back to index2016-07-03 Condemnation through one man; Redemption through one man
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Romans chapter 5, we're reading from verse 15 all the way to 19. 00:00:10.000 |
I know Elder Joe read that, but I want to read it one more time. 00:00:27.000 |
much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, 00:00:33.000 |
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. 00:00:36.000 |
For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, 00:00:39.000 |
but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 00:00:43.000 |
For if because of one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, 00:00:47.000 |
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace 00:00:50.000 |
and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 00:00:54.000 |
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, 00:00:57.000 |
so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 00:01:01.000 |
For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, 00:01:04.000 |
so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous." 00:01:13.000 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to come and worship you this morning. 00:01:17.000 |
We thank you for the brothers and sisters of Christ that you've given us 00:01:23.000 |
Love one another to keep each other accountable. 00:01:28.000 |
In every way, Father God, that we would run this race together. 00:01:32.000 |
We pray that the power of the Holy Spirit through your ordained word 00:01:37.000 |
would cause our ears to be opened and our hearts to be softened 00:01:41.000 |
and a strong will, Lord God, to apply all that you have. 00:01:44.000 |
We pray for this morning that you give us understanding 00:01:47.000 |
that only your word would go forth in your heart and your mind. 00:01:55.000 |
You know, it's easy to amaze me, you know, the more and more I see the technology advancing. 00:02:01.000 |
You know, recently I was at a Starbucks and I saw this older gentleman who was there 00:02:07.000 |
and he was having some sort of a business conference or a business meeting 00:02:11.000 |
and he had maybe five or six other guys sitting outside and happened to be at the nighttime 00:02:15.000 |
and he took out his cell phone and he plugged in this projector. 00:02:20.000 |
It was an all battery run and he was projecting against a little mini wall that he had 00:02:25.000 |
and he was going through some sort of a presentation with them 00:02:28.000 |
and I was there sitting and sipping on my coffee just mesmerized. 00:02:31.000 |
I know that that exists. It's not like I haven't seen it in the magazines before. 00:02:35.000 |
But, you know, every time I've seen that I say, "Wow, that would be awesome. 00:02:38.000 |
That would be such a useful tool to have." But he was doing the presentation 00:02:41.000 |
and they were probably thinking, "What's wrong with this guy?" 00:02:44.000 |
Like I almost joined the presentation because I was so mesmerized. 00:02:48.000 |
I can't believe that you can actually do this. 00:02:53.000 |
The whole thing was probably only about this big. 00:02:55.000 |
Cell phones about this big and then the presentation package was this big 00:03:00.000 |
I know some of you guys are like, "Come on, that's been around for a while." 00:03:03.000 |
But it was amazing to me because a lot of this technology that we have now 00:03:11.000 |
I think the first time I had a cell phone, not the smartphone, was probably in my early 30s. 00:03:16.000 |
And the internet didn't come in until about that time as well. 00:03:19.000 |
I mean, Esther and I actually moved to La Mirada 00:03:22.000 |
because it took so long to prepare for sermons. 00:03:24.000 |
I would hang out at Biola Library for about two, three days 00:03:29.000 |
and just grab a table and get all the conference, 00:03:32.000 |
the commentaries and different things and spread it out. 00:03:37.000 |
So when we decided to purchase our first house, 00:03:40.000 |
we wanted to get it somewhere because I spent more time at the library 00:03:46.000 |
And as soon as we moved, the internet came in. 00:03:49.000 |
And when I was getting ordained, my friends bought me a Bible program, 00:03:53.000 |
a PC Bible program, and I realized, "I don't need to go to the library anymore." 00:04:02.000 |
Think about how things have advanced, the internet, the computer, 00:04:05.000 |
and how life is changing so quickly and the impact that it's making. 00:04:09.000 |
And so many things have happened in recent history, 00:04:13.000 |
but if you go even further, some people will say 00:04:15.000 |
maybe the Roman Empire made the biggest impact in history 00:04:18.000 |
or maybe the Renaissance or the Industrial Revolution. 00:04:21.000 |
Some say in modern history, negative things like 9/11 or the terrorist attacks, 00:04:25.000 |
