Title: The Herald of The King

Text: Matthew 3:1-12

FCF: We often find ourselves confused on what constitutes the most important elements of the gospel.

Prop: Because repentance is the first step of the gospel, we must repent for the kingdom of God is here.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Please turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 3. I have a minor clarification from last week. Last week we saw how Matthew addressed the critiques of Jesus’ early life with the interpretational method of 1st Century Jewish scribes, turning their critiques on end and proving them to be wrong yet again. We applied this text as an illustration for us on how to confront those who are critical of Christ, using their own points of authority. In other words tearing down their own worldview with their own worldview. The clarification that I wish to make is that the power of salvation comes from those who hear the Word of God. In other words, while we can and should use their source against them, I failed to make it clear that our authority, our sword, our power is the Word of God. And while we cannot, nor should we default to a simplistic “the bible tells me so” kind of defense, to never go to the bible would also be to keep your sword in its sheath and attempt to fight another with a sword. It won’t go well for you. We must defend our faith with scripture, but we must first destabilize and bring every thought into captivity and obedience to Christ. The one-two combo of destabilizing their authority while presenting our infallible authority is the tactic that Matthew, Christ, Paul, Peter, and we should adopt.

With that being said, today we turn our attention to the herald of the King. The shouting man in the desert. The nomad, the greatest of the Jews who is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. His message is a message that is still valid today. For the kingdom of heaven is still at hand. It is still near. And it is gathering citizens. Who is John the Baptist and what did he preach? That is what we will see this morning. I’ll be reading in chapter 3 of Matthew starting in verse 1. I’ll be reading from the NET, but follow along in your own version.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 2] Larry and his 5 year old son Thomas were setting out to build a fire for a gathering they were having at their home. Thomas was a typical 5 year old little boy and was eager to learn how to build a fire with his father. There was only one problem. Thomas had no idea what to do. Added to that, Larry was not a good teacher. Nevertheless this was a prime opportunity to raise his son with the very manly knowledge of making a fire. So they get outside, Larry claps his hands together and says lets get started. Thomas looked blankly at his father anticipating further instruction. Larry advised his son to start gathering twigs, leaves and bark for the kindling. Thomas immediately went out to the woods. After a short time, Larry got to wondering where Thomas was. He ventured out into the woods to find him. He called out for Thomas and heard a calm voice from above him say “hey dad”. Larry looked up and saw his son sitting on a branch 15 feet above the ground. He was currently in the process of spinning a twig in circles around the very much alive bark as he tried to remove a very green twig from the tree. Larry also noticed that he had accumulated quite the supply of green leaves at the foot of the tree. Larry called up to his son and asked in a bewildered tone – What are you doing son? Getting the twigs and leaves dad. They don’t come off very easy do they. He said. Larry realized that he would have to be a little more clear in his future training of all things manly with Thomas.

As is most often the case, the more experienced we are with a core set of skills or truths, the less prepared we are to teach them to someone with no experience. Larry’s mistake was assuming his son understood that dry leaves and twigs are what ignite a fire. Thomas understood that twigs and leaves come from trees – so what better place to find them than in a tree.

[Slide 3 (blank)] If you are familiar at all with the gospel, the good news, salvation or any other way of saying it – if you have lived in this country for any length of time and not lived under a rock – it is a strong probability that you have been exposed to portions of the gospel. And it would be a great mistake of me to assume that everyone in this room is not sitting in the spiritual equivalent of a very much living tree trying to harvest burnable material from it. Indeed a prevalent problem in our culture today is the great oversimplification and under explaining of the gospel. Now do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that the gospel is so complex you need to be a theologian to be saved. What I am saying is that the gospel is so complex you MUST be a theologian to understand it to the fullest scope that you can – to the extent that it will take your life to plumb the depths of its truths and you will be less than half way there.

Now because the gospel is so deep. Because it has many facets – it has been the long standing temptation of the church and those outside the church to make for themselves a gospel that is most relevant for the day in which they live. This is done through overemphasizing or underemphasizing elements of the same core truth, which will resonate well with unbelievers and believers alike. You say well what do you mean?

[Slide 4] We have the prosperity gospel which tells us that God wants us to have our best life now.

We have the self actualization gospel which tells us that God can make your life successful if you only believe

We have the self-finding gospel which tells us that God will fill the God sized hole in your heart because you know something is missing.

We have the self improvement gospel which tells us that God can help you quit smoking, or save your marriage, or get you out of debt, if you just believe

We have the reward gospel which tells us that you will be eternally rewarded with heaven if you only believe.

[Slide 5] We have the self esteem gospel which tells us that God just wants to love on you if you would only give him a chance.

We have the come as you are gospel which tells us that God wants a relationship with you and doesn’t care about where you come from.

We have the salvation from nothing gospel which tells us that God wants to save us so call on his name

We have the decision gospel which has us making a one time choice to think differently

We have the say a magic prayer gospel that gives us words to say to get us to heaven.

We have the Knowledge gospel that says just believe that this list of facts are true and you will be saved

And. There. Are. So . Many. More.

[Slide 6 (blank)] Now don’t get me wrong. In many of these there are elements of truth. But like Larry speaking to Thomas – the truths they convey get lost in the translation because the hearer does not understand the parts that are left unspoken. So they miss the true gospel. We wonder why so many teens and young adults are leaving the church. We wonder how so many pastors have affairs and why so many church members fight over insignificant things that love should cover. We wonder how churches become breeding grounds for pedophilia and how few churches do church discipline. We are shocked when churches split and are left in utter ruin and we wonder why there are so many denominations out there…

Perhaps it is because we have a whole bunch of people thinking they are saved– when they have no idea what the gospel is. And before you think that that is probably not the case – Perhaps you should read chapter 7 of Matthew right now. If you think that this couldn’t possibly be the case, I invite you to stop listening to me and read matthew chapter 7.

Well today you are in luck. Today you will hear the first step of the gospel. And that won’t come from me – a lowly pimple faced nobody behind a plexiglass pulpit. No. Today you will hear from the lips of the very first preacher of the New Covenant – The Herald of God’s Chosen Messiah and King of Glory– The first preacher of the gospel. And his message is anything but complex – In fact, it is only 9 words and really only 1 when you get down to it, and yet – his message is missing from EVERY. SINGLE. EXAMPLE. That I just gave you.

[Slide 7] That message. The first word in the gospel. Is repent. And I could do an entire sermon on repentance and indeed next week I will take a break from Matthew and just speak on this word. What it means and doesn’t mean. But until then – what we will see today from the Herald of the King is that repentance is the first step of the gospel, and it is not only the first step of the gospel but every step in the gospel that follows flows from it as well, And so since every step in the gospel is laced with repentance, we must repent and keep on repenting. Why? Because the kingdom of God is here.

Transition:

Matthew continues his story of the promised Messiah with the next proof of His identity. That proof is the one who came before Him. That is John the Baptist.

I.) John prepared people for the Messiah with a message of repentance, so we must repent for the Kingdom of God is here.

a. [Slide 8] Who is John?

i. From the Gospel According to Luke 1:5-25; 39-80

1. Of a priestly line

a. Of Abijah’s division from his father

b. descendant of Aaron from his mother

2. Of a righteous line – righteous in the sight of God – blameless

3. His mother Elizabeth could not have a son

4. His name means Yahweh is Gracious – probably meaning he is gracious to save his people and to give Elizabeth a son

5. The Spirit of God will come upon him who will give him the Power of Elijah –turning hearts of the fathers to their children – Malachi 4:6

6. He will prepare the people for the Lord – Malachi 3:1

7. He was related to Jesus, although we can't be certain how

8. He leapt in the womb of his mother when he heard Mary Jesus’ mother

ii. From the gospel according to Matthew

1. He wore camel hair clothing with a leather belt – II Kings 1:8 says that Elijah was the owner of hair (which could mean that he was either hairy or owned hair clothing) with a leather belt around his waist.

2. He ate locusts and honey

3. He started up his ministry in the wilderness, west of the Jordan river and north of the dead sea where the Jordan flows into the Dead sea. This was about 20 miles outside of Jerusalem and would have been a full day’s journey from the city – yet many from Jerusalem and Judea were coming to him to confess sins and be baptized.

b. [Slide 9] What was John’s Message and what did it mean?

i. From the Gospel According to Matthew 3: 1-12

1. Repent or turn from your sin

2. confessing sins they were baptized.

3. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand – heaven is a euphemism for God. Being sensitive to Jewish belief that saying the name of God or even some other names of God is disrespectful, Matthew, not wishing to alienate them uses a euphemism that Luke, Mark and John do not use. They say the Kingdom of God.

4. Preparation for the Messiah, and His Kingdom is unquestionably linked to repentance.

a. [Slide10] What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

i. I think we gloss over this phrase in our bibles and don’t really understand the significance of this statement.

ii. To say that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand – is to say that God’s judgment on the earth has come. It is to say that God is coming to make things right. It is saying that God is bringing his economy, his worldview, his standard to bear against the current system, worldview, and economy. In short, to say the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, would be like declaring to the average person on the street – Judgment day is near.

b. [Slide 11] How is repentance preparation for this King and His Kingdom?

i. When we understand what the Kingdom of heaven meant – perhaps repentance makes a bit more sense

ii. But what is repentance?

ii. From the Gospel According to Luke 3:1-18

1. He traveled on both sides of the Jordan preaching his message

2. Repent or turn from your wickedness and turned to God for forgiveness

3. What does that look like?

a. [Slide 12 - 13] If you have two shirts give one to the poor – stop being greedy and be giving instead.

b. If you have abundance of food share with those who are hungry – stop being selfish and think of others first

c. Tax collectors are told to stop taking extra for themselves and only take what the governments asks them to take. – Stop stealing and be honest even if it costs you something

d. Solders are told to stop extorting money and making false accusations to get extra money for bribes – Stop lying and stealing and uphold true justice

Transition:

[Slide 14 (blank)] Rather than stop on this first point and explain what repentance is – I’d like to let John’s message speak for itself. He is about to address some people who had the gospel way wrong… and it should cut us to the heart when we hear the descriptions of who these people are because if you are paying attention – you will hear remarkable similarities to 21st Century Believers.

II.) Repentance is proven by a life that is changed, So we must repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

a. In the gospel according to Luke we actually do not know that these were Pharisees and Sadducees that came to John. In the Gospel according to John we see the Pharisees present but he does not call them a brood of vipers. The gospel according to Mark does not mention this encounter at all.

b. So why would Matthew mention this, kind of aggressive and mean episode and specifically mention that it was directed to Pharisees and Sadducees.

c. To answer this you first must understand exactly who these people were.

i. [Slide 15] Pharisees

1. They were a religious and political group at the time of Christ who were seen as very pious and powerful people. The Pharisees specifically tended to be more oriented to the religious side of things.

2. They were relatively conservative when it came to interpreting scripture. What I mean by that is that they believed God’s law was to be obeyed, they believed in a bodily resurrection and in angels and demons.

3. They were a break off sect of a group called the Hasidim, who were formed as a response to the Greek influence on Judaism. Most Jews lived no different than their Gentile neighbors and this group arose to promote and insist on observing the Jewish ritualistic and ceremonial laws.

4. This group took part in the revolt of the Maccabees after Antiochus IV, Syrian King, tried to stamp out Judaism altogether. After the fallout of this revolt, the political climate shifted to favor the Pharisees and they were given seats on the Sanhedrin council- which was the supreme court and legislative body of the Jews. Essentially, they were Congress and the Supreme court rolled into one. No checks and balances there huh. 

5. The Sanhedrin was led by the high priest and consisted of 71 members. Scribes, chief priests, Pharisees and Sadducees alike = people of influence mainly.

6. The Sanhedrin under Roman rule was allowed to act unilaterally in the region of Judea. They even had their own temple police that could arrest people for crimes. The capital punishment was not a sentence they were permitted by the Romans to carry out and Roman rulers did reserve the right to interrupt the Sanhedrin’s rulings.

7. By the time of Christ the Sadducees took the majority control over the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees were still represented, but they were not the majority voice.

8. It is important to understand that although they did not have a majority voice in the council – Pharisees occupied a position of influence among Jews. They were the religious equivalent of rockstars and athletes. What they said, didn’t have any power, but it did bear influence.

9. In the Old Testament it was the Priests who were responsible for teaching the people from the law, but Jewish people had lost all respect for the priestly order, as many of them had become hypocrites and lived unholy lifestyles. The trust of the people for the teaching of God’s word went to scribes or experts in the law. These people did not have to be priests or of the priestly line at all. Many Pharisees became scribes or at least employed Scribes to advance their beliefs.

10. The best way to understand who the Pharisees were, is simply to understand them as a party or denomination. They had various points of view and came from varied walks of life. What they shared were a common set of ideologies based on the strict adherence to God’s law.

11. However, what is clear is that they were legalists. What does that mean?

a. They believed that by keeping the law, they could be acceptable to God. This was a standard that they preached and taught to others, although in many cases they did not themselves keep it. Especially when it came to more internal, unable to detect violations.

b. They also added laws to God’s word and saw them as equal in importance to God’s law.

c. They paid particular attention to the laws concerning purity (being unclean and clean) and tithing – mainly because most Jews of that day had all but abandoned these practices.

12. Overall, they grossly misunderstood the law of Moses, elevated the patriarchs to positions equal to God, and focused on external obedience rather than internal change.

13. In so doing, they held the keys to the truth – and through tradition, pride, and desire for power – they suppressed it from the people and used their influence to force their viewpoints.

ii. [Slide 16] Sadducees

1. This party was, in many ways the opposite of the Pharisee party.

2. Unlike the Pharisees, they were only wealthy priests, aristocrats or merchants. This probably influenced their political motivations over their religious ones. They desired to keep the status quo since they lived comfortably.

3. They did believe in the law of Moses and Levitical purity (Clean and Unclean)

4. But they rejected many portions of the Old Testament as not being God’s word.

5. They tended to be more practically minded than the Pharisees sticking to the spirit of the law rather than the letter. As such they took a more logical, and less miraculous approach to scripture. Placing greater emphasis on provable fact and reason than on faith

6. As a conclusion then, they did not believe in bodily resurrection or angels or demons.

7. Logically, to keep power and status they concluded that the ends justified the means. Even if they had to disobey the law of God, they did so to stay in power because that ultimately would have been better for God’s people.

8. They also rejected the oral traditions and extra laws that the Pharisees held as equal to the revealed Word of God.

9. In fact, anything not in the first 5 books of the bible they rejected. There was no afterlife, no punishment or reward after death. This life is all there was for the Sadducees – which will be an interesting point to consider when we get to chapter 22 in Matthew.

d. So now that we know who these people are, we can see why John would have been less than gracious to them. Why? Because they polluted the truth. Both parties were groups that the Jewish people looked to for instruction and direction, and both groups were responsible for chasing the people away from it.

e. [Slide 17] How does John confront them?

i. Brood of Vipers – silent, slippery, swift and deadly. Perversion of the truth can be subtle and indeed most often it is subtle. But perversion of the truth is deadly and destructive.

ii. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come – Why are you here? You aren’t here to repent or turn from your wickedness, so why have you come?

iii. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance – If you truly have turned from your sin, it will produce enduring change in your lifestyle.

iv. Abraham as our father –

1. The Jews in general, but their leadership specifically, believed that they were a chosen people of God and that they, as long as they were Jews, were still His. In a very real sense it didn’t really matter far they were from God as long as they were children of Abraham.

2. John brings this to a crashing halt by telling them that being a physical descendant of Abraham is nothing special. Why? Because if God was desperate for physical descendants of Abraham, he could turn the rocks into his descendants.

v. A tree without good fruit – The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Meaning that God is reinforcing His desire not for sacrifices, prayers, ritual or simple conformity. He desires His people to be surrendered to Him. To be His children. To live as though they have turned from their sin.

f. [Slide 18] What is John’s Baptism for?

i. We see in the gospel according to John that the Pharisees responded by asking John why he baptized people if he wasn’t the great prophet, Elijah or the Messiah.

ii. John then describes what his baptism is for. It is for those who have confessed their sin. Those who have turned from their sin

iii. It is symbolic of washing away sin. It is symbolic of killing the old way of thinking and resurrecting in a new way of thinking.

iv. John’s baptism was symbolic. And it was symbolic of the One who would come after him. Because that One who comes after him has his own baptism. But that baptism is not a symbol.

g. [Slide 19] Who is this one?

i. More powerful than Elijah. More powerful than a man who was empowered by the Spirit of God.

ii. One that John, even though he was a great man, was not even worthy to carry his sandals

1. The lowest duty of a slave was to carry the sandals of his master.

2. They would be in charge of cleaning, keeping, taking off and putting on the sandals.

3. If their master would wish to leave without wearing them, the servant would follow with them in arms.

4. To carry the sandals of a master – is the humblest position a slave could occupy

h. [Slide 20] What is this Baptism - Holy Spirit and fire?

i. When we read on, John provides an illustration as an explanation for us.

ii. Before the days of combines, in the middle east they would take their grain in its shells and put it on the floor and allow the livestock to step on it. This process would break open the shells freeing the seeds. After this was done, they would take a pitchfork kind of object and throw the broken husks and seeds into the open air.

iii. The chaff – or stalks and husks of the seeds are much lighter than the seeds and would blow away in the wind. The seeds would fall back to the ground. Eventually, in this process, they would be able to pick out the seeds and store them in the storehouse.

iv. Then they would gather up the remaining chaff and burn it.

v. Understanding this process provides us with a vivid interpretational guide for what is meant to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with Fire.

1. They are two baptisms – meaning two outcomes

a. salvation in the storehouse

b. Destruction in inextinguishable fire = had John just said fire, we might not have grounds to apply backward the illustration and his original thought. However, saying inextinguishable fire brings to mind the image from Job and Isaiah in the Old Testament of a place of torment that cannot be put out. He is no longer talking about grain.

c. The reference here would have flew in the face of the Sadducee who do not believe in the after life.

2. They are one baptism – meaning the same outcome. Doesn’t that contradict what you just said?

a. To be baptized in the Spirit then is to be immersed, to disappear into Him, to be clothed with him. To be destroyed by him.

b. There is destruction in the unquenchable fire and there is destruction in the Holy Fire of the Spirit of God.

c. But one destruction leads to life and the other to judgment.

d. But make no mistake – you will be destroyed either way.Why?

e. Because regardless of which it is – your kingdom will crumble. Your empire of flesh and blood will fall. And only His empire will remain. And at that point you will either be citizen or outcast. Seed or chaff.

Transition:

[Slide 21 (blank)] What are we to come away with today from this message of Johns? Just this. That repentance is so important an aspect to the very fabric of the gospel that to remove it gives you something that is not the gospel at all. And if it is integral to the fabric of the gospel for conversion then it is integral to the fabric of the gospel for progressive growth in Christ-likeness as well.

Conclusion:

The Kingdom of God is coming – in fact – it is here. And it is coming in like a freight train. You can’t hope to stop it and you can’t bear to take it. He will ride in and utterly decimate everything that you are and throw you into unquenchable fire because His Kingdom is here and there is no more time to mess around.

Turn from your wicked way! Turn to God! Turn and keep turning! Repent and believe- repent and faith – these are two concepts that are woven to each other and cannot be separated. In fact you cannot believe until you have repented because you cannot put a new King in power until you dethrone the other.

How did we start missing this element of salvation? Where did we get this messed up?

Well we would like to think that the Pharisees and Sadducees no longer exist. That history isn’t repeating itself. We’d like to think that after 2000 years we have made some headway in understanding the gospel. But may I submit to you that Americans are basically the reincarnated 1st Century Jew.

What do I mean by that? Well I notice some staggering similarities between our cultures.

1.) [Slide 22] We are absolutely saturated in Judeo-Christian influence –

a. 1st Century Jews were a nation established by God. They had a law given to them by God. They had priests appointed by God. They had promises given by God. They were ruled by God once and would one day be ruled by God again. They were God’s chosen people and although they in recent history had been exiled from their home – at one time their nation was the greatest and most prosperous on earth.

b. As a nation we are absolutely saturated in Judeo-Christian influence. Our laws and customs – even the founding of this land was for religious purposes. Over 70% of this nation claim to be Christians.

c. Not only do we have the bible in our language – we have hundreds of versions of the bible in our language.

d. Not only do we have teachers of the bible, but we have hundreds of universities that teach the bible.

e. Not only do we have hundreds of books explaining the bible, but we have thousands of resources that teach about the bible.

f. Not only is it legal for us to worship in a public building – but there are over 300,000 protestant churches alone

g. The Long and the short of it is, that like the nation of Israel, if any country on the planet should be following after God – it should be us. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we are far from God and, according to Romans 1, currently under his judgment which is evidenced by what God is not only allowing us to do, but also what we are allowed to consider good, natural and normal

2.) [Slide 23] Despite having unfettered access to God’s Word – we are theologically oblivious–

a. The Pharisees took the law of God as their guide and attempted to live it out in their own human effort and apply generous amounts of tradition which they equated to God’s law. By their performance they would either please or displease God. And although they had a high view of scripture, they ignored the passages that disagreed with their theology.

b. This is exactly the state of the Catholic church and it is exactly the state of Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches. In either case they take church tradition and elevate it on par if not greater than the revealed Word of God. Imposing church preferences upon all and even questioning the commitment of those who do not share the same convictions. Believing that the taking of the cup and bread can give more grace to contribute to pleasing God is exactly the same as saying that if you wear pants as a woman then you are displeasing God. Saying the pope is the infallible vicar of Christ is exactly the same as believing every word that comes out of your pastors mouth without it being substantiated by the Word of God. Saying that priests cannot be married is exactly the same as saying you must do courtship rather than dating. The common thread is that EVERYTHING I just said is not in scripture. But when you elevate it to scripture, demand that others adhere, and see your adherence as gaining better standing with God – You are a Pharisee reborn. And they may go by many names, but there are several groups of Pharisees in our nation, who have the Word of truth and wield it to their own destruction.

c. The Sadducees took liberally the law of God to the point that they denied scripture, and bent it to accommodate their secular and political agendas. They denied miracles and attempted to become as acceptable by their pagan rulers as they could while still maintaining the moniker of Jew.

d. This is exactly where liberal Christianity is in our nation. To the extent that they would say “it doesn’t matter that the bible isn’t 100% inerrant. It doesn’t matter if evolution is true and the bible got it wrong. Who cares if miracles are impossible. Of course Jesus didn’t actually raise from the dead. All that matters is that we follow his example for us” There are liberal churches today teach exactly this. They say that the bible has errors and only portions are God’s word. And every time science comes out with proof that another portion of scripture is wrong, they cut it from their canon. They reinterpret the words of scripture to accommodate culturally acceptable practices that the bible condemns.

e. But even in the middle of evangelical churches there springs even more dangerous doctrinal errors. And it is the great elimination of the word repent from the gospel of the church. And even the few churches that do discuss repentance, do it in error.

f. Next week we will define what repentance is in more detail, but for now let me show you an illustration of it.

Go with me to Jonah chapter 3. This is after Jonah returned from being swallowed by the whale. I learned recently that Jonah was one of the few prophets that had a reputation for giving good news. Jereboam the second had taken the throne of Israel and as with all the kings of Israel he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet, God saw the suffering of his people and He revealed to Jonah that Israel would take the costal lands back from an enemy. And they did. Jonah probably was a very liked prophet. But having to preach a message of hope to the Ninevites would have been a sure fire way to get him kicked out of his church. You see the Israelites hated the NInivites. And for Jonah to preach a message of repentance to them meant that they might actually repent and God might actually forgive them. He runs. God uses a large fish to bring him back. Lets read this whole chapter. I want you to see 3 things from this chapter

1.) The primary message of Jonah was the judgment of God. Whether he spoke anything else we can’t be sure – but we do know that these wicked people heard a prophet from Yahweh say that they were to be destroyed in 40 days. He spoke nothing of hope, forgiveness or love.

2.) These people repented to the extent that they didn’t just recognize that they had done some bad things – they realized that they were hopeless before the unending power and wrath of a Holy God. They didn’t pray a prayer – they didn’t walk an aisle – they didn’t make a decision… they considered their own lives worthless – in complete opposition to God and turned from that wickedness it bitter sorrow

3.) They had no idea if God would spare them or not – but it didn’t matter. They repented anyway. They hoped and begged for his mercy – but they had no guarantee.

Would you have gotten saved if the person witnessing to you told you that there is no guarantee that God will forgive you, but God is coming – his judgment is here – and He won’t spare anyone?

That fierce God of Jonah’s day is the same God we serve today. Which leads me to the final similarity that I will bring up today, although there are many more.

3.) [Slide 24] The final point of similarity that I’d like to point out for us today between the American Church and a 1st Century Jew is simply the issue of favoritism.

a. You see the Jews in the 1st Century looked at the culture around them as if they were surrounded by diseased people. They saw the plague of the gentile and the infestation of sin all around them. They concluded that God would come down and destroy the pagans from among them and purify the wicked people with his baptizing fiery judgment.

b. In American church, and perhaps in this one, we think that our culture needs revival. We think that people need to get saved. We think that people need to repent. We think that the godless need to bow their knees to Him.

c. But John the Baptist was not baptizing gentile pagans. He baptized Jews. He did not call for gentiles to repent. But for the Jews to repent.

d. Listen if this nation has any hope of ever coming back to God, don’t pray for revival in the godless. Don’t expect God’s spirit to move upon the heart of the depraved. Don’t expect to grow this church or further God’s kingdom by adding a multitude of souls in some great Pentecost experience.

e. This message is for you Christian. This message is for you Church goer. This message is for you Religiously engaged! It is… REPENT. Why? Because the Kingdom of God is here!

f. God is not waiting for you to start a relationship with Him he is waiting for you to move out of the way and serve Him as King. Because he is coming like a tornado and the only thing you can do is stop running away from His power and might and turn around, open up your arms and let Him obliterate your kingdom, let him crush your empire of flesh and blood and replace it with His own. THAT, friends, is repentance.

g. The godless outside these walls don’t need to repent – the godless in these walls need to repent.

h. The sinners outside these walls don’t need to repent – we need to repent.

i. Revival doesn’t start in the heart of the wicked it starts in the heart of the religiously apathetic.

