back to index2021-08-29 A PROPER RESPONSE TO GOD'S GRACE
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12, we're going to be jumping back 00:00:13.240 |
Okay, Hebrews chapter 12, verses 25 through 29. 00:00:20.920 |
I didn't get far in the first service, so I'm assuming I won't get far in the second 00:00:25.260 |
Okay, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 25 through 29. 00:00:31.940 |
See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 00:00:40.500 |
For if those who did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much 00:00:46.220 |
less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven. 00:00:51.300 |
And his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised saying, yet once more I will 00:00:56.540 |
shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. 00:00:59.560 |
This expression yet once more denotes the removing of the things which can be shaken 00:01:04.100 |
as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 00:01:09.340 |
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by 00:01:14.500 |
which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and all for our God is a consuming 00:01:27.360 |
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would protect this pulpit. 00:01:36.440 |
Whether I stand here or anyone else, may it be your words and your words only protect 00:01:45.900 |
us, Lord God, from man's opinions and thoughts. 00:01:51.260 |
That we may hear your voice and only your voice, that we would not refuse you. 00:01:59.440 |
May the authority that you've given to the church, that you've placed in your word by 00:02:04.560 |
the Holy Spirit, be known, Lord God, to everyone who has drawn near to this room to hear from 00:02:12.640 |
Anoint this time, Father God, that your grace would be enough. 00:02:27.880 |
One of the most powerful words that we have in English is the word grace. 00:02:52.040 |
When there seems to be no human answer of what's going on in our life, what's going 00:02:57.760 |
on in the world, and yet grace gives us hope. 00:03:03.080 |
It gives hope and refuge to those who are helpless and oppressed. 00:03:10.120 |
What's going on in Afghanistan where brothers and sisters are suffering from human eyes, 00:03:22.200 |
When Apostle Paul, in his suffering, begged Christ to remove the thorn on his side, Jesus' 00:03:29.800 |
answer to him was, "My grace is sufficient for you." 00:03:33.920 |
It is sufficient for Paul, it is sufficient for us, and our brothers and sisters who are 00:03:40.880 |
in Afghanistan who is praying to God, the ultimate answer is, "However this turns out 00:03:53.240 |
We sing about his grace, we memorize scriptures about his grace. 00:03:57.360 |
It gives us comfort, it gives us hope, it gives us reasons to sing. 00:04:02.480 |
But when grace is misunderstood and it is misapplied or it is cheapened, it has dire 00:04:16.800 |
We make grace a free ticket to enter into heaven, that we can continue to live in darkness 00:04:24.680 |
and sin, and we declare the grace of God to be covered. 00:04:30.760 |
It's kind of like when we were children, you know, we played games and we would lie 00:04:35.960 |
to our siblings or to our friends and we cross our fingers, you know, behind our back and 00:04:43.800 |
It's like, "No, I'm okay because I crossed my finger." 00:04:47.840 |
When grace is misapplied and it is cheap, it perverts righteousness, where it gives 00:04:55.520 |
us a reason to live in sin and selfishness and rebellion against God and declare that 00:05:06.520 |
Grace can be easily perverted if we're not careful, not realizing what we believe and 00:05:17.680 |
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his book, Discipleship, about this cheap grace, and this is what he 00:05:26.640 |
"Cheap grace is a deadly enemy of our church. 00:05:32.960 |
Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like a cheap jack's wear." 00:05:36.600 |
In other words, he just passes it out like it's not worth much. 00:05:41.320 |
"The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, the consolations of religion are thrown away 00:05:48.000 |
Grace is represented at the church's inexhaustible treasury from which she showers blessing with 00:05:52.600 |
generous hands without asking questions or fixing limits. 00:05:59.040 |
The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance, and 00:06:03.560 |
because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing." 00:06:12.520 |
I remember years ago, I was out in Kenya visiting an orphan work that our church members were 00:06:21.080 |
involved in, and I found something very surprising about the economy over there. 00:06:27.320 |