and these are having ripple effects on every area of culture, politics, 00:04:32.000 |
But I think you and I will agree, if there's one particular event 00:04:36.000 |
that has made the biggest ripple, biggest impact in human history, 00:04:40.000 |
whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian, 00:04:42.000 |
it had to have been the life and death of Jesus Christ. 00:04:46.000 |
Even if you don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, 00:04:49.000 |
even if you don't really believe the effects of the cross, 00:04:52.000 |
we have to admit that what happened 2,000 years ago, 00:04:57.000 |
at least what is proclaimed that happened 2,000 years ago, 00:04:59.000 |
made a tremendous impact on government, on our legal system, 00:05:04.000 |
how we determine right and wrong, even what we study in universities. 00:05:09.000 |
Paul has been talking about for the first five chapters in the Book of Romans 00:05:15.000 |
the condemnation of mankind, that because of sin, 00:05:21.000 |
the world that you and I live in is under God's condemnation. 00:05:29.000 |
Jesus Christ is the answer for all of these problems of mankind. 00:05:33.000 |
All the condemnation, all the wrath of God, all the sins, 00:05:36.000 |
all the death that reigned, that Jesus Christ and Him crucified, 00:05:40.000 |
His one man in one man's act, reversed the curse of mankind forever. 00:05:46.000 |
So the natural question is how can that one man, 00:05:51.000 |
and His one act of resurrection that happened 2,000 years ago, 00:05:59.000 |
How can it have been an answer for 2,000 years ago? 00:06:02.000 |
And how can it be an answer as we're going forward? 00:06:09.000 |
like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily." 00:06:15.000 |
The Jews were taught that if your sins are going to be atoned for, 00:06:19.000 |
you have to bring sacrifices to the temple for every single sin that you commit. 00:06:27.000 |
You couldn't worship Him without these sacrifices. 00:06:31.000 |
They said they would come to Him daily, but first for His own sins, 00:06:35.000 |
since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. 00:06:42.000 |
These sacrifices that they needed to sacrifice every single day, 00:06:48.000 |
He said Jesus Christ came, and He did it one time. 00:06:52.000 |
And not only was that good for that one person, 00:06:54.000 |
it was good for all mankind from that point on. 00:07:00.000 |
So, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about how Adam is a type of Christ. 00:07:05.000 |
Well, if you have a hard time believing that one sacrifice took care of this problem, 00:07:12.000 |
One sin from one man condemned all mankind for eternity. 00:07:20.000 |
And so in verse 14, it introduces Adam as a type of Christ. 00:07:27.000 |
one man's obedience reverses the curse forever. 00:07:32.000 |
But almost as immediately as he introduces Adam as a type, 00:07:36.000 |
he actually comes back and he makes sure he qualifies 00:07:42.000 |
So in verse 15, he says, chapter 5, verse 15, 00:07:45.000 |
"But the free gift is not like the trespass." 00:07:49.000 |
So in some sense, it is like Adam, but in some sense, it is not like Adam. 00:07:54.000 |
"For if many died through one man's trespass, 00:07:56.000 |
much more had the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, 00:08:02.000 |
Again in verse 16, "And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. 00:08:07.000 |
For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, 00:08:11.000 |
but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification." 00:08:16.000 |
So he's a type of Christ, but don't take this type too far, 00:08:19.000 |
because clearly it is very different what his sacrifice produced 00:08:33.000 |
that would be deserving of the condemnation of all mankind? 00:08:39.000 |
And I know there's a lot of things that I wish that I could do over, 00:08:43.000 |
especially around junior high school, high school time. 00:08:45.000 |
There's a lot of things that I did I wish if I went back and redid it, 00:08:54.000 |
I was considering sharing some of it, but for the sake of time, I won't do it. 00:08:59.000 |
Some of you guys already know I used to get into a lot of trouble during that period, 00:09:02.000 |
and some of those things had effects even as I was in college. 00:09:07.000 |
But what one particular thing, what one particular mistake did you make 00:09:11.000 |
that you think, "You know what, that ruined me for life." 00:09:19.000 |
one man and one sin in particular, ruined mankind forever. 00:09:27.000 |
what was it about his sin that was so heinous 00:09:37.000 |
If you study the Bible carefully, and if you're asking and really digging through 00:09:41.000 |
the meaning of the Gospel, it usually will take you back to Genesis. 00:09:48.000 |
