ours.

The choice is ours.

God will not force us.

If we choose to be disobedient and rebellious, he will allow that to happen.

But then we'll have to give account for our decision on the day of judgment.

What decision But choice Are you making?

Have you decided?

To submit to the will of God.

To make that choice as opposed to rebellion and sin.

If we can assist you in obedience to the gospel this evening, we certainly want to do so, and we're going to stand and sing to encourage you if you need to do that this evening.

Come to the front and we'll help you.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Scripture reading this morning to be 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 1 through 343.

I'll be reading from the new American Standard version.

Now as the times and the epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

While they are saying peace and safety, the destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child.

They will not escape.

But you brethren are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day.

We are not of night nor of darkness.

So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God is not destined for us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

Therefore, encourage one another and build up another just as you are also are doing.

Well, if you haven't discovered it yet, we just began daylight saving time.

Actually, not just now.

It started this morning at 2 a.m.

Have you ever wondered why 2 a.m.?

I mean, what's the point in all of us staying up until 2 a.m.

to move our clock one hour forward?

When we could just as easily have done it before we went to bed, and then it would just automatically be the right time in the morning.

But since I know that you are law abiding citizens, I suspect that some of you didn't get as much sleep last night as you might normally have gotten.

And so this morning, In light of the fact that just losing a single hour of sleep can really change our world, I'm going to talk about sleep.

Hopefully not to lull anybody into that sweet rest that perhaps you did not get last night as you.

Stayed up To turn the clock forward at 2 a.m.

But at least we can talk about sleep this morning.

The consensus of studies is that many Americans are sleep deprived.

I believe that.

If you've ever seen people in the morning sometimes, uh, if you go to work and you're in an office and people kind of trudge in maybe, I don't know, I don't have that experience.

I just have to look at Debbie in the morning.

There was no connection there whatsoever.

You may see people who look like they need several more hours of sleep and uh they'll have their coffee.

uh Mike usually, I think probably has like a mug that's size of a small water tower.

But we're a sleep deprived people.

Part of that perhaps is because we live in a society and a culture where there's technology allows us to do so many more things than we used to be able to do, and we try to cram more things into our days until the time that we go to bed seems to get closer and closer to the time that we have to get up in order to take care of the activities of the next day.

Webster has an interesting definition of sleep.

The natural periodic suspension of consciousness, during which the powers of the body are restored.

The only problem with that definition is it also can describe the condition of many students in school during classes they don't like, where there's a suspension of consciousness, uh, until the bell rings.

But that's what happens when we sleep.

Uh, as a person falls asleep, our senses become less and less active.

We become less aware of our surroundings.

It's first our sight that uh goes uh into unconsciousness, then taste and smell and hearing, and finally even touch becomes practically inactive.

Our breathing slows and our heartbeat slows.

The muscles of our bodies relax.

When uh Cheryl and Vicky and I were young, uh occasionally we were not anxious to go to sleep at the time when we were supposed to go to sleep.

And so sometimes we'd get out of bed and we'd be spying on mom and dad and stuff.

And then if dad came, you know, closer to the bed, and we'd run and jump in the bed and we'd all be mm, you know, you gotta get that slow, relaxed breathing to convince dad that we are fast asleep.

In Dreamland We sleep in cycles with much of our sleep being superficial or light sleep.

Uh, we dream only during a deep sleep.

Uh, as sometimes it's called.

And some people can sleep through just about anything.

I'm suspicious that that picture is manufactured, not by AI. I just think two guys decided to get together and do something funny, but I've seen people sleep in situations that were not much better than that, if even that comfortable.

But you know, in the Bible, there are a number of people who are described as being asleep during activities that you would not suspect would be conducive to sleeping.

I'm thinking of Adam who had major surgery while he was sleeping, a deep sleep upon him, and the result was a woman.

Can you imagine?

You go to sleep, you're by yourself, you wake up and there's this beautiful woman next to you.

Happens to me every day.

Did that make up?

OK. Samson When Delilah is trying to discover the secret of his strength, He finally tells her that if she will weave the 7 locks of hair on his head into the loom.

That he'll lose his strength.

And so she lulls him to sleep, and then she's weaving these locks of hair into the loom and he sleeps through all of this.

Well, that didn't turn out very well with him eventually.

But you wonder how he could do that.

King Saul was asleep with his men around him, and David and, and another came into the camp and took the spear that was next to Saul's head and a jug of water there.

Saul never woke up.

The text does say that God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Saul.

I'm thinking of Jonah.

There's a huge storm and in the Mediterranean, Jonah is in the ship.

The sailors are losing their minds.

They think they're going to die.

They're doing everything they can to try to save themselves.

There's Jonah sleep and the sailors are like, how can you be sleeping?

Joh, of course, understands the cause of that storm.

Jesus likewise on one of his journeys across the Sea of Galilee.

is asleep when the boat is being tossed by a storm, such storms as were common on the Sea of Galilee.

And then there's Uticus.

You knew we had to talk about Uticus, who falls out of an upper story window while Paul was preaching.

And then apparently was revived by the apostle Paul.

I don't usually notice even if people are sleeping.

I remember one time, uh, many years ago, I was preaching and there were two young boys who were sitting on the front pew.

They'd never sat there before.

They sat on the front pew.

And both of them were fast asleep by the ser middle of the sermon.

Their heads were back, they were snoring.

And I just said, boys, wake up and just kept on going.

And uh the parents were not very happy with me.

But I don't usually notice people sleeping, and some have kidded me about how many people I can put to sleep, but this is not a sleeping congregation.

Rarely does it seem like anybody is not focused on the things that are being said, the activities that we're engaged in.

But I've learned that sometimes people doze for reasons that are beyond their control.

They're taking medication whose side effects sometimes is to make them drowsy or they work long hours and they're coming off their shift in the morning even.

And so they come to services.

Despite the fact that they haven't had hardly any sleep, uh, in the previous hours or shift work, if you've never worked shifts where you're uh cycling from one shift to another, it's hard sometimes for your body to make that adjustment, especially when you are now just making the shift change.

And so I try to be understanding uh about that.

Uh, people have come to make the, they made the effort to come and to listen.

But I will tell you I do not have the ability to raise anybody from the dead, so sleep at your own risk if you choose to do so.

Well, this morning I want to talk about staying alert, staying awake.

Because each of us needs to be attentive to the spiritual dangers that we face in this world and the sin that can be so quickly in our lives, we need to be alert and active in the Lord's service.

It's interesting to me that like some other things in life, for instance, the eating of food, that sleep is described both in a positive way and a negative way.

In the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 5 and verse 12, we're told that the ability to sleep uh is a sign of a lack of worry or anxiety.

The full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

I like uh the new King James version, the abundance that he has.

He's maybe be concerned about keeping his things.

He can't even sleep at night, but the laborer, whether he eats little or much, he is able to sleep.

In Psalm 4 and verse 10, the psalmist said, in peace, I will both lie down and sleep for you alone, oh Lord.

Make me dwell in safety.

When people realize that God is taking care of them, that Satan can't.

Take them over without their consent, that God will not permit that.

Then they can sleep at night knowing that they live in the love of the sovereign Lord.

But on the other hand, excessive sleep is the mark of the sluggard.

So Proverbs talks about individuals who are lazy and so, uh, he asks, how long will you lie there, oh sluggard.

When will you arise from your sleep?

Little sleep, little slumber, little folding of the hands to rest.

And poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man.

The word sleep is used in a metaphorical sense in the scriptures to refer to death as I think probably we're aware.

In John 203th chapter and verses 11 to 13, Jesus had previously been informed that his friend Lazarus down in Bethany in the southern part of Palestine was sick.

Messenger had brought that news and Jesus delayed going to Bethany.

But then he says to his disciples in verse 11, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.

The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover.

Now, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking rest in sleep.

And so the Bible talks about death as sleep.

When Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 25 and the end of the chapter, the text just said he fell asleep.

When Jesus died on the cross, the text in Matthew says that the bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and after the resurrection of Jesus came into the city and appeared to many, but that was interesting.

In 222 Corinthians 246:21, Paul says, we shall not all sleep, meaning we're not all going to die before the Lord comes.

There'll be some who will still be alive, but he says we will all be changed.

I want to share with you a comment from W Vine on the, uh, at the point.

Where he defines the word that's translated sleep to sleep.

And he says this metaphorical use of the word sleep is appropriate, that is to talk about it as uh representing death because of the similarity in appearance between a sleeping body and a dead body.

Restfulness and peace normally characterized both.

The object of the metaphor is to suggest that as the sleeper does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to exist, despite his absence from the region in which those who remain can communicate with him.

Uh, I don't know that that's something we can conclude 215% if that's the object of the metaphor, but it's quite possible.

And he says that as sleep is known to be temporary, so the death of the body will be found to be.

Well, that certainly is scripture, and we sang about that one day, one day Jesus will be coming.

And when he does, the graves are gonna be empty.

There'll be a general resurrection.

All who are in the tombs and the graves will hear his voice, and they'll come forth, some to life and some to condemnation.

But there's a time when you shouldn't be sleeping.

To sleep is also used in a metaphorical way to talk about inattentiveness or inactivity.

Those who are sleeping as Vine notes and as we've noted already, they become unconscious of the things that are going on around them and that's not a good thing for Christians.

To be unaware of the dangers that are around them that they face.

It's not time to sleep, Paul would say.

I think that's quite an appropriate metaphor, the idea of sleeping, uh, to talk about inactivity or inattentiveness in view of the physical changes that happen when we fall asleep.

The psalmist in Psalm 234 and verse 33, in what appears to be a community lament, has recited how God has taken care of his people, but now it seems as though God is, is not listening.

He's not aware of the things that his people Israel are facing.

And so the psalmist says, awake.

Why are you sleeping, oh Lord, Rouse yourself.

Do not reject us forever.

And David would say much the same thing in Psalm 23 and verse 213, when he says, awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord.

In both Psalms, the writer is saying, Lord, are you seeing what's happening to us?

Rouse yourself, awake as though the Lord is unaware of what's happening to his people.

Many of you are aware that I enjoy hunting, deer hunting.

And I have many times sat in a deer stand.

And it is that hour before it becomes illegal to shoot.

You can shoot 217 minutes before sunrise, you can shoot 30 minutes after sunset.

We always, when we hunt, we always know what time, exact time sunset is so that you're not tempted to shoot when it's illegal to shoot.

That's the golden hour.

That hour where it's beginning to be dusky and then even the, the light is fading, and that's when the deer, a lot of times will come out into the open.

I've sat all day long sometimes in a stand didn't see anything until the golden hour.

There will come that deer out of the woods in order to eat.

But unfortunately, I seem to be sleep deprived sometimes and so it's not unusual for me to be sitting in that stand and I know that this is the time when I need to be awake and I'm, you know, you can't move around cause the deer have great eyesight.

So you gotta be still, and that's death to the person who's trying to stay awake but needs to sleep.

And so I find myself waking up and then waking up.