Because they've had poor government, and they have so many resources over there, but 00:06:30.840 |
it's clearly it's been poor for many, many generations. 00:06:36.280 |
Because of civil war, famine, AIDS epidemic, the economy has been crushed for many generations. 00:06:46.320 |
And what I noticed was there were a lot of Christian signs everywhere, and I realized 00:06:50.920 |
that their economy was being propped up by outside help. 00:06:54.600 |
So everywhere you go, you'll see buses, cars, buildings that have been dedicated in 00:07:00.920 |
Some Baptist something, some Presbyterian something, some Pentecostal something, but 00:07:05.120 |
you'll see those crosses and signs everywhere. 00:07:08.920 |
And I realized that they've been getting a lot of aid for many, many generations. 00:07:13.760 |
And where this was most evident was, those of you guys who know, who's ever traveled 00:07:17.920 |
with me, I usually travel with some beef jerky. 00:07:21.080 |
And the reason why is I'm not very adventurous with food. 00:07:24.160 |
I usually, like if I like something and I go to that restaurant, I order the same thing 00:07:30.560 |
Until somebody, it looks good and I'll taste it next time I order that, but I'm not adventurous 00:07:37.440 |
I was in Kenya and I took a couple bags of beef jerky and I was eating it, and one of 00:07:46.920 |
And then the next thing that came out of his mouth was, "Do you have any more?" 00:07:55.360 |
And then the next thing that he said to me surprised me and he said, "Give me the bag." 00:08:02.420 |
So I was like, "Maybe his English isn't good." 00:08:06.800 |
You know, that's pretty rude the way he asked for it. 00:08:08.840 |
So I said, "Okay, I'm here trying to help them. 00:08:12.320 |
So I gave him the bag and then he ate it and said, "Do you have any more? 00:08:17.720 |
Of course, I brought some more because I was there for a while. 00:08:30.860 |
So I ended up giving him the beef jerky and I was just kind of like perplexed the way 00:08:35.920 |
And then the next thing that came out of his mouth is because he said, "You are rich and 00:08:50.800 |
So I realized that from that encounter is that at least that pastor was so used to getting 00:09:09.800 |
I remember experiencing that also when I was doing homeless ministry and I would go out 00:09:14.480 |
and we would feed every week on Tuesday and then we'd gather all these extra clothing 00:09:19.240 |
because it was wintertime and then we would set up and we would always have a hard time 00:09:23.400 |
keeping in line because they would rush to the front and just grab whatever they want. 00:09:26.800 |
And so those people who weren't at the front and didn't get the clothes that they wanted 00:09:32.000 |
and it would start out with thank you but it would always end with somebody cussing 00:09:36.360 |
me out because I didn't bring enough or the sizes don't fit or it wasn't exactly what 00:09:42.960 |
And I would always leave after giving that to them saying like, "What is this?" 00:09:51.220 |
And so for a period I was like, "Man, they're not worth this. 00:09:56.480 |
I'm sacrificing to do all of this and I get cussed out." 00:09:58.720 |
And again, it's not everybody that did that but there would always be somebody who don't 00:10:03.320 |
realize what it is and then they would just leave. 00:10:08.460 |
As extreme as those examples may sound, that's what cheap grace looks like. 00:10:16.020 |
When we come into church and we demand grace from each other, you're Christians, you're 00:10:27.700 |
Grace is asking for something that you don't deserve so how can you demand grace? 00:10:33.700 |
If you demand grace, you don't understand what grace is. 00:10:46.380 |
I mean if we're to be honest, what we really expect is vengeance if you wrong somebody. 00:10:53.680 |
But if we are somewhat righteous and have some conscience that we would only seek justice 00:10:59.060 |
but to demand grace, to demand grace, to come into church and say, "Why didn't God answer 00:11:08.540 |
Why do you think that God has to answer your prayers? 00:11:16.500 |
Why do you automatically think that God is supposed to answer your prayers? 00:11:22.300 |
What is it about grace that you think and you have a knee-jerk reaction, a default setting 00:11:33.340 |
All of that is because cheap grace has deeply penetrated our psyche especially because of 00:11:41.180 |
The love of God has been passed out like free candy on Halloween. 00:11:49.540 |
Even though we would never express it, we've been trained to believe and feel that God 00:11:59.860 |
You know even the word charisma, the English word charisma, when we say somebody has charisma, 00:12:05.800 |
