back to index2021-06-20 Christ Our Peace, Christ Our Righteousness
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Please turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12. 00:00:07.440 |
We're going to be looking at verses 14, mainly just verse 14 today, but I want to read all 00:00:16.160 |
Hebrews chapter 12, verses 14 through 17, reading out of the NASB. 00:00:26.400 |
To peace with all men and a sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. 00:00:32.340 |
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs 00:00:40.020 |
That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his own birthright for 00:00:46.240 |
For you know that even afterwards when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, 00:00:50.880 |
for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. 00:01:01.400 |
I pray that you will protect this pulpit, that only your word would go forth. 00:01:06.000 |
I pray that the hearers, Lord God, will filter only your word to cherish in their hearts. 00:01:13.240 |
And we ask, Lord God, that your Holy Spirit would guide and lead us, that we may understand 00:01:21.720 |
I've shared before that I grew up in a Presbyterian home, but I got saved in a very charismatic 00:01:31.880 |
I was really into discipleship, one-to-one discipleship from navigators. 00:01:36.560 |
And so when I became a Christian, obviously I knew that world well. 00:01:41.860 |
Everybody that I knew was from that charismatic camp, and the people that I looked up to. 00:01:49.440 |
But after about four or five years of being in that ministry, there were certain things 00:01:53.440 |
that I noticed that I couldn't reconcile with what I was reading in Scripture. 00:02:06.560 |
And so the answers that I was getting was not satisfactory, because the typical answer 00:02:19.960 |
And so for a while, you know, I lived with, "They're more mature than me. 00:02:27.400 |
And this is, I was, what, 23 years old at that time, 22, 23. 00:02:31.540 |
And so as I was wrestling with this, after years of trying to find out, "What does the 00:02:39.400 |
Because I was already a Bible major in undergrad, and I was entering into seminary. 00:02:44.800 |
And I came to the conclusion that I can't just put my confidence in these leaders, because 00:02:53.000 |
historically the leadership, in certain periods of time, have made very poor decisions. 00:03:00.740 |
You and I are called Protestants because people protested what the church was doing. 00:03:06.200 |
And the answer that was given to them is that, "Well, trust us. 00:03:13.360 |
And so we are called Protestants because we protested, we tested everything by the Word 00:03:19.140 |
And so I came to the conclusion, as difficult as it was, because these were my leaders. 00:03:25.040 |
They're the ones who influenced my spiritual life more than anybody else, at least as a 00:03:30.560 |
But once I made that decision, I knew the ramification of that, that all my friends 00:03:35.880 |
that was in that ministry, all the people that I looked up to, people that I gained 00:03:39.640 |
counsel from, people who loved me and I loved back, and I respected, that I would end up 00:03:44.080 |
having to leave that and then just walk out into a place where I knew that I was just 00:03:50.600 |
But I could not reconcile what I was seeing with Scripture with what was being practiced. 00:03:58.200 |
And again, you know, and that's why even to this day, you know, our church name is 00:04:02.960 |
Berean Community Church because they tested everything that Apostle Paul said. 00:04:07.760 |
And so the reason why I share this is if there was any time in human history where bad doctrine 00:04:16.300 |
can penetrate into the church so quickly, it's today. 00:04:21.200 |
We have a generation of people, we're not just talking about, you know, where we are 00:04:25.200 |
at, but just all across the board, where biblical illiteracy is so high that almost anything 00:04:33.400 |
that is said up in the pulpit is not being filtered by Scripture, but by the individual's 00:04:50.440 |
See, in Matthew 24, 23, it says, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and 00:04:56.440 |
will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." 00:05:01.960 |
He says that the greatest destruction of the church, the temptation of the church, is going 00:05:05.880 |
to come through people who are claiming to be speaking for God. 00:05:11.080 |
And then he says, "The delusion is going to be so great that even the elect, if possible," 00:05:15.960 |
meaning that if you're truly elect, right, you would not be caught up in this, but what 00:05:20.400 |
he is describing is a mass exodus in the church who we thought for sure they were Christians, 00:05:26.560 |
but because of this delusional teaching of these false prophets, he said many are going 00:05:31.920 |