[Slide 25 (blank)] God’s Kingdom is here. All that remains is the strike of the hammer and the justice of the Lord will reign down.

Are we still so concerned with building our own kingdoms? Are we still so preoccupied with ruling our own empires.

Abdicate your throne. Reject everything you are to become everything He wants you to be. This is not essential only for conversion but EVERY DAY of our lives is the battle to oust ourselves and be overwhelmed by the Lord of heaven’s armies as He takes. Us. Over.

Repent… For God’s Empire is raging toward us… indeed - there are times that I swear I can almost hear the hoof beats.

Title: The King of Every Thought

Text: Matthew 1:18-2:23

FCF: We often struggle engaging critics of Christ appropriately.

Prop: Jesus is the King, The Messiah of God as shown by a 1st Century Jewish Hermeneutic, so we must engage critics of Christ intelligently from their own point of authority.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 1. This week’s sermon preparation was what all pastor’s fear. I made it to Thursday evening and was surprisingly done with the sermon for this week. I thought I had a pretty good bead on what was being discussed in the passage. I thought I had a pretty unique angle on them. In fact, the application section came together so easily it almost wrote itself. Unfortunately, when I came in Friday morning, there were a few loose ends I wanted to shore up. In the process of tugging on them – everything unraveled. I had interpreted the passage completely wrong. I repented, asked God to forgive me of my arrogance, and put my nose to the grind. What I give you is the product of two days of work. Normally a sermon will take the entire week to completely polish. I had to depend, not on the spiritual gifts that God had given me… but on God Himself this week. He was gracious enough, to reveal what Matthew was actually saying, and I trust that the Spirit will use it.

Last week we opened up the book of Matthew learning about its author, date and purpose. We discussed how this book is directed toward the first century Jew who missed and crucified their own Messiah and King and as such there would be a delay on God’s grace toward them as He turned His attention toward the gentile. However, Matthew is writing to try to win as many of his own people as he can. He also writes to the first century Gentile conveying a message of hope and grace that they can be grafted into the promises that God had given to the Jews. Last week we really just focused on the pedigree of the King. We saw that He was the ancestor of adulterers and fornicators. of murderers and idolaters, of Gentiles and Jews alike. The messiah came to seek and to save all men. At the core of this book is 1 primary application that we revealed last week. That is the great humbling of our hearts before a sovereign God. In a list of names we discovered His divine hand bringing about His perfect will. The book of Matthew shows Christ as King. And the natural application from that, is for us to bow in trust and surrender. Today we will see that Kingship of Christ again, as Matthew reveals how even objections from the Jews regarding the origin of this Jesus of Nazareth prove them to be but foolish unbelievers who simply do not understand the scriptures. I am in Matthew 1 and I’ll begin reading in verse 18 from the NET, but follow along in your preferred version.

Sermon Intro:

Now this is going to be a very weird sermon. As such - usually after we pray I tell a story that brings us to where we are going. Today there is no better story than the story behind the story Matthew is telling. It is so intricate and complicated that we don’t have time for you to hear a story about Waverly that points us to where we are going today. I hope you can forgive me for that.

Today we have to get right to the content because it is so deep, that if we spend too much time splashing around on the surface, I’ll lose you by the time we find the secrets on the seabed. Ok.

[Slide 2] Now our biggest challenge as we study any book in scripture, but especially this book, is to see it through the eyes of the people for which it was intended. To enter the mind of a 1st century Jew and Gentile and read the words that Matthew is writing here with their understanding, unlocks the intent and emphasis of the author. [Slide 3] We read this account of the first couple years of the incarnate Christ and we think of Christmas. We remember carols and the holidays. Family, food and presents. A time that was not actually that long ago.

In crafting this sermon I was tempted to focus on the narrative. I was tempted to make it mostly a review of the birth story of Christ. In short, I was going to give a Christmas message on February 19th. But as I studied this passage do you know what words kept thumping in my head. “What did Matthew want His readers to understand here?” They probably knew, at least in part the story of Jesus’ birth. They were at most 60 years from it happening. How much do you know or remember about the Suez Canal Crisis or the launching of Sputnik? Those events happened 60 years ago. So why is Matthew telling this origin story of Jesus of Nazareth to people who already know it?

[Slide 4] Because nothing good comes out of Nazareth. These are the disciple Nathaniel’s words when he was first introduced to the gospel. And it gives us a clue as to what exactly is going on in the mind of a 1st Century Jewish person.

[Slide 5] We look at people like Mohammed and Joseph Smith and we look at their lives and how debauched and wicked they were. That motivates us to question the validity of their claims.

[Slide 6] A first century Jew sees a man who is from a town that no one has ever heard anything good about. He spent time in a land known for mysticism and astrology where he probably learned his demonic ability to perform miracles. There is no evidence he ever lived in Bethlehem. Furthermore, he was the son of an adulterous mother who’s father did not follow the ways of Moses in divorcing the woman to put her to shame for her sin. And now, this illegitimate son, a sorcerer, from the good for nothing city of Nazareth has the audacity to claim that He is the Messiah?

You see Matthew isn’t telling the story as if they had never heard it. [Slide 7] How do I know that? Because the phrase “all this took place to fulfill” sticks out like a sore thumb in all of this. This phrase, all this took place to fulfill, happens 11 times throughout the book of Matthew – and in this short 30 verse section, there are 5 of them. Almost half. Why? Because Matthew is passionately proving that Jesus was born of a virgin, was born in Bethlehem, went to Egypt , avoided a child massacre, and settled in his home in Nazareth, which was all according to the plan of God for His Messiah.

[Slide 8 (blank)] Do you know something else intriguing? Matthew, to prove that this was God’s plan for His Messiah, goes to 4 passages of scripture, ALL of which no 1st Century Jew, and probably no 21st Century Theologian would have thought to use to prove all the truths Matthew presents in these passages. In fact the fifth “proof” that he has, is so vague that it is hard to know exactly what he is talking about at all. Is Matthew just making this stuff up? What is happening here?

[Slide 9] Matthew is actually using the accepted methods of Jewish scripture interpretational principles. For the 1st century Jew there were 4 layers of meaning in every text.

1.) The plain or literal meaning – What is on the surface of the text

2.) The meaning that is hinted at by the text – What is under the surface of the text

3.) The meaning that is explained by other passages of scripture – What is missing from the text

4.) The meaning that is secret – What is hidden and only revealed by experience with the text

Matthew plays on these principles to isolate scripture passages from the Old Testament to prove that all of these critiques on the early life of Christ, were predicted or predictable according to Old Testament revelation.

He is not doing this to provide to us an appropriate way to interpret the Old Testament, but to challenge the views of Jesus’ critics.

[Slide 10] In short, he is engaging here in 1st Century Apologetics. And he is doing so in a way that leads us to our take home point for today.

You see he does not combat the accusations against Jesus with the words of Jesus. He doesn’t defend Jesus by his experience of being His disciple. He doesn’t defend Jesus by pointing to Jesus’ teaching prowess or miracles. No.

[Slide 11]Matthew shows that Jesus is the King, The Messiah of God by a 1st Century Jewish Hermeneutic, or method of study.

[Slide 12] So what does that mean for us? It means that we must engage critics of Christ intelligently from their own point of authority. He takes how they think and what they base truth on and he upends their criticisms of Christ. A tactic he no doubt learned from Christ Himself.

Transition:

We ought to do the same. Let me show you what Matthew does here because it is quite remarkable and stunningly brilliant. First off, we will see how he takes the accusation of adultery and flips it on end to show how it was absolutely a miraculous event instead. [Slide 13] Now today, we won't have the narrative portions on the screen behind me for two reasons. 1- it is 30 verses. That is a lot. and 2 - I want you to see how Matthew quotes these texts and how they are written in the Old Testament. We will have the other places in scripture that we will go to on the screen.

I.) Jesus was not the product of adultery, but the hinted fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy to Ahaz

a. Mary was with child before Joseph was intimate with her. They were betrothed which in ancient Jewish culture was as good as married but not good enough to consummate the marriage yet. The betrothal typically took a year to complete.

b. She was given the child from the Holy Spirit:

i. The Importance of the Spirit of God to a 1st Century Jew:

1. Seen as the bringer of truth

2. Seen as the bringer of re-creation

ii. The bringer of truth and re-creation was the “father” of Jesus.

c. Joseph had a right to stone Mary for this. Being a just man he thought not to embarrass her but to simply divorce her quietly. In fact this would have been the honorable thing to do. Some even suggest that to NOT divorce her… NOT stone her and to marry her instead and adopt her illegitimate son as his own, would have been dishonorable.

d. But an angel of God came down and let him in on a secret. That Jesus was born of the Spirit. That Mary had remained faithful to him. That he was to adopt this child and name him Yeshua – which means God Saves.

e. [Slide 14] This fulfills the prophesy of Isaiah. Look with me at Isaiah 7:14

i. God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign.

ii. Ahaz, being a wicked King, as usual he does not do what God asks.

iii. Isaiah gives him a sign anyway.

iv. Now we see this passage through the lens of 21st Century Americans who have celebrated Christmas for a long time. In fact most of your versions of the bible have probably translated the word here as virgin. Correct?

v. However in Hebrew this word is simply young woman. It is not a word used often in the old testament. However, what is clear is that this is a sign for Ahaz that seems to have been fulfilled by Isaiah’s own son who we read about in chapter 8. Now follow me here.

vi. Instead of using the word wife or virgin he used the word young woman which can mean either young married woman, young maiden, or virgin.

vii. Furthermore, his wife, the prophetess, does not name him Immanuel (which means God with us) but Maher Shalal Hash Baz (which means One hastens to the plunder; One hurries to the loot).

viii. These are huge clues to indicate to us that this was a double prophesy. But 1st Century Jews did not see the second layer. They only saw Isaiah’s son as fulfillment for Ahaz.

ix. And just to further hit this point home, that Jesus fulfills this hinted layer of prophesy, Matthew adds this little note. about the Angel telling Joseph to name his son Jesus – Yeshua.

x. Let me be like ULTRA plain. Jesus’ name means God saves. The angel reveals to name him this because He will save His people from their sins. In other Words He is GOD and HE IS LIVING AMONG YOU.

xi. So Matthew connects the dots and says – see, by naming him Jesus, for that reason, His name means Immanuel folks. He is with us.

Transition:

Even though Jesus was never given a name of Immanuel, and even though Isaiah did not use the word virgin, we see the Spirit of God revealing, by Jewish Hermeneutic, the dual layer of truth behind Isaiah’s prophesy. If you are the critics, your argument is already undone. Because if this man is born of the Holy Spirit – where else can you argue? But Matthew is not finished dismantling their critiques. [Slide 15] Next he aims his calculated attack on the movements of Jesus during his first two years of his life. They concluded that being from Nazareth he could not possibly be the Messiah. Matthew expands on their understanding of the prophesy of Bethlehem.

II.) Although Jesus lived in Galilee, he was born in Bethlehem as other passages of scripture expand on the truth from the prophesy of Micah

a. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, probably 2 years after, Magi or sorcerers and diviners came from the east. They were probably not seeking Christ to formally worship Him as God, but being astrologers they were combining Jewish prophesy and their astrology and coming to a conclusion that the King of the Jews, their messiah had been born.

b. Probably to pay homage to him and validate that their conclusions were true, they came to Jerusalem to find him.

c. The Star of Jacob, is a prophesy uttered by Balaam when he was asked to curse the Israelites and actually blessed them instead.

d. The phrase stuck out to the very paranoid Herod the Great, was the King of the Jews. He was troubled indeed by a child king that would usurp his authority. So he assembled the chief priests and elders, who would know where the Messiah was to be born and they told him Bethlehem.

e. [Slide 16] Then Matthew quotes Micah 5:2 and II Samuel 5:2

i. However, there are some corrections that Matthew makes. In Micah 5:2 the region surrounding Bethlehem is known by a different name that Matthew clarifies with “land of Judea”

ii. Also, in Micah, the prophet says that Bethlehem is too small to be considered part of the greater clans of Judah but then goes on to talk about how a ruler will come from it that has his origins in the distant past.

iii. Matthew clarifies this by saying the opposite, that Bethlehem is not least among the clans of Judah – which is what is inferred from other scriptures and by implication that a ruler will arise out of it.

iv. [Slide 17] He adds the shepherd of Israel part which is a statement given to David from God – further explaining the idea of the origins in the distant past – Matthew makes it plain by saying it was David.

v. So Matthew basically gives us "the message" version of Micah 5:2 which is at best a loose quotation and in reality more of a commentary. Which it isn't wrong to commentate on a passage but when you say - That he fulfilled what was prophesied in the commentary on the prophet's words.. it gets a little murky. But this was a totally acceptable way to interpret scripture to a 1st Century Jew.

f. After hearing this prophesy, Herod summoned the Magi again and asked them when the star arose. Which we know from later context was around 2 years prior.

g. Herod sends them to find the child and ask they tell him where they found Him so he may pay homage to the child as well.

h. The Magi came to the house being led by a star and offered him gifts. 1 befitting a King = Gold, 1 befitting a priest = Frankincense , and 1 befitting a burial = Myrrh.

i. They bowed down and worshipped – probably not knowing exactly what Jesus was.

j. Being mystics, and interpreters of dreams, they were warned in a dream, although the actor of the dream is hidden which further indicates that these men were not God fearing men, simply diviners of signs.

Transition:

How interesting to note for a 1st Century Jew, as Matthew delivers yet another blow to their arguments, that Pagan sorcerers and wicked Kings understood who this Jesus was while they being Jews, continue to argue against Him. Matthew has only begun though. He has shown that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem and furthermore that pagans thought Jesus was the Messiah. [Slide 18] Now Matthew moves to another critique of the Jews. That Jesus went to Egypt and there learned his heretical and mystical ways. A baseless accusation that Matthew is happy to turn on end.

III.) Although Jesus did spend time in Egypt, it was to fulfill the hinted at type of the Messiah to Exodus era Israel in Hosea,

a. An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and reveals the danger that is imminent by Herod. That he aims to search and destroy Him.

b. So the angel tells Joseph to take his family and go to Egypt and abide there until he was called back.

c. And so they remained there until after Herod the Great died. which was around 4 B.C. and for all those who are good at math, that means, yes, that Jesus was born around 6 B.C. The designers of our calendar missed it by a bit.

d. [Slide 19] Matthew states that this trip to Egypt was prophesied in Hosea 11:1

i. Here in the text God is speaking of Israel being like a son to God.

ii. He summoned that son out of Egypt.

iii. If you notice as the passage goes on, Israel becomes plural. God says that he summoned them not him.

iv. This is what we call in scripture a type.

v. Prophesy is when someone uses words to describe what will happen.

vi. A type – is when something happens to show what will happen.

vii. Here we see that Israel being called out of Egypt is not necessarily completely for their salvation, although that was certainly part of it, but it was also to produce an illustration to predict that the Messiah would also come out of Egypt having been saved from death.

Transition:

Matthew, in his continued assault on how anything good could come out of Nazareth, has shown that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and how pagans believed it was Jesus who fulfilled this. He has shown that Although Jesus left Bethlehem, that was only to provide more evidence that He was the promised Messiah. [Slide 20] Now he will draw even more correlation to the Egypt story.

IV.) Although Jesus did not live in Bethlehem, the massacre of Herod there proves he was born there which was a secret meaning of the prophesy of Jeremiah.

a. Herod was furious that the Magi did not return. A grand total of 2 years since the star appeared, the Magi found him and worshipped him and Herod getting wise that they had skedaddled.

b. He issues an order to kill all the male children of Bethlehem and the surrounding area who are 2 years old or younger.

c. [Slide 21] Matthew reveals this to be a fulfillment of a secret layer of prophesy from Jeremiah 31:15

i. Ramah is a town in Benjamin approximately five miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem. It was on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem.

ii. This section of scripture is very obviously not talking about the birth of the Messiah but of the Millennial reign of Christ.

iii. Again, this is totally appropriate for Matthew to do, under Jewish interpretational principles.

iv. He is saying that this is a secret meaning of this text.

v. He draws this correlation probably based on the location of Ramah in proximity to Bethlehem.

d. Now this is no great massacre of Herod. Bethlehem was a small village. To kill all the male children would have probably been less than 100 boys. Probably why there is not historical record of it, but

e. When you combine that Jesus is a type of Israel coming out of Egypt with the story of Moses and how Pharoah tried to euthanize many Israelites to control their numbers and you compare that to Herod doing something similar - you get the distinct impression that Matthew is not a bumbling fool at handling the Old Testament but is a masterful arguer posing this question to 1st century Jews…

f. With this many similarities and types – can He really not be the Messiah?

Transition:

So he has shown that there is no validity in their critiques of Jesus' early life. That he was born of a virgin, not through adultery. That he was born in Bethlehem making Micah's statement about Bethlehem no longer true. That he came out of Egypt as was foreshadowed by Israel coming out of Egypt, not so he could learn sorcery or witchcraft. And finally that he lived in Bethlehem for quite some time but it was necessary that he leave there lest He be destroyed. As the final nail in the coffin of the Jewish Critique of Jesus being the messiah - finally Matthew will show that Jesus had to live in Nazareth to fulfill a secret layer of prophesy at the heart of many prophets writings.

V.) Jesus lived in Nazareth to fulfill the secret layer of prophesy given by many prophets that he would be called a Nazarene

a. As promised an angel of the Lord came again to Joseph after Herod's death to inform them that they could go back from Egypt to Israel.

b. Joseph obeys, and attempts to relocate, conceivably back to Jerusalem or Bethlehem. However, he learns that Archelaus, Herod's son was now ruling in his stead, Joseph became uneasy about going back to where they were prior to fleeing to Egypt.

c. Another dream comes to Joseph and the actor of the dream is not known but we do know that he was warned not to go back to Bethlehem or Jerusalem.

d. Instead, he withdrew to what Luke tells us is the home town of Mary and Joseph which was in the region of Galilee, and the town's name was Nazareth.

e. The primary point of the 1st Century Jewish critic, was that Jesus was from Nazareth.

f. Why?

g. Because Nazareth was insignificant. The total population of the town would have been no greater than 2,000 people. And because Nazareth had a bad reputation. It wasn't as bad as our Modern day Las Vegas. It just was not a place that you lived if you wanted your life to spiritually matter.

h. Thus the 1st Century Jewish Critic would say that nothing good comes from Nazareth. The Messiah was supposed to be of a reputable place like Bethlehem, but the fact that Jesus is known as a Nazarene disqualifies him from being the Christ.

i. Then Matthew says that being called a Nazarene fulfills what the prophets spoke about.

j. One problem... No prophesy anywhere in the Old Testament speaks at all about Jesus being called a Nazarene. Why? Because Nazareth is a town that didn't exist until the Old Testament was complete. So what in the world was Matthew talking about?

i. Jesus was a Nazarite, meaning he took the Nazaretic vow.

1. No where in scripture does it indicate that the Messiah would take the vow, nor does it indicate that Jesus became a Nazarite.

2. Even though they sound the same, Nazarene and Nazarite are not the same thing.

ii. Isaiah 11:1

1. Often the prophets called the Messiah the shoot or branch of David.

2. The word for shoot or branch is Neser. Which in Hebrew would have been spelled NSR.

3. Now since the town of Nazareth is so new in origin, people have guessed that the name Nazareth actually means branch or root. It was set at the foot of a hill so perhaps the meaning is root of the hill.

4. Therefore Matthew would be doing some word play here.

5. This isn't that great of an argument though. Simply because even though Nazareth looks similar to Branch in Hebrew - In Greek they look nothing alike. Matthew is writing this in Greek. If this is his implication, he would have just lost most of his audience.

6. Whatever the association here to being called a Nazarene, it would have to be obvious enough to let the light-bulbs click.

iii. There is a third explanation that I lean toward. It is not the name of Nazarene that Jesus would be affiliated with, but the reputation Nazarene that Jesus would be affiliated with.

1. If you call someone a Detroiter, New Yorker, San Franciscan, or Bostonian - each of those carries a certain amount of reputation. Calling someone a Detroiter could mean you are accusing them of being involved in gangs. Calling someone a San Franciscan could mean you are calling them a homosexual or a liberal.

2. And even enduring from bible times into our day when you call someone a Sodomite is to call them a person who engages in homosexual practice.

3. But in reality, being a Sodomite was simply being a citizen of the city of Sodom. A San Franciscan is simply a citizen of San Francisco and so on.

4. We have already discussed the general reputation of those who were Nazarenes. They are people of a podunk town that barely has a reputation but the reputation they do have, isn't good.

5. And THAT - is a theme that is heavily consistent in the prophets. That the Messiah would be of NO reputation. That he would be despised for no reason by his own people. That he would be rejected. That he would be killed.

k. [Slide 23] In other words - The fact that these 1st Century Jews say he could not be the Messiah because He is a Nazarene, is actually evidence that HE IS THE MESSIAH!

Transition:

Matthew has done it through the inspiration of the Spirit of God. He has utterly dismantled from stem to stern the entire argument of the 1st Century Jewish critic of Christ to the point that they, in their criticism, have actually validated Him as the Messiah! And the method he used to do that... was their own method. And this is a vivid illustration to us on how we are to engage the 21st Century critic of Christ.

Conclusion:

Our take home point today is simple, but has overwhelmingly complicated implications. It is that we must engage our culture in the apologetical defense of our savior with their own authority. And it is not necessarily to convince them of the truth, as it is to be a good ambassador of Jesus Christ.

Now this is a complex statement, and I want to spend the next few minutes unpacking it.

1.) We must engage our culture - Primarily we are to be a people who rise to the occasion and do not shy away from someone who is mocking or criticizing our King. Now that does not mean we do it in a way that is attacking them or their person. But that we are striking down the strongholds of their worldview - and we are doing it passionately to stand for our King.

2.) in the apologetical defense of our savior - To Apologize, in the strict definition of the word, is to give an answer. It is to respond. We think it means to say sorry. But in the strictest definition of apology, it is to respond to allegations with defense. My guess is that saying sorry became the ironic form of apology offering no defense and only asking for mercy.

But we are to give an answer for the faith that is within us. We are not to shy away from defending our faith in a way that honors our King and destroys the strongholds of lies built into the culture around us.

3.) And most central to what we learned here today - We must do this using the authority of our opponent.

Matthew is not advocating that we treat the Old Testament this way. That we look for secret meanings in numbers and imagery. He is not saying we scour the text for analogy and types and see how they apply to Christ or otherwise. He is illustrating to us how He engaged the top critics of His day - the Pharisee. He did it using their own method of interpreting the bible.

Now listen very closely, because it is absolutely embarrassing what I am about to tell you.

Christians in the past have engaged in debates with empirical, rational, scientists who support evolution. And in most cases it is absolutely appalling to watch. Why? Because the scientist puts forth human done, scientific research, collected over several studies, that prove that the earth is billions of years old and that these organisms did not live together but over many years evolving into more complicated organisms. The Christian's rebutal... The bible says it was created in 6 days.

Instead of Matthew saying all he said in chapters 1 and 2... it would be like him saying ... well Jesus said that his origin is fine so it is fine.

If the critic you are defending against does not accept the bible as their authority, you cannot use the bible to defend your position. So how do you engage an empirical, rational, scientist on evolution? You use facts, logic, and scientific evidence to prove creation. And you might be saying... Is that possible? GO FIND OUT!

It is unacceptable for a Christian to say - Well I don't know anything about fossils but the bible says it was made in 6 days. Not only are you being a poor apologist for your faith but you are actually solidifying your opponent in their position because you haven't given them a reason to think they are wrong.

What about a person that says Jesus was married because of this book and that book? What do you do then? You find out everything you can about those books - actually read them - and then engage that person with the errors and inconsistencies of that book. You may not cause them to abandon their position, but anyone who overhears what you are saying immediately doubts the book that led them to that position. You have destabalized their authority.

And that should be our goal as apologists. We ought to be destabilizers of the authorities of men.

What if you engage with a person that says Jesus is only a prophet because Allah says so in the Quran? It means you study the Quran and the other beliefs that Islam hold - find Christians saved out of Islam and hear what brought them to Christ and use their story as a defense. Now I won't ask you to raise your hand but how many of you have uttered the words "The Quran says" and have never read it? Do you realize that we are no better than a person who claims there is contradiction in the bible and has never read it.

Listen, when we penetrate the ideological authorities of people and we pick apart their beliefs with their own information - knowing it better than they know it... And then offer them the alternate hope of Christ based on a new authority such as the bible- Christ is glorified. And they may never repent and come to Christ - but anyone who heard that debate will never trust the authority of that person ever again. And that leads me to number 4

4.) It is not necessarily to convince them of the truth, as it is to be a good ambassador of Jesus Christ -

Matthew is delivering this to the critics of Christ - The Pharisees and Sadducees probably. Do you think he convinced them? Probably not. But those who looked at the Pharisees and Sadducees as pious and holy people... Do you think Matthew's argument destabalized their follower's faith in them? You better believe it did.

Our aim is not to logically back someone into the corner of belief because faith - a gift from God - is the necessary component for all who would be of Christ.

Our aim instead, is to be good ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Having answers for all who oppose Him. Standing firm in our faith and using our God given intelligence to defend the truth. Jesus sent His disciples in Matthew 10 and advised that he sent them to the wolves. That they would be attacked and maligned for their faith. His advice to them was to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. And that is our aim as well.

To systematically dismantle every false authority of man in an intelligent and Spirit guided way, using their own authority against them. And to do this with a heart of love and grace so that none can find fault in our argument or our person.

It is a monumental calling of the disciples of Christ and it is something that the church of America is failing. I don't care what science says, the bible says... my pastor says... my momma said... Is absolute failure.

We ought to be searching for truth in every area of life that we can. Paul says that he became all things to all men so that he may win some. And this is exactly what he meant.