we automatically think this is somebody who's gregarious, who's good with people, who's 00:12:09.580 |
not awkward, somebody who's able to keep a crowd and make people feel good. 00:12:14.080 |
The very definition of the word charisma in its word has the word grace, the Greek word 00:12:23.000 |
So if you look at the etymology of this word, it basically comes from Middle English and 00:12:28.640 |
it basically means the one who has been favored. 00:12:38.480 |
But the way you and I use it is he has charisma. 00:12:49.120 |
And just as we have perverted that word to think that somebody innately has charisma, 00:12:56.320 |
cheap grace doesn't recognize who it is that we are dealing with. 00:13:05.460 |
We must not make the mistake that God's grace means that we are free to do whatever we want. 00:13:13.720 |
We raised our hand, we got baptized, so I feel bad when I sin, but once saved, always 00:13:29.600 |
It is the kindness of God that leads us to what? 00:13:35.080 |
And those of you who were at the retreat, Dr. Street did a great job of what is true 00:13:52.560 |
To put away our old life, that we may reconcile and restore what ought to be. 00:14:00.320 |
It's not the grace of God that simply covers you so that the penalty of sin no longer belongs 00:14:05.360 |
But true repentance is to turn away from that and to turn to God. 00:14:11.440 |
And it is the kindness of God, it is the grace of God that leads us to true repentance. 00:14:18.440 |
It is cheap grace to think that because we raised our hand, because we went into the 00:14:23.840 |
water, we are covered so now we can live the rest of our life any way we desire. 00:14:29.800 |
That is cheap grace and it is not biblical grace. 00:14:34.280 |
God's grace provides us the ability to choose life over death, to choose obedience over 00:14:45.280 |
It's not you and I, by our own will, by our own effort, that we somehow are choosing to 00:14:53.240 |
He said it's the grace of God, true grace of God, that causes us to turn from our sins 00:15:01.400 |
The whole book of Titus is to deal with this idea of cheap grace. 00:15:06.720 |
People are professing with their mouth that they believe in Jesus Christ but by their 00:15:20.840 |
They profess with their mouth they know God but by their deeds they deny Him. 00:15:32.560 |
Your life is more evident of what you believe than what you profess. 00:15:36.720 |
Being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deeds because it's just a profession. 00:15:47.040 |
Titus chapter 2, 11-14, "For the grace of God has appeared, grace of God has appeared, 00:15:53.840 |
bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness, worldly desire, and 00:15:59.440 |
to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age." 00:16:15.120 |
The grace of God has appeared, instructing and telling. 00:16:19.280 |
Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, 00:16:22.640 |
Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. 00:16:29.560 |
And to purify Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 00:16:37.540 |
We have a tendency to think that if we start to preach strong sermons and people feel guilty 00:16:49.880 |
Grace means that despite your sins, that God covered us and we can leave encouraged 00:16:57.400 |
and continue to live the way we desire to live. 00:17:01.240 |
You continue to preach grace because our life is hard enough as it is. 00:17:03.960 |
But when we are confronted over our sins and rebuked and challenged to live righteous lives, 00:17:18.640 |
And yet he says the grace of God, the grace of God teaches us to live and follow Christ 00:17:26.120 |
It is because cheap grace has so deeply embedded into our psyche. 00:17:33.000 |
Because the word of God and the grace of God in the gospel has been peddled. 00:17:38.640 |
So that we can get the gospel to the lowest common denominator and an individual who has 00:17:42.960 |
never truly surrendered their life to Christ can also be accepted into the kingdom of God. 00:17:48.380 |
Because all you have to do is give Jesus a chance. 00:17:51.600 |
The way that the gospel is being propagated in our generation is that God is the one who 00:18:04.320 |
And whatever it is that you've been offended by, we'll try to minimize that as much as 00:18:09.160 |
And so people are walking through the door with cheap grace in their mind from day one. 00:18:18.360 |
Sinners are coming into the church with a consumer mindset. 00:18:22.760 |
If you want to keep me at this church, I want this. 00:18:26.740 |
So the sinners are the ones who have been offended. 00:18:29.580 |
And the holy God is the one who has offended. 00:18:33.200 |