If there's any period of time where the church is prepared for that, where we've laid the 00:05:37.960 |
foundation where this can easily happen is today. 00:05:42.280 |
Before you'd have to have a seminary degree, have some sort of filter to get on the pulpit, 00:05:47.240 |
and then even if there's bad teaching, it would usually be limited to that church or 00:05:52.200 |
the influence that they are able to have physically. 00:05:55.080 |
Today you can get on the internet, start a blog, or you can do some video, whatever, 00:06:01.520 |
and you don't know who this person is, but if they have a large following, 100,000, 200,000, 00:06:06.520 |
whatever they say is being absorbed by the new generation of Christians without being 00:06:16.160 |
So if you have enough people with influence, enough people who are popular, repeat these 00:06:21.440 |
statements, the only filter that they have is, "I think that's true. 00:06:29.120 |
And so again, we are in a very dangerous time when bad doctrine can just come in and not 00:06:35.240 |
just spoil one church, but immediately spoil the whole church almost instantaneously. 00:06:41.080 |
So if there's any period in time where the church needs to cling to the Word of God and 00:06:45.680 |
is able to test what is coming off of not just this pulpit, but any pulpit, it is today. 00:06:52.600 |
In Jeremiah 23, 21 it says, "I did not send these prophets, but they ran. 00:06:58.200 |
I did not speak to them, but they prophesied." 00:07:02.480 |
One of the biggest problems that we have in our generation is a typical way that somebody 00:07:08.120 |
would come into ministry and get a pulpit to have an audience is you just have to want 00:07:14.520 |
Whatever the motivation is, whatever your desire is, no matter what your life looks 00:07:19.960 |
like, no matter what kind of character that you have, if you desire it and you choose 00:07:24.040 |
to go to seminary, and then once you go to seminary, you are a pastor. 00:07:29.440 |
You'll find some church somewhere to give you a pulpit to preach on, almost anywhere. 00:07:34.080 |
It doesn't matter what kind of background it is because there is almost no filter. 00:07:38.600 |
Once you get into the pulpit and you get that title, you have the same authority as anybody 00:07:44.440 |
You have the same authority to be able to say, "This is what the Word of God says because 00:07:51.200 |
And so now, because of the internet, that individual has an audience. 00:07:56.080 |
If he is talented enough, if he's gifted enough, and if he has enough following, all 00:07:59.880 |
of a sudden he can influence not only his church, but nationally, maybe even internationally. 00:08:06.560 |
So the groundwork has been set for the Antichrist to have its greatest impact in our generation. 00:08:16.280 |
Jeremiah 23, 36, it says, "For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because 00:08:21.160 |
every man's own word will become the oracle." 00:08:26.920 |
God warns us, even in the time of Jeremiah, when people are coming and saying, "Thus saith 00:08:31.680 |
the Lord," but they're actually repeating their own thoughts, their own words. 00:08:37.240 |
And you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 00:08:44.160 |
I usually don't do this because I don't want to get political. 00:08:48.760 |
You know, that's not the point of a Sunday sermon. 00:08:51.040 |
Sunday sermon is I want to teach the Word of God plainly, and then let you apply it 00:08:56.080 |
the way God convicts you, according to what the Word of God says. 00:08:59.440 |
But I want to give you a quote from a man who has been the head of Southern Baptist 00:09:06.120 |
And I know this is going to disturb some people, but I feel that necessary, and I'll explain 00:09:12.040 |
J.D. Greer has been the president of Southern Baptist Convention for several years, and 00:09:24.600 |
And I want to read you this quote, and I want to tell you what the reason why I'm quoting 00:09:30.080 |
J.D. Greer says, "We ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about, and we ought 00:09:42.560 |
Every preacher who's up in the pulpit will be judged according to how well he represents 00:09:50.120 |
And then he says, and this is the part that shook up a lot of people, "Bible appears more 00:09:56.080 |
to whisper when it comes to sexual sin, compared to it shouts about materialism and religious 00:10:04.920 |
The reason why I share this with you is because most false doctrine comes in to the church 00:10:08.880 |
in this manner, through people who are influential. 00:10:15.660 |
The second part is not the problem when he says he shouts about materialism and religious 00:10:19.400 |
pride, because the Bible does shout about materialism and religious pride. 00:10:24.240 |
The part that was controversial was, but he whispers when it comes to sexual sin. 00:10:31.740 |
He said this in the context of trying to get people who are voting for Trump not to vote 00:10:38.560 |