[Slide 25-26 (end)] I will leave you with a quote from 2nd Conrinthians this morning. I'd like to read it. It is in chapter 10, verses 4 and 5

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.

Title: The Pedigree of the King

Text: Matthew 1:1-17

FCF: We often falter in believing that our God is sovereign in light of all of the filth of this life.

Prop: God’s will is perfect and cannot be thwarted by anything, so we must trust in the sovereignty of God.

Series Intro:

[Slide 1] Today we will begin our study of the gospel according to Matthew. A couple weeks ago while Eric was on the hot seat to prepare his lesson, I was spending the majority of my time outlining the book of Matthew. I must say that this book is exciting. It is heartbreaking. It is like chewing a Tylenol. It tastes terrible, but when it gets into your blood, the pain and anguish is gone. What am I talking about, well that would be telling wouldn’t it?  Hopefully after today’s message you will get a little taste of what I mean.

So what makes this book we are about to study so amazing? Well let’s begin with its author.

[Slide 2] Author:

While there is always conjecture from Liiberal theologians about the authorship and date of these books, mainly so they can deny prophesy, miracles, and the legitimacy of Christianity, all 2nd Century Believers unanimously concluded that the gospels were written by the authors that we assume wrote them today. There was no sect, no wing, no church that attributed any gospel to any other writer. Meaning that between the years of AD100 and AD 200 there was never any question as to whether Matthew wrote Matthew. But who is Matthew?

In his own work he mentions himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, in one lone verse in chapter 10 where he calls himself, a tax collector. From Luke 5 and Mark 2 we see this story of Jesus calling a tax collector named Levi. Levi left his tax booth and followed Him. He invited Jesus and his other followers into his house for a dinner. The Pharisees used this as an opportunity to claim that Jesus was a glutton and a drunk always feasting with sinners. And yet in Matthew’s list of disciples, Levi is not mentioned. It is believed that as Paul and Peter had two names, one in Greek and the other in Hebrew, so Matthew is the Greek name of a man named Levi. Even further, there is probably a reason he is named Levi. He was probably of the tribe of Levi. At that time, there were too many Levites to go into the upkeep of the temple and they would be forced to pursue other lines of work. To the parents, of a man born in the tribe of Levi yet choosing to steal and extort his own people for the Roman Government, Matthew, Levi, was probably a shame to his family and was certainly hated by fellow Jews.

And yet, out of the ashes of that, Jesus called Him to Himself and he willingly followed. A changed man. A changed man with a message to his fellow Jews.

What else is particularly interesting about this book?

[Slide 3] Mode:

An early church writer, who’s works have been all but lost, is quoted in saying that Matthew first wrote this book in Hebrew and then translated it into Greek.

Matthew probably wrote originally in Hebrew, omitting some items from his finished work. Some time elapsed and Mark wrote his gospel, upon which Matthewwrote his gospel again in Greek, not translating, but inspired by the Holy Spirit in Greek.

While all this information is fascinating you may be struggling to understand how it helps us interpret the work. I’m glad you asked. When we get to the purpose of the book, knowing this information will actually broaden that purpose significantly.

So Matthew is a pretty cool character and the way he transmitted this work was pretty unique. What else is of interest to us about the book of Matthew? Well, how bout that it was one of the earliest books written in the New Testament?

[Slide 4] Date:

It is generally assumed that Mark was the first gospel written and Matthew borrowed from him and expanded on his work. Mark was probably written some time in the early 50s AD. John Foxe seems to indicate that Matthew was martyred in Ethiopia in AD 60. It is really anyone’s guess as to whether this is accurate or not, but most of what John Foxe says in his book is historically sustainable. That being the case we can probably put this book in the mid to late 50s making it the 4th book of the New Testament written preceded by James, Galatians, and Mark in order respectively.

With all this backdrop of knowledge we finally come to the meat and potatoes of this book. Why was it written?

[Slide 5] Purpose:

Matthew being a Jew has two main purposes that are actually two sides of the same coin.

1.) Matthew is very obviously writing a rather aggressive letter to his fellow Jews communicating unequivocally that they have utterly rejected and killed their own King, That the most holy among them are far from God, and that there would now be a delay in God’s attention toward them as He turns His grace primarily to the Gentile. This is the bitter agony of this book. This is the taste of the Tylenol. As we walk through his words in this book, you will see the tear stained pages that he pens for his fellow Jews, trying to shake them from their idolatry.

2.) Knowing, however, that he rewrote this book in Greek, we know then that he is simultaneously communicating a wonderful message of grace to the Gentile. Communicating clearly that they are being favored at this time and that they are freely grafted in as descendants of Abraham.

3.) However, there is a third layer to this. He was a wayward Jew, considered equal with prostitutes and murderers and he was saved by the power of Christ. Although he is coming down pretty hard on the Israelites, it is obvious that this is an evangelistic tool used to lead fellow Jews to repentance.

[Slide 6] Our challenge then as we walk through the tear stained pages of Matthew’s work, is to see every word through the eyes of a first century Jew and through the eyes of first century Gentile. And like putting on those 3D glasses when our left eye sees the words of Matthew as a First Century Jew and our right eye like a First Century Gentile, we will come away with a message of Pain and Hope and message of warning and freedom, We will see a God who hates lip service and loves those who serve Him knowing they are nothing without Him. We will see a God who hates hypocrisy and loves those who are dependent on Him. We will see a God who hates legalism and loves those who are empty vessels waiting for Him to fill them.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 7 (blank)] With that as our backdrop to the book, please turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 1. Although today we will only slightly crack open this book, there is so much here already, even though this is mostly just a list of names. I wish we had the time to go through each name and uncover everything we can from them. If we did, it would help us to see through the eyes of first century Jews. Then again, as is contended by our Lord later in this book, the eyes of most first century Jews were so clouded, that perhaps we will see as clearly as they did if not clearer. As the Spirit designed it though, Matthew makes it abundantly obvious which names necessitate a closer look. Let us then begin this amazing book, with the tainted bloodline of the King. I’m reading starting in verse one and I’ll be reading from the NET but follow along in your preferred version.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 8] Have you ever been to a little league baseball game? If you haven’t, find someone who has a kid that plays little league baseball and go because it is worth the trip. Why? Because it is hilarious. You have the kids in the outfield that are basically conducting the systematic massacre of all the dandelions. There is the kid standing beside the coach who is pitching – he is called target. And if all that wasn’t enough to get you to go to one of these games, if you go to a game when they are young enough, you get to watch every single player on defense run for the ball together. It is like throwing chicken feed out there. Now at one of these games, you may actually watch them play baseball. And in that rare event, you might actually see a fly ball hit way out to dadylion killer number 2. Now when that happens, the story is already written. You see his surprised face as he looks up from his yellow stained fingers. He sees the ball soaring over his head. With his undying loyalty to his team, and the rare opportunity to actually catch and throw the ball in a game, he puts his glove up and starts to back pedal. Now he has been trained well, not by the coaches so much, but from practice where they do pop fly drills He has been clobbered so many times by people going after the same ball he was, that now in the game it is reflex to shout at the top of his lungs – MINE MINE MINE! This short 3 word speech is a promise to all who care to hear that not only should they stay away for safety, but that he will with certainty track down and secure the projectile. Now as an onlooker, it is pretty easy to tell when a kid is not gonna catch up to the ball. Despite his assurances by screaming mine at all his friends, you can tell he isn’t going to make it.

[Slide 9 (blank)] And much like sitting in the stands of a little league game, I think it is easy for us to walk through this life and we see the writing on the wall. We see death and depravity rampant. We endure trial after trial. We fight and we battle and perhaps, like me, you have faltered in your faith that God is in control of all this. How long until He does something about it? Because it looks like He isn’t doing anything.

I imagine that to a first century Jew, life probably looked similar. In captivity again. Religion and politics had been woven together. They were ruled by a dictator hundreds of miles away. It had been over 1000 years since Moses gave them the law. It had been 4000 years since the fall of men. Where was this seed that God promised? Did He forget? Where is the Lion of Judah? Where is the Son of David? Where is the King? God, are you even there?

Matthew records for them the pedigree of the King of Kings. And behind these names we see a God whose will is perfect and He cannot be thwarted by anything. God will keep His promise. Trust in His sovereignty. Matthew’s message is the same for us. Trust in the Sovereignty of God.

Transition:

Unlike preaching through an epistle, preaching through a gospel will have us exploring different ways to craft a sermon. In an epistle we would walk word by word through a text and although we could do that here and go name by name through this genealogical record, I think it serves us best instead to look at three different layers of truth that this 1 list of genealogy holds. For the Jews, for the Gentiles, and for all of us. [Slide10] The first thread I’d like us to take a look at is that God’s plan has always included all people of the world.

I.) God’s plan has always included All people of the world, so we must trust in the Sovereignty of God.

a. This point is primarily directed at first century Gentiles.

i. First, it is helpful for us to know that 1st Century Jews were very concerned with ancestry. It was a point of pride to be descended from such a great lineage.

ii. As such they had come to despise Gentiles and even more fervently they hated the half-breed Samaritans because of the destruction to the genealogical lines.

iii. Yet to be shown this genealogical list of the legal line of the throne, and see the gentile women that these highly esteemed men chose to marry or have children with, it becomes evident that God had intended to bring salvation to all men through the Jews, both directly as they followed God and the gentiles joined them, and indirectly in that the Messiah, a Jew, would come to save all men.

iv. As a First Century Gentile reading this, you would come to the understanding that it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or not. That the path to God is laid out before you because the Messiah, the King of Kings, is not the King of Israel only. He can be your King too.

b. Matthew is obviously attempting to show the gentile involvement in the lineage of David let alone the Messiah in four specific examples. All of which are gentiles and all of which are women. To be a gentile woman, to a Jew, would have been the lowest of the low. Which is why the story of Jesus with the woman at the well is so shocking in John 4… but that is another message entirely.

i. [Slide 11] 3 - Tamar – Caananite posing as a prostitute in Genesis 38. We see the weakness of Judah in whose line the scepter of Israel shall not depart. Tamar gave birth to twin sons Perez and Zerah which is why they are both listed here, even though Perez is the one the line continues with.

ii. [Slide 12] 5 - Rahab – The Canaanite prostitute that helped the spies escape out of Jericho – mother of Boaz – Now there is some obvious time lapse here. This is no doubt several hundred years before Boaz. To make sense of this you have to understand that in a geneology to say the father of – is to say the ancestor of. To say the father of Boaz by Rahab is simply to say that Salmon was the husband of Rahab and they are direct ancestors of Boaz.

iii. 5 - Ruth – A Moabite – wife of Boaz and Mother of Obed, great- grandmother of David.

iv. [Slide 13] 6 - Bathsheba – Mother of Solomon – And although Bathsheba was an Israelite, her husband Uriah was a Hittite that worshipped God.

c. God is not surprised or shocked that so many non-Israelite people are in the genealogy of His Messiah. He planned it this way. Probably to give hope to the Gentiles that although they were not God’s chosen people, The Messiah’s royal bloodline included non-Israelite blood. He came to draw all men to Himself.

Transition:

[Slide 14 (blank)] As a first century Gentile, seeing access to God as dependant on the Jewish nation would have been bleak, and that is putting it mildly. To read this list would have been so encouraging to know that the King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. The Messiah did not come from Jews only. And if he didn’t come from Jews only – perhaps he didn’t come to save only Jews. The second thing I want us to see would be particularly directed at the first century Jew.[Slide 15] And it is the fact that God turns even the wickedness of men to bow to His will.

II.) God turns even the wickedness of men to bow to His will, so we must trust in the Sovereignty of God.

a. As we have already said, the Jews put a high priority on their own pedigree. And even if a First century Jew would look at this list and currently be rejecting Jesus as the Messiah… Matthew’s point is pretty clear. Not only is he unequivocally establishing Jesus as the rightful legal heir to the throne, but anyone who would be the Messiah, would have ancestors that would make him ashamed. This would have been a HUGE shot at the pride of a Jew. And perhaps anticipating the objection of a Jew at the “illegitimate” nature of Mary being pregnant out of wedlock, Matthew is showing that sexual sin, and wickedness in general is woven to the BEST of the Jews.

b. [Slide 16] Judah having illegitimate sons with a Gentile who pretended to be a prostitute

c. [Slide 17] Salmon marrying a Gentile prostitute

d. Boaz dishonoring a young Gentile woman by taking her from younger suitors

e. [Slide 18] David committing adultery and having an illegitimate child with her. And Matthew points out that Solomon was David’s son by the wife of Uriah. Uriah was dead at that point. But he is bringing to bear in the discussion the fact that David got Bathsheba as a wife only by murdering Uriah.

f. [Slide 19]Rehoboam – Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

g. Abijah – Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

h. Joram – Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

i. Ahaz - Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

j. [Slide 20] Manasseh - Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

k. Amon - Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

l. Jeconiah - Did Evil in the Sight of the Lord

m. [Slide 21] Matthew, the author of this entire book is a former tax collector. A message communicating the general wickedness of Israel coming from a former tax collector would have a particular amount of force behind it.

n. His message is obvious = You think Jesus isn’t good enough? Have you seen the ancestors you boast in?

Transition:

[Slide 22 (blank)] I want to take just a moment and direct our take home point at what we just learned.

Application:

The wickedness of mankind can’t stop God. Your life lived in opposition to Him doesn’t cause Him to skip a beat. If you don’t witness He will find someone who will. If you don’t obey He will use someone else. The nation of Israel neglected their God, they forsook their mission and they killed their King and God’s plan went on unhindered. In fact in the old testament it confirms that they would reject the chief cornerstone. That the nation of Israel would be the ones to kill their own Messiah.

Do not think yourself so important that God’s plan waits for you to repent and move toward Him. Does He care for you, of course. Will he chasten you, you better believe it. But make no mistake, if you don’t join Him in His work, His work goes on. And if you do join Him in His work, you literally add nothing to it other than obedience. Because He could do it by himself if he wanted to.

In this long list of the lineage of the Messiah there is so much wickedness. The point is that God still sent His messiah. That the plans and schemes of men had no effect on the result.

What does that mean?

That means that He is a God worth trusting! That you don’t have to worry about holding up your end of the bargain otherwise everything comes crashing down. That is legalism friend. You don’t have an end to the bargain. Jesus holds up your end.

You say well that means that I am just a pawn. That means that God positions me and what happens to me matters very little. That his plan goes on without me whether I live or die, obey or disobey, rise or fall.

Isn’t there comfort in being a Pawn? In knowing that He has done it all and will continue to do it all. That it doesn’t depend on you but always and only depends on Him? Isn’t that what it means to have died on the cross and raise Christ in you? Isn’t that what it means to crucify yourself daily and follow Christ? To willingly submit to being used and emptied. Broken and spilled out, Knowing that HE IS WORTH IT!

Is there not hope for mankind and freedom in being a pawn? Why would you have it any other way? Or are we still so selfish and arrogant to want our life to count for something. Our lives are worthless, which is why Christ died so we could gain worth in Him.

And in our self-righteous, self-esteeming, self focused form of Christianity we desire greatly for God to pine for our help. For God to beg us to follow Him. For God to need us.

Friend this list tells us one thing. We are always the problem and never the solution. But lest that get you down. Lest that make your heart grieve… know this.

God’s perfect will does not depend on you. You are a pawn… and that is one of the most encouraging things I could ever tell you.

So when you feel far from God and you catch yourself wondering if He is even out there – remember that you are a pawn. And that even though God’s work in this world doesn’t depend on you, He has afforded you the great opportunity to join with Him in what He is doing. Then you will realize that you can only gain significance through insignificance.

Transition:

[Slide 23] The final thing I want to point out from this list is quite deep but it is worth looking at if you can follow me through it. It isn’t from a perspective of a first century Jew or First Century Gentile, but from the perspective of a 21st century Christian. We have the entire bible in our hands and we neglect to you use it and wield it effectively. The last point we will see, drawing us to the take home point of trusting in the sovereignty of God is this… that tracing how God works out His will is a wonder to behold.

III.) God working out His will is a wonder to behold, so we must trust in the Sovereignty of God.

a. Genesis 49:8-12 – In his dying blessing, Jacob blesses/curses his sons. Judah, even though he had his issues, receives a word of prophesy stating that this nation, that is hundreds of years from being formed and having a King – that King will be his descendant, and that King will reign forever. He will be a King of prosperity and judgment. He will be the Lion of Judah.

b. II Samuel 7:8-16 – A brief lesson in prophesy. There is often an initial fulfillment, probably for the sake of our faith. This passage is unmistakably about Solomon. Of course there are some things that Solomon did not do… there are also some things that only Solomon did. But most of what is said here is actually a dual prophesy. We will see something similar next week. But what we need to take away from this is that Solomon is the initial fulfillment but will still be a sinner whom God will chasten. But He would not establish the kingdom forever… That would be the Messiah.

c. Revelation 5:1-5 – In this passage we see the two prophesies overtly connected to the glorified Christ. Lion of Judah, and root of David.

d. [Slide 27-31] 11 - Jeconiah - Jeremiah 22:24-30 – There is a problem though. In this genealogical list, which represents Jesus’ adopting father Joseph is the legal line of the King… but this line was broken. A judgment handed down to Judah’s last official King before the complete exile to Babylon. That no heir of his would ever sit on the throne of David ever again. Yet here… for the legal line of the throne we see Jesus is in that line. So how can Jesus be in the legal line of Jeconiah without being a blood descendant?

i. Although it is debated, Luke’s genealogy is probably Jesus’ bloodline through Mary which also traces back to David through David’s third son Nathan.

ii. Meaning of course that Jesus is blood related to David through a non-royal line

iii. Jesus inherits the royal line being the first born adopted son of Joseph and inherits all rights to the throne

iv. Meaning he is able to sit on the throne, being a descendant of David but not of Jeconiah and rightfully a legal heir too.

v. The math behind this… if you throw out all the other prophesies and only focus on this – the odds of something like this happening is so small it is almost funny.

e. [Slide 32] So what about verse 17? What is this thing about 14 generations?

i. To a first century Jew, Numerology was a big deal. We comment on it sometimes when we talk about the importance of numbers to God. 40,3,7 etc.

ii. To his Jewish readers, they would see the number 7 as a number of completion

iii. Now obviously there are some names missing in the gemological list, and there are probably more than 14 generations between these events. So is Matthew lying?

iv. He is simply drawing a numerological point that would have been common among Jewish commentators of the Old Testament at that time. He is saying that there are 14 important and well marked generations in these 3 eras. From Nomadic to Kingdom and from Kingdom to Exile and from Exile to now.

v. So why the number 14?

vi. The focal point of this list is obviously David since that is where the heir of the throne comes down from.

vii. David – in Hebrew is spelled DWD since they omit vowls. They also assign number values to letters – 4+6+4 = 14 = 2 X 7

viii. 7 = completion to the Jew

ix. 3 sets of 14 generations = 6 X 7

x. Meaning that Christ is the beginning of the 7th set.

xi. Matthew is layed out in 7 cycles of narrative and discourse.

xii. All this doesn’t matter! Don’t go home today thinking that numbers mean more than they do. They don’t! In fact Matthew is kinda mocking the Jewish way of treating numbers. But also trying to show that the time for the Messiah is now. That the Kingdom of Heaven has come.

Transition:

[Slide 33 (blank) (Take Home Point)] So what can we leave with today with a message from a genealogy? Simply trust in the Sovereignty of God.

Conclusion:

As a first Century Jew it would have been easy to assume that God had abandoned them. They were in poverty. Heavily taxed. Ruled by a person with too much power, hundreds of miles away. They were suppressed and beaten into submission. Their religious leaders were wealthy political figures. Holiness was defined by keeping man made traditions and laws, as if they already kept what God had clearly revealed in His word. The pain and turmoil of this life would have added up to the overwhelming feeling that God had given up on them.

And then a voice cried in the wilderness. Repent and believe for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Lion of Judah, the Root of David, The Messiah of God. The King of Kings. Had come…

As a first century Gentile it would have been a most depressing truth that the way to the God of the universe went through the Nation of Israel. Godless people who thought He had given up on them, were the only hope for the world. That no one would be able to know the true God – even if they were looking for Him.

And then the pen of a former tax collector, turned religious fanatic, wrote the book of new beginnings. That this one, this messiah, this Christ had come and now offered hope to the nations. That He could purge them of their sin and free them of their bondage bypassing the nation of Israel and giving direct access to God. The law fulfilled and a new life given.

And as 21st Century believers, having the luxury of the full record of God’s Word, we look at God’s provision and plan despite the failure of men. And yet when our car breaks down we have the audacity to wonder if God is real? Is our faith so paper thin?

When we are diagnosed with cancer we wonder if God cares? Is His care for us measured by what He does or what He has done?

We lose children before they are even born and we wonder if Satan has staged a revolt and taken His throne. We ask questions like How can God be good and sovereign and let this happen? Don’t we realize that all life belongs to Him. That He chooses when to take it and when to preserve it. That this life is only a shadow of the next and His plan is perfect. That even death bows to it.

We have the Holy Spirit living inside us, changing us into a new creation, but we don’t think God is in control because we can’t think of a way that He can work out our current situation to His glory and our good? He brought us from spiritual life to death. He resurrected our souls and installed His Holy presence within us. But He isn’t big enough to help you in your grief?

What does this mean when we think this way?

We are idolaters! We change God into something He is not and minimize Him to a God that we understand. He becomes just like us or less. We take His throne and consider Him quite a puny God.

And how dare we judge His power and goodness on our personal life situations! Who do we think we are? As if our world is all He cared about. He is involved in our lives to be sure, but our life going poorly doesn’t mean that He is not powerful, or that He is not good, nor does it mean that He is judging us for some unknown sin. And you know what – just because our lives are going well doesn’t mean that He is happy with us either.

Our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. He is God and we are not.

To read the pedigree of the King, to know the situation of the Israelites, To see the promises He made and the time it took to get to them, and to see Him pull it all together in a wonderous way should break our pride. We should marvel at His Sovereign will and kneel before Him and confess God you are Amazing and I don’t understand you – but I trust you.

And you know what… I hate that.

I was talking to a Deacon last Wednesday. We were praying for the salvation of a young person and after we prayed that God would draw that young person to Himself, we prayed but if it is not your will for that young person to come to you, that He would get glory from it regardless. After we said Amen, I confessed to this deacon that I absolutely hated praying that. That if it wasn’t God’s will to draw this young person to Himself to still have it bring glory to Him somehow. I told the deacon that my flesh hates that part of God’s Sovereignty. That deacon said to me…

“It isn’t about us”

And that is the key that unlocks a vivid understanding of the Sovereignty of God. It is NEVER about us. And that is probably the part I hate. Because I want control. You probably do to, don’t you?

To get a true glimpse at the goodness and sovereignty of God, it comes with a price. It is the humbling and painful realization of our complete lack of control over God, this world, our circumstances, and our lives. We are helpless creatures. And as we will see as we expound this book – this is the First step of conversion. This is the first step in sanctification. This is the first step in being eventually glorified. It is the great humbling of our Hearts before the King of the Universe as we bow in 100% dependence and trust in the Sovereign rule of God over all that is or will be.

For today then, we must repent of our worship of our puny gods – and trust in the true Sovereign Lord of All.

Eric Daum's opening lesson on Evangelism Worldview, Series continued on Sunday Nights at 6PM at the church (unrecorded)

Title: Why do we get preached at every Sunday?

Text: Various

FCF: We often wonder why we do things the way we do them at a church service.

Prop: Preaching is a core function of the church, so we must preach and teach.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Romans chapter 10. February 12th we will begin our study on Matthew. I anticipate that the Matthew study will take us quite a bit to get through. We took 6 months to do 6 chapters of Galatians, and although Matthew does have narrative and parable sections which will move a bit quicker than the epistle genre, there are still 28 chapters. Next week we have a special speaker, Eric Daum, will be coming to teach us what is essentially an introduction to the Evangelism Worldview course he will be teaching on Sunday Evenings at 6PM here at the church.

Now we are frail creatures and even though we hate change with every fiber of our being, we need change too. As much as we love summer or fall, we desire winter and spring when they come. Knowing this then, I have decided to preach another series alongside Matthew. Every few weeks, when we come to a natural break in the book of Matthew, we will take a short break from Matthew and study something completely unrelated. Today is the beginning of that series. But what is the series about?

On my desk in my office is a black box with pieces of paper in front of it. If you have a question that you would like to see answered from the bible, you can write it on a piece of paper and leave it in the box. Now I can’t promise we will get to them all, nor can I promise that each question will be answered with a sermon. If it is not selected as a sermon I will attempt to write up a response for you, so please include your name on the question so I can get a response back to you.

What should you ask? Well anything really. Just know that I reserve the right, if I feel there is sufficient amount of evidence in scripture, to respond with “go find out” meaning – do your own research. But, if it is a hot button issue, or somewhat grey in scripture, then I’d love to address it either via a letter or a sermon if the issue is large enough to handle in that capacity. Also know that I reserve the right to tell you that I don’t know. 

As another warning label I’d like to stick onto these messages, they are what we call topical messages. And I hate them. I guess hate is a strong word. I am not a big fan of them. I love just camping in one text of scripture and getting as much out of it in an hour that we can, but topical messages, frequently have us charging all over the bible. Now because we use different versions of the bible, as a concession, I have put the verses we will use on the screen. Please challenge yourself to turn to these passages, if for no other reason, than to keep yourself engaged for the sermon and to keep others engaged. The rustling of crinkly paper has a tendency to shake people from sleep.

Today is a question that is very dangerous for me to answer. Why do we get preached at every Sunday?

When I interviewed to be your pastor I confessed to the deacons that God did not endow me with a wide variety of spiritual gifts. I am not all that balanced. Essentially, from what I can tell, I am a preacher and a teacher, counselor and exhorter. The Spirit seems to allow me to see the truth of a text quickly, but of course sometimes that fails too. Please don’t misunderstand, I am not bragging. I am simply saying that I have few things that I do well and I only do them well when the Spirit empowers me, which doesn’t happen all the time.