And the church is begging an opportunity for the sinners to give Jesus a chance. 00:18:42.720 |
If somebody offended you and you sent an ambassador on your behalf and they were begging 00:18:56.280 |
If you were the one offended, see that's cheap grace. 00:19:05.360 |
The way that the gospel is preached has to represent the holy God that's been offended. 00:19:21.560 |
So when we come to church, our primary thought should not be, "What am I getting out of this?" 00:19:28.120 |
It's how can I have a relationship with this holy God? 00:19:33.120 |
It is because the gospel has been propagated cheaply. 00:19:37.520 |
It's been handed out as free candy to anyone who wants it. 00:19:42.600 |
All because men who are afraid of human opinion. 00:19:49.240 |
Men who have become convinced that a successful church is the largest church. 00:19:55.000 |
Men who have been convinced that if you have many people who honor you, that you must be 00:20:10.280 |
Men who should not have ever been speaking on behalf of an offended holy God. 00:20:23.200 |
There's three things that I wanted to give you an outline of the text that we're looking 00:20:27.840 |
at, but like I told you, I didn't get through the first one. 00:20:40.920 |
God's grace demands that we pay close attention to what God has to say. 00:20:49.160 |
God's grace reminds us to live for what cannot be shaken. 00:20:54.240 |
How much of what we pursue when Christ comes will mean nothing. 00:21:01.960 |
God's grace calls us to worship him in spirit and in truth. 00:21:05.040 |
Those are the all three things that we see in this text. 00:21:12.360 |
God's grace demands that we pay close attention to what God says. 00:21:16.760 |
"See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking." 00:21:20.360 |
Remember, the previous text, just to remind you, just four weeks ago we were talking about 00:21:28.000 |
this, and he was differentiating between coming to Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. 00:21:32.480 |
Mount Sinai represented terror, where the people of Israel was begging Moses, "Tell 00:21:38.440 |
God to stop speaking to us," because they were so terrified. 00:21:41.480 |
Even a glimpse of his glory terrified them and asked Moses to go inside the tent because 00:21:47.560 |
But he says, "You did not come to Mount Sinai. 00:21:50.520 |
You came to Mount Zion, a place of joy, of worship, where the angels and all the multitudes 00:21:56.400 |
will be gathered together to worship him, to experience his true life." 00:22:00.440 |
So after explaining this grace, after reminding them, "You didn't come to Mount Sinai. 00:22:06.600 |
You came to Zion, a place of celebration and banquet." 00:22:11.240 |
But in conclusion to that, you would think, you say, "Well, because God is gracious. 00:22:20.800 |
We would typically think if you only understood cheap grace, "Because God is gracious, I can 00:22:30.400 |
Because God is gracious, no matter how much I sin, God will never forsake me. 00:22:40.200 |
But he says, "Because God has been gracious," he says, "do not refuse him who speaks." 00:22:53.480 |
That was the practical application of telling us about his grace. 00:23:01.520 |
Now you have to understand, like when he says, "Do not refuse him," what does it mean to 00:23:07.840 |
And according to the context of the book of Hebrews, the whole time he's been telling 00:23:24.240 |
Because clearly that's what he means here by, "Do not refuse him." 00:23:37.520 |
How will you escape if you neglect such a great salvation? 00:23:43.040 |
We're warned over and over again, "Do not drift." 00:23:56.480 |
So when he says here, "Do not refuse him," refusing him requires no effort on our part. 00:24:09.680 |
Continue to live you as the center of your life. 00:24:16.620 |
If you want to hear the warning from God, if you want to refuse him, do nothing. 00:24:23.120 |
After the warning that has been given to you, if you want to refuse him, do nothing. 00:24:30.360 |
Just go outside, live your life the way you've always been living, and just continue to pursue, 00:24:34.640 |
and just make sure that you're back here on Sunday. 00:24:40.440 |
When God speaks, He doesn't come and speak and say, "You know what? 00:24:46.320 |
I just want to tell you I love you," and then He disappears. 00:24:54.000 |
When God interjects into human history to speak directly to His prophets, to speak to 00:25:05.460 |
He comes to instruct them, gives them warnings so that we can change. 00:25:09.060 |
He speaks in order that sinful men and women would repent. 00:25:17.480 |
In Deuteronomy 32, 45-47, when He spoke to the nation of Israel and gave them all the 00:25:22.320 |
