Inland Empire: Riverside
Being In Christ - Audio
As you can see, it's me again this week. I know some of you showed up for the first time in three weeks because you thought it would be Mike and because you only come with Mike Preaches, amen, just kidding. But Mike has actually had a meeting with all the other church leaders from the Los Angeles Church, they're having a meeting just to talk about dreams and plans and vision for all of us and how to move forward in the church here, so that's an exciting time. And our other evangelist Steve Lansbury is actually preaching in Santa Barbara this morning, taking his little sister to church there and getting her hooked up with some of the Christians in the fellowship of our church there, so that's where he is. And next week you'll be very sad because I'll be in Sacramento preaching to the Christians there, so I know, I know, it happens, you know, the three evangelists in this church, you know, we're nationwide, so, you know, we have to turn down so many requests as you can imagine. You must feel so lucky, I just thought about that. You probably feel so, no rub. If I can see better, I can stare at people not clapping, but I can't see that far anyway, so you're safe even if you didn't clap. But again, welcome to the church, at the Inland Empire Church of Christ here, thanks so much for coming, I hope that a lot of you that visited with us last week are back here this week and that you'll continue coming to worship with us and those of you that are your first time here this morning, we especially want to welcome you, certainly it's our pleasure that you come and worship with us, it's an honor for us to have you come and worship the Almighty God together with us this morning, so thank you for coming. Last week we talked about the fact that Jesus is coming back, that he will return and that we don't know when it will be, it always seems to us as human beings that it will be a long time off, you know, it's like when you're 12 years old or whatever you think being 20 years old, it doesn't be a long time, right, and if you're 18 you think well when I get old, when I'm in my 30s or something, when I get old then I'll do such and such, everything always seems so far off and even as we get older, we begin, you know, our life to us seems to be finally starting to get shorter, I think when you hit, you know, the age that many of us are at, I'll turn 50 next month and so, you know, when you start to get to close, yeah, so you have plenty of time, you start saving your ducats, nah, I feel you, what's that, oh, presence will be accepted early as well and late, so thank you for reminding me honey, she loves it when I get stuff, you know, frees up the money in the household for her to get the stuff that she wants, right, but you get to be that age and you start to realize, okay, life really is short, you know, that, well, I'm on the other side of things now, you know, I'm sort of, I'm aged on the top of the hill, I'm actually heading downhill now, and, but it's still, nonetheless, it still seems in our, in our natures that Jesus coming back, you know, because he hasn't come back yet and because we've heard many of us have been going to church, you know, for most of our life and we've heard most of our life, he can come back any day and now here I am, you know, almost 50 years old, he's still not here, so that tends to, to breed in us a sense of false security, if you will, or a sense that it won't happen for a long time, you know, or maybe you're like me and you go, well, I'm sure, you know, Jesus knows how important it is that I, you know, see my children grow up and that I see them married and, and that I have, I have grand babies and so clearly he's going to wait till after that, so I know I don't have to worry about anything till then, right, no, no way thinks, I think that I can't wait to have grand babies and so I want my girls to get married and have families and, and then I can love up on my grand babies, amen, they're going, well, why don't you start with us now, but when you get to be my age you got to keep something in reserve, right, so, but this morning I want to talk about being in Christ, last week we talked about the fact that he's coming back and this morning I want to talk a little bit about and then particularly hopefully for some of you that may visit last week, this will resonate with you if you had, you know, maybe just answer some questions that perhaps you had from last week or if you're visiting, maybe I'll answer some questions that you have about what it takes to have a relationship with Jesus and what that really means and so hopefully it'll, it'll account for that this morning, but there are a few more exciting units of US military, then the combat search and rescue, also known as the CSAR, the CSAR, you know, if you've seen the movie Black Hawk Down or even we were soldiers, you know, you've seen this division in action and it's their job, you know, to move into the heart of danger once, once soldiers have been captured behind enemy lines, they'll go into those dangerous situations and rescue those people and every time they rescue someone they call it a save and over one recent eight-year period they had over 750 military saves, during Hurricane Katrina they had 4,000 saves and so because their missions are so dangerous, you know, they're constantly living on the edge of, of saving someone, someone else's life or losing their own, they're kind of always on that and that balance, that precipice there, but according to one CSAR soldier, he said, "You have to think that you're going to succeed in the mission, no matter what," and the model of this division of the armed services is clear so that others may live, you know, when asked why they risk it they just said, "Look, because these men and women, you know, are countrymen, they're soldiers, they're valuable to us and so we want to save them, each and every one of them, they're valuable assets to our country, so they'll do anything feasible to bring them back." And then one of the kernels they were talking to, one of the kernels of CSAR said that however, you know, the only caveat he had was that you can't rescue somebody who doesn't want to be rescued and of course we all know how true that is, do we not? Look over in the Bible in Colossians chapter 2. In verse 11, if you're there, say I'm there, Molly, you got too many things in your hands, you can't