and all the prophecies of how he's going to reverse this curse 00:09:55.000 |
So we have to go back and look at Genesis to see, what was it that he did? 00:09:59.000 |
What was so heinous about his sin that mankind would be under this condition? 00:10:07.000 |
And again, if you have a vague understanding of sin, 00:10:12.000 |
and why this particular event caused condemnation, 00:10:15.000 |
then even the cross is not going to make a lot of sense. 00:10:22.000 |
Prior to this passage, this is the record of the fall of mankind, these seven verses. 00:10:27.000 |
Prior to this, God makes it very clear to Adam and Eve 00:10:33.000 |
except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:10:36.000 |
And if you eat that, he says, you shall surely die. 00:10:42.000 |
We get to chapter 3, where Eve runs into the serpent. 00:10:49.000 |
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. 00:10:57.000 |
"You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?" 00:11:02.000 |
and I want you to listen carefully to what she says, 00:11:05.000 |
"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 00:11:07.000 |
but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, 00:11:16.000 |
Now what I want to point out here is that Eve knew exactly what God prohibited. 00:11:24.000 |
And Eve actually repeated that if you do this, he said, "You shall surely die." 00:11:30.000 |
So Adam and Eve couldn't say, "You know what? His instruction wasn't clear. 00:11:42.000 |
She actually repeats what God says to her in him. 00:11:45.000 |
He said, "He said not to touch it, and if you eat of it, you will die." 00:11:52.000 |
But Satan's response, the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die." 00:11:59.000 |
"For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened. 00:12:03.000 |
You will be like God, knowing good and evil." 00:12:07.000 |
So he actually blames, he says, "No, God never said that." 00:12:11.000 |
In fact, the reason why he's prohibiting you from eating this, 00:12:18.000 |
If you eat of it, you're going to become like him. 00:12:30.000 |
It's a direct contradiction, saying it's because of him. 00:12:33.000 |
He's an egomaniac, and he doesn't want to share any of it. 00:12:37.000 |
And so as a result of that, she hears it and chooses to believe the serpent 00:12:43.000 |
And then look at the next part where she carries out this act. 00:12:48.000 |
"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, 00:12:53.000 |
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. 00:12:59.000 |
And as a result of that, sin comes into mankind, 00:13:05.000 |
Let's examine carefully verse 6, what actually was the sin. 00:13:11.000 |
She looked at the food, and it was good for food. 00:13:18.000 |
you know, when you were hungry, went to a restaurant and said, 00:13:23.000 |
Did you ever walk into a restaurant and was hungry and said, 00:13:27.000 |
"Wow, that looks good for food," and thought, "I better not," 00:13:36.000 |
How many of you looked at the food when you were hungry and said, 00:13:39.000 |
"Wow, that looks good. That's a delight to my eyes," 00:13:49.000 |
and she thought that's good for food, and she died. 00:13:54.000 |
And then it says that she looked at it and said, 00:14:01.000 |
How many of you are attending school to be dumb? 00:14:04.000 |
In fact, the whole book of Proverbs is about becoming wise, 00:14:12.000 |
That she was hungry, she found good food to eat, 00:14:16.000 |
and thought that if she ate that, she would become wise. 00:14:20.000 |
What was it about this particular event that was so heinous 00:14:23.000 |
that would bring the condemnation of mankind from that point on until the end? 00:14:39.000 |
And again, I think the primary sin of mankind is contained in this text. 00:14:45.000 |
The problem with her looking at the food that it was good 00:14:48.000 |
and delight to the eyes and desire to make one wise, 00:14:52.000 |
the reason why that was sin was that it wasn't good for food. 00:14:57.000 |
and she decided on her own, "It is good for food." 00:15:01.000 |
God said, "Do not go near, do not touch it, do not eat it," 00:15:04.000 |
and she desired to say, "No, that is good for food," 00:15:09.000 |
God said, "If you eat of that tree, you shall surely die." 00:15:14.000 |
But instead, she said, "No, that's going to make me wise and become like him." 00:15:20.000 |
See, the rebellion wasn't simply that she was hungry. 00:15:22.000 |
God said, "If you're hungry, you can eat of all of this, 00:15:25.000 |
and all of these other things are good for food and delight to the eyes. 00:15:30.000 |
All of these other things will help you to live and be fruitful." 00:15:40.000 |
what she determined to be delight in her eyes. 00:15:46.000 |
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, 00:15:49.000 |