instructions of His law, He summarizes by saying this, "When Moses had finished speaking 00:25:27.160 |
all these words to Israel, He said to them, 'Take to your heart all the words with which 00:25:32.960 |
Remember, at the retreat, Dr. Shreve said the heart is not just talking about emotion, 00:25:40.520 |
And when He says, "Take to heart," He's talking about deep in your soul, not just how you 00:25:48.720 |
When you've heard the Word of God, "Take to heart all the words with which I am warning 00:25:52.360 |
you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully." 00:25:56.480 |
And when He says sons, He's not just talking about children. 00:26:06.360 |
Don't suggest it to them and say, "Hey, I'm going to give you some good advice." 00:26:18.320 |
He is fraught with weakness like anybody else. 00:26:24.160 |
He tells them to command them because He speaks on behalf of God who tells Him to. 00:26:34.840 |
Command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of the law, for it is not an 00:26:39.640 |
It is not something for you to hear and then make your decision, "Ah, let me think about 00:26:52.040 |
When God speaks and He says, "Move," and you don't move, there's deathly consequence. 00:26:58.800 |
When God says to do this and you say, "Ah, maybe not now." 00:27:04.440 |
And by this word, you will prolong your days in the land which you are about to cross the 00:27:11.440 |
Even chapter 12, 25b, which we just read, why do we need to pay close attention? 00:27:16.720 |
For if those did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will 00:27:23.160 |
we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 00:27:31.560 |
Mount Sinai was not the demonstration of His full glory. 00:27:41.520 |
That glimpse of His glory that He touched down on earth at Mount Sinai was so terrifying 00:27:46.960 |
that sinners not only did not want to look at Him, they didn't want to hear from Him. 00:27:52.760 |
His very words were terrifying and they begged Him, "Please tell them to stop speaking." 00:28:10.480 |
I thought we weren't supposed to be terrified because we've been covered by the blood of 00:28:18.840 |
He is speaking to people who have embraced cheap grace. 00:28:25.960 |
And they may be in danger of feeling falsely secure because of this cheap grace. 00:28:31.840 |
And because of this cheap grace, they think they can approach the throne of God. 00:28:36.140 |
They couldn't approach Sinai from a distance. 00:28:39.140 |
But a sinner who's not been washed by the blood of Christ, who doesn't understand true 00:28:42.640 |
grace walking into His presence with confidence in false grace. 00:28:49.800 |
How much more would it be terrifying if God who spoke at Sinai caused this kind of fear? 00:28:56.440 |
How much more a professing Christian who has been deceived when he meets the Holy God from 00:29:09.520 |
People who have been deceived by cheap grace. 00:29:13.080 |
Hebrews chapter 2, 1-3 it says, "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention 00:29:18.740 |
to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 00:29:24.920 |
If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received 00:29:29.880 |
a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" 00:29:36.000 |
You hear it and you just pick and choose what you want. 00:29:40.040 |
You know, I love the fact that Jesus loves me unconditionally. 00:29:42.240 |
I love the fact that my sins have been covered. 00:29:44.080 |
I love the fact that we have eternity in Christ. 00:29:57.680 |
That's for the pastors, the missionaries, the serious Christians, the gung-ho, the Jesus 00:30:02.160 |
But for regular Christians, I choose cheap grace. 00:30:16.120 |
It is the greatest tool that Satan uses to deceive thousands, hundreds of thousands, 00:30:24.320 |
and millions of people in the church to continue to walk as themselves at the center, pursuing 00:30:34.560 |
their life, their comfort, their luxury in the name of Jesus. 00:30:42.280 |
But their life has never been surrendered to Christ. 00:30:47.100 |
And it's hard to distinguish because people who embrace cheap grace are in the church. 00:31:06.600 |
But you and I know, you and I know if we have been surrendered or not, if we're pursuing 00:31:16.280 |
our own life in the name of Jesus or we've actually surrendered our life. 00:31:21.640 |
When we get baptized, part of the reason why we don't sprinkle is because the meaning of 00:31:34.320 |
That's why when somebody gets baptized, we ask them, "Do you understand that you're being 00:31:40.640 |
And that's why when somebody gets baptized, if they don't put their whole body in, I shove 00:31:48.680 |