And I think only seconds occur between one time that I'm falling asleep and the next time I'm falling asleep.

Mike is laughing, but If you want, I will tell you a story about Mike sleeping in the stand.

When he shot a deer and or I shot a deer and he claimed it.

That's the way I tell the story.

You, you can get with me.

I'll be glad to tell you that story.

But I've wondered sometimes as I'm struggling to stay awake because my body just is saying you can't stay awake.

I wonder how many times deer have come out and just walked in front of me, maybe some big buck and he's telling the doe with him.

He needs his sleep.

I wonder how many opportunities.

I've missed because I wasn't alert when I really needed to be.

The scriptures present a contrast in multiple passages between those who sleep and those who are awake.

And watchful or alert.

One such passage is Mark the 13th chapter.

Beginning in verse 32 is where I'm going to start reading, and I believe that Mark 13 is not talking about the end of the world.

I know there are uh some who do believe that.

I think Jesus is still talking about the destruction that is going to come to Jerusalem, but The point that I want to make is that Jesus talks about uh a contrast between those who are sleeping, those who are, uh, and those who are alert.

He says in verse 32 of Mark 13, but concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father.

Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.

Dropping down to verse 133.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows are in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.

And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake.

Whether that's talking about the final coming of Jesus or the destruction of Jerusalem, the point is, you don't know, Jesus says, when the time will come, stay awake.

You don't want to be found sleeping.

When that occurs.

Now, I believe in 1 Thessalonians 5 that Paul is writing about the end of the world, the coming of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the final coming of Christ.

And he says in 1 Thessalonians 5, it's on the screen if you care.

Read along with me, for you are all children of light, children of the day.

We're not of the night or of the darkness.

So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Why do we need to stay awake, stay because we're children of the day, we're children of light, sleep, drunkenness, that's characteristic of the night.

The drunkard, like the sleeper is not vigilant, he's not watchful.

Well, If you want an example of watchful.

A deer is a pretty good example.

A deer will come out.

And just away from the edge of the woods and watch and look.

And they're not in a hurry most of the time.

And they'll just look and watch, and they'll come out a little bit further, and they'll reach down maybe and eat and then their head will come up.

I've learned that a deer that's got his head down or her head down eating, she's still watching.

And it just takes a very little bit of motion.

tens of yards away or more, and she's alert and that tail, that white tail comes up.

She's alert like that because she lives in a dangerous world.

She's got multiple predators including yours truly.

And so she's constantly alert to whatever is going on that doesn't look right.

And that's why we need to stay alert, because we live in a world that at least spiritually speaking is dangerous.

There are lots of spiritual dangers that we encounter, false teachers, bad influences in terms of associations that we might in some cases be forced to have because of work or other reasons.

And when we let our guard down, when we Go to sleep, so to speak, and become inattentive to those kinds of dangers.

It can result in our destruction.

Just like the deer who just walks out into the middle without of the pasture, without looking to see if there's any kind of danger around.

We need to watch so that we don't fall into temptation.

The passage that's cited there, Luke 22 and verse 46, is the passage where Jesus and his disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus is about to be arrested.

He has brought his disciples there to be with him, and he leaves them as a group, and then a smaller group, he leaves and he goes on and prays by himself, but he comes back and he finds the three that he, he finds them sleeping.

And he says, why are you sleeping?

Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Now, I understand that in the circumstances, it was late at night.

They had been probably tired because of some of the things that had gone on during the day and Jesus had taught them.

There may have been some fatigue just because of the tension that, that had gone on during the previous hours, during the supper, and, and then the things that Jesus said afterwards.

But here they are in a situation where they really need to be awake and they're sleeping.

And Jesus says, rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

We need to be alert.

We need to be watchful.

For temptation lest we fall prey.

To the tempter We cannot afford to be spiritually inattentive.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 15:34 in the ESV, Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right, and do not go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God.

I say this to your shame.

Wake up Wake up and do not go on sinning.

We have an adversary who seeks to devour us, who seeks to destroy us.

And I sometimes get the impression that some Christians are basically asleep.

I don't mean that they're sleeping during services or, or that they're uh sluggards in that sense.

I mean, I, I, I think they're just inattentive to what's going on.

They don't seem to understand what's really important in life.

They're unconscious to the spiritual challenges that face them.

They're all wrapped up in all of their little physical activities that in the end won't mean anything.

They're asleep With respect to the things that are eternal in their consequence.

In their import Be sober-minded, be watchful, Peter would write, and that word watchful is the same word that would be translated in other context as Awake, be alert, be awake.

Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

There are some others who need to be watchful, especially.

Elders need to watch for the flock.

Paul, when he met with the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, the record of his conversation with them.

Luke says Paul said, Therefore, be alert, remembering that for 3 years I did not cease night or day to admonish one with tears.

Be alert, he says.

There are wolves.

There are sheep who need help.

In Hebrews the 13th chapter and verse 17, the author of that book says, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, but that would be of no advantage to you.

That's the job of elders.

It's not to decide paint color, carpet color, to take care of the building, to guard the treasury, primarily.

It is to watch after souls.

And the Hebrews writer says, submit to them as they do that work.

They need to be alert, need to be watchful.

Parents need to be alert.

They need to be protecting their children from spiritual dangers.

Well, we could go on, but I'm afraid that some might fall asleep.

So I'm just going to conclude by saying that what we've seen from the scriptures is that the word sleep can be used in a metaphorical way with different meanings.

Sometimes it's used to talk about death.

Sometimes, sleeping is an indication of spiritual inattentiveness or inactivity.

And so as Christians, we need to stay awake, stay alert.

I know that the illustration falls down.

Everybody has to sleep eventually, right?

But as Christians, we really need to continue to be awake and continue to be alert if you follow the parallel, the illustration.

We need to be on guard against temptation.

We need to be watchful for the souls of others, not just elders in that task, but all of us as well.

The Greeks had a word that described a rest house.

A place where travelers could come kind of served as uh what we would call a hotel or an Airbnb.

Uh, it was the Greek word Coitarian.

And what it meant literally was a sleeping chamber, a place for you to sleep, but it also could mean a burial place.

And that word, that Greek word with some minor changes has been passed on to our English language.

It's the word cemetery.

That's what a cemetery is.

It's literally a sleeping place.

I'm not suggesting that souls sleep, but I'm suggesting that when someone sleeps, we expect that they will arise the next morning after their sleep.

And when people are buried in cemeteries, We expect because the scriptures teach this, that at some point, they will be resurrected.

In fact, that's what the word resurrection literally means.

It's a raising to stand.

It's compound word that talks about standing and standing again.

Someone who has died, has been laid to rest and then resurrected stands again.

And so Jesus said that the hour was coming.

And all who are in the graves will hear his voice, and they'll come forth, there'll be this resurrection, both of the wicked and the just.

But that resurrection is going to have a very different outcome.

For those two different, those two groups, we'll all stand up again if the Lord doesn't come before we sleep.

But some We'll stand again to life everlasting.

Some to eternal loss.

Which Will it be for you?

If you're not a Christian.

You still have time, you still have opportunity, at least for the moment, for the present.

We're not guaranteed.

I thought uh some good comments about time that Jim made.

The fact that we're not guaranteed even the rest of today, much less of tomorrow, but we have the opportunity always, we have the opportunity right now to do what we need to do in order to make sure that our relationship with the Lord is one that will result eventually in eternal life, and eternal fellowship and not eternal loss.

If you've not obeyed the gospel.

We're going to send just a few moments to sing and to encourage you to think about doing that very thing, expressing your faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and having repented of your sins, you can be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins.

If you're a Christian and you've been asleep, maybe you've dozed off spiritually and you realize that you haven't been, been paying attention to the most critical things in your life, the spiritual obligations and challenges that you face, then today would be a good day.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Ian Boike

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

reading is Isaiah 53.

I'll be reading from the ESV.

Start in verse one and read the whole chapter.

Who has believed what he heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed, for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment, he was taken away.

And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, though he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.

He has put him to grief.

When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring.

He shall prolong his days.

The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many.

And he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Good evening.

A will and testament is typically written whenever you turn 33 years old, or whenever you move out of your parents's house, or in other words, whenever you become independent in the things that are actually yours are yours.

And the purpose of a will is to legally distribute assets such as cash, cars, land, anything that is yours to someone after you die.

And of course when the when the writer of the will or otherwise known as the testator dies, that's when a lawyer or judge who is presiding over you.

will be able to read your will and distribute those assets to their corresponding new owners.

And I think all of us understand how this very common practice works.

And in a similar fashion, the old law and the New Testament.

They were both inaugurated by blood.

And they were put into effect by a death.

The old law, of course, with animal blood, bulls and goats that was made for these, for the forgiveness of sins and the new law with Christ's blood or his death.

Now which which will or testament applies to us.

And this is important for us to understand and know so that we can understand what God expects from us as Christians.

Some may ask, do I need to follow just the new law, or do I need to mix in some of the old law with the new law?

Or do I follow all of the old law in addition to the new?

And there are many who claim that we are still bound by the old law.

And I believe that this is not the case.

We are not bound by the Old Testament law, the Mosaic Law, and I believe it's important for us to discuss that this evening and to understand why we are not.

And this evening, I feel it's appropriate to start by discussing what Jesus's relationship to the law of Moses was.

And if you would turn over to Galatians chapter 4, So that's where we're gonna start our study this evening.

Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4, and then I'll read Hebrews chapter 5393 and verse 5383.

Both of these verses explain That Jesus was that Jesus respected and followed the old law.

In Galatians chapter 5373 and verse 5363, we are told, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law.

And then in Hebrews chapter 5353 and verse 5343, we're told by Paul, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.

And so we're told between these two verses that one Jesus was born under the old law, and that Jesus had all the power in the universe, but he chose to humble himself and place himself under the law of Moses.

And in Philippians chapter 5333, we're told that Jesus was obedient all the way until death.

Philippians chapter 5323, verses 5313 and 5303.

If you would turn over there, please.

Philippians chapter 219, starting in verse 2110 says, but emptied himself that being Christ by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

And so here we can see that Jesus's relationship to the old law was a relationship of respect and obedience.

And secondly, I believe that Jesus came to fulfill the law and not destroy it.

We're gonna spend a little bit of time in Matthew chapter 2112.

Matthew chapter 2112, starting in verse 2112.

And I'll be reading this section from the new King James.

Matthew chapter 53 starting in verse 213 through 4, Jesus tells us, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.

I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot, not or or or one title will by no means pass away from the law till all is fulfilled.

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

You by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

And in verse 1, Jesus uses the term destroy, which means to overthrow completely.

And during his life, Jesus did not set aside the Mosaic law.

He kept it perfectly and he fulfilled it.

And Jesus says that he came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

And when he said this, he was saying that the old law still applied to them and would continue to until his death.

And we can even see evidence of the old law that was still in effect during Jesus' day in Jesus' life because Christ used Old Testament scripture to combat temptation.

We're not gonna read all of Matthew chapter 2112 in its account of Jesus's temptation.