who put darkness for light and light for darkness, 00:15:52.000 |
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." 00:15:56.000 |
The primary sin of mankind is that this rebellion in our hearts to say, 00:16:11.000 |
That's why the Scripture says that what causes us to be saved 00:16:14.000 |
is those who believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, was raised, 00:16:18.000 |
and that he is the Lord, to establish him as Lord. 00:16:23.000 |
Our primary sin is not to look at God and say, "I hate you, God." 00:16:30.000 |
"I don't want you telling me what is right and wrong." 00:16:34.000 |
At the core of man's sin is he wants to be God. 00:16:41.000 |
No one ever walks around, you know, Christian or non-Christian, 00:16:46.000 |
Even though basketball players would put certain things under, 00:16:49.000 |
you know, tattoos and "Superman," "I'm God," whatever. 00:16:52.000 |
But, you know, when we hear that, some of that guy's an egomaniac, right? 00:16:55.000 |
I think most people wouldn't have the gall to actually even say that. 00:17:00.000 |
But at the core of man's sin, that he wants to do whatever he thinks, 00:17:04.000 |
he wants to determine for himself his destiny. 00:17:09.000 |
it describes the core sin of Israel at that time. 00:17:17.000 |
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 00:17:21.000 |
Everyone just determined. It didn't say they chose what was evil. 00:17:25.000 |
They didn't scour the land and decided to rebel against God. 00:17:29.000 |
All they did was they determined for themselves what was right and what was wrong. 00:17:34.000 |
That sound a lot like what's going on in today's culture? 00:17:38.000 |
We want to determine for ourselves what is life and what isn't life. 00:17:42.000 |
What is sexually permissible, not permissible? 00:17:51.000 |
We don't want anybody telling us what we ought to do, what we ought to think. 00:17:59.000 |
the idea that we can't even call a male a male or female a female. 00:18:03.000 |
Let everybody determine for themselves what they are. 00:18:07.000 |
We may think, oh, that's a modern problem in today's history, 00:18:11.000 |
but in actuality, that was a sin from the very beginning. 00:18:22.000 |
Proverbs 12, 15, it says, "The way of the fool is right in his own eyes." 00:18:26.000 |
See, a fool doesn't say, "I'm doing evil and I'm just going to do whatever I want." 00:18:30.000 |
He says, "In his own eyes, his actions are justified." 00:18:41.000 |
"Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, 00:18:46.000 |
walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes." 00:18:50.000 |
Now, if I stop right there, I'd be like, "Great." 00:18:53.000 |
I've been looking for a passage in the Bible to help me to do whatever I want. 00:18:57.000 |
It says, "Cheer in your youth, walk in the ways of your heart, whatever you see." 00:19:03.000 |
I mean, isn't that the benefit of being young? 00:19:07.000 |
If you ask most people who are over 40 and ask them, 00:19:16.000 |
I've heard some people say, "I wish I was a teenager." 00:19:19.000 |
Very few. I don't think I'd want to be a teenager. 00:19:22.000 |
I want some control over my emotions and my thoughts. 00:19:32.000 |
I want to be just old enough where I have the maturity 00:19:38.000 |
And I want to be just young enough where I have the physical ability to do it. 00:19:42.000 |
So I would probably choose somewhere between 25 and 35, 00:19:52.000 |
So somewhere in that range would be a good age to be in for eternity, I think. 00:20:00.000 |
I don't know what it's going to be like in heaven, 00:20:06.000 |
But some of the benefit, again, especially for you single guys, single women, 00:20:10.000 |
is that you're at an age where you have a desire, you have the freedom. 00:20:15.000 |
And I know a lot of the parents with young children envy you guys, 00:20:18.000 |
because it's like, "Hey, that's a nice place to go." 00:20:27.000 |
And then you see somebody else, like, "Oh, that's great. Where did you eat that?" 00:20:30.000 |
"Oh, downtown LA." "Let's go." "When?" "Right now." 00:20:36.000 |
And all the parents are on Facebook, it's like, "Ahh." 00:20:45.000 |
It's a freedom that we have, and yet, he says, 00:20:48.000 |
basically, whatever your heart desires, whatever your eyes see, 00:20:56.000 |
He says, "But know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment." 00:21:02.000 |
Now, he's not saying that because you ate food and traveled that God's going to judge you. 00:21:06.000 |
But basically, if your whole life is based upon what I desire, what I want, 00:21:16.000 |
Man's rebellion is, "I determine what is good." 00:21:22.000 |
"I determine where I live." "I determine where I go." 00:21:39.000 |
And as a result of this shame, there's isolation. 00:21:47.000 |