Some people go in and they don't want to get their hair wet. 00:32:04.720 |
And then I said, "No, you got to go all the way in." 00:32:07.880 |
We can't bury you with your face sticking up. 00:32:11.480 |
But the idea of burial is to die with Christ. 00:32:25.120 |
Not just sacrifice, not hard life, with His death. 00:32:29.400 |
And whatever life that we were holding on to prior to is gone. 00:32:40.320 |
So that's why we ask, "Do you understand you're going into the water buried with Christ?" 00:32:43.720 |
When you come out, you're united with Christ's resurrected life. 00:32:50.080 |
People who practice cheap grace have united with Him in certain parts. 00:33:13.040 |
Our life doesn't look much different than the rest of the world. 00:33:16.800 |
We pursue the same things that the world pursues. 00:33:21.560 |
We're worried about the same thing that they're worried about. 00:33:28.000 |
We're just as concerned, just as worried, just as fearful as the rest of the world, 00:33:33.200 |
except I'm active at church on Sunday or weekday. 00:33:40.840 |
True grace causes us to recognize that He saved us from this. 00:33:47.600 |
The very things that you and I are pursuing is what caused this death. 00:33:55.020 |
The reason why there's marriage problems is because we're not dead yet. 00:34:02.280 |
There's relational issues because we're not dead yet. 00:34:12.320 |
So our challenge in sanctification is to die, not to become better. 00:34:23.400 |
You can't think about becoming better until you're dead, until the old has gone. 00:34:28.840 |
But if you've never got rid of the old and you're trying to build on top of something 00:34:34.080 |
that haven't died, that's why the frustration is coming. 00:34:43.480 |
Hebrews chapter 10, 26 to 31, it says, "If we go on sinning willfully after receiving 00:34:48.720 |
the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." 00:34:56.680 |
But a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the 00:35:01.520 |
"Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two 00:35:06.560 |
How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the 00:35:10.640 |
Son of God, has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he has been sanctified?" 00:35:19.000 |
For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.'" 00:35:25.000 |
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 00:35:30.800 |
He says, once you've received the knowledge and you continue to willfully sin, the judgment 00:35:37.080 |
Wait a second, I thought we were saved by grace. 00:35:39.760 |
He's talking to people who never really received true grace. 00:35:45.160 |
In fact, all the knowledge you get causes you to have greater judgment. 00:35:50.600 |
Sitting in a church that reveals the Word of God to you week after week after week, 00:35:55.120 |
and then there continue to live after your own desires, you're heaping up greater judgment 00:36:04.880 |
Let's say you bought a nice house, brand new paint, and you have children aged 17, 00:36:12.480 |
You go to work, you come back one day and you see black marker just everywhere. 00:36:19.000 |
Would it make a difference, the kind of punishment that you carry out, if it was a 3-year-old, 00:36:29.100 |
If it is a 3-year-old, you would say, he still needs to be punished because he needs to learn, 00:36:33.120 |
he needs to be corrected, because he just doesn't know any better. 00:36:37.560 |
If a 10-year-old did it, you're 10 years old, you should have known, we've been training 00:36:45.120 |
And you're curious to find out what is his motive. 00:36:47.060 |
If a 17-year-old did it, you may assume he's trying to make a statement. 00:37:05.280 |
But if you say, no, I would carry out the same punishment whether they are 3 or whether 00:37:10.560 |
they are 10, whether they are 17, we're going to have a parenting seminar, right? 00:37:23.520 |
So he says to the church, you've heard the gospel. 00:37:29.680 |
You had every opportunity, the examples, every opportunity to come to Christ, every opportunity 00:37:36.000 |
to surrender your life, every opportunity to come to Christ and embrace the true grace 00:37:40.760 |
that is taught in the Word of God, and you continue to live your life outside of the 00:37:55.320 |
I hope those parts where we're saved unconditionally, I hope those things are true. 00:37:59.320 |
I've raised all my life, but when the Bible says like this passage in Hebrews 10 and Hebrews 00:38:03.320 |
2 and Hebrews 12, I hope those parts were not meant for us. 00:38:09.520 |
I had a conversation with somebody, and we opened up this text to them, Hebrews chapter 00:38:15.000 |
6, other parts of 1 John, and you know what he said to me? 00:38:35.720 |