But there are 3 verses that I want to, that I want to dissect.

From Matthew chapter 4's account and of course, before the events of Matthew chapter 4, Jesus had just been baptized by John, his cousin.

And God had just stated to all who were present, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

And so after God establishes Jesus's authority, Jesus is then led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan.

And in verses 1 through 4, we are seeing, we, we are told that Jesus had fasted for a great deal of time, 40 days.

So we can obviously tell that he was very hungry by this point that Satan encounters him.

And in verse 63, we see where Satan tries to take advantage of this hunger that Jesus had, by telling him to take the stones that were right next to him, to turn them into bread to fix his hunger.

But Jesus, knowing Knowing that the old law was still in effect, he quotes Deuteronomy chapter 8 in verse 3 that says in the latter half, and you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

And then skipping down to verse 7.

Satan takes Jesus and sets him on the pinnacle of the temple and tells him, if you jump off the the angels will save you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And Jesus responds to Satan with what Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 16 tells us.

You shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Manasseh.

And then finally in verse 10, Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain.

And showed him all the earthly possessions and all the kingdoms that he could obtain, if only he would bow down and worship Satan.

And of course, Jesus refers to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verses 13 and 14, where it says, it is the Lord your God, you shall fear.

Him, you shall serve, and by his name, you shall swear.

You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.

And after reading these three verses, it's pretty easy to tell that Jesus came to fulfill the law and not destroy it while he was alive.

However, because Jesus fulfilled the law, the law of Moses ended when Christ died on the cross.

And in Hebrews chapter 73, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 6 starting in verse 16 to 17.

We are told that in the same way that our will and testament would work today, Christ's will and testament went into effect once he died on the cross.

Paul tells us in Hebrews chapter 9 starting in verse 16, For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established, for a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

And I think we can all understand this concept.

I think all of us would be pretty upset if, if people in our family or our friends who are listed in our wheel started taking our cars and our property before we died.

Be very inconvenient for us.

In in Ephesians chapter 2, We're told that Jesus broke down that wall of separation.

And in Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 14, going through verse 93, for it says starting in verse 14, for he himself is our peace.

Who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in the ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from two thus making peace.

And that he might reconcile them both to God and in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

In verse 11 of Ephesians chapter 2, we can obviously see that he is referring to the Gentiles.

And so when it's saying that Jesus broke down this wall of separation, he broke down the wall of the old law that separated Jews and Gentiles.

In the priesthood of Jesus that has now been enacted because of his death, argues for a changing of the law.

And the author of Hebrews asks a question in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 11.

He basically says, if we already have a priesthood that would provide justification, why would we need another priesthood?

And the Levitical priesthood could not provide justification.

Just as Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 11 says, now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law.

What further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one after the Order of Aaron?

And so, the the Levites could only offer animal sacrifices, which cannot take away sin.

As Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 4, we're gonna read verses 103 and 11 and then 12 to 14 as, as Paul unravels.

This argument.

And he answers this question that he provided in Hebrews 7.

And then starting in verse 4 of Hebrews 10, Paul tells us, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

And then skipping down to verse 11, Paul refers to the to the Levites as he says, and every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.

And so the Levitical priesthood could not offer the perfect justification that we need in order to get rid of our sin, even upon the thousands of animal sacrifices over hundreds of years.

Could not accomplish what Jesus did by himself.

And then in Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 12 to 123, we are told that only Christ is the perfect sacrifice that can offer justification.

And in Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 12 to 14, Paul tells us, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

And because the priesthood changes to Jesus after a new order, after Melchizedek, so must the law connected to the priesthood change also.

And the old law was limited in its application.

In in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, we've already talked about how Jesus's death broke down the he broke down the wall of separation, which was the old law.

But I think it's important to realize who the old law was given to.

In in Exodus chapter 19 in verse 5.

God says, 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.

So God is obviously talking to the Israelites.

He's talking to his children, the Jews.

Which stands to tell us that the Gentiles do not have the law of Moses.

And Paul expresses this in Romans chapter 2 and verse 14 when he says, for when Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

And so the old law was only for Jews.

The Mosaic law was only for the Israelites because the Gentiles were not under the Mosaic law.

And Paul is telling the Jews who were upset, you had your chance, but because you continually rejected God, God offers salvation now to the Gentiles as well.

And the scriptures clearly explained that the law of Moses ended when Christ died on the cross.

And finally, I think it's important to discuss that there are consequences for trying to be justified to the mosaic law today.

And in the first century, there were many Jewish Christians who believed that you had to become a good Jew before you became a good Christian.

In in Acts chapter 123, we see where the Jews are bringing this argument to the light.

And they are expressing to Christian brothers that this is how they feel.

And in Acts chapter 15 and verse 1 and verse 5, we're told starting in verse 1, but some men came down from Judea, and they were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And then in Acts chapter 15 and verse 5, likewise, it says, but some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses.

And of course, as we know in from Exodus that circumcision was the physical act that the Jew that the Jewish nation had to complete in order to be in compliance with God's covenant.

And Paul addresses this issue, and he sets the record straight in his letter to the Galatians.

And we're gonna be taking a look at specifically Galatians chapter 3 and Galatians chapter 5.

We're gonna jump between the two.

But starting in Galatians chapter 3, Starting in verse 123 of Galatians 3, Paul states, now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

But the law is not of faith.

Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.

And what this is saying is that salvation and right standing before God comes solely through faith.

In Jesus Christ and not by following the law, as the law itself is not based in faith, but on perfect obedience.

Which no one can achieve.

Now I believe in Galatians chapter 5.

Paul takes a step further and he says, you can't cherry-pick the Old Testament commandments.

If you follow one, you got to follow all of them.

And especially with in Acts chapter 15, they're bringing the light of circumcision.

He attacks this directly in Galatians chapter 5, starting in verse 1.

Paul says, starting in verse 1 of Galatians chapter 5, for freedom, Christ has set us free.

Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law.

You have fallen away from grace.

And then skipping back to Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10.

Paul takes it a step further.

In Galatians chapter 333 and verse 10, Paul tells us, for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written cursed, be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.

So here we can see that Paul takes it very seriously.

He says, OK, if you want to accept circumcision into your life, you better be ready to fulfill all of it and do all of it perfectly.

And if you're not, you're cursed.

He lays it out, he lays it out very plainly for them to see.

And then in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15, we've already read this, but Christ, of course, is the only one who has ever been able to keep the law perfectly.

And in Hebrews 4:15, I'll read it again, for we do not have a high priest who is, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.

And Paul seems to be the expert on this issue, because then in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, he says, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And in Romans chapter 7, Paul is still trying to get these Jewish Christians to understand.

That you cannot follow both laws.

And trying to do so will make you a spiritual adulterer.

And in Romans chapter 7 and verses 33 through 6, we're gonna spend a little bit of time there.

And I'll be reading from the new King James Version, Romans chapter 7, starting in verse 1.

Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law and that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives, for a woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives.

But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

So then if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will then be called an adulteress.

But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress.

Though she has married another man, therefore, my brethren, you have also become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another.

To Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

For when we were of the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

But now, we have been delivered from the law having just having died to what we were held by.

So that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

And Paul here in these 29st 210 verses is using the beauty of a marriage relationship to explain why we can't live under both laws at the same time.

And in verse one, breaking it down, a man is bound by the law as long as he lives, just as the woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.

And if she marries another while her husband lives, she's an adulteress.

But once her husband dies, she is free to be married to another man.

And in verse 212, we are released from the Mosaic law, having died to that which held us captive.

We died through the law through the body of Christ so that we can belong to Christ, as it says in verse 212.

And after going through these different verses from Paul and others, You may be asking yourself, well, why does this matter to me today?

How can I apply this to my life?

Well, I think it's important to understand that Jesus lived under the old law and kept it perfectly, and he was the only one to do so.

But we need to understand that the law was never given to the Gentiles.

It was limited in its application.

And that the death of Jesus has made it clear that no one is under the old law now.

And that is not to say the old law is of no value to us.

I don't want us to leave here this evening thinking, well, man, I just bashed the old law tonight.

I don't want to read that book books anymore.

But Romans chapter 212 and verse 233, Paul tells us that the old law was still written for our instruction.

In Romans 3:223, Paul tells us for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.

That through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

So Paul is explaining that we are not, even though we're not bound by the old law, it can still be used as a text of example and teaching to to aid us in our growth as New Testament Christians.

And I think it's also important to understand that the old law pointed to the coming of Christ.

In John chapter 12 and verse 212, read this very quickly.

Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

And of course, one of these prophets.

Who wrote very extensively during his life about Jesus.

Was Isaiah.

Thank you, Brother Copeland for reading Isaiah 53 and verses 1 through 12, and we're not gonna read those again.

But what I want to do is I want to break down the sections of these verses to bring back to our minds what these verse, what these 12 verses signify to us.

And in verses 1 through 3 of Isaiah 533, It talks about the type of life that Jesus was to be born into.

Showing that he was not born in a palace.

He was not born Into royalty.

He was born in a manger.

And then in verses 4 through 6, it speaks to how he was to be treated during his ministry and all the horrible things that he would have to endure.

And verses 7 through 9 referenced the Jewish and Roman officials alike who would consistently question his authority and threatening him with crucifixion.

If he did not stop what he was preaching, calling him a liar and a treasonous man.

And then in verses 10 to 12, it speaks of Christ's death and sacrifice on the cross for the remission of our sins brought on by our imperfections.

And I think until I read this in depth, these just these 12 verses.

I didn't realize how descriptive 12 verses could cover 33 years of a man's life.

And just how powerful that can be for us.

And I hope that this lesson has been encouraging for you as it was for me and And I believe it's important to remember.

I know I've referenced it once or twice this evening, but Paul wrote that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as he says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23.

And that the old law commanded that animal sacrifices be done, but we understand now that the old law could not, and the animal sacrifices could not take away our sin.

And as we read earlier in Isaiah 53 and 12, we know why Jesus went to the cross.

Jesus died on the cross for everyone, and he bore the sins for everyone so that we might have a chance of being given the free gift that God offers.

And thankfully, the new law that we are under offers a better sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice that will take away our sin.

And of course, we're told in order to access these benefits of that sacrifice, if you're not a Christian, you're, we are told that you must first hear the word of God, and you must believe.

Then you must repent of your sin, confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and finally be baptized for the remission of your sins.

And Christ is able, and He is willing to forgive you this evening.

If your sin of your sin, if you will seek his forgiveness.

And we have everything here tonight.

Prepared to make you his child.

And for Christians who have sin in their lives here this evening, isn't it wonderful that the sacrifice of Christ is available for your forgiveness also.

And if you need the prayers of the congregation, and if you need the prayers of your fellow brothers and sisters, your fellow soldiers in Christ, please respond to this invitation as we as, as we stand and as we sing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

Scripture reading for this morning will be coming from Luke chapter 247, verses 23 to 23.

Luke chapter 248, verses 25 to 23.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner.

And when she had learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume.

And standing behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and kept wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him and that she is a sinner.