Knowing that about me, the nature of today’s topic is dangerous because if the answer is, I don’t know, or worse – we shouldn’t be preaching every worship service – then I am kinda out of a job. But if we don’t ask questions, even the scary ones, and find their biblical answers, regardless of whether they are what we want or not, then we will continue to live in empty obedience or outright disobedience to God.

Oration is by and large an outdated form of communication. Speeches are made and public addresses had still, but they mark special occasions or are given by special people. But every week, we come to church and some guy stands up, opens up a book, reads it to us, and talks really loudly about it. Why do we do that?

Now let me confess something to you. At least in my searching, and I am happy to be corrected if you find it, there is no biblical mandate for us to have a sermon each Sunday. Maybe that is because there is no biblical mandate for us to meet every Sunday at all. But that is another topic 

Now before you get too excited about not having to listen to me every week, let me tell you that although there is no biblical mandate for us to do this… there certainly are a lot of things that I’d like to show you on this topic today.

And using this question as a spring board, it will break it down into 3 separate questions. Which are… [Slide 2]

1.) What is preaching exactly?

2.) Who is responsible to preach?

3.) When are they responsible to preach?

If we answer all three of those questions we should be able to piece together an informed answer as to whether there is any justification for us having a sermon preached every Sunday.

[Slide 3 (blank)]I am in Romans 10 and I’ll start reading in verse 13. I’ll be reading from the NET but please follow along in whatever version you’d prefer.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 4] Waverly is to the point where she is saying some really amazing things. With a little help she can count to ten. She forms complete sentences and can practically read her books to us. Because she has the combined sassiness of her mother and I, her favorite sentences include “STOP IT” “GO WAY” and “LAY DOWN FLOOR”. All of these are commands that are to be obeyed immediately. Obviously we as parents are trying to communicate to her that only mommy and daddy get to give orders in our household and that she can ask us to do things politely and even then, we may refuse. She however, does not have that option in most cases. And as annoying and problematic as these little phrases are, one word that I am so glad she hasn’t learned yet is why. Why, can be one of the most annoying questions on the planet. In fact, why is a question that gets kids in a lot of trouble. At its best it shows interest and an inquisitive nature, but at its worst it is nosiness and rebellion.

Our inquisitive nature extends beyond childhood. We like to know how things work and what the motivation or reason behind something is.

We have a God who has given us an entire book explaining not only what He wants from us and how He has provided it, but, to many things, he answers the question why. Now there are some things that he doesn’t tell us the why for. But if you search the scriptures, for most things, he tells us why. He doesn’t have to. As the God of the universe of all beings He would be justified in saying “Because I said so” and yet – He graciously explains Himself.

I honestly believe that God answers why questions to leave young people no excuse. The youth among us often ask the question why and I think we’d be foolish not to ask it with them. Especially when we ask it of things that are not clear commands in scripture.

As I have already revealed, we won’t find a clear answer to our question this morning – but what we will find is the undeniable truth that preaching is a core function of the church body. Which means, of course, that we cannot afford to stop preaching and teaching.

Transition:

[Slide 5] First let us seek out the question, what is preaching. Preaching is proclaiming the gospel with the authority of God.

I.) Preaching is proclaiming the gospel with the authority of God, so we must preach and teach the gospel.

a. [Slide 6-8] Romans 10:13-17

i. Preach – To proclaim or announce an event – Specifically the Kingdom of God.

ii. The Gospel – the word of Christ, the word, Christ crucified, the gospel of Christ

iii. Authority of God – The one who does the sending. God has given a message.

iv. If preaching is only proclaiming the gospel then that means we definitely shouldn’t do it every Sunday right? Some thing this way…

b. [Slide 9 (blank)]Preaching reserved for gospel presentation only? Teaching for growth?

i. There is group out there who would say that preaching is only for evangelism and teaching is for discipleship. They don’t have a sermon directed at Christians on Sundays, but instead have evangelistic services. They teach in home groups which are primarily made up of Christians.

ii. To be fair, the vast majority of contexts referring to preaching in the New Testament refer to the presentation of the gospel specifically to those who have not heard or the unsaved.

iii. However, they are incorrect from two perspectives

1. Scripturally – II Timothy 3:10-4:5 [Slide 10-16]

a. We won’t have time to unpack everything here, but the basic context is Paul telling his spiritual son, a pastor at the church of Ephesus, to stay strong in His faith by clinging to the Word of God, because the Word of God teaches, rebukes, corrects and instructs a Christian to be able to do all that God asks of him.

b. Therefore, since that is true, preach the word. To who? Obviously to his congregation. Made of believers right? The word will reprove, rebuke, exhort and instruct them.

c. Why Is this necessary? Because they will default to trying to hear things that please them rather than things that push them to be like Christ.

d. So it is imperative that he stand firm and do the work of an evangelist.

e. So right here is a context where the message is being presented to saved people or at least church people. This leads us to our second reason for not concluding that preaching is only for the unsaved and teaching only for the saved.

2. Theologically –

a. Paul is telling Timothy that the solution for keeping people from turning from the truth is to continue to preach the word to them.

b. Perhaps you are starting to understand but let me be crystal clear here.

c. The Gospel is the Word of God and Jesus is the Word of God. In other words, this entire book before you is the gospel. It is God’s Word. Jesus sent the Spirit to move individuals to write these words.

d. Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist by preaching the Word to his congregation.

e. Meaning that the gospel is all there is. There are elementary principles of the gospel as the author of Hebrews tells us, doctrines of Christ that we must eventually leave, but that is not the sum total of the good news. The Gospel.

f. There is an unmistakable progressive nature to our salvation.

iv. [Slide 17 (blank)] What does that mean? It means that all men need to hear the gospel. Those who have never heard, never believed, or are continuing to believe.

1. Like swimming upstream in a river, you can either continue to learn, study, read, and absorb the truths of the word of God, or you can stop all that. But don’t think for a moment that if you stop you are stagnant.

2. If you stop you will decline and if you decline for too long – it becomes an ever mounting pile of evidence that you do not know Christ.

v. There is an obviously a difference between preaching and teaching though, so what is it and why do we preach instead of teach on Sunday?

vi. Preaching and teaching are different

1. Acts 15:30-35 Preaching must differ from teaching slightly since Paul and Barnabas did both.

a. Monologue vs. Dialogue

i. Preaching implies no question and answer, and no back and forth

ii. Preaching implies that the message is from God to people and they are to respond with action when the message is complete.

iii. Not that there is no response or dialogue but it is primarily one person giving a message to completion

iv. Teaching implies a dialogue

v. Teaching has a message from God but is not being proclaimed by a herald so much as it is being discussed by students at various levels of belief .

vi. Teaching has a communal aspect to it.

b. Message vs. Audience

i. Preaching puts an emphasis on the message being presented. It is absolute truth and expects people to change in accordance to the message.

ii. Preaching is a person talking about an event. Something that is. Something that is plain.

iii. Preaching almost expects to render few results.

iv. Teaching is focused on those being taught. There is a communal learning and mutual benefit inherent in it.

v. Teaching is emphasizing the growth and development of the understanding of the message in its fullest sense.

2. Preaching and teaching is used interchangeably meaning that preaching and teaching are more a point of view than anything. Preaching can go into teaching or teaching into preaching. The line is not as clear as some would like.

c. Looking at all this information together, we understand that both preaching and teaching are necessary for the health and growth of the church.

Transition:

So preaching is the proclamation of the gospel which as we have discovered is absolutely necessary to the process of making disciples, not just its beginning but its continuance. Although this point alone does not answer our question in totality, it certainly takes the edge off of it. Why do we get preached at every week – well because by definition, preaching the word, the gospel, Jesus Christ - is absolutely necessary for there to be a healthy church. [Slide 18] Go with me to II Corinthians 5. To help us get a bigger picture here we need to answer another question. One that perhaps you may feel is unrelated, but I assure you, will help us understand why we preach every week. That is – Who is responsible to preach?

II.) Preaching the gospel is the responsibility of all Christians, so we must preach and teach the gospel.

a. II Corinthians 5

i. [Slide 19-21]1-5 – We inhabit earthly bodies that ache to be replaced by heavenly ones. We long to be clothed with robes of righteousness whereas now we still wear the robes of flesh. So as collateral God has given us the Spirit of God as a promise that this will one day be traded for robes of righteousness.

ii. [Slide 22-23]-6-10 – We must live a courageous life because while we are clothed in these death garments we cannot approach God. We must be courageous because we feel far from God but by faith we know that we have been made sons. We live by dependence on Him that He will one day make it a reality. But when we are finally shed of these death garments we are with God. Knowing that, regardless of whether we stand before Him or remain absent let us live for Him because we will be found faithful by what we have done.

iii. [Slide 24-27] 11-15 – Because we are filled with awe and fear of God we try to persuade men of the truth, but we are well known by God and other believers. Other believers should take pride in our efforts to reach others because they know it is not to earn favor with God but because of what God has done for them. Since we seem crazy to the world but if we are crazy it is for God and if we are sane it is for your sake. The love of Christ controls us to be either crazy or sane. His death brings us life and not just any life, one that is lived in slavery to Him.

iv. [Slide 28-29] 16-19 – So from now on we don’t look at outward behavior to judge a man but we instead look to see if he has become a new creature – to determine if he is changed from the inside out to hate the world and be like Christ. This new creation business is made possible by God who makes people right through Christ and has given us the honor of showing others how they too can be made right through Christ.

v. [Slide 30] 20-21 – WE then have become ambassadors – foreign representatives – of Christ. It is as though God is making his plea through us. It is like this but is not this. God draws men but we have the honor of playing a small role in seeing others made right with God. The essence of this is that Christ was made into sin so that we could be made into righteousness

b. We are all responsible to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ on earth

i. Our lives present the righteousness of God

ii. God’s drawing of other’s hearts is not dependant on us but we are graciously permitted to be participants in the introduction of that message to others.

iii. We are afforded the opportunity to give God’s message.

c. [Slide 31 (blank)] Men or women, we are all responsible to be preaching and teaching the gospel

i. Colossians 3:16 tells us to have the gospel dwell in us richly so that we can teach each other. and yet turn with me to II Timothy 2 – we will see, perhaps a contradiction.

ii. [Slide 32-33]I Timothy 2:9-12 - Women are not to obtain authority roles over men or to teach men in a corporate setting

iii. But women must teach, rebuke, correct and instruct men, women and children

iv. It is not the function but the position that is forbidden.

v. In other words a wife humbly bringing a scripture passage to her husband to teach, reprove, correct or instruct is absolutely permitted if not necessary.

d. [Slide 34 (blank)]The long and the short of it is that all Christ followers have been made into preachers and teachers of the Word of God. And while some are gifted by the Spirit to do it – we are all equipped in the spirit to do it.

Transition:

So far we have been trying to answer this question – why do we get preached at every Sunday. We have seen that preaching by definition is a necessary component to the health of the church. It is also a necessary activity of all church members to one another and to the lost. So preaching is a normal part of life. Making us think that asking this question may, as it usually is, be the wrong question. But just to put the final nail in the coffin. Lets answer this question, where do we preach the gospel? And you don’t have to go anywhere – stay in I Timothy and we will actually continue what we read. Paul gives a why for the disqualification of women to leadership roles or corporate preaching roles. And in that he reveals a staggering truth…

III.) Preaching the gospel is not limited to corporate worship services, so we must preach and teach the gospel.

a. [Slide 36]I Timothy 2:13-15; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - Preaching and teaching should happen every-day in the home

i. The stigma of women as easily duped and sin bringers is broken down by their godly lifestyles in teaching their children and discipling them to be godly. (Delievered here should be preserved) Not talking about salvation but preserved from this stigma.

ii. Fathers have the role of teaching their children to LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING THEY ARE.

iii. All this to say that preaching and teaching should be routine in the home of a believer.

b. [Slide 37] So why do we get preached at every Sunday? = [Slide 38] Why not?

Transition:

As is so often the case, when we approach our God with a question, we come away not with an answer, but with another question. The question we leave with shows us how backward our thinking is from God’s. And the answer to that question often times is far more deep and penetrating to the root of our very needs than the answer we sought intiially.

So what question do we leave with?

Well we came with the question, why do we get preached at every week.

The question we are forced to leave with - The better question is –- [Slide 39 (end)] Why don’t we preach and teach every day?

Conclusion:

In Acts 2, a passage we have referred to quite a bit recently, The early church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and met with one another in the temple every day. Yet in our culture, we come together once a week and do church.

We sit down for an hour or two and we have preaching and teaching on God’s Word. There are 168 hours in a week. If you arrive here at 10 and leave at 12:30 then that is 1.4 percent of your week. Only 2 hours of that time is the teaching and preaching of God’s word. Which means that just over 1 percent of your week involves the preaching and teaching of God’s word.

Now let me ask you something. Would you say that giving 1% of your anything, time, money, effort, energy – is devoting yourself to it?

Husbands, would you say you were devoted to your wife if you spent 1% of your life with her?

Mothers are you devoted to your children if you spent 1% of your time helping them?

Lion’s fans – are you really a fan if you watched 1% of their games?

And yet, for many of us the only time we have the Word of God taught to us – let alone teaching it to others – is here at church for two hours a week. Is this devotion?

About a year and a half ago we began a ministry entitled Foundations. And although it has changed in many ways over the last year and half, the one thing that has gone unchanged is the scope of the ministry.

It is not designed to be entertaining, or fun. It is not designed to spoon-feed creeds or doctrines. It is not designed to ensure that children are taught core truths about scripture, God or what they are supposed to believe.

Do you know what it was designed for? It was designed to spur fathers to preach and teach their children. It was a ministry designed to teach the deep riches of the Word of God for a solid hour without music, games, bells or whistles but to discipline ourselves in passionately pursuing the God of this book. For only 1 hour. 1 hour of group teaching. And yet – it is challenging to us to show up, let alone be prepared when we come.

Now this is not a sermon shaming you into not going to Foundations. Why? Because foundations is a program. It is a man made event. It is a means to an end. And if I can’t conclusively prove to you that you must come to church EVERY SUNDAY – how can I preach that you MUST come to foundations.

But what I do see here is a much deeper problem than simple attendance. The deeper problem I see, is the lack of passionate pursuit of God by those who claim to be Christ Followers. And please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying prove it to me – prove it to Pastor Chris by showing up today for Foundations or every Sunday for foundations.

Listen as much as I think Foundations is doing great things, It does not matter if you attend or not. Do you know what matters? What matters is that you preach and teach the gospel of Christ every single day of your life. That it is on the tip of your tongue. That you cannot go one day without telling everyone you can, saved or unsaved, the vast riches of the depth of the Word of God!

I’ll not embarrass any by name but there are people in this room that I CANNOT have a conversation with that doesn’t come back to the Word of God. Because that is all they want to talk about.

There is a group of people who meet during the week and for 2 and a half and sometimes 3 hours and beyond, they sit down, they drink coffee, and they talk about this book, and the great God who reveals Himself in its words. At the end of a recent meeting one of the folks that attend said something to the affect of, ok so everyone go get lunch and we’ll see you back around 1?

It was a joke of course. But it was followed up by the statement of another that said – I wish we could just do that. This is what church should be.

And before we get into our American business minded efficiency and start programming small groups to happen – just take a beat and listen to me. We don’t need to form formal small groups with leaders and such. We don’t necessarily need to get a big board in the hallway with all the leaders of the groups faces on it. We don’t need a program telling visitors where to go to attend these groups. Well what do we need then Chris?

We need God’s people to love studying, preaching and teaching His word so much that at any given moment you could come over to our houses and learn and teach the word of God. Not only that – but we are constantly seeking ways that we can disciple others – communicating the gospel of Christ to every generation.

The preaching and teaching of the gospel is the core of what the church is.

Why do we get preached at every week?

Friend – What else is there to do? Why aren’t we having preaching and teaching every day? Where is the burning thirst for this book?

That is by far, the more important question to consider. And it is one that I can’t answer with a sermon, but one that you can answer with repentance, dependence, and obedience.

Title: Restoration Warriors

Text: Galatians 6:1-10

FCF: We often struggle being overwhelmed with a sin and cannot seem to gain victory.

Prop: Restoring believers to a Spirit Controlled life is an invaluable function of the church, so we must be ready to restore each other.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Galatians chapter 6. The final chapter of this little letter to the church in the province known as Galatia. If you’ll remember with me at the start of chapter 5, Paul is imploring the Galatians to walk by or live at the direction of the spirit. He has gone now to great lengths to show us what that looks like. One the one hand it means that we are not obeying our flesh. Our flesh represents our old nature the nature that was killed at the cross with Christ. A nature that we can take back again and serve even though it has no power over us. Paul says that the effects of a life dominated by that nature produce a person who is a slave to sin and worthy of God’s judgment. That person is the opposite of someone who is walking or living in the Spirit. He says that a person who is spirit controlled is an individual that allows the Spirit of God to produce in them attributes and characteristics that are supernatural. Things we could not do in our own human effort if we tried. When we don’t produce these, we]=’\ are not walking in the Spirit, and if we are not walking in the Spirit we are in the flesh, and if we are in the flesh well then we can’t really know for sure that we are in Christ at all. However, a life characterized by living in the Spirit is a life of progressive maturity toward Christ-likeness. But perhaps you went away last week wondering… yes but what if I am living in sin and want to get out, but can’t seem to do it? Perhaps like me, you have been, at times in your life, seemingly overwhelmed by a sin and unable to gain victory. Do any of you have a similar experience? I ask that question knowing full well that you have. Paul has told us the ideal. He has told us the goal. But what happens when it doesn’t go that way? What happens when we feel trapped by the flesh. Well, today he answers that exact question. I’ll begin reading in verse 1 follow along in your preferred version as I read from the ESV.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 2] In the year 1 BW… Before Waverly that is – A pregnant Kadie and I went up to the UP with some friends. We swam in Lake Superior. We went to white fish point. It was incredible. For me it was the first time I had ever went to Tahquamenon Falls. We wanted the whole experience, so we actually got our swimming trunks on and got into the frigid July water. It was a ton of fun. I remember very vividly the effects of slippery rocks, moving water, and being almost 30 amounting to some very problematic traversal. It is absolutely amazing the effect that moving water has on your ability to maintain control. In an instant it can sweep you away. Sin can have the same effect. We lose our footing for but an instant, and before we know it we are plunged into the depths of its murky water. Most times, when this happens, by the power of the Spirit of God we are able to stand up, regain our footing and press on, albeit a little bit banged up. However, sometimes, unlike the waters of Tahquamenon, they are too deep for us to simply stand. It is all we can do to keep our head above water. Could this indicate that we are not believers at all? Perhaps. But it could simply mean that we need help. That we have forgotten how to depend on the Spirit of God. As Peter words it, we have been blinded and have forgotten how we were cleansed from our former sins. So what is our hope? The church. God’s people. You see, restoring believers to a Spirit Controlled life is an invaluable function of the church. One that we forget. One that we neglect. So what would God have of His church? What would He have us do? [Slide 3] Be ready to restore each other.

Transition:

How? How do we do that? Well I am glad you asked. What we will see today is 2 key truths that have essentially this one application for us. This one take away point which is that we must be ready to restore each other. [Slide 4] The first truth point though is that genuine Christians can sometimes be ambushed by sin. You’ve heard of prayer warriors right? Well when Christians are ambushed by sin, that is when a different kind of warrior emerges. Restoration warriors. And that is who we will be talking about today.

I.) Genuine Christians can sometimes be ambushed by sin, so we must be ready to restore each other (1-5)

a. [Slide 5] 1 – Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression

i. The word for caught is as if they were ambushed. It means to be surprised by or overtaken by something. It does not have the idea of catching them red handed as in they were caught by you, but by the sin itself. Therefore, this could be a person coming to you and telling you that they are in sin, or you becoming aware of them in sin by any means.

ii. [Slide 6] I will use a progressing illustration to help you understand what Paul is saying here. Being caught in a transgression is like falling through the ice on a pond. It happens without warning, and in most cases, you simply cannot get out on your own.

iii. Transgression is another word for sin but with a nuance of a misstep.

iv. What we have here, fitting with our understanding of a saved person and how they view sin, is not a person who was looking for sin, or captivated by sin, but it snuck up on them or at least that is how it seems. Is this what is happening? We’ll see in just a few minutes.

b. [Slide 7] You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

i. The normal means by which we do this is through ourselves. What I mean by that is that we realized we have sinned, we repent, we believe anew on the power and passion of the Spirit of God and we set out again to obey.

ii. What is clear in the text is that Paul is saying that this person has been ensnared by this sin and either cannot see it, or cannot seem to get victory over it.

iii. Spiritual here obviously with the context of Galatians 5 means a person who is currently spiritually controlled. A person who is currently living a holy life. This is absolutely necessary because we are to restore this person in a spirit of gentleness which is the same word of the fruit of the spirit for meekness – which is fierceness at injustice and heresy and softness toward brothers in sin. So in order to be able to restore this person, we must exhibit a fruit of the Spirit – which means we must be Spirit controlled. This doesn’t speak to spiritual maturity. Growth is an ongoing process conditioning ourselves to lengthen the times we are spirit controlled. But in a real sense, a new believer to a seasoned believer can be spiritual controlled.

1. Our culture teaches that the only person that can help you is someone who understands what you are going through.

a. Recovering drug addicts are the only ones that know what other addicts are going through.

b. If you’ve never been married you can’t tell me what to do in my marriage.

c. If you’ve never had kids you can’t tell me how to parent. –

2. This is false. Those who are spiritually controlled can and will be the best father, husband, and a perfect picture of sobriety – why – because they controlled the Spirit of God.

3. The best person to help you is not someone just like you… it is someone who is like Christ. Which may or may not be someone who has dealt with the sin we have been overtaken with.

iv. [Slide 8] Continuing our progressive illustration: the caught person fell through the ice. He now needs someone that is on the ice, and not in the water, to help him get out. Not only out but restored to what he was before falling in. – Again more on that in a bit.

v. Restore is to set them back on the path they were following before they fell. We actually won’t see the full scope of what it means to restore them until verse 5 so hang with me and we will see what that means. Before we get there, Paul has a warning.

c. [Slide 9] Keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted.

i. To be Ready to restore someone not only necessitates a spirit controlled person, but a flesh aware person. Someone who can sense temptation as it begins and knows when to stop helping and look for others to assist.

ii. Paul draws our attention to the frail and delicate nature of our spiritual condition. As redeemed one’s we are only successful in Christ and controlled by the Spirit and simple choices can bring that crashing down all around us. We are weak. He makes us strong. So his advice is to be vigilant when you help others to see to it that you do not fall also.

iii. [Slide 10] Continuing our progressing illustration again, we who are pulling them out of water do not have skates or spiked shoes on. For us, the danger to join them while trying to help them is very real.

d. [Slide 11] 2 – Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

i. In the context, carry one another’s burdens MUST mean to be spiritually involved in others’ lives. We don’t allow embarrassment or shame to convince us that confrontation is unloving. Uncomfortable yes, but unloving – nothing could be further from the truth.

ii. The word for burden, is a word that means weight or heavy load. What will become clear as we progress is that this person who has been ambushed, has been ambushed because of several small choices to refuse to resist their flesh. As they grieve the Spirit’s prodding to live in the Spirit and not the flesh, the weight becomes heavier and heavier until they are in so deep, that they cannot get out. Like a frog slowly boiled, by the time we sense danger, it is too late.

iii. This fulfills the law of Christ which is to love God with all you are and others as yourself. Therefore, there is no better act of loyal choice for another than to risk your own spiritual safety to help lift the heavy burden they have on them.

e. [Slide 12] 3 – For if anyone thinks that he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself

i. Lest you think that this will never be you – Paul warns that it just may be you.

ii. Dependence and surrender are the backdrop here. Faith. We are nothing. God is everything. His Spirit makes us obey and Him only.

iii. Therefore, when we lose humility. When we lose dependence on Him for everything. We are bound to fall. And the longer we stay prideful, the longer we will remain pinned under that sin.

iv. Anyone can do this. It isn’t overnight… but through a series of choices anyone in this room can be pinned under a sin.

v. It is the Spirit controlled’s job to unpin them

vi. And to take this word of warning in verse 3 – that going into that unpinning thinking we are untouchable, will only lead to our joining them in the pit.

vii. [Slide 13] Continuing our progressing illustration we see how overconfident helpers can become the helpless very quickly.

f. [Slide 14] 4 – But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not his neighbor.

i. Each of us are to discern and test the genuineness of our own lifestyles.

ii. If we come to the end of this and find that we are Spirit Controlled people, holy people, then we have a reason to boast.

1. This is not talking about being arrogant. This is saying that without any comparison to others, we determine that we are acceptable to God’s requirement and not more acceptable than another.

2. Being faithful to God is very different than being more faithful than another.

3. Rather than seeing others under sin in a pious way, whereby we gain pride that we are not like them…

4. We see them with compassion as people who are exactly like us. In fact it could be us at any time. Even while trying to restore them.

iii. [Slide 15] Continuing our progressing illustration: this is basically saying that the person helping the person out of the water has to be most concerned about his own footing when helping the person out of the water and not all that concerned about what the person in the water is doing.

g. [Slide 16] 5 – For each one will have to bear his own load

i. Literally this would be - Every man will continue to bear his own burden.

1. Paul is stating this as a future sure thing.

a. If I tell my daughter you will continue to keep your promises. I am actually commanding her to keep her promises.

b. Paul could have used a word to say “you must bear your own burden” but instead he says it “you will continue to bear your own burden”

2. By putting it in this future sense, he, like a father, is telling his children what the expectation is.

ii. The word load here, is not the same as the word for burden. Instead, load means an envoy or pack. What is clear now is that the goal of restoration is getting someone to the point that they deal with their own flesh quickly to keep that burden light. That they depend on the Spirit for the small battles with the flesh so they do not fall prey to the large battles and be overcome.

iii. [Slide 17] Finishing our illustration: The job of the rescuer is not actually done until the person is safe and can traverse on ice again with a more vigilant understanding of how to recognize thin ice.

h. This then, is God’s plan, presented by Paul, to guarantee that the church is able to shake off the yoke of slavery to the flesh and live in the power of the Spirit.

i. This is genuine discipleship borne out of crisis, and it does NOT happen in the church nearly as much as it should.