Because he said that we're choosing a political party based upon our desire, because the Democratic 00:10:47.960 |
Party was pushing the agenda that sexuality is going to be equated with, whether you're 00:10:53.840 |
homosexual or transgender, it's going to be equated with a people group. 00:10:58.080 |
So therefore, if you discriminate, even as a church, if you discriminate and you don't 00:11:03.000 |
hire a homosexual, that they want to pass laws where your non-private status will be 00:11:10.880 |
You'll be treated like if we said we're renting a property and we won't give it to the black 00:11:17.280 |
You'll be treated with the same kind of standard that you would for sexual preference, as they 00:11:23.840 |
And so he's saying, what he's saying is not, "I'm okay with that." 00:11:28.200 |
He's saying that the Bible whispers about sexual immorality, but it screams about the 00:11:37.520 |
Now, the point of my sermon today is not to tell you, I am a Republican, I'm a proud Republican, 00:11:45.240 |
What I'm trying to preach to you about is the word of God. 00:11:49.880 |
When I first read this, my first reaction was, "Are we even reading the same Bible?" 00:11:57.320 |
And this is the common response that I got from most of my friends who, no matter what 00:12:02.960 |
political party they are in, who are into the word of God, is, "Are we reading the same 00:12:08.920 |
How can this come out of somebody who's this influential?" 00:12:12.200 |
And 1 Peter 2.11 says, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly 00:12:18.280 |
lusts, pornea, which wage war against the soul." 00:12:31.160 |
The word in Greek is pornea, where some of your Bible translation is sexual immorality. 00:12:36.480 |
Flee, not to fight it, not have discussions about it. 00:12:42.800 |
Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body. 00:12:45.660 |
You see how he elevates sexual immorality with every other sin? 00:12:52.040 |
Every other sin that commits is outside the body. 00:12:54.320 |
The immoral man, sexually immoral man, sins against his own body. 00:12:58.520 |
First Thessalonians 4.3, "You struggle with what is the will of God?" 00:13:01.320 |
He said, "Well, here's the will of God, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. 00:13:06.760 |
That is that you abstain from sexual immorality." 00:13:12.000 |
You say, "Oh, he picked four verses, three verses in the context to try to make his point." 00:13:19.240 |
How will you know if what I'm saying is true or not? 00:13:22.600 |
If you don't have the word of God, you won't. 00:13:24.920 |
So truth will depend on how good of a job I do presenting today. 00:13:29.360 |
So if I'm articulate, tell you some funny stories, and then I say some nice things that 00:13:33.680 |
maybe you already agree, and you'll leave this room thinking like, "Yes, it's confirmed." 00:13:39.960 |
Or maybe you came into this room with a different bent. 00:13:43.080 |
So our church is too conservative, and I think those things are right, and then what I'm 00:13:47.480 |
saying is like, "Oh, you're just picking it out of context." 00:13:50.600 |
But you don't have the ability to filter if it's true or not, because you're not testing 00:13:58.080 |
You're testing it with your own moral center. 00:14:04.340 |
So everything that bothers me and everything that I accept is already determined by what 00:14:11.640 |
Instead of testing it and filtering it and allow the word of God to test the thoughts 00:14:15.720 |
and intentions of my heart, and if things that I am thinking and applying is not biblical, 00:14:25.640 |
And the reason, again, why I say it and I even attach his name to it is because this 00:14:34.640 |
This is how a generation of people who are not filtering what is true with the word will 00:14:42.600 |
easily think that this is what the Bible says, and they will quote this quote. 00:14:49.000 |
They will quote him and other people who say things like that without actually knowing 00:15:00.720 |
They're quoting a man who says he's quoting scripture, but he's not quoting scripture. 00:15:08.040 |
The Bible does not whisper when it comes to sexual immorality. 00:15:12.640 |
In fact, it is one of the loudest screams that you will see in the Bible. 00:15:17.840 |
In Joshua 1.8, it says, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but 00:15:21.960 |
you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to 00:15:26.240 |
all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will 00:15:32.760 |
That's the commandment that was given to Joshua and the Israelites as they are going into 00:15:36.160 |
the promised land to establish a new covenant community. 00:15:40.140 |
So this new community that you're going to build, he gave one instruction. 00:15:43.480 |
He said, "Get together, get all the smartest guys and figure out how you're going to do 00:15:53.680 |