Whatever passages that didn't fit that, it wasn't for him. 00:38:40.200 |
There are many people who live that way without ever expressing that, hoping that one day 00:38:46.320 |
when they meet Christ that all of this was not for us. 00:38:59.800 |
You can easily nullify me and say, "Well, you know, Pastor Peter, he has a certain kind 00:39:19.720 |
I try so hard to work on that and it's a thorn on my side, you know, and you're right. 00:39:36.280 |
I want to, but I'm wrestling and struggling and I want to be sanctified in all of those 00:40:00.280 |
If there were consequences from what he warned in Sinai, how much more the God who is fully 00:40:06.800 |
revealed in his permanent home speaks from heaven? 00:40:12.620 |
That's why it says in the book of James, "Not many of you should become teachers because 00:40:15.680 |
they will incur upon them a stricter judgment because they know better." 00:40:26.180 |
When we were studying through that, the Thessalonians were known to be the model church in all of 00:40:31.800 |
And remember, Paul didn't spend a lot of time in Thessalonica. 00:40:38.400 |
So possibly he was there a month and he got chased out because the persecution was so 00:40:42.840 |
intense and you have to remember, Apostle Paul was not afraid to die. 00:40:49.880 |
Remember, when he was in Lystra, he got stoned, dragged out. 00:40:54.900 |
He got up, went back in and preached the gospel. 00:41:01.360 |
They were going after the house church members. 00:41:07.400 |
And so after he left, he was concerned, so he sent a letter. 00:41:11.400 |
That's First Thessalonians, to check up on them because he left abruptly. 00:41:16.400 |
But all of a sudden, they come back with a report that their faith is growing, abounding. 00:41:22.980 |
Not only are they growing, they become the model church where people were talking about 00:41:28.720 |
They were loving each other, sacrificing in the midst of persecution. 00:41:37.960 |
And then he describes why, why and how they became the model church, even though his human 00:41:47.200 |
And this is what he said, First Thessalonians 2. 00:41:49.200 |
13, "For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you received the word 00:41:53.740 |
of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it 00:42:04.600 |
They heard God's word and they took this seriously. 00:42:08.440 |
That it's not just men, it's not just people who are talking. 00:42:14.800 |
And as a result of that, it says, "which also performs its work in you who believe." 00:42:23.960 |
When Paul and his companions were speaking, they didn't just hear it as a bunch of philosophers 00:42:28.960 |
They said, they recognized God has sent these people. 00:42:34.440 |
So when the word of God was open to them, they received it and believed, which caused 00:42:39.240 |
them to love deeply, to even to forsake their own life. 00:42:55.120 |
Because the word of God does not have the same kind of authority that it had on them. 00:42:59.720 |
The word of God is open and we say, wow, there's so many opinions. 00:43:03.640 |
You say that, but they say this and they say that. 00:43:06.680 |
We use that as an excuse, oh, God is unknowable. 00:43:10.640 |
So if there's so many opinions, what's the point? 00:43:19.140 |
So therefore, we can never be confident about anything. 00:43:30.800 |
You can find somebody, but people don't study the Bible. 00:43:41.660 |
See if you come out saying, oh, we're so divided. 00:43:45.240 |
You'd be surprised how clear the word of God is. 00:43:50.120 |
Yes, it's been translated from another language, but you'd be surprised. 00:43:56.040 |
God did not write the word of God that only scholars would understand. 00:44:04.640 |
He wrote this Bible that even a Sunday school student can read it for himself and clearly 00:44:12.360 |
And even the deepest of scholars who has PhD in theology will come and dig all of his life 00:44:21.720 |
So when somebody says, I read all of this stuff. 00:44:25.960 |
And so because they say so many different things, how can we know anything? 00:44:31.280 |
That's just like somebody coming into the room and say, you know what? 00:44:40.680 |
That guy on television says he's Michael Jordan. 00:44:44.080 |
I heard another guy in Santa Ana say he's Michael Jordan. 00:45:19.420 |
But to simply dismiss the clear word of God because you hear different opinions is simply, 00:45:28.360 |
if we're not careful, an excuse not to engage the word. 00:45:37.880 |
First Peter chapter 2, 2 to 3, it says, "Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of 00:45:44.280 |
the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you've tasted the kindness 00:45:50.320 |