Transition:

[Slide 18 (blank)] What do I mean by discipleship borne out of crisis? What does that look like?

Application:

Discipleship borne out of crisis or Crisis discipleship is also known by two other names. Counseling or Church Discipline. And even though we have very different ideas in our heads when we hear those two terms, What Paul describes here in this passage is exactly the same as both of them.

Think about it. Why do people go to counseling? They go because they have a problem they cannot solve. Not unlike a person ensnared by sin that cannot secure their own freedom. For a Biblical counselor, we know, because God tells us this, that all of the problems we face as humans are caused by or made more difficult by sin. Meaning that a disease may not be a direct result of your sin, but how you cope or don’t cope with that disease may be sin related.

So take that and compare it to the second step of church discipline, which is, that when we discover someone in sin, we go and show our brother his sin so that he can repent and can be restored. They sound the same because they are the same.

You may be asking, man I wonder what the first step of church discipline is? It is the Spirit of God working in you specifically through the Word of God.

Turn with me to II Timothy 3:16 and 17 and we will see this in action. We looked at this way back in June, but it is appropriate for us to look again at this wonderful text. Paul, in some of his final words to his spiritual son Timothy, is reminding him how to live a successful spiritual life. And surprise, surprise, the focus is on the word of God. And while we do not see the Spirit of God overtly mentioned in this text, we know from other passages of scripture that the Spirit is the one active in revealing truth, convicting, and guiding believers. So we can see him in the shadows behind these words as the supplier of these 4 profits of the Word of God.

Teaching: Showing us how the world actually is according to the one who made it.

Reproof: Proof of legal guilt

Correction: Restoration of an upright state – setting someone on the right path

Training in righteousness: disciplined endurance in continuing to walk down the right path

That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work: This is the purpose of these 4 items. It is so a person who is God’s, his child, will be complete, lacking in nothing, and adequately given all that is necessary to do all that God asks of him.

When this fails. When the Spirit of God is forced out of control. When someone is overtaken by the flesh, that is when they are unable or unwilling to listen to the Spirit’s leading in their lives because He has been supplanted. And that is when it is absolutely necessary for those who are Spirit controlled to come to the aid of such a one. They teach, reprove, correct and instruct until that person is not only back on their feet, but able to battle off the temptation when it begins.

It is a vital function that the church fails at. Why? [Slide 19]

1.) Misunderstanding of the phrase “Judge not unless you want to be judged.” Everyone is so scared to correct because they don’t want to be judgmental. So they let people drown in their sin so they don’t hurt their feelings. It is ridiculous. We who remove the beam from our eyes (spirit controlled) correct those who have a speck in theirs.

2.) Church discipline sounds mean. – It only sounds mean because you are thinking about the last step. In reality, if we would do our due diligence to help those who are overtaken by sin, we’d never make it to the last step except on rare occasions, and when we did, it wouldn’t be mean because it is the necessary step to take to deal with sin.

3.) Counseling means that I am broken and messed up. I really don’t think it is that bad – NEWSFLASH – we are all depraved. We are all broken and messed up. Paul tells us here that you can go from counselor to counselee in moments if you are not humble.

4.) It really isn’t any of my business – This is at its core a vast misunderstanding of sin. No sin is between someone and God friend. Sin in the church is like gangrene. And to say it isn’t any of your business is like saying that a gangrenous foot is the leg’s problem let the leg deal with it. It is foolishness. Sin cripples the church. And it must be dealt with swiftly and definitively and in gentleness

[Slide 20 (blank)] Every single member of this church who are spirit controlled have the responsibility to one another to bear each other’s burdens. To help others conquer sin. To disciple each other. So that we are able to bear our own burdens.

Transition:

[Slide 21] But is that the end game? No. No it isn’t. God doesn’t simply want people to be better at handling their flesh. He wants the formerly overtaken to become the bearer of others’ burdens. He desires that restored believers have lasting impacts on others who have been overtaken. [Slide 22] He doesn’t just want you to be victorious but to lead others to victory. In short, He wants us ALL to be Restoration Warriors.

II.) Restoring a believer to a spirit controlled life enables them to restore others, so we must be ready to restore each other. (6-10)

a. [Slide 23] 6 – One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches

i. Many commentators and study bibles interpret this passage to mean that it is the church’s responsibility to financially provide for pastors. And as awkward as it would be, if that was what this verse actually meant, I would unflinchingly preach that to you. In fact, I believe that that is found elsewhere in scripture, and perhaps, Lord willing, we’ll get to that at some point in our excavation of the Word of God together in the coming years.

ii. However, there is one principle in biblical interpretation that forced me to reject this interpretation, even though many concluded that this is what it meant. That principle is context. To interpret this verse in this way, you would be forced to conclude that Paul is completely changing topics without warning. You could maybe force it into the context if you said that bearing other’s burdens included physical needs, but there again you have a problem, because Paul says in verse 5 that it is every man’s responsibility to bear his own burden, only to come back in the next verse and say – except for pastors.

iii. The key to unlocking the meaning of this verse is really found in the word that the ESV translates here as share. If you remember back to our New Years day message, we saw how the early church devoted themselves to certain things including the apostles doctrine, communion, prayer and fellowship. The word for share here, is the same root word as the word for fellowship. And if you remember, we discussed what fellowship was and defined it a partnership. Co-owner. Co-warrior. We fight this spiritual war shoulder to shoulder with one another and fellowship is less an activity and more a state of mind. You become allies.

iv. So reading that meaning back into the verse, we get, perhaps a different idea of what this could mean. One who is taught the word is to partner with in all good things with the one who teaches.

v. Good things, speaks to all that is excellent or wonderful. Namely the gospel. The truth. The word of God.

vi. So what does this mean if it doesn’t mean to financially provide for a pastor? Might I suggest to you that this isn’t talking about a pastor at all but the spirit controlled person who just restored the one who was overtaken. They used the word of God and the fruit of the spirit gentleness to pull them out of that quagmire and now the response after they have been set aright and are able to bear their own burden is to what? To be participants with that restorer in the gospel work. In other words to be restorers with the one who just restored them!

vii. Friend if we interpret this this way, the rest of the thought is Paul explaining with great urgency why this replication of restoration warriors is absolutely necessary.

b. [Slide 24] 7 – Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

i. Don’t lie to yourself. Don’t fool yourself. Don’t convince yourself of something that is not true.

ii. God cannot be outwitted or tricked. You can’t pull a fast one on God. Why?

iii. What you labor over. How you spend your life. That is an indicator of what your harvest will be at the end of life. So far he hasn’t been clear but in Verse 8 He will be.

c. [Slide 25] 8 - For the one who sows in his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

i. Those who live a life in obedience to the flesh cannot claim they are of the Spirit and fool God.

ii. God won’t spare them judgment because they prayed a prayer one day.

iii. If they continue in sin and never gain victory then it shows they were never saved.

iv. They were not enduring.

v. Why does Paul say this? What is he trying to get across?

vi. He is saying that this is what is at stake. We cannot leave these people overtaken. We must restore them, because if they stay where they are, there is only 1 conclusion – they are unsaved.

vii. Now on the surface that makes it sound like our salvation is contingent on our performance. That our lifestyles determine where we go, heaven or hell. Which is obviously not true. So let me explain.

1. From one perspective, salvation is by grace through faith without works because men could boast that they earned their salvation.

2. But when you understand that a believer was not just saved from the penalty of sin but from its power also, you must conclude that a person that is powerless against sin, is a person who is still its slave.

3. Therefore, from a human perspective, we never know whether someone living in sin is saved or not. People say things like “Well they aren’t living for God right now, but they made a profession of faith” and I understand what they mean, they seek comfort and hope, but the reality of it is, that no one can know for sure if that person is in Christ… not even that person who is in sin.

4. Paul then is saying that since we don’t know whether or not they are saved, we have the same urgency we would have as if they weren’t when we confront their sin. Because we know, that if they do not persevere, if they do not live a life of victory, it is a certainty that they were slaves to sin.

viii. But this warning, this uncomfortable thought comes with a promise…

d. [Slide 26] 9 – And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up

i. The good news is, that if they are genuine believers, and we don’t get tired or lazy about confronting sin…

ii. So long as we do not give up…

iii. We will see the glorious day when they repent and believe and obey. We will see them gain victory over their flesh and walk in the Spirit again.

iv. Based on this information, the warning and the promise, what should we do?

e. [Slide 27] 10 – So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

i. Because there is so much at stake here.

ii. As we have opportunity could be better translated – while there is still time before God has ended all things – it doesn’t speak to whenever the opportunity presents itself but rather to the idea that our entire lives are the opportunity.

iii. Let us do good to everyone – Good here CAN mean material goodness, but MUST mean spiritual goodness. The entire context of this is focusing on a spiritual assistance to one another. To quote this verse to prove we must be charitable to the unsaved is being somewhat abusive to the text here. It is very clear that Paul means a spiritual goodness. Which obviously can be material provision, but MUST also mean a spiritual encouragement toward a Godly lifestyle. Which to a non-believer means evangelism. Showing them the law. Preaching the truth. And living a holy life before them. This is still an act of restoration.

iv. Especially to those who are of the household of faith – They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another. The church should be a peculiar place. A place where someone can come up to you calmly and tell you that you are sinning, and the response is repentance and seeking that same person to help you to gain lasting victory. Then partnering with that person to continue to help others. Such an organization does not exist on this planet. If only the church would be it…

Transition:

[Slide 28 (blank) (end)] What in the world would the church look like to the outside world if this happened?

Conclusion:

This is God’s plan for making sure we do not use our freedom to indulge in our flesh. It is mutual dependence on those who are currently Spirit controlled. Why? Because we are weak – all of us – we hang on a thread. We can succumb to the yoke of slavery so quickly. We can easily be swept away. The only strength we have is when we are swept away by God and His leading in our lives. Then we are strong.

The moment we look at the strength, and take any sort of personal pride or compare ourselves piously to others, we just lost it. That is why it hangs on a thread… because we are so used to living in the flesh. It is almost always our gut reaction. Our first impulse is almost always wrong.

But what God has designed in the church is a tight knit, community that are bound by something thicker than blood. We are soul mates, in the truest sense of the expression. And we loyally choose to be unconditionally bound to one another.

The church then is a group of people where sin is squelched. It is pursued until it is destroyed. As we destroy it, we in meekness… in gentleness , restore our fallen comrades. Not so they can simply walk away from the incident. And not even so they can never be caught in the same trap again, but so they can be the rescuers with us.

We are all counselors.

Over the last few months we have been doing things differently around here. If you haven’t noticed. ONE key thread of that, is the realization that in American Christianity, we have outsourced virtually all of our responsibilities to professionals. What do I mean?

1.) We outsource our evangelism to missionaries and local ministries rather than personally evangelize and connect with friends and co-workers.

2.) We outsource our theological upbringing and discipleship to bible professionals such as pastors and youth pastors, when the bible itself is clear that we should be devouring the Word of God and discipling our families.

3.) We outsource our personal bible study to books about the bible or authors who speak about topics they confront from a biblical perspective. If we crack our bibles at all, it is with a daily bread in our hands to give us what the passage means rather than working to find out what it means. We rely on sermons and radio programs to get us through the week, all of which are men talking about God’s book.

4.) We outsource giving to the needy, either by giving to the benevolent fund of the church or by paying our taxes, allowing our government to determine who we help rather than the Spirit of God.

And today, we see one final thing we outsource. Counseling.

We see fellow Christians struggling with sin and we think, I know, I’ll tell a pastor or deacon. They can handle it. That is if we do anything about it at all. Most of the time we just ignore it and hope it will go away.

Now when we talk about this we have to remember that it is when we are spirit controlled, humble and meek that we can confront the sin in a brother properly. If we are not Spirit controlled we can’t expect things to go well at all.

But once we are free of any beams in our eyes. Once we loyally choose to show compassion on them, even if the sin was against us, once we humbly view our overtaken brothers, then we MUST go and confront them. To help them up and out of the pit of sin and on the path of a Spirit controlled life. For the sake of the health of the church this must be done.

And it isn’t the pastors job, it isn’t the deacon’s job. It is the church as a whole’s job.

And some may say, well I am his wife, he won’t listen to me. But that is why we use the bible. They have to listen to God.

Confrontation is only the first step.

Once they repent we correct them with the Word of God – and point them on the right path with the Word of GOd. Then we instruct in the Word of God them on how to stay on that path found in the Word of God. Finally, they become fellow restorers themselves.

If this happened today – if we did this faithfully – Satan would have no foothold in our churches. Rather than playing defense against his attacks we would be playing offense and banging down the gates of hell. But when there is sin in the camp this can’t happen.

So how do you see your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is it worth your time, comfort, and effort to address their sin practice that may lead to their destruction?

Church discipline, counseling, bearing each other’s spiritual burdens should be part of everyday life in the church. Is it important to you?

If it is – what do you do?

Be ready to restore. How? Be spirit controlled. Allow the Spirit to produce His fruit in your lives so you can be ready to help others who have been overtaken – and train them to be restoration warriors.

Title: The Spirit That Gives Life

Text: Galatians 5:22-26

FCF: We often struggle with the impossibility of becoming like Christ.

Prop: Because the Spirit weaves Himself to the true Christ Follower, we must be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Galatians chapter 5. Well it has been a long time since we have been here. It feels like it was a year last year!  It was. December 11th was our last message that vaguely touched Galatians, but even that focused on several passages of scripture. Well today we come back home. Today we will camp out again in the context of this one book and find what the Lord has for us. If you remember, we were in the midst of making a shift in Paul’s teaching. He has shown definitively that he is an apostle without question, and that his gospel is the same as the other apostles, to the point that he had to correct even Peter for betraying such a faith. After this, he demonstrated theologically that Christ fulfills the law and that we are no longer slaves to the law, but it was the law that taught us that we need a savior from our state. We have been freed from this slavery. Now he is telling us what that freedom means. It is not freedom to be used to sin freely. To disobey the law. To cast aside all scruples and give ourselves over to baser desires. Quite the opposite really. Paul tells us that our freedom now grants us the ability to live successfully for God. That ability is inseparably linked to our dependence on Christ and His Spirit within us. Before we could not do this. Before we were incapable of pleasing Him, but now, we are able, through the passion, power, and guidance of the Spirit, we are FREE to FAINALY BE ALL THAT GOD WANTS US TO BE. That is the slavery in our freedom and that is the freedom in our slavery. Along with this truth comes a warning though. That it is still possible to succumb to the wishes of our former nature. We are still able to turn back and live a lie. Paul says to be led by the Spirit and not to fulfill the desires of our flesh or our sin nature. We then looked at a lengthily list of the lifestyles of the flesh. So lengthy that it took two weeks to get through (and we didn’t cover them all). These are lifestyles that are normal works of natural man. In other words, to be plain, this is who we are from birth. Not generally good… no. We are, by nature, evil. We learned that any person who has a lifestyle of any of these, cannot enter heaven Why? Because the Spirit of God will not allow a person He dwells within to live in such a way. Now finally today, we will come to verse 22. I am reading from the NET today but follow along in your own preferred version.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 2] In case you haven’t already learned this about Kadie and I, we enjoy watching movies. I hesitate using too many examples from movies just because we all may have different preferences on standards for movies and I don’t wish to cause any to stumble. I rarely mention movie titles and I never endorse movies… even if they are Christian. But, there is a movie that has an amazing scene in it that really conveys where we are going today. It is one of Kadie and I’s all-time favorites. In the movie, an archeologist, who regularly finds mythic and legendary items, sets out with his father to find the holy grail. After a lot of action and running, and shooting – you know, normal archeology stuff  - They come to this old forgotten temple where the grail is supposed to be kept. As they make their way to the grail there are three challenges they must pass in order to make it to the grail. The final challenge was the path of God. To pass the test, the person would have to take a literal leap of faith over a deep cavern. The archeologist puts his foot out and believes. When his foot falls down it lands on solid ground. The test makers had painted or designed the rock bridge over the ravine in such a way that from where you stood it looked like it was the wall of the other side of the ravine, when it was actually a bridge camouflaged from the naked eye. Every test was like this. There was a physical real life explanation for success, even though the task seemed impossible, but that was not seen unless the person passed the test. I think for us as Christ followers, we hear the words from pulpits and posters “be like Christ” and we think… well that is just impossible. I can’t be holy. I can’t be like Christ. It is like someone saying “Do a million pushups” and then actually expecting you to do a million pushups. Most of the time Christians and even non-Christians look at this statement and they are perplexed. They deflate in defeat as they can see no possible way they can be like Christ. And you know what… they are right. There is no way we can be like Christ. Even on this side of salvation. Even after we depend on Him and surrender to His will, there is just no way we can live like Jesus lived and fulfill all that God asks us to fulfill. We can’t be holy. From our text today what we will discover, however, is that at our salvation, the Spirit of God weaves Himself to the very fabric of our being. As He joins with us, effectively taking us over, He empowers us and impassions us to fulfill all that God asks. In fact, He produces it in us. Not our effort. Not our will… Him alone. He takes the wheel from us and steers our entire life, and when we sin, when we don’t exhibit holiness, that is us ripping the wheel from His hands.[Slide 3] For us then, the application for today is clear, and there is only 1… We must be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Transition:

In the text we are going to see three separate things that really drive this point home for us. The first of which is the undeniable proof that the characteristics that God wants to be formed in us, could never come from us.[Slide 4] The Spirit produces a fruit in us and because of this, we cannot afford to take control from Him.

I.) Because the Spirit produces a fruit in us, we must be controlled by the Spirit.

a. Go back to verse 16-18 for context

i. Walk in the Spirit or Live by the Spirit – Be guided by the Spirit

ii. And you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh – They are opposites. To achieve one is to fail at the other.

iii. If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. In other words – when you are being guided constantly by the Spirit of God, having a law to govern your actions is redundant and unnecessary because He will guide you. The law was made for the transgressor, not for the law abiding citizen. And now that you are supernaturally capable of following the guidance of God – no law is needed. The law is truly written on your heart.

b. Fast forwarding past the works of the flesh we now come to the positive side of what Christ makes us to be through the power and passion of the Holy Spirit.

c. [Slide 5] 22 - But the fruit of the Spirit –

i. Before we saw the works of the flesh. Those were the normal behavior and worldviews of the natural man, the depraved man. Just as plants produce oxygen, so we produced wickedness. We were not simply morally corrupt, but spiritually bankrupt.

ii. But this next section contrasts the normal workings of our nature with the normal production of the Spirit of God in our lives. A person who has the Spirit of God in them must yield fruit of this kind. Why? Because it is God the Spirit who is producing the fruit. Therefore, since it is not really up to us, it will be produced.

iii. And just as the last list was emphasizing a lifestyle of wickedness, not a one time action – so this is indicating a lifestyle of Spiritual fruit, not a rare occurrence. People who have the Spirit in them produce these things on a consistent and predictable basis.

d. is love, joy, peace

i. We may be tempted to break up these fruit and place them into several categories. Some have suggested 3 others 4. The problem with these arbitrary divisions is that this is the fruit of the spirit and although fruit in English can be singular or plural – in Greek it is singular. In other words this is a package deal here. You have all of these or none of these. So to divide these up seems silly since it is actually 1 bunch of grapes not 9 kinds of fruit. It is also important to note that unlike spiritual gifts, which come in diverse packages – none can say I do not have the gift of joy, self-control or gentleness, simply because not only are these present in every Christian, but they are all present in every Christian, as their default lifestyle. To not show them, would be out of character. To not show them often, is to be unsaved.

ii. love – is same word God had when He sent Christ to die for us. It is a love that is almost emotionless. It is a love of choice and loyalty. It is unconditional and unmoving. The love that is produced by the Spirit of God is a love that we struggle to comprehend. Something tells me that if we could just wrap our minds around what it means to love each other this way – a selfless and unconditional choice – we would be so peculiar to a world that has no idea what love is. But the Spirit produces in us this love, so that we are selflessly choosing to show mercy and grace to others, and dependence and surrender to God.

iii. joy – Gladness or cheerfulness. James tells us to count it as joy when we fall into trials. Paul tells the Thessalonians to have joy in the Spirit as they await persecution. It is clear that this word does not talk about the far inferior word happiness. The difference is this. Happiness is cheer that is felt and is subject to the times and the seasons of life, therefore it is fleeting. Joy is the cheer that is chosen and stands firm against and through all times and seasons enduring secure in the hope of something greater. Joy is constant because it is based on something constant. That something is Christ.

iv. Peace – A word that means rest and ease. It means to be set at one again or made right. Very obviously this word is speaking primarily to the peace achieved by the blood of Jesus Christ. A peace with God. We are no longer at war but are made right with Him. There is quietness in our soul. As a conquered people, we live for our King who conquered sin and death our former masters. By extension then, all those who are also of His kingdom we are at peace with. Because no squabble or personality difference can drive a rift between countrymen of God’s Kingdom. And finally, there is nothing that can happen to us on earth to unhinge this peace. Because Peace with God is ultimately all that matters. In fact, war with natural men on this sin cursed rock is inevitable when we have peace with God.

e. patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

i. Patience – This word means longsuffering. That they bear with others and are patient with others. And while that is certainly an application of this word, it could also mean a heart that willingly endures pain and persecution while it waits on the Lord. With that image we can picture the pre-crucified Christ, sweating blood in the garden asking to have the cup pass from Him. He stood up, and willfully submitted to the plan and timetable of the Father instead. He endured because it was God’s will that He do so. Patience has l to do with our stillness and steadfast waiting on the Lord. It is also most certainly to do with our relationship to others. That we endure and hold steadfastly being slow to seek justice or vindication and quick to forgive. Again an image comes to mind of Jesus hanging on the cross as those He came to seek and save crucified Him. His response. Father forgive them, they don’t understand what they are doing.

ii. Kindness - This is a word that has no real English word to go along with it. Best we can do is to try to define it with a paragraph. It means useful kindness. It means to be morally good and to have integrity. It is a person who meets needs in the most upright and gentle way. There are so many layers to this word that it is very difficult to say exactly what it is, but to simply suggest that we see the kindness and compassion of Christ upon the humble and weak and by His life we find the definition to this word. To tax collectors, lepers, children and women he spoke. To the outcast he offered the words of life, because to be soft enough to follow Him, one must be humble.

iii. Goodness – This is speaking to quality rather than performance. The Holy Spirit produces one who is by their very nature good. Not in the sense that they uphold God’s moral law, although they do, but instead that they are sweet, kind, good natured, and gentle.

iv. Faithfulness – While this is the same word that is used to communicate our faith in Christ, here it is used differently. It is used to communicate fidelity or trustworthiness. That the Holy Spirit grants to the person in Christ a dependability. That others, including the Father, can rely on them to do what they are expected to do because the Spirit of God has made them reliable.

f. 23 - Gentleness and self control

i. Gentleness – This conveys mildness or meekness. It is the disposition of a person that holds great power and authority but wields it with grace and kindness never seeking to destroy someone with it, but to use it to benefit others. It is a person who can overwhelm and invade but choose diplomacy instead. It is a person who is spiritually knowledgeable and mature but chooses to use that knowledge and maturity to edify and build and not destroy. This person flashes anger and power at injustice and heresy, but calmly and sweetly corrects the sin of a brother.

ii. Self Control – This word means to hold dominion over a particular sphere. It is to be in control, specifically of yourself. It does not mean that you are your own master or that you can muster up enough effort to do this. Remember these are fruit of the spirit. What this means is that the Spirit produces an ability within us to restrain our impulses, A feat that no human can ever do on their own for any real length of time and certainly not to great degree. In other words people may conquer their drug addiction through programs and steps but will fall victim to some other form of fleshly impulse or addiction. The only freedom, the only true form of self control is not from self but for self. It is from the Holy Spirit.

g. Take note here! That every single item, by itself, is impossible for us in our natural state. In fact, even in our redeemed state, by our own power, these things are not possible. That is why they are called the fruit of the Spirit. Not the fruit of those who follow the Spirit. Our submission to His leading means He is free to produce this in us. Only when we depend on and surrender to Christ and the leading of the Spirit will we have success in these fruit… in obedience.

h. Against such things there is no law – Heralding back to verse 18 – If the Spirit of God is leading a person to produce this fruit no law could be formed to keep it better than His Holy passion and power living within us. By saying there is no law against them it means that no law could improve upon these to make the person more like God.

Transition:

[Slide6] So the Spirit produces all this in us. Meaning we cannot afford to take control from Him. Not only that, but we have already seen what happens when we run the show haven’t we? [Slide 7] Haven’t we conclusively proven that we cause problems? That is why we put our flesh to death is it not?