I know some of you guys who are single, thinking like, 00:21:49.000 |
"Oh, if I get married, I'm going to share everything." 00:21:56.000 |
There's a lot of things that you don't even want your wife to know, 00:22:12.000 |
And that fear comes in, and that's what happens. 00:22:14.000 |
They hide from each other, and the voice of God and His presence, 00:22:21.000 |
all of a sudden, they hear Him coming near them, 00:22:27.000 |
And as a result of this fear, they hide from Him, 00:22:36.000 |
Where before, they were working, and it produced joy. 00:22:43.000 |
and at the end of your life, at the sweat of your brow, 00:22:46.000 |
and what you've got to show for it is you're going to die. 00:22:49.000 |
For Eve, He said, there's going to be contention in the home. 00:22:53.000 |
That you're not going to understand your husband, 00:22:56.000 |
you're going to have contention with your children, raising them, 00:23:02.000 |
Soon as they have children, what's the first thing that happens? 00:23:05.000 |
The older son and the younger son, there's contention, 00:23:09.000 |
This jealousy leads to hatred, and the hatred leads to murder. 00:23:13.000 |
First murder recorded in human history was within the family, 00:23:26.000 |
"When mankind began to multiply, wickedness multiplied along with it." 00:23:31.000 |
And as a result, the Scripture says, "Sin reigned." 00:23:39.000 |
Not only then, today, and until the end of history, 00:23:47.000 |
when we're trying to share the Gospel with non-Christians is, 00:23:54.000 |
I'm sure you've probably heard that question from your coworkers, 00:23:59.000 |
"If God is so good, why is there so much evil in the world?" 00:24:07.000 |
The Bible says the wrath of God is being revealed against all ungodliness. 00:24:12.000 |
The evil that you see in the world is a direct result of mankind's rebellion against God. 00:24:18.000 |
I think because the way that we presented the Gospel, 00:24:21.000 |
we want to kind of skip through the first five chapters of Romans, 00:24:24.000 |
and get to Jesus Christ died for you and loved you, 00:24:29.000 |
so they don't really understand why Jesus had to be crucified. 00:24:32.000 |
So if God loves us, what is all this drama about condemnation? 00:24:40.000 |
the Scripture says we experience the Holocaust, 00:24:46.000 |
wars, dissension at home, sex trafficking, poverty, 00:24:52.000 |
all of this, the Scripture says, comes as a result of man's rebellion against God. 00:25:01.000 |
Now if I stop there, if Paul stopped there, it'd just be news. 00:25:31.000 |
But good news is that God doesn't leave us there. 00:25:34.000 |
In Romans 5:16, just as condemnation came through that one man, 00:25:39.000 |
justification and righteousness also comes through one man. 00:25:44.000 |
In Romans 5:16, "For the judgment following the trespass brought condemnation, 00:25:47.000 |
but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification." 00:25:52.000 |
Romans 5:17, "If because of one man's trespass, 00:25:58.000 |
much more will those who receive abundance of grace 00:26:01.000 |
and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ." 00:26:10.000 |
what was it about Adam's sin that brought condemnation to mankind? 00:26:14.000 |
And we just took a few minutes to talk about that. 00:26:19.000 |
if Jesus' one man's one act reversed this curse, 00:26:24.000 |
What was it about his death that was so unique 00:26:27.000 |
and had the power to reverse the curse of mankind? 00:26:33.000 |
Thousands of other people were crucified just like him prior to his death, 00:26:37.000 |
and hundreds and hundreds of others that were crucified after Christ. 00:26:41.000 |
What was unique about his death and his resurrection? 00:26:45.000 |
Well, every man who was crucified and every man who died prior to him, 00:26:49.000 |
whether it was natural or through condemnation, 00:26:57.000 |
Jesus Christ is the only one who knew no sin. 00:27:03.000 |
it's a fascinating question that would come up, 00:27:06.000 |
and I just kind of leave it to you to kind of ponder upon it. 00:27:22.000 |
Let me ask one more time so you know what I'm talking about. 00:27:25.000 |
If we all died because there was condemnation of sin, physically, 00:27:41.000 |
Don't get a headache, but just have something to talk about. 00:27:44.000 |
Jesus is the only person who died not for his sins, 00:27:50.000 |
But if he was just one man who lived perfectly, 00:27:54.000 |
then his death may only pay for another man's sin. 00:28:00.000 |
"In him was life, and his life was the light of all mankind." 00:28:09.000 |
that Scripture says that all things were created by him and for him. 00:28:13.000 |
Jesus simply doesn't say, "Come to me, and I will give you life." 00:28:16.000 |
He says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." 00:28:21.000 |