And Jesus said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you, and he replied, Say it, teacher.

A money lender who had two debtors, one who owed 63 dnara, and the other 26, when they were unable to repay, he would graciously forgave them both.

So which of them will love him more?

And Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more, and he said to him, You have judged correctly.

Have you ever Put together an event, maybe a dinner at your home or a party of some sort.

And you made all the preparations, you invited the group of folks that you wanted to come.

And then when the event started, here comes somebody who wasn't invited.

Now, maybe Just maybe you decided to quickly adapt and just welcome that person even though they hadn't been invited and let them share in the event.

But perhaps, on the other hand, there was a specific reason you didn't invite that person.

And so now you're dealing with a situation that may be a little tense because you've got an uninvited guest.

The story that we're going to look at this morning, our text is about a man who had that exact experience.

He had invited folks to eat with him, including Jesus.

And once the dinner had started, here came an uninvited guest, a woman who comes into his home and ends up being a part of the event.

The man that I'm talking about was a Pharisee named Simon and you just heard some of the text that talks about this story.

It's interesting that Simon invited Jesus to eat with him because Jesus was often, or maybe I should say generally critical of the Pharisees as a group.

And yet he accepted the invitation.

The story of the woman who crashed the event is told in Luke 250 verses 2500 through 50.

We didn't read all the way through that.

Uh, I didn't ask Elliot to read any further than he did.

I realize that we've had some extra things go on this morning, so I'm going to try to be brief.

Uh, no snickers there, but I kind of expected them.

I'm gonna try to be brief and I'm not gonna try to unpack everything that we might be able to take away from this passage, but I think this passage has a powerful lesson for us, not unlike what Troy had to say at the, uh, as he prepared our minds in terms of the collection.

It's interesting to me when you look at some of the art over centuries past of biblical events, of course, all of these biblical people who lived in Palestine are all dressed in European clothing and, and everything seems to be more adjusted to the time of the Painter or the artist.

And so sometimes when you uh look at pictures of Jesus eating in Simon's house, this is the kind of picture you get.

I, I really enjoy Jesus is the one on the far left, and he's got a hand that looks like a lobster claw.

Uh, I'm just not an art aficionado, so Uh, forgive me for that.

But I'm gonna suggest to you that that's not really a very accurate picture.

Um, if you were to look in the text there, as Elliot read, we're told in the very beginning that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

And we're told that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house when this woman came in uninvited, and she is standing behind him at his feet.

And so it's very likely that the scene didn't look like the picture you're looking at now, but probably looked more like this, where the table was in the midst of the guests and they were reclining with their feet away from the table.

That was a common way of eating.

It looks kind of lazy to us, maybe we're used to being up in our chairs, but that's the way that Romans, Gentiles, and Jews ate.

And so one's feet would be pointing away from the table and that enabled this woman as she comes in to Simon's house, to have access to the feet of Jesus.

And what we're told then, is that she did several things.

She came in with an alabaster flask of ointment.

The word ointment there is a word that refers to an aromatic type of ointment, probably expensive.

You would uh either open the flask or in some cases you just break the flask if it had been sealed, and that's what you would use to anoint.

And so able to reach Jesus' feet, she moistens his feet with her tears.

And then she dries his feet with her hair and she kisses his feet.

And then she pours this ointment upon the feet of Jesus, the ointment that she had brought in.

Luke tells us in the very beginning of this story that this was a woman who was a sinner.

That was a euphemistic way of saying in that day of uh describing a woman who had prostituted herself.

And Simon recognizes her.

Whether he knew her by name, that is, he knew her from uh being in the same geographical area perhaps area or perhaps she was wearing some sort of clothing that he associated with uh a woman who was a sinner, but at any rate, he recognizes her and Simon is critical of Jesus for allowing this woman to even touch him as she has done.

Simon as a Pharisee and his, with his concern of all things clean and unclean, Simon would have avoided physical contact with this woman.

He wouldn't have let her touch him under any circumstances.

And Simon assumed that Jesus felt the same way, that Jesus likewise, if he knew that she was a sinner and thus in Simon's eyes, unclean, guilty of sin, that Jesus likewise would not allow her to touch him.

I want you to note Simon's reaction to Jesus.

Allowing the woman to touch him.

He says in verse 39, if this, if this man were a prophet, A prophet, someone guided by God, inspired by God.

If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.

So Simon now lowers Jesus in his estimation or opinion because he assumes that Jesus uh perhaps didn't know this one was a, was a sinner, and that would indicate uh that he was not a prophet.

It's interesting to me from subsequent conversation, the conversation that Jesus has with Simon, and this critical opinion of Simon at this point, I kind of wonder why Simon even invited Jesus.

Was it because he was interested in hearing what Jesus had to say?

Or was it because Jesus was somewhat of a celebrity, very popular with the people who wanted to come and hear him teach.

And so Simon invites this, this well-known rabbi into his home more as a means of elevating his own reputation.

I, we're not really told that.

But the subsequent conversation with Simon, between Simon and Jesus would indicate That Simon was not all that interested in honoring Jesus.

Jesus became aware of Simon's critical thoughts.

The text says that Simon said to himself, I don't know if he muttered this under his breath, and Jesus caught it, or if Jesus just knew what Simon was saying, perhaps by the look on his face.

Sometimes we do that, we decide what somebody's thinking based on their reaction or their facial expression, but at any rate, Jesus was aware of Simon's critical thoughts, and he addresses Simon directly.

Simon, I have something to say to you.

Notice also Simon's response.

Say it, teacher, did Dasklas.

Teacher, and yet Simon really hasn't honored Jesus, has he?

When Jesus comes into his home as an invited guest to this social occasion.

But Jesus is going to tell a brief parable, a parable of a money lender who had two debtors, and one of them owned 500 denarii, a very significant amount of money at that time, and the other debtor only 50.

So the, the one debtor owed 10 times what the smaller debt was.

But the money lender forgave the debts of both men.

And so then Jesus tests Simon by asking him the question, now which of them will love him more?

It's not a difficult test, but Simon answers the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt, and Jesus confirms that Simon has correctly answered.

That would more likely be the individual who would love the money lender more, the one who had received the greater benefit, who had been forgiven of the larger debt.

But then something interesting happens.

Because Jesus turns to the woman and says to Simon, do you see this woman?

Kind of an odd question to ask, don't you think?

Because it's obvious that Simon has seen the woman.

Jesus has noted Simon's reaction evidently to the fact that the woman has come in and has interrupted the dinner party and she's touching Jesus and Simon is critical of Jesus because of that.

And then Jesus says, do you see this woman?

Of course, Simon had seen the woman in terms of observing that she'd come into his house, but I'll tell you what, Simon didn't really see her.

He didn't see what Jesus saw.

He didn't see the purpose for which the woman had come into the house.

And so Jesus contrasts the woman's behavior with that of Simon.

When Jesus came into Simon's house, As was customary when people would travel on dusty roads or dusty streets and come in with sandals or whatever, it was customary to provide water for the washing of one's feet.

Sometimes a servant would even assist in that, in that particular uh task.

But Simon didn't provide water for the washing of Jesus' feet.

The woman on the other hand, she's wetting Simon's feet with her tears.

Simon Didn't greet Jesus with a kiss.

The woman was kissing the feet of Jesus.

It was customary in those days, even as it is in some places of the world today, to kiss an individual.

Nothing sexual about it, it's just a greeting.

Simon didn't even do that for Jesus when Jesus came into his house as an invited guest.

Another customary thing of hospitality was to provide some oil if you were traveling on dusty roads, that oil, that dust would get in your hair and they would provide oil to uh to anoint the head, but Simon didn't do that.

He didn't even Offer olive oil, which I think would have been the customary thing that would have been offered.

But here's this woman who comes in with what apparently was a somewhat more expensive ointment, and she's not anointing the head of Jesus, she's anointing his feet.

And so Jesus makes it very clear to Simon, Simon, you didn't do any of these things, and look what she has done.

Simon had not even extended the common courtesies of hospitality to Jesus.

Simon could only see this woman.

As a sinner He only saw her sins.

He didn't see the love that she was manifesting toward Jesus.

The point of the parable, as I think is abundantly clear.

Is that greater forgiveness results in more love or greater love.

Which of the two debtors forgiven will love him the more?

It's the one who's been forgiven more.

And so in the parable that Jesus tells, forgiveness results, cancellation of that results in the expression of love.

And the greater the forgiveness, the stronger or the greater the love that is demonstrated or manifested.

In our English translations.

It really sounds like in verse 47, that what's happening here is that this woman comes into the dinner party and she shows her love for Jesus in the ways that we have already described.

And so then Jesus, as a result of her love, tells her that her sins are forgiven.

And yet that's a little confusing because it's opposite of what the parable point was.

In the parable, the forgiveness of the cancellation of debt came first and then the love that would be expressed by the debtor or debtors toward the money lender.

But now, as Jesus speaks to the woman, is it that he's saying your sins are forgiven because you have loved much?

Our English translations, most of them, in fact, really seem to leave that impression.

But that's the reverse order from the parable.

I want to show you something interesting about this text that I think is very helpful in understanding what's going on here.

In verses 503, 48, and 50.

The verbs that are in green font.

are actually in the perfect tense in the Greek language.

The perfect tense in the Greek language is an interesting tense.

We don't really have anything comparable in our English language.

Because the perfect tense in Greek has both a past aspect and a present aspect.

It talks about action that took place in the past, but with continuing present results.

Well, how do you translate that into English if there's no English tense that has a similar significance?

Well, what translators do is they have to choose one of those two aspects to emphasize.

They either emphasize the past aspect, have been forgiven, or the continuing results in the future, the present aspect are forgiven and almost all of the versions go with are forgiven.

And leaving the impression that her sins were being forgiven at that very moment because, or as a result of her love.

But I believe that what's going on here is that Jesus is talking about what has happened in the past with continuing results.

Your sins, if I can give you the sense of verse 47, your sins have been forgiven.

That's the past, point action in the past.

And that was indicated by the great love that he, that she showed.

Someone says, well, is it that important?

Well, actually, I believe it is, because verse 47 has actually 3 different tenses.

There's a perfect tense, she, your sins are forgiven.

And then he who is forgiven little loves little.

She loved much.

Love much is in the heiress tense, is forgiven and loves at the end of the verse is in the present tense.

There are 3 different tenses in this verb, and I think the point is, what happened with her forgiveness is something that happened in the past.

She didn't come here to get forgiveness.

She came because she already has been.

Forgiven Jesus was talking about the forgiveness that the woman had received in the past.

And I think that's why in verse 48, he says to her again, your sins are forgiven.

It's the perfect tense again.

It's happened in the past and she needed to understand that it was continuing the results, she was still forgiven.

She comes into this house.

And Jesus reassures her that her past has been forgiven.

And so like the debtor who had been forgiven a large debt, she showed her love to Jesus because of the forgiveness she had already received.

I wonder If we likewise are showing our love to God for the forgiveness that we have received.