He just says, "All the commandments I gave to you, the ones you understand, the ones 00:15:57.820 |
you don't understand, meditate on it day and night, and do according to exactly as I told 00:16:06.400 |
Now what does this have to do with Hebrews 12.14? 00:16:10.280 |
If you look at this text in Hebrews 14, it says, "Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification 00:16:19.920 |
Whenever we look at a text, we have to read it critically. 00:16:24.120 |
Just that this is the reason why we do inductive Bible study, that we don't just prepare and 00:16:27.560 |
I tell you, "Hey, this is what the Word of God says. 00:16:33.860 |
We want you to be able to ask critical questions and test me. 00:16:37.720 |
And I tell you all the time, don't trust it because I said it. 00:16:42.120 |
If what I said is not biblical, you should have the boldness to come and say, "How did 00:16:48.400 |
This is one of those texts that can easily look at it and say, "Pursue peace with all 00:16:54.440 |
And so without thinking, without asking questions, we can apply that and say, "What I did was 00:17:01.200 |
wrong because I just quoted JD and I just called him out and I said that's wrong." 00:17:07.160 |
That doesn't sound like a man who's pursuing peace. 00:17:11.560 |
I mean, he doesn't have no idea who I am, you know what I mean? 00:17:15.320 |
So I don't think it's going to ever escalate, but maybe some of you are fans of JD Greer 00:17:19.000 |
and you say, "Hey, you just stirred things up." 00:17:22.000 |
You sound like a man who is not pursuing peace. 00:17:29.080 |
If we want to understand and apply what the Word of God says, we have to ask these critical 00:17:37.920 |
Does this mean that we need to jot down everyone we have a relational issue with and reconcile 00:17:49.080 |
If that's the case, how did Jesus reconcile with his enemies before he went to the cross? 00:17:57.360 |
If this is to commandment, the letter of the law is to find that you should never have 00:18:02.200 |
any contention with anybody for any reason and you need to either reconcile with them 00:18:11.360 |
How did Paul reconcile with the Judaizers during his ministry before he was beheaded? 00:18:18.760 |
Does this mean that if we keep struggling with certain sins that you won't be saved? 00:18:23.400 |
He said without sanctification and the word sanctification just literally means holiness. 00:18:28.320 |
So without a pursuit of peace with all men, without pursuit or holiness, you're not going 00:18:36.400 |
Clearly that can't be because we know that salvation is by grace. 00:18:40.080 |
There's too many passages that we'd have to write off to say that. 00:18:48.360 |
Again, the reason why I ask you to ask these critical questions and don't just kind of 00:18:53.400 |
digest what I say without filter is if you just digest what I say without filtering, 00:19:00.680 |
you're going to remember the stories that I tell you. 00:19:03.820 |
And all your theology is going to come through whether you like that story or not. 00:19:08.640 |
Whether I was funny or articulate or whether I scratched your ears and you say, "Ah, I 00:19:15.160 |
And so we have a generation filled with people who are living by cliches. 00:19:24.560 |
And you have these cliches that you've memorized through the years and all your theology comes 00:19:32.360 |
You have to test to see what does the word of God say? 00:19:36.440 |
Now the interpretation of this passage, usually if you read the commentaries or you hear sermons 00:19:44.780 |
The first direction is to pursue peace with all men, meaning that we have to make sure 00:19:50.140 |
that we have peace with everybody, at least to the best of your ability, if you're reasonable. 00:19:55.160 |
You're not going to make peace with a Taliban. 00:19:57.920 |
You're not going to make peace with certain people you don't even have access to them. 00:20:01.480 |
You're not going to make peace with somebody that you knew 20 years ago. 00:20:05.720 |
As far as it depends on you, it says in the book of Romans. 00:20:08.760 |
So you have that route where he says actually pursue the peace. 00:20:12.460 |
And then the other route is to pursue peace, pursue the peace together with everyone. 00:20:19.640 |
And that peace he's referring to is the peace that we can only have through the blood of 00:20:29.360 |
My conclusion from this text and from the context of the book of Hebrews, the primary 00:20:40.200 |
The primary because you can't have one without the other. 00:20:44.200 |
You can't have peace with mankind unless you have peace with God. 00:20:47.520 |
But the priority is you must have peace with God first. 00:20:52.580 |
And that was the whole point of the book of Hebrews, wasn't it? 00:20:55.240 |
The whole point of the book of Hebrews was they were drifting. 00:20:59.600 |