II.) Because our flesh has already been crucified, we must be controlled by the Spirit

a. [Slide 8] 24 - Now those who belong to Christ – The nature of salvation is deep and complicated. We are in Christ and He is in us. We are His and He is ours. To belong to Christ is to have Christ in us.

b. have crucified the flesh – This is quite difficult. We know there is a progressive nature to our sanctification. In other words we must continue to crucify our flesh. We know this by what Christ said “To take up your cross daily and follow me”. There is a continual and progressive nature whereby a follower of Christ continues to repent and follow. However, the language of this text does not allow for that continual nature. This is a onetime event for Paul. A contradiction? Not a contradiction no, but a constant tension within the word of God. That tension is this…

i. The New Testament writers speak of the finality of the work of Christ on the cross. We have been crucified with Christ and Christ raised in us. That has happened. In a very real sense this is already done. It is accomplished. Complete.

ii. However, even in Romans 6 where Paul says all this even more clearly and tells us how we have already (past tense) died with Christ and crucified our former natures. After he says all that in verse 12 he says – “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. “ If it is dead… then how can we let it live again to reign over us? If we have killed it, then how can it come back?

iii. From God’s perspective it is done. Complete. He has crucified sin and death and put to death for all time the flesh and raises up Christ in all who believe.

iv. However, from our perspective, this is true, yet we live as though it is not at times. What Paul is imploring the Galatians here is… to live in the reality that you have already put off the old nature. This is a complete act that is done, but when you reject the Spirit’s guidance and obey the flesh, you live as though it were not true. It is an act of disbelief. A denial of truth.

v. Paul is telling them to believe again to the point that they remember that they repented, and to continue to repent.

vi. To the extent that…

c. with its passions and desires

i. This speaks well past the moralistic messages that we hear today.

ii. Do this – Don’t do this.

iii. Don’t have premarital sex, don’t watch this movie or that one, don’t cuss, don’t drink, don’t dress in tight clothes, don’t smoke, don’t chew and so on and so on.

iv. Paul isn’t saying that we crucified the works of the flesh friend. He is saying we crucified the flesh itself, along with its passion and desires. Do you realize what that means?

v. It means we don’t stand on the outside of sin looking longingly at the things we are missing. We don’t wonder why God is so mean that he won’t let us have sex before we are married. We don’t wonder why God is killing the party by not allowing us to get drunk. We don’t look at someone who is kind of a jerk and think man I WISH I could just tell them off right now but God won’t let me!

vi. It means that we wouldn’t want those things even if God said we could do them. Those passions and desires are being killed off. Because realistically friend… God won’t stop you from indulging in the works of the flesh. Not often anyway. If you want to have premarital sex, then He won’t stop you from doing it. Why? Because the problem is not in the action that you do, but in the desires of your heart. Your desires, your passions, those reveal a heart that is already disconnected from God. So before you even act – you are already distant.

vii. What does that mean? It means that God’s desire is to make us into a new creation friend. To remake us from the ground up. So that even our desires, our very MOTIVES conform to Him. And friend, that is why the law failed. Because it could not govern motive. And that is why Christ succeeds, because true Christ followers are changed from the inside out.

Transition:

[Slide 9] The Holy Spirit produces a fruit that is unreachable by our own effort and we have already seen the mess our flesh makes of doing right. That is why Christ died, and that is why we killed our flesh off with Him on the cross. One final reason for us to consider for why we cannot afford to take control from the Holy Spirit is that [Slide 10] it is from the Spirit that we have life. Our way, our effort, our power leads to death, but He leads to life, so we must be controlled by the Spirit.

III.) Because we only have life in the Spirit, we must be controlled by the Spirit.

a. [Slide 11] 25 - If we now live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit

i. Life is rooted to God. In Him we have life. So to be near Him, close to Him, we must please Him. We must be His people, living for Him. To please Him on our own is impossible but through the Spirit, supplied when we repent and believe on the finished work of Christ, we can live in such a way that is pleasing.

ii. So by the Spirit we live. We are connected to God because of the Holy Spirit. Logically then…

iii. We must follow the Spirit! That is life. That is how we live. NOT DOING THIS IS DEATH.

iv. Not only do we put off the flesh and its passions and desires. We don’t stay an empty slate. We then put on God’s thoughts, feelings and actions. We clothe ourselves in righteousness after we have burned our filthy rags. And we do this every moment of every day.

v. More on this in just one moment. First lets conclude Paul’s thought.

b. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.

i. This seems out of place. It seems like Paul is trying to get one last shot in here.

ii. We can cautiously guess that perhaps, these were attitudes happening in the church of Galatia and indeed given what we know about the context we can easily see that there was no doubt a great deal of conceit in believing that the Judaizers had the true gospel. Lots of provocation and jealousy over who had circumcision and who didn’t.

iii. Interestingly enough, Paul seems to peel back the layer of theology here and sees it only as the object for these practices to come alive. Meaning of course that even though he has already dealt with the issue of bad theology – the sinful practices surrounding that remained uncorrected. Here he points out specifically some of these that would need to go away – and perhaps wouldn’t just vanish once they got their theology correct.

iv. There would still be old feelings of conceit and provocation and jealousy. In fact, it may even sprout anew against those who were led astray or strongly considered joining the judaizers.

v. Paul is saying to cut those out and live in the love of the fruit of the spirit with one another.

Transition:

[Slide 12 (blank)] To bring this all to a close, to bring us back to the one point of application that we must leave with… simply put, surrender control to the Spirit of Christ. Yield.

Conclusion:

How do I yield? What does that mean? It can’t mean I just say [Sing] Spirit Take the wheel and then let go of everything can it? How could it when He tells ME to obey Him. And yet… we find here again, evidence that we cannot obey. How can God tell us to obey knowing we can’t. That is kinda unfair isn’t it?

That is why He gave us His Spirit.

[Slide 13] To put it bluntly, when we obey it is because we allowed the Spirit to produce obedience in us. When we disobey, it is because we cast the Spirit aside and took control.

We… Get… No… Glory.

This is where people in our churches get so messed up.

With our American self-sufficiency we think that we can do all that God asks of us. I mean we don’t actually think that but we do. We are content to lie to ourselves and think that if I just try a little harder, I’ll get it.

Many Pastors get this wrong too. Because in passages of scripture where the Lord commands us to obey, their applications neglect to mention the fact that we can’t. In fact if you look at the fruit of the spirit you will notice that each item in that list appears elsewhere in scripture in the form of a command. Yet, we conclusively showed today, and I feel like we conclusively show every day with our human effort, that these are impossible commands to obey.

And as difficult as that is, then we add this element of desire and it all comes crashing down on us. Why? Because how do you control your desire? How do you change what you want?

The fact of the matter is that you can’t.

[Slide 14] It is only the Spirit of Christ, creating a new nature within you, that enables you to live for Christ. As Paul speaks to more fully in Romans chapter 8.

We understand this at conversion. We get that we can’t earn our salvation so we have to depend on Christ to save us. But then we live every moment after that like we can continue the saving process. We live after that thinking that if I try really hard and just muster up enough effort, then I can live a holy lifestyle that is pleasing to God. Do you know what belief system that sounds like? Catholicism. They say the exact same thing just in different words.

They would say that Christ’s death on the cross affords us a sufficient amount of grace so that we can begin to live a life of merit, earning more and more grace toward our eventual salvation. Let me translate what that means.

It means that to a Catholic – Christ supplies us with just enough salvation so we can earn the rest.

And the way some Baptists practice their faith is the same. They think that Christ’s death on the cross saved them from hell, but to continue to please God on earth, it is up to them. You may as well be Catholic if you really believe that.

What is the truth then? It is simply this… Christ’s death on the cross supplies our complete salvation. His Spirit in our heart supplies the power and passion to continually obey God.

When we disobey, God’s view of us does not change. When He looks at us He still sees Christ. He isn’t standing up in heaven huffing and puffing over your failure.

[Slide 15] But you might say, If there is no punishment for failure, then why do we obey at all?

A full question. One that Paul addresses in Romans 6. He concludes by saying this in verse 21-23 [Slide 16-18]

6:21 So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 6:22 But now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 6:23 For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, this side of salvation, the result of our failure is shame, guilt, pain, hurt, loss and discouragement. The result of our sin is that we have sinned. And while there is no condemnation in Christ – Romans chapter 8 – the reality of it is that we live with the agony of defeat. That what we desire to do, we fail at doing. What we desire to resist, we succumb to. – Which is Romans 7.

[Slide 19] When we fail, our rebuke comes from the fact that we ARE A NEW CREATURE and that we have been reprogrammed to HATE SIN!

So going back to the question, if there is no punishment for failure, then why do we obey at all… we realize that that is the wrong question. The right question is this…

[Slide 20] Without punishment for failure, do I still desire to obey? Because if the answer to that question is no. Then you have a real problem on your hands. Our salvation is that God changes our desires. So that formerly we wished only to satisfy our desires and had no desire to obey God on His terms. In salvation, we become slaves to righteousness so that we desire to be all that God wants us to be.

What does this mean for us? Well, it means that every application that will ever be. Every take away point from every sermon from every passage of scripture. Every time you read the bible, feel convicted, and desire to change. The formula to living like Christ is ALWAYS the same, and it is the same formula we followed when we were first saved.

[Slide 21] Repent. Believe. Obey.

Or to put it in less theological terms.

[Slide 22] First, Stop doing what you are doing and agree with God that it is wicked.

Second, depend on the power and passion of the Spirit of God in you and Surrender to His Guidance on how to live (as revealed in scripture)

Finally, in faith, live as the Spirit guides.

And remember our application point for today? We must be controlled by the Holy Spirit right? That is step 2 and 3. And the reason step 1 has to come first, is from the verses 16 and 17 of Galatians 5 which we read earlier. You can’t be controlled by the Spirit while you are still obeying the flesh.

[Slide 23 (blank) (end)]Let me illustrate this.

You are walking in the dark and you step on a rock and break both of your ankles. There lying in the dark you know you made a mistake. You turn and see that you were walking away from the light and that next to you lays a pair of crutches. You pick up the crutches, stand to your feet, lean hard on the crutches and walk toward the light. Without the crutches you could not walk and without the light you could not see the crutches.

That is sanctification. That is the formula for being more Christ-Like. That is how you are controlled by the Spirit.

Turn. Lean. Walk.

Repent. Believe. Obey.

So my question to you first is have you ever done that even once? Have you repented? After repenting have you believed? After believing have you set out to obey? If not, may I invite you to do so today? You are wicked and under the judgment of God’s wrath. Won’t you become His child instead, and accept His olive branch of peace?

My next question is like it. When is the last time you repented, believed, and obeyed? Have you been trying to obey God without repenting first? Have you been trying to obey God without depending on His Spirit first? Have you been trying to obey God at all?

The life of a believer is a life constant repentance, enduring belief, and habitual obedience. It isn’t fun. It isn’t comfortable and I daresay it won’t be until we enter heaven’s gates and are completely free of our sin nature, forever.

Have you been fighting a war with sin, or are you still on a bench with your bus ticket marked heaven? Perhaps it is time to get off the bench, make your election sure by fighting sin and living in Christ.

Title: The Founder's Measuring Stick

Text: Acts 2:42-47

FCF: We often struggle knowing how to gauge how successful we are as a church.

Prop: Because Christ has changed us forever, we must be the church Christ intended us to be.

Scripture Intro:

Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 2. Next week we will get back to our study of Galatians. I have missed it and am anxious to get back to it. However, I feel that with a new year it is important that we set the tone for our church. In November, the leadership of CBC met for a retreat. We came away with leading from the Spirit on a great many things. God was gracious enough to us to reveal direction and has since confirmed that direction. One of the greatest questions we faced that weekend was, What is the Vision, Purpose and Mission of Columbus Baptist Church? This is a huge question. Its answer could potentially change, dynamically, the trajectory of our entire church. Answering that question could chase many people away. Answering that question could lead to the church closing its doors in a few short years. But answering that question is the most important question that any church today faces. What does God want from us? By the grace of God I think He answered it. We discovered what God sees as a successful church. We discovered it right here in Acts. I for one, was shaken to my core at how God defines success, compared to how we define success today. Let me show you want I mean... I am reading starting in verse 42 and I'll be reading from the NASB but follow along in whatever version you prefer.

Sermon Intro:

I remember the first time I played a game of hearts on the computer. I was incredibly bored during one summer so I decided to pull up a card game on the computer that I had never played before. For whatever reason hearts seemed interesting. I opened it up and the computer assumed that I knew how to play. I didn't. In any case I got my hand. And I was killing it. I took hand after hand. I mean it seemed like the setting was too easy. I even went into the menu and checked the difficulty setting. I turned it all the way up. Still I kept taking hand after hand. At the final hand I played my card and sure enough I took it too. I had taken all but 1 hand. I was feeling pretty proud of myself until, of course, the score sheet screen came up. To my confusion, I was in dead last with the highest score. I decided to read the rules and quickly understood my error. You see when you don't understand the rules, measuring success can be tricky. What you think is success can actually be failure. The church was designed and built upon Jesus Christ. Since He designed it, He exemplifies its function and sets the standard for its success. Oftentimes we struggle understanding how to gauge how successful we are as a church. To the point that many churches have actually started using business models to do this. They blend scripture and capitalistic business insight to produce a standard for success and formulas to achieve it. But is that ok? Does business success =Christ's standard for success? Being our founder, Christ is the one who determines our purpose and when we have accomplished it. And being our savior, He has changed us forever to be the church He designed.

Transition:

Today we will see 4 practices of the early church and 3 characteristics of the early church. What we will see when all these are combined, is purest form of what Christ intended the church to be and how, right after Pentacost, this was true of the early church. What we will see - is the purpose and vision for Columbus Baptist Church. Let's start with the practices of the early church.

I.) Because Christ has changed us forever, we must continually devote ourselves to 4 distinct practices

a. Then = Continual Devotion to the apostles teaching

What does that mean? = a relentless pursuit of every shred of information about God, eagerly learned, sincerely believed, and passionately lived. Devotion to the Apostles teaching is a full out sprint toward theology, with the byproduct of it changing us to think, feel and act more like our King.

How does that compare to today? = Today doctrine is a bad word. Today churches are focusing on being gospel lite. Today churches shy away from long sermons and big words like hypostatic Union and transfiguration, and we avoid theological topics such as depravity and election. Our culture has gotten drunk on the Jesus who loves you for who you are and wants nothing more than to get to know you. It is only when we study the scriptures that we realize that this is not even half of the whole truth. Deep theological messages are shunned from Sunday service to youth groups – every area of ministry has been pruned of the pursuit of the Word of God. We claim it as our manual but only read the key points. We skip the details and friend in the details is where we find God.

When we focus on the main points we become moralists. We conform our lifestyles to a set of principles and forget to become personally connected to the God who set those principles in motion. We have left our first love as the church of Ephesus and the evidence is that we chafe at the exploration of the depth and riches of the Word of God.

I have been your pastor now for almost 7 months. If you have thought up to this point that the messages God has given to me have been deep and enlightening friend it has only been the tip of the iceberg. We haven’t scratched the surface. The messages God gives me take an hour to give and in most cases I have to cut hours of material to widdle it down to this. Some would say – well just keep preaching! No friend. We aren’t ready for that. I’m not ready for that.

Are we – Columbus Baptist Church – absolutely dependant on the Word of God? Keen listeners may say but Chris, aren’t we to be dependent on Christ? Christ is the Word friend. What do you think the Apostles teaching was but the revealed teachings to the disciples from the precrucified and preasscended Christ?

Are we – Columbus Baptist Church- devoted to the revealed doctrines of God?

I can tell you from a leadership side – we desire to be. Everything we do will have the Word of God as the primary focus. Everything we do will be steeped in doctrine. Doctrine isn’t old and stuffy – it is everything. We are nothing without the teachings of this book. So we will make much of it because it makes much of our King.

b. Then = Fellowship

What does that mean? = Fellowship means sharing, or partnership. They became equal shareholders in the stock of heaven. They were partners in the inheritance of the Son. They were inseparably linked forever because their natures had been changed. They bond between them was thicker than blood. It was soul. They were soul mates with one another.

How does that compare to today? = We think of fellowship as sharing a meal together and talking about work. Having a group meet to play games. Fellowship is sitting around plastic 8 foot tables while we eat a nice potluck and talk about how cold it has been. Friend none of these are wrong, in fact I daresay that fellowship could happen from them… But by themselves, they are not fellowship.

There have been many movies in the last 20 years that have tried to describe to non military people the closeness that occurs between soldiers who fight and face the despicable atrocities of human depravity together. They say that their bond is closer than any brother could be, because they have faced horrors together and lived.

Friend, to us, followers of Christ, this life is the hell of war. We are engaged every day in spiritual warfare. In our own hearts, in our homes, in our families, and in our society we face the wickedness of human depravity and the pride and power of principalities that are beyond what we could ever handle. Every day we battle back our old habits and ways of seeing the world, we fight, not for the lives, but for the very souls of our children, we wage an endless war against the wickedness of our age and with that backdrop… Oh the sweet fellowship – the partnering with those who fight at our side.

Suddenly, sitting around a plastic table talking about football seems so cheap.

Columbus Baptist Church – are we co-members of a club or co-heirs of a Kingdom? Are we friends who we share a common set of beliefs with or are we brothers and sisters who share a common Spirit who lives in both of us? Are we church attendees, or are we Partners in the sufferings of Christ? Do you realize that in a few short years the person to your left or right may share with you a mass grave for all those who have the audacity to claim the name of Jesus Christ?

Are we partners?

c. Then = breaking of bread

What does that mean? = This was Communion. This was the Lord’s Supper. This was the expression of their fellowship in that they met and remembered that they are in Christ and He is in them. They came together to purge themselves of sinful habits still clinging. They came together to refocus on the cross of Christ.

How does this compare to today? = Communion is one of the most abused practices of the church. Today, some churches actually say that rather than remember what Christ has done that communion actually gives meritorious grace to an individual so they may, with the grace given by Christ, have a part in their own salvation. Still other churches, perhaps sometimes this one, treats this as a hohum tradition that has little meaning or significance if they know anything about it at all. Some churches have stopped having communion altogether.

As brothers in arms, partners in the suffering of Christ – The Lord’s Supper becomes a sweet time of thankful tears. A brief window to recenter on the One who paid it all so that we could live. The Lord’s supper becomes a sober celebration of freedom and contrition. We purify our hearts before a holy God who has set us free and recreated us to our very nature to be holy people. And tearing and mangling the bread and spilling the juice reminds us of how that was made possible. It is a corporate practice that should continue with private observance.

So Columbus Baptist Church – we have been working on this one for a bit haven’t we. We have endeavored to make it different to help us see it differently. So I ask – will we be a people who break bread together?

d. Then = Prayers

What does that mean? = It means that the people of God were consumed with getting as close to God as they could. They attended the Jewish prayer hours and prayed privately in their homes. They considered it necessary to their lives to commune with the Most High. Not just the pursuit of Him in His Word, but the intimacy of a child to their father as they approach the throne in boldness. Prayer was absolutely pivotal to life.

How does that compare to today? = We aren’t people of prayer. As Americans we are never caught unsure of ourselves are we? We are independent! We are self-sufficient. With our silence we declare to our creator that we don’t need Him.

Our churches break down everything to formulas. If we send out enough fliers, if we advertise to the right people, if we say the right words, if we do the right things the church will grow. Why pray about it – we already have a proven method of church growth.

In fact the only times we do pray are when we face a very difficult situation where we are uncomfortable and unsure of ourselves. We bow our heads and seek God’s face once or twice. Our prayer consists of a thirty second request. We get off our knees and expect God to paint it on our ceiling what we are to do. Meanwhile, Elijah the prophet of God prayed 3 times while stretched out over the widows son that he would come back to life. He prayed 7 times after Mt. Carmel that God would allow it to rain on the earth. James tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous person can accomplish great things. Not the rare request of the self reliant.

Columbus Baptist Church – all that we do should be bathed in prayer. For our own connection to our King and for guidance in what to do with His church, we must seek His face. Why? Because we have no power here without Him.

Transition:

These were the practices of the church. This is what the church is to be up to. Some have said that the church is a hospital for the sick, but that is false. The church is not a hospital for the sick, it is a med school for doctors who have the inoculation to save the world. And we do this through sound doctrine, intimate partnership, Humbling Lord's Supper observance and fervent prayer. But practices does not make the whole of the church. There are attitudes we must possess too, which are equally as challenging.

II.) Because Christ has changed us forever, we must be characterized by 3 distinct attitudes

a. Then = Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe

What does that mean? = It means that there was a reverent fear that overwhelmed them. They were acutely aware of the holiness and untamablitily of God. That He had every right to wipe them from existence but He gave them Christ instead. Through continual devotion to the practices listed above they saw the Spirit of God do some amazing things and they could only step back and feel absolutely insignificant compared to the greatness of God.

How does that compare to today? = Just this past week my family and I went down to Ohio to visit my folks. Just outside of Toledo there is a huge church. They have always had signs and statues that are simply massive and this time was no different. Above their church in bold blue letters against a neon green background, they had a message for all who drove by. What would such a large church have to shout from the rooftops? Did it say God is great? Did it say "We serve a Risen Savior?" Did it say, Repent and Believe so that you may have life"? No, it said none of these. Written there on the sign in some of the biggest letters I have ever seen on a billboard was written two words. You... Matter. My mind could not help but drift to II Timothy where Paul warns Timothy that in the end times men would be a great many terrible things and first on the list is lovers of themselves. Timothy no doubt thought that Paul was talking about the culture around them - but it seems that Paul was actually predicting the state of the organized church. Today we are not filled with awe and wonder at the power and holiness of God. The "successful" churches, the mega churches, the market driven churches - these are churches who put a premium on the glorification of self. They design everything they do around the unsaved and the unchurched. I have a question for you. We have looked at 4 practices of the early church and 1 attitude of the early church, how many so far have been about the pursuit of the unsaved? None. Not one. I find it absolutely shocking, that in our culture the emphasis seems to be and continues to be on generating numerical growth, filling the pews with bodies, and building bigger buildings so that you can continue to fill the pews with bodies. Now, don't get me wrong - evangelism is a command. But I want you to tuck it away in the back of your head for now. Just tuck it away, because at the end we will talk a bit more about this.

For now - see how staggeringly different church today is from church then. The church was there for God, now it seems, even in programs and ministries, that the church is there for men. To please men. To help men. To fix men. To coddle men.

So where is the awe? Where is the wonder? Where is the Spirit of God descending and performing the miraculous? Friend - this ought to be a characteristic of every Christ follower. We live our lives, in reverent and fearful awe of the awesomeness of God. And we would - if we weren't so captivated by how awesome we are...

b. Then = All those who were believing were together and had all things in common and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have a need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together

What does that mean? = It means that they were the opposites of materialistic. It means not only did they not forsake the gathering of themselves together, but being family, they dwelt among each other. They did everything together. They were a community. They were the purest form of Communism the World has ever seen. No dictator commanded them to give up their possessions, they did it willingly, not to contribute to a communal pool of wealth, but to meet the needs of those who were suffering. No one thought of his personal possessions as so important that he would not willingly shed them if someone else was enduring a hardship. Their homes were always open. Their tables were always allowing visitors. Their clothes were always available to any who might need them.

It means that they were inseparable. No one could divide them. They were of the same mind, of the same heart, and of the same purpose. They had one pursuit and they ran together to meet it. They ate together, gave together, worshipped together and did life together. Not just theologically inseparable but socially too. They were family. No they were closer than family. They were all identical twins. Sharing thoughts, feelings and practices while being individuals they were one in Christ.

How does this compare to today? = Today we pray for needs. Today most church members are so backward on their finances that they can't help anyone with anything because they don't own anything they have. They are indebted to scores of people for thousands of dollars and have put themselves in financial hardship. And when they cannot make ends meet they come to the church for assistance. They haven't given a penny to help anyone but they seek help from others. Today we classify poverty differently than any other society on earth. In our society making $20,000 a year is poor when in most other countries in our world you would still be considered wealthy. I have been to Venezuela. My experience is no doubt similar to any who have gone to a 3rd world country for a missions trip. We have the audacity to come to the church to help us with an electric bill for our 4 bedroom home, fully furnished and functioning with cable, internet and phone lines. We carry our $600 phones in our pockets and drive our $15,000 car to the church to ask the deacons for money to keep our heat on.

It is revolting what we have become friend. The church in Acts were givers. And we are takers. I say we, because I am there too friend. When will we learn that nothing we own is ours. That we have no right to ask the church to help us with anything at all if we can sell our own possessions to help ourselves. And then when the church is not in debt and actually has control of their finances and can control their spending - then when we actually come across someone who is destitute in our congregation - orphans and widows, disabled and helpless - we can actually help them. Because we are free of our financial shackles we have spent ourselves into.

From another angle of this too - I need to address the great social catastrophe of our culture. In many ways we are the most connected we have ever been. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and countless other apps, websites, and widgets - we ought to be woven to one another more than we ever have been. And yet... we are some of the most disconnected people we have ever been. We see each other once or twice a week and have shallow conversations about the weather or what celebrity said what to whom. Our homes are always open - but there are no personal invites. We don't do much together at all - unless it is a program at the church. Now we as a church, Columbus, honestly, I feel we do a pretty ok job at this. There is always room for improvement, but we are welcoming and connected church by and large. But we must do better. We must be a church that sees one another as closer than a brother. Because we are connected in Christ. We need to do better at connecting with each other's lives and having meaningful conversations with one another. I think our greatest examples for this are the elderly among us. I have gone to the last few Senior Luncheons. And there are conversations about weather... but for the most part, the conversations are about children, grand children, life, hurts, hospitalizations and of course, Jesus. It is a sweet fellowship that I wish my generation would take a cue from. Because to my generation and younger - telling them to treat their church as they would their family - is actually poor advice. Because we have lost the family. Our families are anything but close or connected. So to be as close to our church as we are to our family - really - is a step backward. The only way I can illustrate it to our age group is - look at scripture and look at our Seniors.

c. Then = with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God

What does that mean? = They were thankful and worshipful people. They understood what they were saved from and they remembered it every day. They praised the One who set them free every day and every day they made sure that He was lifted up.

How does that compare to today? = Today most church goers, being consumed with themselves, are unthankful complainers that cowardly church leaders coddle and cater to. We always desire our way and desire greatly to have our needs met. We rarely worship. We come to church and sit in the pews but it has never once entered our minds to make much of our King. Even the way this room is set up - with the stage and the people on this stage facing each other. It is all about performance. We give money in the plate, when we have some spare loose change to give, so that we can pay for the performance in front of us. But friend this makes no sense. Who would pay money to have someone tell them they are wrong from an ancient book? Who would sing musically outdated songs that care little about pushing the envelope but about praising this invisible deity that hasn't shown his face in 2000 years?

I hope you can see by these practices and attitudes that we are so different than the church when it began.