So his death was a propitiation, atonement for all life. 00:28:31.000 |
And so he became a substitution for the penalty of mankind 00:28:43.000 |
Now here's the point I want to really point out this morning. 00:28:54.000 |
And I want you to pay attention to the language here. 00:28:56.000 |
It says, "But the free gift is not like the trespass. 00:29:05.000 |
much more have the grace of God and the free gift 00:29:08.000 |
by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many." 00:29:12.000 |
Now, when he says Adam and Jesus' death and resurrection 00:29:17.000 |
and sin and condemnation, the reason why it's different 00:29:21.000 |
is this one man's sin caused a condemnation for many. 00:29:34.000 |
his power to save is much greater than Adam's sin's power to condemn. 00:29:48.000 |
"For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, 00:29:52.000 |
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace 00:29:55.000 |
and the free gift of righteousness reign in life 00:30:02.000 |
"death comes in, condemnation comes in, but much more." 00:30:06.000 |
What Jesus did wasn't simply that, "Okay, now you can go to heaven and live." 00:30:10.000 |
His power to save is much greater than the power that sin has to ruin. 00:30:18.000 |
The power of life is much greater than the power of death. 00:30:23.000 |
The power to justify is much greater than the power to condemn. 00:30:32.000 |
Whatever the condemnation, whatever the reign of death, 00:30:37.000 |
whatever penalty that sin has brought into mankind, 00:30:41.000 |
the power of the cross is much greater to overpower whatever sin has created. 00:30:51.000 |
You and I have a tendency to look at circumstances, 00:31:00.000 |
That's why when you go to Kmart or Walmart or Target or whatever, 00:31:03.000 |
their complaint center usually is pretty busy. 00:31:08.000 |
You think about lines being too long or products isn't what it is, 00:31:12.000 |
and the return line, whatever it is, the complaint department is usually pretty strong. 00:31:15.000 |
I always wonder if they had a praise department, 00:31:17.000 |
if anybody would ever take advantage of that. 00:31:21.000 |
If I was to ask, even in this congregation, "What is bothering you?" 00:31:29.000 |
And it's not because it's not already in your head. 00:31:32.000 |
It's because it's so long, either I've got to pick from it, 00:31:35.000 |
or it's going to take me a while to list all of it. 00:31:42.000 |
Now I'll tell you what's wrong with my first child, second child, third child, fourth child. 00:32:01.000 |
You don't need to dig deep because our natural tendency is like, "Here's what's wrong." 00:32:06.000 |
But if you have any praise, anything to praise God about, 00:32:14.000 |
We have to sit down and actually put some work into it. 00:32:22.000 |
I've been thankful for the Bible for days recently. 00:32:37.000 |
Because our natural tendency is to gravitate toward things that are produced by darkness. 00:32:44.000 |
Gravitate toward things that have gone wrong. 00:32:48.000 |
Gravitate toward things that we don't like and we think need to be fixed. 00:32:55.000 |
See, in 1 John 4, 4 it says, "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. 00:33:01.000 |
For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 00:33:06.000 |
The reason why John says this to them is because there's persecutions happening. 00:33:13.000 |
And he's coming, he's going to persecute and he's going to judge you. 00:33:16.000 |
Don't worry about them, no matter what happens. 00:33:19.000 |
Because he who is in you is much greater than the problem that you see. 00:33:24.000 |
A lot of people are so afraid of these ISIS guys who may-- 00:33:27.000 |
maybe they're going to come here, maybe they're going to do this. 00:33:33.000 |
I would think if they're going to come here and target anything, 00:33:38.000 |
I'm not trying to scare you, but that's real. 00:33:47.000 |
I say, "Wow, you know, all these things are happening and what's going on." 00:33:51.000 |
And so John is writing to a group of people who are in very similar times, 00:33:56.000 |
who are risking their lives to be followers of Jesus Christ. 00:34:02.000 |
He who is in you is much greater than the problem that you see. 00:34:07.000 |
Don't focus your attention on the power that is outside of you. 00:34:11.000 |
Know that the God who created you is actually in you." 00:34:17.000 |
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, 00:34:21.000 |
so that having all sufficiency, all things, at all times, 00:34:30.000 |
Think about how often we come before God and say, 00:34:33.000 |
"I'm not growing because I don't have these things in my life. 00:34:37.000 |
Only if I had this, only if I had this kind of accountability, 00:34:40.000 |
only if it was this, this, that, and I can't grow because of that." 00:34:43.000 |