They were drifting away, neglecting their salvation. 00:21:02.360 |
And the way to get them back is to fix your eyes upon Jesus. 00:21:05.840 |
And so we have 10 chapters of Christology, how Jesus is better than the sacrifice, better 00:21:11.760 |
than the high priest, better than the angel, better than Moses, better than the high priest. 00:21:15.280 |
And so he was bringing their attention back to Christ so that they would not drift from 00:21:22.740 |
So within that context, what he's saying in Hebrews chapter 12 is what he started in the 00:21:27.080 |
beginning to fix your eyes upon Jesus, to fix your eyes upon Jesus. 00:21:32.680 |
And what he says in the rest of chapter 12 and 13 is really a revelation of what that 00:21:38.240 |
And that's why we looked at last week that to make your path straight is primarily, first 00:21:43.840 |
and foremost, the imagery is to have the straight path to the cities of refuge, which is Christ. 00:21:50.760 |
See, even the word for shalom, the first century Jew, the idea of peace, right? 00:21:59.740 |
You know what shalom means, peace, was so important that they used that as a primary 00:22:05.560 |
Shalom, when they met each other, and then they said shalom when they were leaving. 00:22:12.600 |
Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility 00:22:21.500 |
So to a Jew, there was a very specific understanding of this term peace. 00:22:27.920 |
In fact, their primary pursuit of their nation is peace. 00:22:34.200 |
Because they were saying this to one another. 00:22:35.440 |
One day we're going to have peace when the Messiah comes. 00:22:43.920 |
Whatever was lost because of our sins, may God make you whole. 00:22:49.720 |
And this is why when Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, the problem wasn't that they weren't 00:22:54.480 |
pursuing peace, but they were pursuing peace in the wrong place. 00:22:58.280 |
And that's why Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and says, "Only today if you knew what would 00:23:02.720 |
truly bring you peace, then destruction would not be coming upon you." 00:23:08.220 |
So the problem was not that they were not pursuing peace, but they didn't understand 00:23:13.600 |
that Christ came ultimately to bring them spiritual peace. 00:23:18.060 |
To recreate and regenerate what was lost at the fall. 00:23:23.520 |
In Genesis chapter 3, 14 to 19, it is a description of the ramification of sin that came into 00:23:31.800 |
So the first part in verse 14 to 15 is the punishment for the serpent. 00:23:38.040 |
It says, "The Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you 00:23:42.640 |
more than all the cattle and more than every beast of the field. 00:23:46.120 |
On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. 00:23:51.240 |
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. 00:23:55.660 |
He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.'" 00:24:00.720 |
So the first description of the fall of mankind is that the serpent is going to be in this 00:24:06.280 |
contention with the seed of the woman and all of their followers. 00:24:10.440 |
That's why the Bible describes our enemy, the serpent, as a devil who's like a roaring 00:24:20.300 |
And that's why Paul says in the book of Ephesians that we are in spiritual warfare. 00:24:28.840 |
All of mankind, all of human history since the fall has been under this constant battle 00:24:37.960 |
between Satan wanting to destroy the worshipers of Christ and Christ himself. 00:24:44.200 |
And so you and I may feel peaceful at times because we're not at war, because our bills 00:24:50.760 |
are paid, we have a good marriage, and our kids are obedient, and you may feel at peace. 00:24:56.740 |
But whatever we feel peaceful at at that time is no different than two soldiers in a foxhole 00:25:02.640 |
in the middle of a war enjoying their coffee. 00:25:08.100 |
They feel safe because they're in their foxhole. 00:25:10.780 |
But it's in the context of a war that is raging around them. 00:25:14.780 |
That's how the Bible describes the history of mankind, our experience. 00:25:18.900 |
And every once in a while something reminds us that this world is under God's condemnation. 00:25:23.100 |
It's, "Oh my God, why would God do something like that? 00:25:25.740 |
Why would a loving God do something like that?" 00:25:27.760 |
The Bible actually describes all of mankind to be under that. 00:25:30.920 |
So it is moments of peace when you and I experience this foxhole. 00:25:34.820 |
That's when we should be asking, "What is going on?" 00:25:40.700 |
Verse 16, "The fall of woman to the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your pain 00:25:47.980 |
In pain you will bring forth children, yet your desire will be for your husband, and 00:25:55.260 |
If you notice verse 16, everything about verse 16 is exactly why God created Eve. 00:26:01.060 |