So what is the vision and purpose of CBC? - This. This is it. We desire to be these people and do these things. If this isn't what you want... If you would rather be in a church that cares for you rather than pushing you to care for others. If you would rather be in a church that meets your needs rather than pushing you to meet the needs of others. If you would rather come to a church to learn about how to have your best life today than to come to learn about the great God that we serve and how you can be more like Him. If you would rather attend a church that makes much about attracting great numbers of people rather than loving each other and learning with each other... If you would rather have a different church than Acts 2:42-47, then this isn't the church for you.

But.

If your heart was pricked. If you see that you have made church into something it is not, and would like to work against that. Then we'd appreciate your help. Because this is where we are going. Why? Because this is the standard of success for Christ's Church. That we be like this.

Transition:

But all of this seems so interior. Where is the outreach? Where is the concern for the lost?

Conclusion:

Well we forgot some stuff– there is a little more to the verse in 47. We have just dissected God’s intent for His church. We have just looked at the church of Christ’s miraculous beginnings and the first century church’s beginning in the New Covenant. We see the staggering differences between the church we have today and the church then. And I did not tell you this before because I didn’t want you to think the wrong thing about it, but this, what we have just seen, is God’s church growth formula.

You see why would God draw people to a church that are not drawn to Him already? Why would God bring people to church that make little of His name? God doesn’t need the organized church to accomplish His will. And in the famine that is the church today many are assembling outside of church buildings and outside of church steeples and forming little “bible studies” they call them when really what they are doing is establishing the real church out of the ashes of the burnt down mess we have made it. These small groups form and begin to display the very things we see here in Acts. They grow and grow so large that they can’t fit in a home anymore. So what do they do?

They start their own church, buy a building, create an organization and in a few short years they are right back to what they left.

Listen friend. God does not need our building. He does not need our bank account. He does not need our instruments. He does not need our AV equipment. He does not need a church van and He does not need Sunday School or VBS or Youth Group. To be frank He doesn’t need us at all. What He wants – is for His church to be like His Son.

When we are like Christ… we will grow in favor with all men. Meaning that the only point of contention the world has with us is our faith in Christ, and that alone. The name of Christian is so tattered and worn. Some of the most vile people on earth are called Christian. But when we are this kind of church. When we are Christ-Like… the only thing they will be able to pin on us is that we zealously clung to our dependence on Christ. And f we are that kind of people as a group – well that is attractive. Why? Because it is weird.

And the Lord (who is the author and finisher of salvation – not formulas or mailers) He will add to His church.

You want to know how to grow the church? You look around and you don’t see many people… and you wonder, well golly how are we gonna get more people in here? The answer is abundantly simple… be like Christ.

Be Like Christ.

Keep gathering all there is to know about God so you can live like him. Become brothers in arms with one another. Center yourself together with others of the faith around the Lord’s supper. Pray and depend on the Father for everything. Continually be awestruck at the power and glory of the God of the universe. Consider your brothers and sisters in Christ co-owners of all you possess so that none will be in need. Be of one mind, love and purpose with your co-heirs as you live out your days furthering Christ’s Kingdom together and worship often with great thanksgiving for all Your King has done for you and your co-heirs.

This is the church. This is what Columbus Baptist must be to exemplify the word Church at the end of that title. And we will only be this in Christ.

A church is not successful because it has many people, but when a church is successful by its founder's measuring stick, They become a suitable beacon to draw people to Himself.

And once this is true of us friend… Then you will see great things – signs and wonders as God produces life through us.

Title: A Humble King Makes Humble Princes

Text: Philippians 2:1-11

FCF: We often struggle with division and contentions

Prop: Because we are in Christ, we must be united in humility.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Philippians chapter 2. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Today is a wonderful day where we can celebrate the birth of the One who changed everything for us. Today we will remember what our Lord did for us and perhaps you are a bit confused on how we will accomplish that from the book of Philippians. Maybe you are wondering why we didn’t pick a passage in one of the gospels or perhaps Isaiah. Well today I want to talk about the incarnation with you. Not its place in history or the events surrounding it – I’m sure you have heard of all that. But what did it take for Jesus to be born in a manger? What was necessary for Mary to immaculately conceive this child? For that there is no better place than this book. Paul is writing this book to the church in Philippi who were probably going to be enduring some persecution very soon. Paul is attempting to prepare them for this by exhorting them to be Christ-Like. If they would be in Christ, they would remain united against all who would oppose them. Paul who is writing from prison is no stranger to persecution. He tells them above all to be joyful for their hope is not rooted in earthly pleasure but in the life that follows this temporal place. We are in chapter 2 and I’ll start reading in verse 1. I am using the NASB today but follow along in what you have.

Sermon Intro:

[Slide 2] Well it is that time of year again and Kadie and I have been trying to get through those Christmas movies. One particular favorite is about a young man who is left at home by accident by his family as they flew off to Paris. The night before this happened, he had an argument with his mother and by extension the rest of the family. He honestly believed that his life would be better without his family. As a 8 year old I’m sure he was convinced. To his surprise, the next morning he woke up and they were gone. Thinking they would have taken their cars to the airport rather than being picked up by air-port transit he concluded that his wish, that they would disappear, was granted. At first he is happy. All the things he wished he was allowed to do, he did. Eventually though, he began to understand that family was important. After meeting an older man who had a fight with his son, and had not spoken to him in years, and with his house being invaded by some thieves, the little boy came to realize just how important family was and apologized for his poor behavior. Now amid all the far fetched threads of this story, one that is not so out there is our tendency to fight and divide from those with whom we should be closest. Families linked by blood fight. But really, what I am talking about today, is how people of the church, family linked by the blood of Christ, fight. We struggle with division and contention. And just like the little boy in this silly Christmas movie, the cause of the fighting is clear. What is not clear, is the solution. As followers of Christ our hope is inseparably linked to Him. We are in Christ. Being in Christ means that we will live differently. Specifically that we will be united in humility.

Transition:

[Slide 3] You may be saying – Chris this doesn’t sound very Christmasy. It will. I promise it will. First we will see that being in Christ changes our hearts.

I.) Because being in Christ changes our hearts, we must be united in humility (1-4)

a. [Slide 4] 1 – Therefore – Because of what I just said, but what did he just say? – Look with me back to verses 27 through 30 of chapter 1. Paul is describing his ministry while in prison. Probably in Rome around 62 A.D. He describes how God is using his imprisonment for the furtherance of the gospel message since everyone there knows that why he is in prison. His imprisonment has also emboldened others to speak the gospel message. He admits that some do so because they see it as an opportunity to gain followers to themselves – but their message at least is sound and for that Paul is happy. Paul then talks about how he is facing death and his confidence that whether he lives or dies that Christ will be glorified. Then he says what he says in verses 27-30. Read with me.

i. Be Gospel affected people. Let your lives prove that you are truly of the faith. How?

ii. unity with one another and not being intimidated by those who oppose the truth.

iii. Just in case you think you read it wrong – yes – Paul is saying that the evidence that they will be destroyed, and that you will be saved, is that you will believe in Christ and suffer for him. Suffering is evidence that your faith is genuine. How much are you suffering for Christ?

iv. We could stop there this morning but we will move forward.

b. If there is any encouragement in Christ – Because of everything I just said, if there is any encouragement. The next few statements are not questions of uncertainty. He isn’t saying if you can find any encouragement in Christ then do what I am going to tell you. He is saying something to the effect of, If the sun rises in the east do this. These items are indicators of genuine faith. Genuine faith is the only thing that can bring about what he is asking them to have. The first of these is encouragement in Christ. The word for encouragement is used to mean to come along side, counsel or exhort. He is saying if Jesus is your teacher, master, Lord and guide. To all who are saved this is exactly who He is – but to those who are pretend Christians, Jesus is never any of these. Jesus is always just a friend.

c. if there is any consolation of love – the phrase in Christ can be carried through these items - giving us a picture that this love is actually Christ’s love we are talking about. Is there any comfort or consolation of His love? - This is the friend part Jesus is our friend, He loves us greatly. But He isn’t only interested in loving us, but us showing our love for Him with a life given to Him.

d. If there is any fellowship of the Spirit [in Christ] = When we depend on and surrender to Christ – the Spirit of God weaves himself to our natures creating a new nature. We are raised in Christ as He sends His Spirit into our hearts. If that happened to you then there should be a natural and immediate bond with all who are truly in Christ.

e. if any affection and compassion – These are character traits inherited by being in Christ, by being obedient to your master, comforted by your friend and controlled by the Spirit. We as believers inherit a compassion and an affection that is not normal.

f. [Slide 5] 2 - Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. – Here is Paul’s request. If indeed we are all in Christ, then it is not only possible but necessary that we will be united. We will think the same way (God’s way) We will feel the same way (God’s way) We will act the same way (God’s way). Because we are in Christ. Because we are all members of His body. We are one. But how can this go awry?

g. [Slide 6] 3 – Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit – We recently saw the meaning of selfish ambition in Galatians. We defined it as a fractionizer or a politician. Conceit literally means empty glory. In other words, do nothing to inherit praise or worth for yourself. This unity can be broken by people claiming to follow Christ, making themselves or their causes more important than unity. Standing on unimportant theological preferences divides the church as much as becoming prominent so people would think you were important. At their cores, they are the same because they are full of a deplorable abomination that many churches allow to flourish in their assemblies… PRIDE. Pride kills unity. Pride kills the church. And yet oftentimes we let it fester.

h. but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves – Let me put one final nail in the coffin of the self-esteem movement. This verse alone destroys it for a Christian. Because Paul tells us to stop seeking glory for ourselves and reveling in our own accomplishments or purposes, but instead to (as the KJV says) esteem other better than ourselves. It is impossible to pursue self-esteem and this verse at the same time. They are opposites. Unity in the church rests on each one serving one another and considering others as more important that you. You may say – but wait a minute. If I spend all my time caring for others I will go poor!

i. [Slide 7] 4 – Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others – Paul’s words here are quite clear. Friend there is no one on earth that actually does that. No one on earth gives to the point that they enter a poor house. It is natural and not sinful to look after your own personal interests. But what Paul is saying is this… Don’t make your interests a higher priority to you than others’ interests. If the church would do this – if we would be a place of mutual dependence, seeking the interests of everyone else before ourselves…. no one would ever be in need or want of anything, physical, emotional, spiritual or otherwise.

Transition:

[Slide 8] What does this look like? How do we become this?

Application:

As for the how it is simple. We must be in Christ. As natural man our hearts are bent inward. We care little about others, and even in our attempts to help others, it is never for the purpose of bringing glory to God. This is another symptom of our depravity. That even in our vain attempts to please Him by our performance, we still produce only filthy rags before Him. Jesus died to provide us a new nature whereby we can finally please God. So the how is to be in Christ and to be in Christ is to be dependant on Him for His work on the cross and to be surrendered to Him in obedience.

As hum-drum as that seems that is always the starting point for change as a believer. We never start with mustering up strength or pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We begin with complete dependence on Him for power and passion. And in submission to His will, we step out in faith to obey.

All that is left for us then is to look at what this means for us.

Paul’s desire was for the church at Philippi to be united. Unity in the church is not something we see today. And there are two sides to it.

First there are people who wish to unite with anyone and everyone that believes that Jesus died on the cross. This is not the standard by which we unite with other people. As we learned from Galatians, there is no unity with those who would treat the cross of Christ as insufficient for salvation. There is also no unity with those who would treat the cross of Christ as a license to sin freely. In either case, both camps do not understand the nature of salvation or the reason Christ had to die.

On the other hand, inside the circle of those who would say that he cross of Christ is sufficient for us to bring us to holiness – there are still others who fight and nitpick each other to death, separating over non-essential preferences that should not be separated over.

In short, as usual, we have it completely backward. We separate from those we should love even if we differ slightly, and we try to join with apostates.

So how do we prevent ourselves from separating from those with whom we differ slightly and instead show them love? Paul tells us. Humility.

As believers we ought to be selfless people. Concerned about others more than we are concerned about ourselves.

At Christmas time we seem to be focused on helping people who are less fortunate. And although that is a tempting application here, it is not Paul’s point. Paul is not saying to be giving. He is saying to be selfless. He is saying to consider your thoughts, opinions, fame, well-being, needs, wants, passions, desires, hopes, dreams, goals, plans and on an on – to consider all things of you to be secondary to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

To be of one mind, heart and body! To disappear into Christ. And speaking of Christ…

Transition:

[Slide 9] He modeled this for us friend. He showed us exactly what it means to be second. Of all beings, of all entities, of all creatures, He had absolutely no reason to be second. Friend do you know what we celebrate at this time of year? We celebrate the humiliation of the second person of the God head. Let me show you…

II.) Because being in Christ gives us an example we must follow, we must be united in humility (5-11)

a. [Slide 10] 5 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus – This attitude that Paul is talking about. This unifying mind-set is one that the author of our faith, the cornerstone of the church, exemplified to the highest degree. That is none other than Jesus Christ. How?

b. [Slide 11] 6 – who although He existed in the form of God – Form of God can be confusing and indeed has led to many heresies about the union between Christ’s humanness and his deity. Form means corresponding to reality. In other words – just like it. It is corresponding to something that is real. Existing in the form of God means then – that Jesus Christ was God. And although He was God…

c. did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped – The word for grasping is a word that denotes a clutching or clawing after. It is painting this picture of someone who loses their grip on a rope and urgently tries to recapture it lest they fall to their doom. The verses here then is saying that Jesus Christ did not see His position as something that He clung to as if it could be taken from Him. He was eternally God. Yet – His attitude toward that was one of submission in that He did what He did next because God the Father sent Him to do it…

d. [Slide 12] 7 – but emptied Himself – Again, many false teachings have emerged from this phrase. Jesus did not pour out His deity and fill his empty cup with humanity as one would with a glass of water. The word to empty here is a word that is used when describing the abdication of rights and privileges. He chose not to display His glory. Not because He couldn’t – in fact He proved He could at the Mount of Transfiguration. While being omniscient and fully aware that He was God – His human nature had to grow in wisdom and stature. Even some Christmas Carols get this wrong – God in human flesh – is actually incorrect. He isn’t God in human flesh. He is God and Human. Two distinct natures bound together forever. To empty Himself then – to abdicate certain privileges and rights of being God was to…

e. taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men – By taking on a human nature and adding it to His divine nature He emptied Himself. This is why this passage of scripture is so amazing for Christmas. We fly through that Christmas story and we see Jesus in the manger all bundled on a cold winters night. We sing the carols and we think we are being good Christians because we say “Jesus is the reason for the season” and yet we never talk about this point. Jesus HUMILIATED himself to come here. He did more than take on flesh. He became a bond-servant of God. He lowered Himself farther than you or I could ever imagine. We think that the suffering of Christ was relegated to that Passion week but friend to place His Holy nature into the womb of a filthy sinner - to become human in addition to divine – that was the beginning of His suffering. This was His emptying. To be like us. Forever. He is still in possession of that human nature today. That human soul is still knit to His Divine nature. His humiliation was an eternal one.

f. [Slide 13] 8 – Being found in the appearance of a man – This is not a repetition of the previous thought. He is saying that from a human perspective – no one could say He wasn’t a man, but it was clear He was more than that.

g. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross – The God of the universe added human nature to His divine nature. Become a slave of choice to God the Father, as any other human. In so doing, the Father commanded He die and He obeyed. We can’t understand this totally but to die, being the eternal God of the universe, would be quite the humiliating experience. Not embarrassing. But no matter how low you are in society if you are living, you have more than the dead do you not? The ruler of all things – submitted Himself to God – To Die. And not the death of a war hero. Not the death of a King. Not the death of a Famous person… but the death of a criminal. At the hands of the proud… for the sake of the wicked – of which He never was. As much as we love a rags to riches story friend – the greatest story ever told is that of riches to rags. He became a man, to die. A sheep to be slaughtered. So that you and I could escape the wrath of God. We sing Peace on earth and good will to men and we don’t understand what it means. Peace on earth means that there is finally a way to not be at war with God. Good will to men means that God has called a timeout on his judgment and has offered, AT A GREAT COST, an olive branch of peace.

h. [Slide 14] 9 – For this reason also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name – Because of His humility in completing this perfectly, proving forever His divine and human nature, God has given Him a name. After emptying Himself and abdicating His rights and privileges, now God gives Him more than He had prior to His incarnation. God has given the eternal God-Man a name of authority over the cosmos. A task given to Adam to tend creation has now been placed under the feet of Jesus along with all of creation. To the point that

i. [Slide 15] 10-11a – so at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord – Not the name Jesus, but Jesus’ name – His new name the one that God Himself has given to Jesus. Could be Yahweh – could be a name we have never heard. It could be the name written on his clothing in Revelation 19:12 that no one knows but Him. That name though demands that every sentient creature that has ever lived will kneel before Him and declare that He is the Lord of All Things and Time and Space. Why? BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO. Free will is out the window friend. Why will they do this?

j. [Slide 16] 11b – To the Glory of God the Father – Ultimately, it all comes back to the glory of God. That in the height of the authority of all God has given to the son – the height of His exaltation, Christ submits to the authority of God the Father – maintaining His example of humility – showing us finally – that Christ was not humble because He came to earth, died on the cross, or was exalted… He was humble because He was God.

Transition:

[Slide 17] Christ’s example shows us that even having every right to be lifted up, having the right answer, having the authority and power to choose what you want – does not mean that you get to. That God is still Sovereign. That others are to be considered more important that you.

Application:

You cannot will yourself to be humble. You must be like Christ to be humble. And to be like Christ you must be in Christ – or rather, have Christ in you. It is the systematic murder of all that you formerly were – and the intentionally addition of all that He is. This put off and put on process starts with His power and passion infused in you through the Holy Spirit and is completed when you get off your knees of fervent prayer and step out in faith to obey His impossible will.

Through His power and passion and your faithful obedience you can kill off your selfishness and put on Christ’s humility.

Transition:

And that humility has a purpose. A side effect. A goal.

Conclusion:

We are most like Christ when we are empty of ourselves. When we add others to us and consider them part of our very person. That their care, opinions, thoughts and feelings are one with our own. That is when we are Christ Like.

Paul’s desire, God’s desire, is that we be a united church. And when all of Christ’s Church are pursuing being like Him, a byproduct of this humility is that we will be united.

[Slide 18] We will be of the same mind. Why? Because as we truth in the bible. The bible is God’s thoughts about Himself, humanity, life, worship and everything else. As we devour His Word, since the Spirit of Christ is woven to our minds we begin to understand God’s thoughts. We start to see the world the way He sees it, which is drastically different than how we saw it before. And when all of us are doing this – It is only natural that we will agree. Not in all the piddly things. No we won’t agree on those. But on the things that matter. The things that are near to the heart of God… we will be united.

We will have the same love. Why? Well, as our minds begin to change to think the way God thinks, and since the Spirit of Christ is woven to our emotions, we begin to feel the way God feels about ourselves, other followers of Christ, those who do not follow Christ, and the needy. We rejoice, mourn, feel compassion and concern the same way God would. And in this our hearts will beat together as they beat with Christ’s. We will love the same. We may be burdened differently, but on the big things – the things that God cares about – we will be united.

We will have the same spirit and purpose. Why? With God’s mind and God’s heart and the Spirit of Christ woven to our hands, feet, eyes and voices, we go out into the culture around us and show others the truth of God. We seek to share with them His thoughts and feelings. We seek to help others as God would help them and give them God’s truth with God’s motivation. We may differ in small ways to accomplish these tasks but overall the purpose and vision of the church will be one. We will be united.

It seems like a no-brainer but when Christ followers, follow Christ, we will follow Christ as one. Have this mind in you, which is also in Christ. May that be our goal as we celebrate what He did this Christmas season.

Title: Lifestyles of the Dead Part 2

Text: Galatians 5:21; Among others

Series FCF: We often struggle believing we have a license to sin freely since we are free in Christ.

Series Prop: Lifestyles of the flesh prove a heart that is unchanged, so we must flee these practices.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Galatians chapter 5. We will only be in Galatians at the very beginning of the sermon and the very end of the sermon today. We are continuing a mini-series within this study of the book of Galatians whereby we are expanding beyond this book to discover the many lists of lifestyles that will end with a person not inheriting the Kingdom of God. At the very end of this sermon we will talk about why that is briefly, but for now, just know that the things that we will examine today are the lifestyles of the dead. They are lifestyles that Christians not only should not live (as in they should not be permitted to live) but lifestyles that Christians cannot live (as in that they are not able to live them). Paul gave us a list of 16 of them last week . [Slide 2] They were:

1.) Fornication

2.) Uncleanness

3.) Lewdness

4.) Idolatry

5.) Sorcery

6.) Hatred

7.) Contention

8.) Jealousy

9.) Outbursts of Wrath

10.) Selfish Ambition

11.) Dissension

12.) Heresy

13.) Envy

14.) Murder

15.) Drunkenness

16.) Revelry

Last week we defined these very plainly and even applied their broad categories of sexual sin, sins of religious dependence on things outside of Yahweh, sins of hostility toward others and finally, sins of lack of restraint on pleasure. If you missed last week I would encourage you to seek out the sermon in various forms and listen to it.

This week we will continue examining the lifestyles of the dead with two introductory points.

1.) There are 63 additional items throughout the New Testament (assuming I didn’t miss any) We won’t repeat any as we collect them. Many of them are mentioned several times or in different ways. We will not be able to define all of these to their fullest extent, nor will we be able apply each we come across. We will only apply a select few. We may not even get through with the list today. I will try my best, but if we are bumping up against the time then we will conclude the sermon with some final thoughts and I will try to get the definitions and applications of these lifestyles to you in some other means.

2.) Do not conclude that these 79 lifestyles are an exhaustive list, or even the definitive list, is simply not somewhere we can go. These are simply examples of lifestyles that are controlled by the flesh and therefore empty of the Spirit. Are there more? Certainly. If I don’t fit any of these am I a Christian? Maybe. Remember that there is a put on side to the put off side. That is coming next week.

For now, let us start by reading 3 simple words from Galatians 5:21. I’ll be using the NKJV for all the passages of scripture today so try to follow along as best you can.

Sermon Intro:

This sermon will depart sharply from my normal method of sermon crafting. It was simply too arbitrary to try to make 2 or three points or to try to divide all of these up in to two or three categories. I toyed with the idea of looking at them as sins against God and sins against others. But all sins against others are sins against God. I thought perhaps they could be divided into sins of the mind and emotions and sins of the words and deeds. But all sins of action start in the mind as our first passage will show us. Really what we are dealing with this morning is a 63 point sermon. Which could instead be 63 sermons. Since I don’t believe that either of those are really on the scope of what the Lord would have for us right now, we will instead plod along through all of these. So let’s start in Mark 7.

Transition:

[Slide 3] The scope of Mark is to show the humanity of Christ. That He was fully human. A suffering Servant of God. In the passage we are about to read, Jesus is in one of his many confrontations with the Pharisees. In this particular instance the Pharisees question the reasoning behind why Jesus’ disciples did not ceremonially wash themselves before eating. Jesus explained that this was a tradition that they had formed expecting to be defiled from without when the real defilement comes from within. He then goes into detail about what specifically comes pouring out of a defiled man. Read with me in verse 21 and 22.

[Slide 4] Mark 7:21-22

1.) Evil Thoughts: SN: 2556 +1261 – dialogisma oi kakoi – Evil ponderings, considerations or imaginations. A person who not only lives these lifestyles of the dead, but imagines, ponders, plots, plans and is utterly captivated by these lifestyles. In a certain sense this is where all these lifestyles begin. From within.

2.) Adulteries - SN: 3430 – moicheia – Adultery

3.) Thefts - SN: 2829 – Klopay – Theft

4.) covetousness - SN: 4124 – pleonexia – a scheme to take by force something from someone

5.) wickedness - SN: 4189 – ponayria – Broadly this means depravity, but more specifically this is someone who is wicked. Someone who is malicious. Someone who has evil purposes and evil desires. Again a word is used to define the mental side of all the actions. Perhaps Mark is trying to get across to Jewish people the nature of internal sin. Which is in fact the context of these verses.

6.) Deceit - SN1388 – dolos – entrapment or deceit . Fraud. Plan to deceive.

7.) Blasphemy - SN: 988 – Blasphaymia – Simply put this means to slander, but use even in this day would have been to slander God.

8.) Pride - SN:5243 – huperayphania - the character of one who, with a swollen estimate of his own powers or merits, looks down on others and even treats them with insolence and contempt. Of all the backward thinking in churches in America one of the most ridiculous is our emphasis on so many things that are so petty. Like the Pharisees, we make much of attire, bible version, music preference, smoking, drinking, and even pre-marital sex. Now some of these are clearly sins. Others are not. But when you look at Proverbs 6 of all the sins that God finds detestable. Pride is #1. And yet – arrogant preachers, deacons, elders and laymen infest our churches. They are puffed up with knowledge and think they are something important and something special. Even in this Pastor’s heart friend – every day I fight off thoughts of how good I am and how amazing I am. Pride puts you on the throne instead of God. Pride puts others under your feet instead of where they actually are – your brothers and sisters. Pride is a far more serious and deplorable sin in the heart of a young woman than her getting pregnant out of wedlock. And yet we let pride infest our churches. God’s people are humble people. We understand that we would be nothing without Christ. And with Him – we are only what He makes us to be. There is no glory for men in this.

9.) Foolish - SN:877 – aphrosunay- Spiritually apathetic. Lacking Spiritual seriousness. Foolish. Friend if you claim to be of Christ then reading your bible, praying, worshiping God, fellowshipping with other believers, serving others- these are not hobbies. They are not pastimes. They are not things you dabble in. Spiritual maturity is not a flippant when I get to it sort of thing… it is your primary priority. But dead people. Dead people don’t care about spiritual growth. Why? Because they are dead. They don’t care about spiritual things at all. They do care about football, and movies, and TV shows, and work, and playing sports. But spirituality is not on their radar. Why? Because they are dead!

Transition:

[Slide 5] Go with me to Romans 1. Paul’s definitive work on theology. If you think Galatians is thick, Galatians is the poor man’s Romans. Paul begins His letter really defining who is worthy of salvation. He takes 11 chapters to definitively prove that none are worthy apart from Christ. In this first chapter we really just see him opening the discussion about the natural state of man and if left to themselves they will run themselves into these lifestyles. From this passage of scripture we find that God’s judgment is not always fire and brimstone from heaven. In fact, most of the time it is, at least initially, his removal of his hand and allowing us to sin as we want. The following is a list of such activity by those who have been set free to do as they wish by God.