As we think about how we respond to God's will day by day, the choices that we make, the, the priorities that we have in our lives.

I would suggest to you that you really can't feel the release of forgiveness.

You can't appreciate the blessing of forgiveness until you have first felt the burden of sin.

You understand what I'm saying?

That when sin begins to become real to us, when it is so burdensome that we cannot wait to be released of that burden.

When we understand the significance of our sins, what our future is in that condition, it's not until then that we can truly appreciate.

What it means to be relieved, to be forgiven.

And so, that's what I really want you to think about from this text.

Are we showing our love to God?

Well, you know, a lot of people say, well, yeah, I love God.

Here's how John expresses that in First John 5:3, he says, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome, just like Jesus did in John 14, love and obedience are connected.

You can't talk about loving God without talking about obeying his will.

Someone says, well, I love God.

Well, are you listening to what he's saying to you in the scriptures and are you following his commands?

And that is reflected in the way that we treat one another, our fellow man.

If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar.

For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

If you love God whom you have not seen, it should be easier to love your brother who you have seen.

So those things are connected.

Are we showing our love for God?

And I think this brief story has that powerful lesson to teach us.

That we need to express gratitude and love for the forgiveness that we have received.

I wonder how grateful we would be.

If our own lives, our physical lives had been saved from some Obvious terminal, dangerous, life threatening.

Situation If somebody had saved you from being killed or from being drowned or from being hit by a car or falling off of a, a high place, would you be grateful?

How would you show that gratitude?

You might show that gratitude for the rest of your life if you really appreciated the danger you were in.

How grateful we ought to be that God has provided for us in Christ.

Not just physical salvation.

Eternal salvation.

Do you still owe the huge debt of sin?

It's interesting that in the model prayer that Jesus offered to his disciples and Mark Matthew the 6th chapter.

That he talked about the forgiveness of sins in the sense of or with the metaphor of forgiving debt.

And so when we are living, contrary to God's will, we are incurring a greater and greater debt.

We're not the 50 Daeneryi, we are the 500 Daeneryi.

And then we have the opportunity to obey the gospel.

And to have that debt removed, canceled because Jesus paid the price for our forgiveness when he offered himself on the cross as a sin sacrifice.

My question for you this morning is, will that sacrifice be in vain for you?

Here was a woman who, when she realized that she had been forgiven.

She came to Jesus.

And showed her gratitude, her love for that forgiveness.

The Lord invites you, if you're not a Christian.

To enjoy the forgiveness that's available in Christ Jesus.

And for those of us who are already Christians, Are we showing our love?

In proportion to what has been done for us, that was the point that Troy was talking about, the connection between what's been done for us and how we respond to that grace.

If you need to respond to the gospel this morning, we want to encourage you, and we stand and sing to do so.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Phil Davis

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

I'd like to turn and follow along in your Bibles, the reading this evening comes to us from the book of 1 John chapter 4.

First John chapter 4.

We'll be reading verses 103 through 21.

Uh, I'll be reading from the English Standard version and that's what appears on the screen behind me.

First John chapter 4, verse 7 beginning, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in Him and He and us because He has given us of His spirit.

And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent his Son to be the savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love.

And whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We love because he first loved us.

If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.

For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

And this commandment we have from him whoever loves God must also love his brother.

A few months ago, I noticed that when I spoke to someone, I called them chief.

It surprised me a little bit because I hadn't really thought about that particular phrase.

Other than when I spoke to some of the warrant officers that I work with in the government.

And it reminded me, where did I pick that up from?

I picked that up from a person named Darryl Black that used to attend with many of us at Gooch Lane.

He called everyone chief.

Similarly, I've become very interested in weather.

Not just the normal forecast from the local weathermen and the current weather, but those long range forecasts like the GFS and the European models.

Why is that?

Well, I spend a good bit of time with Mike Ison, who is a weather nut if you didn't know that.

And it's influenced me to be more interested in.

We routinely send text messages at 5:30 in the morning saying, did you happen to see a specific frame on a certain run of the GFS?

That's crazy.

I think that was actual text I got the other day.

Gina used to say that she knew what I was gonna look like at 60 and 80 because of my resemblance to my father and grandfather.

I found out that I don't just look like them, but I have similar mannerisms and behaviors that they had.

There's a family trait that goes, that's a family behavior with all the Davis men.

My father had it.

My brother Walker, if you know him, has it.

I have it.

Patrick and Peyton have it.

It's called the Dava Pi, and it's just this real long.

But it's something that I picked up from my father, and I'm sure my brother did, and my kids picked up from me.

And on top of that, I realized just how much I act like my father when I had my knee replacement surgery last year.

The first day going to physical therapy and I'm walking along on that walker and I feel, I feel so old.

And I can see myself acting like my father cause I remember when he had his knee replacements.

And how he would walk around with his walker and I said, oh my, I'm, I'm, I'm too much like my father.

So what's the point of these examples?

motivational speaker named Jim Rome once said, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

His statement indicates that the 5 people you're closest to are the biggest influencers on your life, character, and mindset.

Now, while many have discredited his statement to say that it's much more than 253 people, and I would say, I would agree with that, there are some significant truths to what he was saying.

We are influenced by those we spend our time with.

We often imitate those who we are around frequently.

Remember when you were a child?

You tended to behave and act like those you're around, maybe at school, the group of friends you had, did you not act like them?

Did you not seem to do the same thing, say the same things?

We are imitating the behaviors of others.

Confucius said, if I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher.

I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.

This evening, I want to talk about imitating the character of our family.

No, not my physical family.

I don't want to talk to you about imitating my brother or my father.

I want to talk to you about imitating our spiritual family.

While the list of traits that we could discuss tonight that we need to imitate are extensive, I've selected only 6 items to talk about because I don't want to be here till midnight.

And they're gonna come from 3 different individuals or groups, so it's only 2 per group.

John in his 3rd in his 3rd epistle says in verse 11, beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.

Whoever does good is from God, whoever does evil has not seen God.

This passage indicates that we are That those who are doing good are imitating God.

The first person we want to talk about in terms of imitating is God.

As Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1 says, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.

So what do we need to imitate God?

What traits do we need to imitate from God?

Well, the first one has to be love.

Do you have the love that heavenly Father has?

In the Old Testament, God's love is referenced as being steadfast love in the ESV, loving kindness in the new American standard, and kindness in the new King James Version.

This word, and I'll butcher the pronunciation cause I can't speak Hebrew, isheed is defined in Strong's lexicon as a rich and multifaceted term that encompasses the ideas of love, kindness, and loyalty.

It's often used to describe the covenantal love and faithfulness God has towards his people as was included in the, in the covenant with Israel in Exodus chapter 20.

Starting in verse 103, after he's talked about having no other gods before him, he says, you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers or the children to the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

This idea of steadfast love is used well over 100 times in the Old Testament in reference to God.

We see examples of the steadfast love to men like Joseph in Genesis 39:21, where it says because of his faithfulness, even when he sold in slavery and falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and put into prison, God continued in his steadfast love for Joseph.

Solomon talked about the same love that God showed to David in 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 6.

Where it says, Solomon said, you have shown great and steadfast love to your servant, David, my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, and righteousness, and an uprightness of heart towards you, and you've kept him for this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.

The Psalms also reference God's love in multiple places.

Psalms 107 is a Psalm written to express and demonstrate the steadfast love of God.

In verses 203, 1521, and 31, the writer repeats, Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man, after giving examples in the previous verses of his love.

Psalm 136 is another Psalm that clearly describes how God demonstrated his love for people in general and for the Israelites as, as they left Egypt and journeyed to Cana.

We said each of the lines of that Psalm, each verse ends with, for his steadfast love endures forever.

In the New Testament, we see evidence of God's continued love and maybe the most well-known passage in the Bible, John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

That idea that God that Jesus says there Nicodemus in chapter 3 verse 16 is further expanded in uh in John's uh first epistle, starting in verse chap in chapter 4 that Tyler read for us earlier.

I'd like to pull out some points from that to talk about God's love.

In verse 10, it says, and this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his sons to be the propitiation for our sins.

In verse 63, beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Verse 12, if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

And verses 18 and 19 tell us that we are to love because God loved us and because God is love.

Do we imitate the type of love that God has?

Do we have that kind of love for our brethren, for those around us?

Because if we don't, then John says that we do not know God and we cannot love God.

Next, do you imitate God's mercy?

7 of the passages in the Old Testament that talk about God's steadfast love also mentioned that God is merciful.

Exos 346 and others use the same language repeatedly about God's, about God, and what it says about him in in Exos chapter 34, it's when God is, is making the new tablets for Moses after they have been the first ones have been destroyed.

It says, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

God's mercy is connected to his love, especially his love for his people that he made a covenant with.

In Deuterony chapter 4 verse 31, it says, for the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with the fathers that he swore to them.

God repeatedly demonstrated this mercy in the, for the Israelites in the period of the judges.

The judges, the people would fall away, there would be some oppression, they would cry out to God and what would God do?

He would respond and he would be merciful to them in relent of his punishment.

This is the same type of mercy that Alex Vorrax spoke about last month when he was talking about disciplining children.

God has mercy on his children.

A few weeks ago, Alan preached about King Manasseh, who's generally considered a wicked king.

God sent Assyria to capture Manasseh and bring him to Babylon.

But while there, Manasseh realized his errors and he prayed and he repented, and God showed him mercy.

Manasseh's father, Hezekiah was also shown God's mercy.

Hezekiah was told by Isaiah and 2 Kings 113 that he would not recover from his illness.

But yet, Hezekiah fell down, prayed to God, and wept bitterly such that before Isaiah could even leave the courtyard, he went back to tell Hezekiah that he would live an additional 15 years.

God even shows mercy on some of the worst of the worst there are in the world.

Nineveh was shown mercy by God.

In Jonah chapter 1 verse 2, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh because their evil has come up before him.

If you go back and look at the artifacts about Nineveh and some of their cruelty, it's, they depicted it, all these cruel and terrible things, cutting off people's ears, nose, arms, other things, doing all kinds of cruel and, and terrible torture and punishment.

And Jonah would have known about these things, and so he didn't want to go.

But then after a prayer, after he'd been swallowed by the great fish, he went and preached.

And the people responded.

The people of Nineveh repented, including the king who removed his robe and covered himself in sackcloth and ashes, and sat in ashes.

In Jonah 3:10, we see God's mercy displayed for the wicked people, where it says, when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of that, of the disaster that he said would, he would do to them, and he did not do it.

James 3:17 tells us that God is full of mercy.

But he has a limit.

When Paul preached the Athenians at the Areopagus, he said that in Acts 17:30 to 123, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all his people everywhere to repent. Why?

He wants to show them mercy.

God wants all men to be saved.

And he was willing to show mercy.

In Luke chapter 6 verse 36, Jesus says, be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

Do you have mercy like your heavenly Father?

Do you Have mercy for those people who wronged you.

Who maybe say evil things about you, who are willing to cut you off on the road, better be careful, Gina might step, might, might punch me for that one.