In other words, if you've really known the grace of God, if you've tasted the kindness 00:45:53.720 |
of God, if you've really understood, if you've really professed, if you've really embraced 00:45:58.440 |
the true grace of God, tasted the kindness of God, like newborn babes, long for the pure 00:46:07.000 |
You notice here he compares like a newborn babe. 00:46:10.480 |
If you've ever seen a baby who is born into the world for the first time, it's surprising. 00:46:20.960 |
You know, they don't come out and then we have, you know, we have discipleship. 00:46:39.320 |
Who told them that food is supposed to go into their mouth? 00:46:43.040 |
They're born from the first second that they're born. 00:46:52.960 |
So like newborn babes that God instinctively placed in you when you were born again. 00:47:00.040 |
Instinctively, God has placed in you a longing for his word. 00:47:06.720 |
So you notice here he says, like newborn babes long for what? 00:47:13.560 |
Not the watered down milk, not the imitation milk, not the milk substitute, but the pure 00:47:23.160 |
Not the kind of milk that you want that's going to tickle your ears. 00:47:26.600 |
Not the kind of milk that's like, "Oh, I feel very encouraged where I can continue to live 00:47:30.280 |
with me at the center, willfully denying Christ. 00:47:37.560 |
I'm still concerned about me, but I'm still practicing at church." 00:47:43.200 |
You know, the idea of tithing in the Old Testament was that they were to offer up the 10% as 00:47:49.040 |
a representative that all of it belonged to God. 00:47:52.640 |
So some people say, "You know what, New Testament, it doesn't teach tithing." 00:47:55.960 |
You're right, because the Old Testament was trying to build the kingdom of Israel. 00:48:01.040 |
And so they gave 10% to build the temple, to build the national Israel. 00:48:05.400 |
You come to the New Testament, it says, "No, we're not in a period at the end times when 00:48:13.400 |
God's going to fulfill his promise, but we're in a period where God is building his spiritual 00:48:23.080 |
So Chief Grace says, "Because we're not about the 10%, we're not obligated to give anything." 00:48:29.160 |
In the New Covenant, we are obligated to give everything. 00:48:37.800 |
The idea of tithing was to teach us that, so that when the New Covenant came, we can 00:48:45.300 |
And whatever it is that we have to be used for His kingdom, all of it, is because of 00:48:56.200 |
They perverted the gospel, perverted the church, perverted our witness, and lost our witness 00:49:14.100 |
And like I said, all you have to do today to refuse Him is to hear the Word of God, 00:49:20.980 |
hear the warnings, hear the encouragement, don't do anything. 00:49:28.600 |
Go home, do a good job at work, get your raises, get married, have children, buy a good house, 00:49:38.320 |
make good investments, save enough money so you can retire. 00:49:42.920 |
If you're good with your money, leave some behind for your children, and then die. 00:49:50.640 |
Everything I said there innately is not sinful. 00:49:56.480 |
But if that is our primary pursuit, if that is our primary goal, we have to ask ourselves, 00:50:15.320 |
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives with me, in me. 00:50:23.580 |
The hope that we have in Jesus Christ is because we have surrendered our life here. 00:50:30.280 |
And so when Christ returns, we will know true life when He comes. 00:50:36.680 |
But if your kingdom is here, if your pursuit is here, Jesus' second coming is going to 00:51:03.900 |
If Jesus comes, He's going to disrupt all of that. 00:51:09.080 |
Only those who have truly surrendered their life in Christ will be eagerly waiting for 00:51:33.040 |
If I can ask you to take some time to not just to pray for yourself, pray for the nominal 00:51:39.840 |
Christians in your life who are professing to believe God and yet living in cheap grace. 00:51:49.320 |
So many people, as Jesus says, who says, "Lord, Lord," will not enter the kingdom of heaven 00:52:00.080 |
They're in the church, in the hundreds, in the thousands, maybe even in the millions. 00:52:06.000 |
Pray for them, your brothers, your sisters, your parents. 00:52:12.380 |
Pray for the people around us that we do not embrace cheap grace, this cultural Christianity 00:52:18.660 |
that has nothing to do with God, that we do not hold onto the grace of God simply as a 00:52:24.560 |
security blanket, but the power of God unto salvation to those who genuinely believe. 00:52:31.800 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. 00:52:44.480 |
Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us.