God created Eve because he said it was not good for Adam to be alone. 00:26:04.680 |
It wasn't saying that there was something morally defective about Adam. 00:26:08.140 |
He was saying that he couldn't carry out God's mandate by himself because God didn't make 00:26:14.880 |
So he created Eve so that Adam and Eve can be fruitful and multiply. 00:26:22.260 |
And to create her so that she may be a suitable helper so that he can fulfill the creation 00:26:29.760 |
So if you look at what he says, he says, "You will have children, but how will you have 00:26:39.140 |
You will have a relationship with your husband, but he says your desire will be for your husband. 00:26:42.920 |
And the word for desire here in Hebrew has an idea of conflict. 00:26:48.660 |
So you're going to fulfill why God created you, but you're not going to have peace. 00:26:58.000 |
There's going to be pain in raising these sinners in the sinful world. 00:27:02.980 |
And then there's going to be contention between husband and wife. 00:27:07.280 |
If you ask most people where the greatest pain that they have experienced in life came 00:27:13.120 |
from, majority of people, not 100%, majority of people will say it was from their home. 00:27:19.960 |
Whether it was from the father, it was from the mother, it was the marriage, it was with 00:27:23.560 |
Majority of people who live on this earth have experienced what it's like to live with 00:27:36.560 |
And then in verse 17, to Adam, he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife 00:27:40.760 |
and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat 00:27:47.960 |
In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 00:27:51.840 |
You will do what I commanded you to do, but there will be no peace. 00:27:57.240 |
Thorns and thistles, it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 00:28:02.720 |
By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from 00:28:07.040 |
it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 00:28:11.880 |
I created you so that you may be fruitful and multiply, and so that you may subdue the 00:28:18.940 |
You will continue to be fruitful in that way. 00:28:21.640 |
You will continue to do the work, but it will create thorns and thistles." 00:28:26.280 |
Now, those of you who are in college who are eager to get a job, there's a reason why all 00:28:35.840 |
When's the last time you heard "Monday, so eager for Monday"? 00:28:51.720 |
There's no songs about Monday because there's no joy on Monday. 00:28:57.520 |
They call Wednesday "Hump Day" because you're closer. 00:29:02.160 |
You got through the hump so you can get to the weekend. 00:29:06.640 |
The Bible says God created them, so what has left? 00:29:09.760 |
They're doing what God created them to do, but what's left? 00:29:16.600 |
That's why the Bible describes the seventh day as what? 00:29:27.840 |
After he created all things, he went into the Sabbath and he brought everyone into the 00:29:31.880 |
Sabbath with him, but when they broke God's commandment, the Sabbath was broken. 00:29:36.440 |
That's why all throughout Scripture, in the Old Testament, why the Sabbath, why keeping 00:29:41.280 |
this day was so important in the law because that was pointing to the salvation of mankind, 00:29:48.560 |
that when Christ comes, that's what he's going to restore. 00:29:59.320 |
Until we come into the Sabbath of Christ, we can pretend to have peace with one another, 00:30:07.760 |
In Isaiah 9, 6, the prophecy about the coming of the Messiah, he says he's called the wonderful 00:30:13.160 |
counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace. 00:30:18.440 |
Ephesians 2, 14, verse 17, it says, "For he himself is our peace, who made both groups 00:30:24.560 |
into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall." 00:30:30.800 |
"And he came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were 00:30:37.360 |
For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father." 00:30:41.520 |
And again, Romans 5, 1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with 00:30:48.600 |
You notice how righteousness, holiness, and peace are put together. 00:30:55.200 |
It was meant to be put together because you cannot have peace until there is righteousness 00:31:01.560 |
So that's why he says, without pursuing peace, without pursuing righteousness, you cannot 00:31:08.080 |
So it is only when we are imputed by his righteousness and our relationship with God, with him is 00:31:18.960 |
And only then can you truly practice peace with one another. 00:31:26.040 |
Until there is peace within, there is no peace without. 00:31:30.480 |
We cannot artificially make peace when we are not in peace with God. 00:31:36.960 |
Because what's causing this anxiety, what's causing this misunderstanding, what's causing 00:31:40.960 |
these conflicts, was a direct result of being separated from the Prince of Peace. 00:31:47.360 |