Because I tend to get upset about people's driving.

But are you merciful about those things?

Do you have mercy like God does?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, That the Corinthians were to imitate him as he imitates Christ.

So what things can we imitate from Christ?

The first thing I'd like to talk about is compassion.

Do you imitate the compassion of Christ?

Let's talk about some examples of Christ compassion.

In Mark chapter 6 verse 34, it says, when he went ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

Matthew 14 and 14.

Again, when he had gone ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

And in Luke chapter 133, we have the, the widow from name.

And starting in verse 11, it said, soon afterward, he went to a town called Nane and his disciples, and a great crowd went with him.

As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, the man who had died was being carried.

The only son of his mother, and she was a widow and considerable crowd from the town was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, do not weep.

Then he came up and touched the bar, and the bearer stood still, and he said, Young man, I say to you rise, and the dead man sat up and began to speak.

Jesus gave him to his mother.

Jesus had compassion for those who needed guidance and healing.

Luke chapter 19 verse 10 says that the Son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Do we have the same type of compassion that Christ had on those around us in the world?

While we cannot physically heal the ailments of those we see, we can help to heal the soul and provide guidance to heaven.

We can reach out to those people who need God.

We can have compassion on them.

Do you have the compassion to help others to know Christ and save their soul?

We also need to imitate Jesus's stand for the truth.

Jesus was willing and ready to defend God's laws and commands to rebuke the error introduced by the so-called religious leaders.

Just after Jesus performed the first recorded miracle we have in John chapter 2, he went up to Jerusalem for the Passover and found those at the temple engaged in actions that were wrong.

In verse 14, it said of chapter 2, it says in the temple, he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there, and he made a whip of cords.

He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen, oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

He said to those who sold the pigeons, take these things away, do not make my father's house a house of trades.

During the last week of Jesus' life, He once again came and clean cleansed the temple in Mark 11.

So when they came to Jerusalem, he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and seats of those who sold pigeons, and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

He was teaching and saying to them, it is, is it not written?

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.

The temple had been changed from a place of worship to a place of business and most likely, based on what we read there in Mark 11, a place where Jews were defrauding other Jews.

Jesus was willing to stand up for what is right and just.

He was also very bold in his condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23.

In that passage, he calls them hypocrites because of the changes they made to God's covenant and laws.

He stood up directly to these people who are considered to be the religious leaders.

Let's read from Matthew chapter 73 verses 25 to 28.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the plate that the outside also may be clean.

What would you use scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like the whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

So you're outwardly, so you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you're full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

She also was capable of dealing with, with standing up for the truth in some less forceful ways.

In John chapter 8, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman to him who had been called in adultery when he was at the Mount of Olives.

Picking up in verse 210 of chapter 220, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst.

They said to teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

Now, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

What, so what do you say?

They, this they said to test him that they may have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

And once more he bent down and rode on the ground.

But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

In this case, Jesus chose to use some tact.

To show the scribes and Pharisees their era as they realized they were all sinners.

We see that Jesus can be direct and forceful with his stand for the truth, but he also could be patient and subtle.

Jesus shows us not every confrontation over the truth needs to be aggressive.

And that we should consider the situation on how to root out evil.

Christ was not motivated, motivated by pride.

He wasn't there to show himself doing all these things, but rather the fact that he had love for the truth and his compassion for sinners.

We need to remember that our reason for standing up for the truth is love.

Paul said in Ephesians chapter 26 verse 211, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him, who is the head into Christ.

Are we willing to stand up for the truth like Christ did?

Do we need to work on improving our commitments to stand for what's truthful?

The last group is a little more collective group, and that's our brethren.

Now, this next one I've, I've pulled off an Alan here.

I've sandwiched two things together into one, much like Alan does in, in a lot of his questions in Bible class where he puts multiple questions into one and, and then thinks he's shortening the number of questions.

But I'm sandwiched together generosity and service because I think they go together.

Do you imitate your brethren in their generosity and service?

I'd like to share some examples that I've witnessed myself of our brethren here at Kelly Spring Road and their generosity and service.

One Sunday at lunch, a brother got up from our table and went to a waitress.

And he talked to him for a minute.

And then came back and sat down.

And I said, what, what was that about?

It wasn't our waitress, it was another waitress.

He said, well, I saw these state troopers over here and I decided to pay for their lunch.

No fanfare, no self-congratulations, just generosity.

Another time, Gina and I were meeting a young couple for lunch.

When I saw them come out of a different restaurant, and I thought, that's really strange.

Why, I thought we were going to eat lunch together.

Why are you coming from this other restaurant?

And so I asked, what's, what was that about?

They told me that someone had come up to him in the parking lot and either said they were hungry or ask for some money for food.

And they said, I'll tell you what, which, which restaurant would you like something from?

I'll go and buy it for you.

Again, generosity.

I've also seen how this congregation serves.

Every time that we have a new baby born or somebody has some significant surgery, the next thing you know, there's a meal list that goes out.

And it is a near fight figuratively, not literally, to get on that meal list to be able to serve.

Your brethren. Impressive.

For those who would stay overnight at the hospital or just show up at the hospital when a brother or sister is having surgery.

That's service.

These aren't the only examples.

of generosity and service, but they do help us see what we should be imitating from our brethren.

The Hebrew writer helps us to understand the need for generosity and service in chapter 212, where he says in verse 213, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby, some have entertained angels unaware.

Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you are also in the body.

Naturally, our thoughts, when we read this verse, go back to Genesis 143 and 214, and Abraham and Lot.

We won't take the time to read those stories, but we see in both of these their generosity and service.

Abraham saw the three men coming.

And rushes to see them, to offer them water to wash their feet, a place to sit down in the shade to be refreshed.

Butchers a calf, has Sarah prepare bread and brings milk to drink.

In chapter 211, the two angels come to see.

Lot, and he provides them not only a place to stay, water to wash their feet, but also a feast and unleavened bread to eat.

Our brethren often display similar, similar generosity and service, and we need to be imitating them.

Paul reinforces the need to be generous and serve one another in Romans chapter 216 verses 10 through 13.

He says, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor.

I love that phrase, outdo one another in showing honor.

And we'll come back to it in a moment.

But I think that's, it's very important there.

Do not be slothful and zeal, be fervent in spirits, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, continue to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

That outdo one another and showing honor is really not about anything about what I'm gonna get out of that.

It's not gonna build anything.

I'm not gonna get rich on it.

It's not about, hey, everybody look at me.

Instead, I think Galatians chapter 6, verse 9 and 10 help us to understand why we're doing this.

Paul says, and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up.

So then as, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially for those who are in the household of faith.

I believe that generosity and service are not just a choice, but I think they're a requirement.

In the latter part of Matthew chapter 25, there is a scene of final judgment where Jesus will separate the people, one from another, like sheep and goats by the shepherd.

The sheep are told to come and inherit the kingdom because of their generosity and service towards Jesus.

Picking up in verse 113, then the righteous will say, will answer him saying, Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink?

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?

And when do we see you sick or in prison and visit you?

And the king will say to them, truly, I said, as you did it to one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it to me.

It's interesting because when we go and look at the goats and they're not gonna get the same reward, why was it?

Because you didn't do these things.

I think we have a requirement there to be in service and be generous to our brethren.

And to others.

Are you imitating the generosity and service of your brethren?

While generosity and service will not save us alone, it is something we're called to do and failure to do so may have eternal negative results.

The Last thing I'd like to talk about with our brethren.

I are you prepared like your brethren?

For instance, To prepare your Bible class lesson, like many of your brethren do before class.

Do you read the material, make some notes, answer the questions, do some research so that you can be productive in class.

While we have lots of good Bible students in this congregation, sometimes I've been in classes here where only one person is answering the questions because no one else will.

Does that indicate that people are not prepared?

Possibly. But how can you contribute to a class or growing knowledge if you haven't, at least prepared the material to be discussed?

Are you prepared like your brethren in attendance?

And worship I used to have a problem where I would be just in time.

Too often and sometimes late.

But do you come to services on time and ready to worship like me and your brethren do?

Do you prepare to be at services on time?

Do you set aside just enough time to get to services it's at the time we start and rush to get out as soon as it's over?

Do you repeatedly run late to services?

It's a matter of preparation and your brethren do that.

We have several people who will arrive 15 minutes or more before services start.

Why is that?

I believe it's part of being prepared to be at service and here to worship.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 says, not neglecting to meet together is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Can you really encourage one another when you're late to services?

Maybe you need to change your routine.

Get up earlier on Sunday morning, go to bed earlier Saturday night, get a shower the night before, lay out your clothes the night before.

Whatever it takes, you will provide more encouragement when you are on time.

I know many people believe that in the saying that early is on time and on time is late.

I have worked with plenty of people that are professional meeting attenders.

These are the people who, well, I've got a meeting at 10 o'clock, so they start heading that way 20 minutes beforehand and they'll go and sit in the room that the meeting's gonna be in and they wait.

They're just there.

I, on the other hand, at work tend to be, let me get in as many things as I can before I have to go to the meeting cause I'm not gonna get this work done later.

But in the case of being prepared in attendance, I think the same's right.

If you show up right on time, then you have to find a seat, settle the kids, look around to see who's there, and then you rush into worship.

We started I can't even remember how long ago we did based on something Alan talked about in a class.

We put a two-minute timer up there for a reason.

To get people ready to worship.

Well, if you're still walking in at that last minute to get here, are you able to be prepared like your brethren to worship?

By arriving a few minutes earlier, you have the time to get situated, you get the time to be ready, and maybe you also have time to talk to some folks and encourage them.

Finally, are you prepared like your brethren to go to heaven?

Hebrews 6:11 and 12 says, and we desire each of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The writer says we need to imitate those who inherit the promises.

Those are the ones who have a full assurance of hope until the end and are faithful and patient.

Do we see these traits in our brethren?

Do we imitate those things?

We need to be prepared like they are to go to heaven.

Back in Hebrew, back in chapter 13 of Hebrews in verse 7, it says, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.

Consider the outcome of the, of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Why are we to imitate our leader's faith?

Because they are seeking the city that is to come as, is mentioned in verse 14 and back in in chapter 11 verse 16, the better country, the heavenly one.

So are you prepared to go to heaven?

Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, as Cornelius and the many other examples were in the book of Acts.

Are you living as a Christian should?

Are you showing the love, the mercy, the generosity, and compassion as our spiritual family does?

Are you standing for the truth, not only With others, but within your own life.

Whatever you need, whatever your need is tonight regarding being prepared to go to heaven, please come forward as we stand and sing.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Allen Dvorak

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

The scripture readings from John 1022 to 30, I'll be reading from the ESV.

John 10 starting in verse 163.

At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.

It was winter, and Jesus walking in the temple in the colonnade of the Solomon.

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe.

The works that I do in my father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My father, who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand.

I and the father are one.

Sometimes technology steals from some of our fondest joys in life.

For instance, GPS has cheated us.