When God says, "I have made my grace abound to you, 00:34:48.000 |
to having all sufficiency and all things at all times." 00:34:55.000 |
Not in this church, not through this organization, not through this program, 00:35:00.000 |
It says, "Every Christian has been given all that you need for a life of godliness." 00:35:05.000 |
So anybody to stand before God and say, "I am the way I am because I don't have these things," 00:35:13.000 |
Your word of God that you've given to me in your Holy Spirit is not sufficient. 00:35:21.000 |
As a pastor, the thing that I wrestle with repeatedly, 00:35:26.000 |
is that in the context of ministry, I get frustrated. 00:35:29.000 |
And there are times, and I dump it on Esther usually when I get an opportunity, 00:35:34.000 |
and I would share about how discouraged I am, 00:35:36.000 |
and things are going wrong, and this and that, 00:35:44.000 |
And I think in my mind, it's like, "Maybe this is not going to work. 00:35:49.000 |
Maybe I can just make money and then give it to people. 00:35:54.000 |
Maybe I just go out to China or India or just get into orphan work or something tangible. 00:36:02.000 |
There have been periods in my life in ministry where I thought that that was the way out. 00:36:08.000 |
And I thought that was the righteous thing to do. 00:36:10.000 |
I want to bear fruit, but I don't feel like I'm bearing fruit. 00:36:14.000 |
And in times like that, I have to take a kind of step back and realize that this is His church. 00:36:22.000 |
The only reason why you and I are here is not because God strategized the right people at the right time. 00:36:29.000 |
And I'm sure God has orchestrated all of that. 00:36:31.000 |
But when you look at 2,000 years of church history, 00:36:34.000 |
if there's any miracle that you can point to in the 2,000 years of history 00:36:39.000 |
that is absolute evidence of His power and His church, 00:36:46.000 |
Over 1,000 years of trying to eradicate Scripture. 00:36:56.000 |
The church that was given to protect and to proclaim the gospel through His word 00:37:05.000 |
And people who stepped up and said, "This needs to be translated so that more people can have this," 00:37:19.000 |
Killing anybody who was preaching the right gospel? 00:37:29.000 |
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, 00:37:32.000 |
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 00:37:37.000 |
The only reason why we are here today is because Christ loves His church. 00:37:42.000 |
Because the power to save is much stronger than the power to corrupt. 00:37:47.000 |
Power to justify can overpower any power to condemn. 00:37:54.000 |
It's not because we found the right strategy. 00:37:56.000 |
It's not because we found the right system, and the right people, and the right amount of money. 00:38:01.000 |
It's because He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." 00:38:08.000 |
So He says, "When the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." 00:38:12.000 |
And if you believe that, that's why we worship. 00:38:22.000 |
Because God of the covenant is much more powerful than any other problem that you have brought into this room. 00:38:29.000 |
Any other thing that has gone wrong, any health problems, any financial issues, whatever it may be. 00:38:39.000 |
Considering all that is going on in this world. 00:38:42.000 |
Considering all the overwhelming news of murder, sex trafficking, corruption, even in the church. 00:38:51.000 |
That even in the context of all of this, Christ crucified foolishness to those who are perishing. 00:38:59.000 |
For the power of God, for those who are being saved. 00:39:06.000 |
We don't come here because we have great people. 00:39:09.000 |
If you come to church because people are nice, you will leave because people are not nice. 00:39:14.000 |
If you come to church because a church is organized a certain way, you're going to leave a church because it's organized a certain way. 00:39:20.000 |
If you come for anything other than Christ crucified, you will leave. 00:39:27.000 |
Because all things will fade away like grass. 00:39:30.000 |
Hebrews 12, 28-29, it says, "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken." 00:39:39.000 |
Because the foundation and the cornerstone on which the church is built is Jesus Christ. 00:39:45.000 |
Not me, not you, not our system, but Jesus Christ. 00:39:52.000 |
"And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, the reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." 00:40:01.000 |
When I was back in seminary, I took a book of Revelation, Exegesis through Revelation. 00:40:07.000 |
Because I was going to be one of those top theologians. 00:40:10.000 |
I'm going to be one of those guys, I'm going to figure this out. 00:40:13.000 |