So the priority is, is pursuing peace with God. 00:31:52.980 |
And when that happens, he will command us to have peace with one another. 00:31:58.640 |
You know, the world has been trying so hard to bring reconciliation, especially in the 00:32:05.160 |
last year and a half, with all the turmoil of racial injustices and equity. 00:32:18.000 |
The only way that we can have true peace is to have war so that we can suppress the people 00:32:26.080 |
But the problem with that is the other side thinks the same thing of us. 00:32:29.720 |
In order for them to have peace, we need to die. 00:32:35.360 |
In the last year and a half, $1.7 billion have been dedicated to racial reconciliation. 00:32:46.080 |
$250 million was dedicated by the NBA to tackle this racial reconciliation so that we can 00:32:54.840 |
Billions were collected by the Black Lives Matter movement, all in the hopes of bringing 00:33:02.520 |
They said that the donations for this cause has gone up 15 times just in the last year. 00:33:09.840 |
And I'm only talking about the private sector. 00:33:12.760 |
All of this pales in comparison to the money that the government is pouring in, in order 00:33:18.120 |
Now let me ask you, honestly, have you seen the effects of this money? 00:33:26.760 |
Are people getting along better because of this? 00:33:29.120 |
I mean, you may have different opinions, but my honest opinion is it's gotten much worse. 00:33:35.360 |
Now, I feel bad for our Caucasian brothers and sisters in this generation. 00:33:40.640 |
I can't imagine every time you turn on TV or radio, get online and somebody's calling 00:33:53.520 |
I think there's more true white supremacy today as a result of their efforts to bring 00:34:05.760 |
When we were younger, I have an older brother and younger brother, and so we would get into 00:34:11.920 |
And this is before online gaming and TV, and so we had nothing else to do, so we wrestled. 00:34:18.200 |
I think all three of us could have been professional wrestlers at some point because this was our 00:34:23.480 |
And then we would get into fights, we would wrestle. 00:34:25.160 |
So usually the way that my dad would discipline us when we would get into fights was he would 00:34:30.000 |
have us sit together, face each other, whoever was fighting. 00:34:33.720 |
I would say 9 out of 10 times it was me and Philip. 00:34:41.300 |
But Philip and I, we were the same size most of our life, and then he outgrew me at some 00:34:48.960 |
But we would get into fights, and the way that my dad would deal with it, he would sit 00:34:52.000 |
and have us next to each other, and he would give us a lecture how you shouldn't fight, 00:34:54.880 |
but if you're going to fight, you should do it this way. 00:34:58.580 |
So he would have us sit together, and then he said, "You slap your brother, and then 00:35:07.000 |
And then you do it like three or four times, and then that's it. 00:35:15.080 |
So both of us were kind of hesitating who would go first, and then I said, "Okay." 00:35:20.960 |
Then in my mind, I was like, "I'll tap him like this." 00:35:25.880 |
If we were alone, it'd be a different story, but my dad's sitting there, so I have to, 00:35:32.260 |
He would hear that, see that tapping, and he said, "Oh, that was harder than what he 00:35:51.160 |
And now he's full blown, and now my dad's concerned, because I slapped him, and then 00:35:58.520 |
So he comes back clapping, and then so now we're just slapping each other. 00:36:07.760 |
I don't remember a single time where that worked. 00:36:10.800 |
And the reason why it didn't work is because both of us have our own definition of what 00:36:19.120 |
And this is the reason why marriages are not 50%. 00:36:23.880 |
You don't come into marriage saying, "You give 50, I give 50." 00:36:26.960 |
It sounds great, but the problem is there's never any agreement at where that 50% is. 00:36:34.440 |
So the wife thinks that she's giving 70, he's only giving 30. 00:36:38.320 |
And the husband thinks that he's giving 70, and she's giving 30. 00:36:41.720 |
So eventually she gets frustrated, and she says, "Is there something wrong?" 00:36:54.760 |
Eventually what ends up happening is that the wife gets frustrated and said, "Well, 00:37:00.520 |
I'm going to pull back and give you 60, because you're not doing your part." 00:37:05.760 |
And the husband sees that and says, "I've been giving 70, you gave me 30, now you're 00:37:11.040 |
So now I'm going to pull back, and so he's going to give 60." 00:37:15.640 |
Now you get escalated, and eventually it's like, "I'm not going to give you any." 00:37:19.840 |
And that's usually how it works, because they can't come to an agreement where the 00:37:26.520 |
That's why whenever there's a marriage, the calling for husband and wife is an example 00:37:39.480 |
You commit to give to an individual who doesn't deserve what they're getting, what I'm 00:37:45.560 |