[Slide 6-10] Romans 1:28-32

1.) A Debased Mind - SN:4137+3956+ 93 – perlayrohmenous pasay adikia – To be saturated, completely filled, will all – every kind – of all moral wrongness or injustice. Depraved.

2.) Evil Mindedness - SN: 2550 – Kakahaytheia – bad manners or habits. A disposition toward mischief. Harm causer. Distress causer.

3.) Whisperers - SN: 5588 – psithurstays – Whisperer or a gossip. Those who secretly stir up trouble

4.) Backbiters - SN:2637 – katalalos – speaking against. - Those who slander, those who detract or complain. In Secret or not. – What we have in these two words is a one two combo punch that strikes at the heart of what we were talking about last week. Whether you secretly stir up trouble and complain, gripe or otherwise slander privately or publically it doesn’t matter. God’s people use their words to edify. To build up. To construct not destroy. God’s people are people who’s lips are dripping with honey, who confront with love, and are very slow to point at flaws in others without first examining themselves. A child of God would rather cut out his tongue than rip others a new one with their words. They are unconcerned about being right. They would rather confront the sin in others than talk about it to those who have nothing to do with it. Oh and listening – they don’t do that either. God’s people shut down gossipers. They tell them that if they have a problem to seek out that person. God’s people know that their tongue is a fire and can quickly set a forest ablaze… so they speak far less than they listen. They choose their words carefully and use them to build up others.

5.) Haters of God - SN:2319 – Theostugays – hater of God – A despiser of God

6.) Violent - SN: 5195 – hubristays – Violent dictator. Someone who needs to get their way and will stop at nothing to get it.

7.) Boasters - SN:213 – aladzoh – Braggers. Those who think highly of their own accomplishments and abilities.

8.) Inventors of Evil Things - SN:2182+2556 – epheuretas kakohn – To be a creative person when it comes to evil.

9.) Disobedient to Parents - SN: 545+1118 – apeithays goneus – unpersuaded or uncompliant to parents. Those who disobey their parents are of the flesh. A seemingly awkward one to have in this list don’t you think. Yet there it is. Children who claim to be of Christ and are still under the rule of their father and mother (which going by biblical standards would be until they establish their own family although there may be some variables in that) - Children in this situation that claim to be of Christ should be compliant to their parents. They should obey without incident. The are to submit themselves to the rule of their parents without question. You may ask, well what if my parents are wrong? Unless they are asking you to do something that is clearly unbiblical, then it is not your concern whether they are wrong or not. Being defiant, fighting tooth and nail, pitting your will against theirs is evidence of a dead heart. Why? Because God’s people are used to submitting. We do it every day. Every day we wake up and kill ourselves on a cross and then go about submitting our wills to His. So submitting to an authority He has divinely established in our lives – well that is a piece of cake. God’s people submit. Even to elected authorities adults…

10.) Undiscerning - SN:801 – asunetos – not prudent – Reckless – Spiritually unenlightened. Spiritually dead

11.) Untrustworthy - SN: 802 – asuthetos – not of a covenant – A covenant breaker – Someone who is untrustworthy and breaks their vows, commitments, contracts or promises. God’s people keep their word. God’s people reflect their King because He is a King of His word. God’s people do not make hasty promises and leave them unfulfilled. God’s people do not enter into business contracts or financial agreements and back out of them because the court says they can. God’s people do not hastily run to the alter and make a vow to cherish someone until they are parted by death and then cast that vow aside. Again if you have done these once, I’m not necessarily talking to you but people who are dead – they have no regard for what they promise. Do you? God hates divorce because it is lying. God hates bankruptcy because it is lying. God hates lying. Because He is a God of truth. If you are His children… then you will be people of truth.

12.) Unloving - SN: 794 – astorgos – Without affection – This person is a person who does not have any natural affection. This is a person who does not care about his own family. A person who feels nothing for father, mother, brother or blood. Lack of compassion for kin.

13.) Unforgiving - SN: 786 – aspondos – A person who is not able to enter into any sort of agreement or compromise. They are not mutually submissive. They must have their own way. They are unyielding and unable to be satisfied. – APPEARS IN THE KJV AND NKJV ONLY – God’s people are people of love and love according to I Corinthians does not need to get its own way. We are to be submissive people. Not just to authority but to one another. So they don’t like the version of the bible you use, the music you like, the clothes you prefer or the movies you allow. We kind of covered this last week when we talked about heresies and how people divide over choice or preference. We should be yielding to one other. Giving preference to each other. We ought not to be my way or the highway people. Except in 1 area… Theological truth. That is when we cannot yield.

14.) unmerciful - SN:415 – aneleaymohn - without compassion or mercy – No sense of love or compassion on those in a dire state. True religion undefiled is the care for orphans and widows. Whatever you have done to the least of these you have done it unto me. Friend, God’s people are giving people. We give to those in need. Not to the point that we become the needy. We give responsibly. But we are cheerful givers. We see those in dire straights and we must help them. Compassion. I love this word. Compassion is sympathy applied. It is empathy with action. It is when we see someone who cannot provide for themselves, we feel sorry for them and then we do something to help. You say well I am poor – as poor as them? I don’t have much, give what you can. God’s people have compassion and mercy on others… but the dead. The dead do not care about others. As long as I am provided for and my family perhaps – well I am good. Who cares if others are in trouble… it matters very little to me. That is a heart that is dead.

15.) Approve of those who practice them - SN: 4909+4238 – suneudokousin tois prassousin – To agree wholeheartedly or applaud the actions of them who habitually practice the lifestyles mentioned in the context of Romans 1 – even though they know that such lifestyles are lifestyles of the dead. They… don’t… care. And very briefly, this describes our nation does it not? A nation that looks fondly at the workers of evil and applauds their bravery for proudly and unashamedly behaving wickedly. Don’t fear because God may judge our nation some day. Depend on God because He is judging our nation… right… now.

Transition:

[Slide 11] Go with me to I Corinthians 6. Paul is writing to the Gentile church of Corith. A vile city with vile practices. A cultural hub of the Roman Empire. There in this debauched city, a church sprang up of people trying desperately to live out their faith and shed their former pagan lifestyles. Plagued with all sorts of problems from sexual immorality to head coverings, Paul addresses many of their concerns. There is reason to believe that Paul had written 4 letters to the Corinthians – this possibly being his second. 2 of course we do not posses any longer. Paul is noticibly distraught as he bounces quickly from topic to topic. He broaches the discussion of sexual immorality in chapter 5 and then moves to lawsuits being raised against each other, coming back again to sexuality in the middle of chapter 6 and following. He inserts then a list of practices whereby a person can assure themselves that they will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Follow along in verse 9.

[Slide 12-14] I Corinthians 6:9-11

1.) Homosexuals - SN: 3120 – Malakos – This word is quite challenging. Nowhere else in scripture is this word used as a noun as it is here. And rarely in secular Greek works of the era is the greek word used as a noun.

a. In its adjective form it means soft or delicate. But to glean meaning from what it means as an adjective is dangerous. Let me give you an example. To say the grass is green and to call someone green are two VERY different things correct?

b. In the context here in I Corinthians there are many sexual sins but fornicators and adulterers are interrupted with idolaters making the list exclusively segregated to sexual sins hard to prove. Even if idolatry in this day was linked heavily to sexual immorality.

c. In secular works of the day men who were thought to be weak, cowardly were called this, and although rare, it may also be a synonym for a greek practice of enslaving a young boy for their male masters as a sex slave.

d. To conclude that this word means men who act feminine, trangenderism, is a stretch of this word.

e. Taking this concept of forcing a boy to be the homosexual sex slave of an older man, there seems to be a thread running through that of submission and femininity. In secular greek works you were basically called a girl for being a coward. So combining these two meanings gives us a guess at the meaning of this word.

f. It is the submissive, female role adopter in a homosexual relationship. It could simply be condemning the lifestyle of the homosexual sex slave. Or it could simply mean acting cowardly. In any case it is difficult to peg this word. But the next word is much more clear and much more inclusive so as to we are able to be less specific on this word.

2.) Sodomites - SN: 733 aresenokoitays –

a. The prefix means man and second half of the word means bed – which is a similar expression to when we hear the phrase in our culture “to go to bed with someone or to sleep with someone”: We all know that that is a euphemism to have sexual relations with someone. It is a broad term to denote all forms of illicit sexual activity and is as inclusive as porneia that we learned last week.

b. What makes this word challenging is, is this saying males who commit sexual immorality or is it saying committing sexual immorality with a male – implying of course that the person is also a male.

c. What Paul is no doubt saying - Being quite familiar with the Greek Old Testament called the Septuigent– was taking Leviticus 18 which says arseno koitai arseno – man having sexual intercourse with men and just pushes all that together coining a phrase to remind the Greek Speaking people of the words of the Old Testament.

d. Not only that but coupled with the previous word it is obvious what is happening here. Paul is saying people who have boy male prostitutes are of the flesh and for that matter so are all forms of homosexual behavior.

3.) Revilers - SN:3060 – loidoros – Someone who abuses with their words. Verbally abusive. This is the extreme version of the word to backbite where not only is their slanderous intent but there is a viciousness to it as well. Meaning ladies and children if your husband has a lifestyle of verbal abuse – he may not even be saved ladies. You may be unequally yoked. Why? Because God’s people use their words to edify. To build up. Not to destroy. Dead people use their words to beat people into submission. They wield their tongues like a sword and cut down all who oppose them.

4.) [slide 14]Such were some of you – implying what we will make plain later… we cannot continue to be this way if we claim Christ.

Transition:

[Slide 15]Go with me to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians no doubt was a cyclical letter designed to be passed from church to church, It is a basic letter that has some important theological truths in it albeit unspecific to a situation in contrast to the Corinthian books. Paul after outlining the purpose of the church now comes to challenge the readers to walk in love. Then he lists unloving and ungodly lifestyles that will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

[Slide 16-19]Ephesians 5:3-6

1.) Filthiness - SN: 151 – aischrotays – obscenity or filthiness – that which is shameful

2.) Foolish Talking - SN: 3473 – Mohrologia – stupid talking – buffoonery – foolish speech – pointless babble. Spiritually bankrupt conversation. Possibly more destructive than gossip, backbiting, and reviling is an idle tongue. One that speaks often of everything under the sun, but never speaks of spiritual truth or depth. Sitting around campfires and board games, in front of tvs and behind steering wheels, the heart of the dead wishes only to talk about meaningless things. Things that don’t matter. Things that are earthy and temporal. Why? Because that is their whole world because there is no life after this one. A child of God understands that this is not their home. They realize that there are far more important things to talk about than how work is going. Doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about anything but God… but it does mean that He is on the tip of our tongues. We can’t NOT talk about Him.

3.) Coarse Jesting - SN: 2160 – eutrapelia – This word literally means well turned. It came to mean someone who was witty or could turn a phrase in a way that would be humerous. In the negative then, it is noted for someone who could take a pure and innocent conversation and turn it quickly to be impure and humorous. This is one that I confess Kadie and I had to cut recently. We watch a tv show that all in all is relatively clean. It is funny. The characters have some redeeming qualities. But there is one joke in that TV show that we adopted as one of our own. The character would take an innocent phrase that someone used and say (“That’s what she said”). It would take a phrase that had an innocuous meaning and instantly make it sexual. I’m not sure why it caught on in our home but it did. A while back I was studying exactly what this word meant. I called Kadie and explained what it meant. We came to the same conclusion. This joke has to go. And it did. God’s people should not be quick to turn something innocent into something wicked. Even if it is for a laugh. Why? Because God’s people dwell on what is pure.

4.) [Sldie18]These things lead to no inheritance in God’s Kingdom – Why? we will find out later.

5.) [Slide 19] Don’t be deceived that God will not judge those who live such ways. His wrath will be satisfied.

Transition:

[Slide 20] Hopefully you don’t think less of me for admitting that. Some of you are realizing for the first time that I am not perfect  I just praise God He revealed that to me when He did. Go with me to Colossians 3. We won’t do much here other than explain some words. Colossians has the same historical background as Ephesians and in a similar vein of thinking comes this list starting in verse 5.

[Slide 21-26] Colossians 3:5-11

1.) Passion - SN: 3806 – pathos – Passion or urge that is torturous specifically to immoral lust

2.) Evil Desire - SN: 2556+1939 – Kakos epithumia– Evil or worthless lusts or desires. Beyond sexual

3.) Anger - SN: 3709 – orgay – Violent lust

4.) Filthy Language - SN:148 – aischrologia – shameful speaking – vile language or obscene talk. Particularly spiritually corrupt or base communication.

5.) Lie - SN: 5574 – psieudomai – deliberate falsehoods

6.) [slide 25-26] In Christ we MUST be different.

Transition:

[Slide 27] Now we will go to I Timothy. There are lists in I and II Timothy, These are letters to Timothy, Paul’s spiritual son and student. Timothy went with Paul and helped him in several capacities; Eventually Timothy became a pastor in Ephesus. Paul is writing two letters to him to instruct him on how to be a good pastor. It is in the opening words of I Timothy that we find Paul giving a list of lifestyles that are for those still under the law.

[Slide 28-31] I Timothy 1:9-10

1.) Lawless - SN: 459 – anomos – against the law – lawless- violator of the law- why we need to be free of the law 

2.) Insubordinate - SN: 506 – anupotaktos – not subordinate – insubordinate, disobedient, anti-authority, rebellious

3.) Ungodly - SN: 765 – asebays – not pious – Irreverent to spiritual things. ungodly

4.) Sinners - SN: 268 – hamartohlos – sinners

5.) Unholy - SN: 462 – anosios – not hallowed – unholy, impure, not set apart, just like everyone else – To be holy is to be different. God’s people are holy. If you haven’t noticed yet, this list is pretty big, yet we probably all know or know of someone who fits the descriptors of each of these. That is because there is nothing uncommon about living a lifestyle of the dead. There is no rebellion or individuality in it. Why? Because either way you spin it – they are all slaves to sin. Does it matter if someone is a dead woman or man? No. Why? Because they are both dead. God’s people should be different. Not weird just to be weird. But alien. Foreign. Just as visiting another culture leaves you feeling a bit lost because they act and do things differently than you. Just as a foreigner coming to this land, talking differently, walking differently and living differently than we do… so we are foreigners to this earth. Our culture is different. So friend if you are no different than your neighbor, no different than your friends, no different than this culture… then you may be dead.

6.) Profane - SN: 952 – bebaylos – open and accessible to all – sycratist, scorner, irreligious – Not attached to any religious way of thinking.

7.) Murderers of Fathers - SN: 3964 – patralohahs – patricide – one who kills his own father

8.) 7.) Murderers of Mothers - SN:3389 – maytralohahs – matricide – one who kills his own mother

9.) Kidnappers - SN: 405 – androipodistays – man stealer – kidnapper – unjustly making someone a slave

10.) Perjurer - SN: 1965 – epiorkos – one who violates his oath – a perjurer

Transition:

[Slide 32] Turn with me to II Timothy 3. In this letter Paul is giving more advice to this young pastor and the section we approach is where Paul is closing up the last words to his apprentice. he leaves him with a word of warning. He forshadows what the last days people will look like. And my if it isn’t disturbing to see that these people are exactly the kind of people we have today.

[Slide 33-37] II Timothy 3:1-5

1.) Lovers of Themselves - SN: 5367 – philautos – fond of self – lovers of themselves – self absorbed – We have talked about this before but I feel it necessary to point out once again the absolute ridiculousness of the self-esteem movement. Not necessarily in the secular realm. In fact it makes sense they would conclude that we need to love ourselves more. That is exactly what this verse is predicting. However, what is most disturbing is the eagerness of the church to adopt a similar approach to counsel. So quickly we have agreed with modern psychiatry and psychology – godlness men and women – who seem to care only about removing culpability of our own actions and passing the buck to someone or something else. They conclude that we do the things we do for many reasons but the common thread is that we are not to blame for why we live the way we do. Whether it be our subconscious background, our environment, our conditioning or even religious restraint, we live with disorders and diseases of our brain and we are but helpless and hopeless victims to the cause. The problem with all of this of course, is that the bible says that these diseases are lifestyles of death. And we are left with a choice. Either the bible is wrong. Or we are. Sadly – many Christian leaders and Christians have succumbed to concluding that their understanding of these passages must be flawed and that the bible agrees with modern psychology. The church now teaches chidren that guilt, shame, being dissatisfied with yourself and failure are all things that God doesn’t want us to experience. The problem of course is that there is no biblical evidence for this at all. There is plenty of due shame and guilt for sin – because God is holy. How can you ever be satisfied with your spiritual state when your goal is to be like Christ? And failure? Is it my imagination or is failure part of every day life? It seems like the closer to God I become the more I realize that I am a failure. Friend if self-esteem was the answer, the way Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, Polycarp and Paul the Apostle thought about themselves would have driven them to suicide. But it didn’t. Why? Because Self esteem isn’t the answer. There is no worth in yourself… until you are dead and Christ lives in you – then there is infinite worth. Not because you are something special but because Jesus is something special. If you want to find value in this life – be like Christ. Then you will be valuable to God. The trade though – is that you will find the ways you are not like Him VERY dissatisfying. You will be hated by the world. You will be worthless to them. To be valuable to God is to be worthless to everyone and everything else. Don’t believe me? How did they treat Christ? In the last days men will adore themselves… and it is true today. Stop wasting your time trying to love yourself and obey God. Love Him and others… and you won’t have time to love you.

2.) Lovers of Money - SN: 5366 – philarguros – fond of silver – money grubber – money absorbed

3.) Unthankful - SN: 884 – acharistos – without grace or favor – unthankful or ungrateful – WOW! This one is tough. Fellow complainers and grumblers – pay attention! You CANNOT be a follower of Christ and always be complaining. Dead people have nothing to be thankful for and everything to complain about. But a follower of Christ is the exact opposite. And no matter what the world gives them – this world is not their home. So it doesn’t matter. Except for your spiritual walk and desire to live like Christ – if you find yourself never satisfied, always wanting more, never content. Then you will not inherit heaven. God’s people are thankful for what they have. And a person who is thankful for what they have, will be pleasantly surprise when they get more, and never disappointed when they get less. The opposite of this is the culture we have today of many millenials and even older folks. A culture where they think that they are entitled to everything that their parents had or that everyone else has. Commercials tell us that we deserve to treat ourselves. We have children picketing outside of schools demanding that the tax payer cover the cost of their education, they cars, their food, their healthcare, and their cell phones so they can go to college for 6 years to get a degree they will not use. They will come out of school indebted to society but unable to use their education to better society, they will take a job for which any high school student is qualified, and after a month of working there, demand to be paid $15 an hour for something literally anyone could do. And because they don’t get their way, they need safe spaces to pout in while they complain even more about how unjust their world is. Parents we have raise an unthankful lot haven’t we? And if they are this way – ungrateful – discontent – they are spiritually dead. If you are this way – you are spiritually dead. Because God’s people are not only satisfied with what they have, but they are thankful for it – because they know that any good thing is a gift from God.

4.) Slanderous - SN: 1228 – diabolos – false accuser – devil like – demonic inventor of lies

5.) Without Self-Control - SN: 193 – akratays – without power – no self control. Inability to resist temptation or indulgence. Could apply to sexual or alcohol but probably a general concept of lack of the fruit of the spirit. – Many times in counseling myself and others I have said and heard the phrase “I just couldn’t help myself.” or “That is just the way I am”. Such statements seem innocent enough, and I understand what they mean. They mean that it is very difficult. However, at their core they are theologically heavy statements. Because if they are true… then the person is spiritually dead. If you really cannot control yourself… if you are helpless to the whims of your flesh… if you cannot resist temptation. If you have no success in resisting the devil. If you are powerless. Then you are dead. God’s people are disciplined people. They are able to control themselves. Just recently I had a fleeting thought of lust. Just popped into my head out of nowhere. Quickly I cleared my mind, and prayed to God – why do I want that God? Why on earth is my flesh so obsessed with this? Now I will tell you that personally that did not come natural to me. It is easier to dwell on those thoughts of lust. To allow them to roll through your mind. But, in the process of surrender God has given me victory over this. Believers are victorious. Believers can resist. Corpses don’t pose much resistance. Why? Because they are dead. We who are alive… we fight our old nature’s habits. When we stop fighting – it may mean we are dead.

6.) Brutal - SN: 434 – anaymeros – not lame – savage, fierce - not gentle or kind – cantankerous

7.) Despisers of Good - SN: 865 – aphilagathos – without fondness of good – Despising those who do good. bullies of the goody two shoes

8.) Traitor - SN: 4273 – prodotays – betrayer, mutineer, treasonous – delievering up into the hands of the enemy

9.) Headstrong - SN: 4312- propetays – always falling forward – Someone who is rash or reckless. One who never considers wisely before going forward – Dead people always plow ahead determined that they know best. Dead people never stop and consider before they act they just act. Our culture thinks highly of people like this. They like men and women of action. We may have just elected one. God’s people are thoughtful. They consider others in their decisions and they consult God’s word. It may seem like they are procrastinating when instead – they are actually depending on wisdom from the Lord. Why? Because He controls their lives – not their desires, passions, or self-wisdom. Do you find yourself being impulsive? Do you see yourself taking very little time to make decisions? How often do you sit and pray about big or even small decisions for your family or life? Do you tend to pray and immediately do? How long do you wait after praying once and making a decision? How long do you wait in the decision process before consulting God? How many times have you been bitten by poor choices that you spent very little time praying over? If the answers to these questions reveal a person who is self reliant and impulsive – then you may be dead. God’s people dare not move unless the Spirit of God beckons them. God’s people are cautious and calculated.

10.) Haughty - SN: 5187 – tuphahoh – to be full of smoke – or to be puffed up. To think higher of yourself than you are.

11.) Lovers of Pleasure rather than lovers of God - SN:5369+3123+2228+5377 – philaydonoi mallon ay philotheoi – To love pleasure rather than a lover of God – Loving their own desires and pleasures rather than loving God.

12.) Having a Form of Godliness but denying its power - SN: 3446+2150+1161+720+1411+846 – morphiohsin eusebeias tayn deh arnaymenoi dunamin autays – appearing to be reverent and holy, religious even – but contradicting its power or ability to transform completely – A pretender – A Christian in name only

Transition:

[Slide 38]We have one more passage to go to. Written by John on the Isle of Patmos. John being the only apostle that was not killed for his faith – instead he was sentenced to live on an island isolated from any effectiveness for the Kingdom of God – or so the authorities thought. What he did do while there was receive a vision from God about the last days. Where would we be without the Revelation of Jesus Christ in our bibles? As much as a guessing game as eschatology is – it would be even more so without this book. After all is said and done – Jesus Christ speaks again in Revelation 21. He has three classes of people – broad groups really – that will not inherit the Kingdom of God. There is one class, that is at the heart of some of these we have covered, but one I found particularly alarming.

[Slide 39-42] Revelation 21:5-8

1.) It opens with the kind of person that will inherit the Kingdom of God. We will talk about that next week.

2.) Cowardly - SN:1169 – deilos – cowardly or timid – Dead people are captivated by fear. Dead people fear princes, kings, presidents, floods, fires, and storms, poverty, death and disease, betrayal, heartache and loss. Dead people are scared of their shadow. Why? Because this world, this wretched, broken, miserable world – is all they have. They have no God of life, they have no being bigger than everything. Dead people worry and fret about everything. They spend countless hours mulling over the possibilities of what could go wrong. God’s people know that He is in complete control. God’s people know that if their world crashes all around them, that God is aware of it. He designed it. And that somehow their faith will be perfected as their world crumbles. God’s people are 100% dependant on Him and the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to them is in God’s will…so what is to fear? We are bold people because this world has nothing it can take from us without God saying it can take it.

3.) Unbelieving - SN: 571 – apistos – unfaithful – wavering in what they depend on or surrender to

4.) Abominable - SN: 948 – bdelussoh – those who are detestable to God – Prov 6 list

Transition:

[Slide 43]Finally, let’s go back to Galatians 5 to wrap all this up. I am certain there are other lists in scripture that I have missed. I’m going to keep a running tab of all of them for the future. As with all the lists we have seen today, we will conclude the sermon with the warning of Paul about such lifestyles. Read with me in verse 21.

[Slide 44] Galatians 5:21

1.) Of which I tell you before hand – I am telling you before you commit such things. I am warning you

2.) just as I also told you in time past – This has been part of my teaching to you already. It is not new.

3.) those who practice such things – Those whose lives are characterized by such things. There are regular offenders. They are defined by this action.

4.) They will not inherit the Kingdom of God – Why?

a. Because Jesus did not die so you could go to heaven

b. He did not die so you could be forgiven

c. He did not die so you could be happy

d. He did not die so you could be saved.

e. He died so that God would be glorified. In His death, God will receive glory in one of two ways.

i. Either God will be glorified as He reigns down His justice on all men, destroying them in the fire of His Holiness for the depraved rebels they have become

ii. Or God will be glorified as He displays His love to us in that He kills off the spiritual death in our hearts and makes us alive again with Himself and transforms us into people who love to serve Him forever.

f. So why do people who live this way not inherit the Kingdom of God. Because they are not Holy.

g. Jesus died to destroy you. And you can be destroyed in the Wrath of God or you can Be destroyed from the inside out as He makes you what He wants you to be.

[Slide 45 (blank)(End)]These are the lifestyles of the dead. They are evidence that you have not been changed by the power of grace. If you live any of these lifestyles to the point that you are characterized by them – you must come to Christ. Repent and depend on His work and surrender to His will. You will know freedom from these slaveries. If you are not characterized by these but have committed them once or twice – repent and depend on Christ and the Power of the Spirit of God to flee these lifestyles. They are unbecoming of the royal name you bear.