So I went in and took the book of Revelation, and my professor happened to be an expert on this. 00:40:18.000 |
I got a decent grade, I didn't get like A+, but I got a decent grade. 00:40:24.000 |
I was like, "Oh, I'm going to come out and I'm going to be an expert." 00:40:32.000 |
He would say, "Here's ten views on the horses, and here's four views on what red means, and here's five views on what white means. 00:40:40.000 |
Here's what the trumpet, and I'm not even sure, is it consecutive or is it all together? 00:40:45.000 |
Here's a seal judgment, the bowl judgment, like what is this? 00:40:50.000 |
Is this a nuclear war? Or is this a famine? What is this?" 00:40:56.000 |
Since then I've studied through it many times. 00:40:59.000 |
In fact, some of you guys remember a couple of years ago, I told you I might study through the book of Revelation. 00:41:04.000 |
I started studying it to prepare to teach in one of the Wednesday Bible studies. 00:41:08.000 |
I went about two-thirds through it, and I said, "No, we're not going to do it. 00:41:15.000 |
One of the most encouraging things that I heard was shared by a missionary. 00:41:19.000 |
We're not a theologian, but he was sharing his encouragement in Revelation. 00:41:23.000 |
He said, "The book of Revelation is not an unfolding of mysteries so that we can calculate when Jesus is going to come, 00:41:30.000 |
and so that we would know that he's going to be the pre-trib, post-trib, amillennialism, and post-millennialism. 00:41:35.000 |
It's not for the purpose for us to just kind of wrestle with these things. 00:41:38.000 |
I mean, it's interesting, and I'm not saying it's not important. 00:41:43.000 |
But sometimes we get so wrapped up in that, and we forget the larger picture, the bigger picture. 00:41:49.000 |
The main point of the book of Revelation is to tell us that Jesus wins, 00:42:00.000 |
that no matter what darkness and trials you're going through, 00:42:05.000 |
at the end of the day, everything Jesus promised gets fulfilled. 00:42:12.000 |
If we were living during World War II, and we know the history about the Holocaust, 00:42:17.000 |
and probably in modern history, one of the most horrific things that have happened, 00:42:27.000 |
Even if you weren't a Jew, even if you were living way over in the United States, 00:42:30.000 |
and knew that that kind of evil was happening, 00:42:33.000 |
the kind of darkness that you would have felt, 00:42:35.000 |
the despair that the whole of mankind would have been under. 00:42:39.000 |
We study that, and we look back at that, because it's done, 00:42:43.000 |
and the Nazis were killed, and they were delivered. 00:42:46.000 |
So we can look back at that and say, "Make sure that doesn't happen again." 00:42:49.000 |
But it doesn't cause us despair, because we know what happened. 00:42:55.000 |
See, the book of Revelation is the recording of history, 00:42:58.000 |
not foretelling, not "Hopefully this will happen." 00:43:05.000 |
This is going to happen, because God has ordained it. 00:43:15.000 |
"And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' 00:43:21.000 |
Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' 00:43:35.000 |
To the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment. 00:43:40.000 |
The one who conquers will have this heritage, 00:43:42.000 |
and I will be his God, and he will be my son.'" 00:43:53.000 |
This is recorded history from God's perspective. 00:43:56.000 |
This is what's waiting for us at the end of our life. 00:44:09.000 |
You could think about the result of the condemnation, 00:44:13.000 |
and being a husband and wife, and the sickness, 00:44:15.000 |
and all the trials that I know that some of you guys are going through. 00:44:21.000 |
and you don't know what to do, that you don't even know, 00:44:30.000 |
that in the midst of these trials, do not forget, 00:44:35.000 |
that the one man sacrifice is not like the sin of Adam. 00:44:47.000 |
than any despair that you and I will ever experience in this world. 00:44:51.000 |
Whatever burdens that you have brought into this room, 00:44:54.000 |
his power to save us, to justify us, to make us righteous, is much more. 00:44:59.000 |
Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord in prayer 00:45:12.000 |
and some of you have brought burdens in this room that I may not be aware of, 00:45:17.000 |
but I know all of us, we are living in a fallen world. 00:45:26.000 |
It gets to us in our marriage sometimes, it gets to us in our business, 00:45:29.000 |
it gets to us in our friendship and relationship, and even in the church. 00:45:33.000 |
But let's not forget, let's not be so short-sighted, 00:45:37.000 |
that in the midst of this despair, that we forget the big picture. 00:45:46.000 |
If the Son sets you free, he will be free indeed. 00:45:49.000 |
So let's take the time to come before the Lord