Out of some of those wonderful occasions where we were trying to travel by navigation, or follow the directions of somebody who says, when you get to the clump of trees, turn right.

Go straight past the 3 cows in the pasture.

And when you go by the red barn, not the gray barn, the red barn, you need to turn left.

I remember when Debbie and I would travel, Debbie was the navigator.

And we will be traveling on a highway.

We're traveling, you know, 55, 65 miles an hour.

And those are back in the days of the Rand McNally maps.

You young people don't know what you've missed.

And so we would be traveling and I would say to Debbie, well, where is it that we're supposed to turn?

How close is our turn?

She would get the map out and she's trying to find a place and everything, and she'd say, that was it.

as we cruise by at 25 miles an hour.

I was not always gracious about those kinds of things.

And GPS has cheated us out of that because now you just get an address.

And you plug it into your GPS, your navigation system, and your car says in that annoying voice, turn right, turn right, turn right now.

And so you know exactly where to turn.

Well, Suppose you were given the directions to a friend's house in the following fashion.

I want you, as you're coming to my house to turn left on Mutton Chop Road.

Go straight through two intersections with stop lights and then turn again at the next stop sign.

Make a left on the 210rd road.

Continue straight until you reach a stop sign and make a left turn again.

Aren't you glad for GPS?

You know, you'll get there if you manage to follow all the directions.

If the directions are correct, you'll get to your location.

But what if you started, and as I sometimes have to say to Debbie, your other left hand.

What if you made a wrong turn in the very beginning?

Every turn after that is gonna put you on the wrong street.

You're not going to get your destination because you started.

Wrong This morning I want to talk to you.

About the systematic theology sys uh called Calvinism.

And Calvinism like this example of getting directions and making a wrong turn in the very beginning, Calvinism does that very thing.

It takes a wrong turn in the beginning and understandably then ends up in the wrong place, having taken every wrong street after that.

We understand that when you build a building, you have to start with a good foundation.

If you don't have a good foundation, then as good as the construction might be on top of that foundation, the house is going to be, or building is going to be compromised.

In the same fashion, as we study God's plan of redemption as it's laid out in the scriptures by the Holy Spirit, we need to start with the proper initial assumptions or premises.

And Calvinism does not do that.

Now, you may not wake up every morning worrying about Calvinism, but Calvinism is making a resurgence in the religious world and specifically among members of the church.

There are uncertain writings by some, suggesting that they're being influenced by Calvinism or what's sometimes called neo-Calvinism.

And so what I'd like to do is to begin A series of sermons that will spread out over a number of months on Calvinism.

And I want to begin this morning with kind of a survey of that systemic theology.

We're going to begin by providing a historical background for uh Calvinism.

Where did it come from?

How did it get started?

We'll talk about the 21.

Major tenets of Calvinism and how they are related to one another.

And then I want to end by showing you how important this is, suggesting some, not all, of the consequences that come about as a result of this false doctrine.

We're going to start with John Calvin, although that's not really where all of the major tenets of Calvinism began.

John Calvin lived, as you can see on the screen in the 214th century.

He was a French reformer.

He actually was trained in uh religion, but he became dissatisfied with the Roman Catholic Church, which was in many places the only game in town at that point, and took up the study of law.

But he was outspoken about his reformed ideas, and so Calvin was forced to flee to Switzerland, where in 212, at the age of 228, he published his seminal work called The Institutes of the Christian Religion, which is really a laying out of this systematic theology that we call Calvinism.

Calvin would later move to Geneva, Switzerland, where he would have tremendous influence in spreading what are today considered Protestant doctrines or reformed theology and not only in Geneva, but his influence would spread across the European continent.

So that today, most groups that have come out of the Reformation movement at least subscribe to some degree to what we call Calvinism.

Later, in fact, born not long before Calvin died, was another man by the name of Jacobus or Jacob Arminius.

Arminius was a Dutch Reformed theologian who, as a professor of theology at the University of Leiden.

Disagreed with the Calvinistic doctrine of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands.

There were a couple of documents that had come out and were essentially subscribed to as a good descriptions of God's redemptive plan, the, the Belgic confession, the Heidelberg catechism had come out in the 103.

210s, there were important summaries of the doctrine of the reformed churches and Arminius was very vocal in his disagreement with some of the contents of those documents, particularly the idea of predestination.

I want to dispel what I think is a misunderstanding of Arminius.

Arminius didn't agree with that, didn't disagree with everything that John Calvin taught.

We wouldn't agree with Arminius in all of his teachings.

Sometimes, uh, people say, well, if you're not a Calvis, you're an Armenian.

No, we're not either, because we wouldn't agree with either man's summary of God's redemptive plan.

Those who became followers of Arminius who subscribed to his way of thinking, his understanding were known as Armenians or remonstrances.

After his death, these Armenians presented a written protest to the reform faith, uh, to the Dutch parliament.

And that sparked a synod, a meeting of the Church of the Netherlands, the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, and in that meeting in 228, they condemned the five points of the Armenians and suggested in opposition, 25 points.

That basically are Calvinism.

This is back in 1618 and wasn't in English.

And so what we typically think of as Calvinism and particularly the acronym Tulip, didn't come along until the early 1900s.

But it is a good acronym for understanding or maybe remembering the five major tenets of Calvinism, and that's what we're going to be talking about this morning.

Now, I said this morning that the foundation of Calvinism is inherited depravity and that's a doctrine that did not originate with John Calvin.

If you were to go back into the church fathers much earlier in the history of the church, men's like, men like Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, and origin, all of you remember when they lived, believed that somehow mankind, all mankind, had participated in the sin of Adam.

And that's at the core of the idea of inherited, total inherited depravity.

Augustine, who lived in the last part of the 4th century and into the beginning of the 5th century, was responsible for fully developing this idea of original sin, which is another way of describing the doctrine of total inherited depravity.

The reformers, those who were resisting or trying to reform the Roman Catholic Church did not substantially disagree with the Catholics on the doctrine of total inherited depravity.

The Roman Catholic Church holds to the idea of total inherited depravity and nearly every mainline Protestant body in America today holds to the Calvin, Calvinistic concept of total inherited depravity or some variation of that main concept.

And so that's an important idea.

It is essentially the foundation for the other four tenets of what we call Calvinism.

Now, my intention this morning is not to give you an in-depth discussion of these five tenants.

Time wouldn't allow us to do that.

It's a rather involved type discussion.

So what we're going to do this morning is just survey these 5 tenants so that we get a feel for how They work together and what are some of the conclusions that John Calvin and others came to and then in successive sermons, studies, we'll look at each of these doctrines in more detail and talk about how they are opposed to scripture.

But I am going this morning, allow some who hold these doctrines to give you an explanation of what they mean, rather than me just summarizing it, I'm going to read from confessions of faith and other writings by Calvinists.

So Toherited depravity.

According to the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, says this, and I apologize for the smallness of the type.

I'm going to read these things, so maybe you can hear it if you can't read it well.

Our first parents, by this sin, speaking of the sin in the garden by Adam and Eve, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them.

And so the idea is that when Adam and Eve sinned as the representatives, particularly Adam, of the human race, what they did influenced all of us.

They acted on our behalf, so to speak.

And we in them whereby death came upon all, all becoming dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

They being the root and by God's appointment standing the room instead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity.

Descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin and by nature, children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other misery, spiritual, temporal, and eternal unless the Lord Jesus set them free.

Please understand this was written a long time ago and so the English, it's a little bit different from the way we would probably write.

From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.

So two things that I want to say to summarize what they've said, and that is that when they acted, Adam and Eve acted, and they sin.

Every one of us in a sense participated in that sense.

So when we're born, we're born guilty of Adam's sin.

No such thing as an innocent child.

They're all guilty of sin from the time that they're born or perhaps even before that, depending on how you understand Calvinism.

And secondly, not only are we guilty of Adam's sin when we're born, but our nature has been corrupted.

That is human nature has been corrupted in Adam and Eve, and they passed that corrupted nature down.

We're all descendants of Adam, right?

And so all of us inherit both the guilt of Adam's sin and that corrupted nature, meaning that we really can't do anything good in the sense of seeking salvation.

That's important to understand.

In the sense of seeking salvation, and that corrupted nature is what's responsible for our sins that we commit.

That is total inherited depravity.

And it is followed in that acronym by unconditional election.

Again, from the writings of Calvinists, the doctrine of election declares that God before the foundation of the world chose certain individuals from among the fall.

Members of Adam's race to be the objects of his undeserved favor.

These and these only he purposed to save.

God could have chosen to save all men, for he had the power and authority to do so, or he could have chosen to save none, for he was under no obligation so mercy to any, but he didn't either.

Instead, he chose to save some and to exclude others.

His eternal choice of particular sinners unto salvation was not based upon any foreseen act or response on the part of those selected.

That's important.

When God made this choice, he didn't look forward into your life to see what kind of person you would be or what you might do with your life.

He made a choice about you and he made a choice about me before the foundation of the world, had nothing to do with anything that we would do in this life, continuing on.

But was based solely on his own good pleasure and sovereign will.

Thus, election was not determined by or conditioned upon anything that man would do, but resulted entirely from God's self-determined purpose.

And so again, just to, to kind of summarize this quickly, God chose specific individuals to be saved.

Now I think this is interesting, this summary, this is not part of a confession, it's part of a book that's explaining uh Calvinism.

But they make the observation that God chose to save some and to exclude others.

Most Calvinistic expressions or documents do not talk about God choosing to exclude others.

It only, they only talk about God choosing to save some.

But the implication of that choice is that he excluded others.

If he chose A to be saved, but not B, then he essentially chose B to be lost.

Does that make sense?

Calvinists don't talk about that.

Because that makes God seem. Arbitrary.

It makes God seem mean perhaps.

Because after all, you're going to be lost if you're not chosen by God, regardless of what you've done or haven't done.

It's what happened to you and Adam sinned, and you had nothing to do with that.

And so it's just this, well, as one of my study partners says, it's just a big cruel joke.

Where God brings us into this world by human generation, by birth, knowing that we're going to be lost and he predetermined that before the foundation of the world.

And that's the Calvinistic concept of a just God.

So that's unconditional election.

Moving along here to the next major tenant in the Tulip acronym is limited atonement.

And again, from the same source as the previous one, Christ's redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them.

His death was a substitutionary sacrifice of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners.

And so the thing to remember on this doctrine is that Jesus did not die for everyone.

He only died for the elect.

The elect are the ones that God has chosen or elected to be saved.

Well, that makes sense, as we'll note in just a little bit.

There's another problem with this doctrine, but for now, just remember that limited atonement means Jesus didn't die for everybody.

He only died for the people that God had decided would be saved.

And then the eye is irresistible grace.

Although the general outward call of the gospel can be and often is rejected, the special inward call of the spirit never fails to result in the conversion of those to whom it is made.

This special call is not made to all sinners but is issued to the elect only.

You would have guessed that probably.

The spirit is in no way dependent upon their help or cooperation for success in his work of bringing them to Christ.