It is 100% commitment, and the wife is called to honor and to submit 100%, whether he looks 00:37:52.400 |
So it is a covenant relationship where 100% come together, motivated, not because he's 00:37:58.720 |
such a great guy, not because she's such a great wife, but because of what Christ has 00:38:02.880 |
done for us, because the Prince of Peace gave us what you and I did not deserve. 00:38:10.100 |
So until there is peace with Christ, the world's idea of reconciliation only causes more war, 00:38:18.400 |
more contention, more bitterness, because how do you come to peace with somebody that 00:38:23.000 |
is not in agreement as to where the middle is? 00:38:28.660 |
Until Christ is at the center, there is no reconciliation. 00:38:33.440 |
That's why in 1 Corinthians 1.10 it says, "Now I exhort you, brethren, by name of our 00:38:38.260 |
Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no division among you." 00:38:48.440 |
Have you known anybody, even with your wife, that you have a covenant relationship with, 00:38:58.920 |
Food, where to eat, how to spend money, how to raise children, where to buy the house, 00:39:07.860 |
And how do you get 100% agreement with everybody? 00:39:14.800 |
To be smart and figure out how we're going to all come together so everybody is in agreement? 00:39:23.280 |
Even in the best of marriages, I've never seen it. 00:39:25.500 |
Even in the best of churches, I've never seen it. 00:39:28.340 |
He's not referring to the hard work that causes us to find the middle and to be reconciled 00:39:38.260 |
He's telling us to pursue Christ, our peace, with all our might. 00:39:43.600 |
Ephesians 4, 1-6, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner 00:39:48.760 |
worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, 00:39:53.840 |
with patience, showing tolerance for one another, in love, being diligent to preserve the unity 00:40:15.920 |
Because we have one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 00:40:20.520 |
God in the Father, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:40:26.560 |
The only way that you and I can unite together and to have peace with one another is to have 00:40:36.320 |
And the only agreement that you and I will ever have together is the one who never changes. 00:40:49.000 |
Nothing like grass will wither, but the Word of God will stand forever. 00:40:54.080 |
And the only way that you and I will have this agreement is to get to the Word of God 00:40:59.380 |
and to agree with the Word of God and to preach the Word of God, to filter through the Word 00:41:12.100 |
This is the only way that you and I will stand through the trials that are here and are coming. 00:41:18.600 |
Biblical understanding of peace is not not fighting. 00:41:30.200 |
That's not the biblical understanding of peace. 00:41:33.760 |
The biblical understanding of peace at all costs to preserve Christ. 00:41:46.520 |
No fighting, enjoy your coffee in the middle of war, as long as nobody is yelling, as long 00:41:51.680 |
as nobody is screaming, as long as everybody loves one another, we're at peace. 00:41:56.840 |
While people are dying because they do not know Christ, while the church is being corrupted 00:42:01.960 |
by false teachings left and right, that is not the biblical understanding of peace. 00:42:07.400 |
When He says to pursue peace, to pursue righteousness, or no one will see God, it is a call to every 00:42:14.900 |
believer to fight for the gospel, to preserve Christ at the middle at all costs. 00:42:21.800 |
So my encouragement to every single one of you, get into the Word. 00:42:32.140 |
I mean, everything I said today could be a lie. 00:42:36.600 |
"Ah, Pastor Peter is conservative and, you know, he said he's a Republican, so that's 00:42:40.440 |
why he's preaching this and he's doing this and that." 00:42:46.900 |
Maybe you're right, but you would never know until you get into the Word. 00:42:55.540 |
And I ask you to test me because my foundation is the Word of God, and I have confidence. 00:43:03.060 |
So in these last days, as we have been warned, don't be caught off like the rest of the world, 00:43:10.780 |
like the thief in the night that's breaking in to destroy everything that we have. 00:43:15.900 |
We don't know exactly what time he is coming, but he told us to stay sober. 00:43:38.300 |
Let the Word of God not only be in your mind. 00:43:46.280 |
Let it saturate your hearts and then your lives. 00:43:49.980 |
Anything that you've heard from God's Word has any conviction in your heart. 00:43:55.220 |
Take some time to ask God, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief, and that your Word would 00:44:01.420 |
judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart, that I would not simply be hearers of the 00:44:06.900 |
Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team needs us.