It is for this reason that Calvinists speak of the Spirit's call and of God's grace and saving sinners as being efficacious, invincible, or irresistible.

For the grace which the Holy Spirit extends to the elect cannot be thwarted or refused, it never fails to bring them to true faith in Christ.

And so here's what I want you to remember.

As they said in the opening sentence of this description, a sinner can reject the call of the gospel, but that doesn't make any difference.

Because when the spirit calls that inward special call of the Holy Spirit, which is needed to rejuvenate or regenerate the corrupted nature of the sinner, There is no resisting the spirit.

You can reject the outward call of the gospel.

The preaching of the gospel, but when the Spirit calls, it never fails to prepare the sinner so that he can accept the gospel so that he can be saved.

Never fails to bring them to true faith in Jesus Christ.

And so then the last one and perseverance of the saints, we sometimes would describe it as once saved, always saved, but the idea is that those who are elect will persevere unto the end.

Here's a statement, one statement from the Westminster Confession of faith.

They whom God hath accepted in his beloved in Christ, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit can neither totally nor finally.

All away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved.

Just to add to that from a previous source, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints does not maintain that all who profess the Christian faith are certain of heaven.

It is saints, those who are set apart by the spirit who persevere to the end.

Did you catch that?

There will be some people who will proclaim to be Christians, who will profess to be believers in Christ, but they're not true elect.

And they're not going to be saved.

It is believers, those who are given true living faith in Christ, who are secure and safe in Him.

Many who profess to believe fall away, but they do not fall from grace, for they were never in grace.

And friends, that's one of the best examples of circular reasoning that you'll find.

In logical discussions.

True believers do fall into temptations and they do commit grievous sins, but these sins do not cause them to lose their salvation or separate them from Christ.

And here's the bottom line.

If God decides that you are going to be saved, and he would have decided that before the foundation of the world, and not just somebody like you, but you particularly, if God's decided that, then you're going to be saved no matter what, or God is not a sovereign God.

The next series in this lesson in this series is the sovereignty of God.

Because I think that's largely misunderstood and not just by Calvinists, but even by some members of the church.

God is a sovereign God, but we need to understand what that means.

The Calvinist says that if God decides something's going to happen to you, then it's going to happen.

And as we've said a couple of times already, if you start with the first premise wrong and everything after that tends to be tainted by illogical reasoning.

So if God decides that a person will be saved, that person must be saved or God is not a sovereign God.

Now, the 5 tenets or main points of Calvinism are not stand-alone doctrines.

By that, I mean they are interrelated.

They are connected to one another with a total inherited depravity, essentially being the foundational doctrine of these other four major tenets of Calvinism.

A fellow by the name of JC Ryle made this statement.

He is a Calvinist, and so he's writing from his perspective, his understanding of God's redemptive plan.

Here's what he says though, and I think it's worth listening to.

He says there are very few errors and false doctrines of which the beginning may not be traced up to unsound views about the corruption of human nature.

That's ironic.

Because I think he has an incorrect view of man's nature.

But what he says is correct.

You start with the wrong view of man's nature and you're gonna end up at the wrong location.

Wrong views of the disease will always bring with them wrong views of the remedy.

Wrong views of the corruption of human nature will always carry with them wrong views of the grand antidote and cure of that corruption.

Well, he's speaking from the vantage point of the Calvinist, he would suggest that we have the wrong view.

But what he says is correct in the sense that you start with the wrong view, you're gonna end up at the wrong location.

Let me show you why that's true.

Total inherited ravity.

If, if man is unable to choose salvation.

Remember, he can't because he has this corrupted nature that he inherited by physical generation from Adam and Eve.

If man's unable to choose salvation because of his corrupted nature, then God needed to make the choice for him.

That's the doctrine of unconditional election, where God decided decided whether you're going to be lost or going to be saved as a specific individual.

So that doctrine just grows out of or is the consequence of total inherited depravity.

If in that unconditional election that was necessitated by our corrupt nature, If God makes that choice and he only chooses some to be saved, Then limited atonement comes out of that.

Doctrine It would be contrary to suggest, contradictory, I should say, to suggest that God chose by implication some people to be lost and then sent Jesus to die for those lost people.

And so the Calvinist says, God's decided who's going to be saved, and those are the only persons who need the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

The rest of them are gonna be lost by implication of God's choice to save some.

And so Jesus didn't die for those lost people.

Jesus only died for the elect.

You see how these doctrines just lead one into the next one?

Go back to total inherited depravity.

If man is unable to choose salvation as a consequence of this corrupted nature, then God has to do something to enable us to Respond to the gospel.

To be saved, and that's irresistible grace.

All of us, uh, when we're born, we absolutely are outside of the purview of the gospel attraction.

And so, God has to give this special inward call by the Holy Spirit to regenerate our nature to the extent that we can even respond to the gospel.

And then be made alive.

By God And so the doctrine of irresistible grace is the response or the result of total inherited depravity also.

If man is unable to resist the grace of God, the plan of God, then those who are chosen for salvation cannot fail to be saved.

And that essentially is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.

When God starts the salvation process, you can't stop it, no matter what you do.

People have actually debated pre uh propositions like if a man was caught, uh, was involved in in adultery rather, and he dies in the midst of that sin, he still goes to heaven if he's one of the elect.

Doesn't make any difference what he does because the imputed, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him and that's really all that God sees.

He doesn't see our sins.

That is the sins of the elect.

The sins of the non-elect. Yeah.

He'll judge us for those if we are in that group.

If total inherited depravity is the foundational doctrine of the other major tenets of Calvinism, and so they flow from that doctrine, then the hard determinist view of divine sovereignty is the foundation of the whole system, the whole uh systematic theology of Calvinism.

And that's why the next thing we need to talk about in another sermon, not this morning.

Is the sovereignty of God.

We need to understand what that means according to the scriptures.

Well, you may not believe any of these things, but some people are kind of thinking that some of these things sound pretty good.

They, they look at the scriptures and think, well, maybe that's what it's saying.

I want you to see some of the consequences of Calvinism.

One of the most obvious ones, I think to me and probably to you also, as we were describing these major tenets is that God becomes responsible for those who are lost.

After all, if he chose who's going to be saved, then he's really responsible for those who were lost, as the writer said, he could have chosen to save everyone.

Why didn't he?

Well, he didn't, according to the Calvinists, and so those who are lost, that's God who made the choice.

For those people to be lost, he becomes a respecter of persons, and in Romans the 10nd chapter in verse 11, Paul said, God shows no partiality much more could be said about each of these consequences.

I just want you to get a flavor for some of the problems that Calvinism has with respect to scripture.

God becomes a respecter of persons.

And one man will be judged guilty for another man's sin.

In fact, all of us become guilty of Adam's sin, according to the Calvinist.

And if you're not one of the elect, you'll be condemned for the fact that you're guilty of Adam's sin.

God imputed Adams send to you.

But the Bible talks about in the final judgment, each of us will give account for our own behavior.

Ezekiel 18 says that we don't inherit the guilt of a father or a son.

2 Corinthians 5:10 says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each 1 may receive what is due for what he's done in the body, whether good or evil.

And Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 14 verse 12.

So then each of us must give account of himself.

To God And the gospel invitation essentially becomes meaningless.

It's a mockery.

Now, the Calvinists might argue, well, the gospel invitation is how God reaches those people who have been regenerated in their nature by the Holy Spirit.

But the gospel invitation, according to Matthew 28, Mark 16, was to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Why would you do that?

Why would you preach the gospel to people who are lost?

They can't possibly respond to the gospel.

They can't possibly be saved because God didn't choose for them to be saved.

You see that this universal invitation of the gospel, whosoever will, becomes just a cruel mockery.

When we understand that the Calvinists believes that The, the, the unsay, the non-elect, they can't respond to the gospel even if they Wanted to or even if they need to.

The elect are released from moral responsibility.

This is a little bit more complicated than what we've talked about this morning, but according to Calvinism, the elect are going to be saved regardless of their sins committed after their conversion.

The righteousness of Christ is essentially counted to those people, and that's what God sees.

He doesn't see the sins of the elect.

And so they're in a sense released from moral responsibility.

They use passages like John 10, which is why I asked Jim to read that in the scripture reading.

Verse 28, Jesus said, I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Well, that sounds like once you're in, you're in.

But that whole context is talking about the sheep that belonged to Jesus, those who hear his voice and follow him.

We can be eternally secure as long as we continue to hear and follow the good shepherd.

We'll say a lot more about that in a future study.

And then finally, if you've ever wondered why it is that people are baptizing babies, usually sprinkling water on them, which isn't Bible baptism anyway, but the, the reason for that is that the Roman Catholic Church even before John Calvin and now Calvinists also believe that child is born in sin.

And so they baptize these babies.

Because of their misunderstanding of the nature of man.

All of these consequences, and this is just a small sampling of the buffet that is available.

When you begin to compare Calvinism with the Bible and understand That all of these consequences fly in the face of the clear teaching of the scriptures.

The doctrine of total inherited depravity forms a foundation.

For the whole 5 point system of Calvinism.

And as we've said before, an incorrect view of man's nature just leads to an incorrect view of the gospel in general.

As Ryle said, wrong views of the disease will always bring with them wrong views of the remedy.

Calvinism Takes your salvation completely out of your hands.

That's why I titled this sermon out of our hands.

Because according to Calvinism, you really have very little to do, if anything, with your salvation.

God chose you before you were born, regardless of what you do in your life.

It was an unconditional choice or election.

And because of inherited total profit, you can't do anything anyway.

You're already got two strikes against you when you were born, you're guilty of Adam's sin and got this corrupted nature.

So God is the one who has to even enable you to act toward the gospel message by the irresistible call of the spirit irresistible grace.

And then it doesn't make any difference what you do.

If you're one of the elect, you're going to be saved no matter what.

Because when God decides as a sovereign God that you're going to be saved, there's nothing you can do to stop it if you wanted to, that is.

You see that salvation really is out of your hands.

Solar Grassa All grades, faith only.

You can't do anything.

The Bible teaches that man can respond of his own free will to the invitation of Christ to be saved.

If we are guilty of sin this morning, it is our own sin, not Adam's sin or anyone else's, not your father's, not your parents, not your children, not your neighbor.

If you're guilty of sin, it's because you have chosen or I have chosen to violate God's law.

The Bible is very clear about that.

And the Bible teaches that you can choose life.

Don't wait for some special better felt than told enlightenment from the Holy Spirit.

The spirit is speaking to you.

The Spirit speaking to you through the words that are recorded in the New Testament as those apostles and prophets were guided by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit laid out God's plan, and the gospel call is extended to you and it's up to you.

It's up to me how we will respond to that call.

It's in our hands.

Not out of our hands.

You need to respond to the gospel this morning to become a Christian by obedience to Christ, being baptized into him for the remission of your sins, or if you simply need to make a fresh start in your life, you're already a Christian, but you've gone off on the path of sin.

You have the free will to make those choices.

And if we can encourage you in any way, we want to do so, and we stand and sing to give that opportunity.