get there with all that stuff in your hands, what do you got going on there? No, notebooks, bibles, pens, all that comes for paired. So last week's lesson didn't get recorded evidently, did anyone here happen to record it on your own recorder? Willie, you recorded it? Okay, stand up Willie. The reason I asked is because several people said, "Oh, hey, you know what, where's the recording? Where's the recording? Well Steve Pargis, somehow his ride got messed up and you're trying to figure out it couldn't get here in time to record it, but evidently Willie recorded it and so do people will pay you to get that recording?" So see Willie after church and maybe Willie and Steve can figure out how to mass produce that if someone really wants that. But Willie, you're going to heaven, bro, great job, great job. The last in chapter 2 and verse 11, "In him you were also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written cold with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us. He took it away nailing it to the cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over, triumphing over them by the cross." Let's pray, Father in heaven, we bow before you this morning, wanting so much to know you at a deeper level, wanting to glorify you, we want to praise you this morning, God, we want to honor you, and Lord, I know that even those concepts sometimes are far off from us, even those of us who've been around you for so long, been around the church for so long that Father, we need help with this. But we know for sure, God, that we do want to be close to you, we want to know you on an intimate level, we want to understand you, we want to help other people to know and understand you. And God, we pray this morning that you would use the words, that you would use the things that Rick shared, that somehow that met somebody's heart in the place where it was and could feed them and strengthen them and inspire them, God, and it's the same for the words that I will share now. Father, you will use them to your glory, that you will use them to help people to draw closer to you and or to begin to figure out how to have a relationship with you. We love you, God. We honor you, Jesus. That ultimately this is about you and we thank you so much for everything that you've done and continue to do for us. And we're so grateful and so proud to be called your disciples. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, at the cross, God initiated the ultimate search and rescue mission. You know, God himself at that point in time, you know, went into the war zone of sin and evil. And God was in Christ reconciling the world back to himself, risking and ultimately losing his life, if you will, so that we might live. And certainly the model of the cross is clearly as well so that others may live. That's the only reason Jesus did it, is it not? So that others may live. That's why Jesus went to the cross and we have to remember that and value that above everything else. You know, our pastors today were going to explore the key, what I believe is the key, and I'm sure you'll agree to the plan of salvation, the cross of Jesus. But you think, you know, how does the cross with a dead person who shed his blood accomplish anything for us? A crucifixion in and of itself was not a victory, right? It was a shameful, painful, agonizing, torturous, excruciating defeat. Really, and the Romans in many ways were brilliant in their use of crucifixions to really perfect pain and torture. And we don't want time to go into it, but if you're really interested, we actually have a medical account of what crucifixion just by itself, not to mention what they did as Jesus before the crucifixion, but just by itself, the amazing way in a negative sense that it really creates torture and pain and Romans figured this out somehow. But how could followers of Jesus declare that the one who was God in the flesh, you know, according to different verses in the Bible, Romans 9 and verse 4, Colossians 1 and verse 15, was also the one who would ultimately be stripped naked, paraded through the streets. And ultimately, marched through the streets, humiliated, and then left to die hung on a cross. You know, how does that gory defeat reconcile all things? How does that compute? And you can understand, if you haven't been around, or if you haven't been around church all your life, maybe you felt this way before, but you have to try to understand what this must sound like to someone who doesn't really have an understanding, right? Rick even read, I believe that, you know, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And in some ways, you know, we could look down on people. But when you really think about it, you go, well, of course, it would be foolishness to them. It wouldn't make any sense, would it? So this guy hung on a cross, it was beaten and brutalized and then died. And then supposedly wrote how that, how does that reconcile anything? So if we don't really understand that, if we can't really explain that clearly, then people will still somewhat be, as Rick said, stumbling around the dark, you know, and I'm going to talk to Rickie after church today. Where's Rick at? Not in your now? There's back there. I'm going to talk a little bit about Rickie. Tell him to clean that room up. I mean, you're a valuable commodity to this church. We can't have you going down. And any of you been in Rickie's room, you know what I'm talking about. Marissa, where are you at? You need to step up and get that little guy clean in this room. Little Rickie. You got to see him in big Rickie standing next to each other because little Rickie was the only name they could give him. It's just hilarious. DNA is an amazing thing, isn't it? It's like, but how does the cross with the dead person who shed his blood accomplish anything for us? How do you look at that as a victory? I mean, like I said, it's a shameful, painful, agonizing, excruciating death. But at the heart of this passage, you know, we'll look at three different things that Jesus makes clear that God offered to his fallen and broken world when Jesus died for us. What took place there and what was offered on the cross. And the first thing we're going to look at is that Christ offers us acceptance. Christ offers us acceptance. You know, for the Jewish man, in that time, and even in modern times, in most circumstances, circumcision served as the mark of their acceptance with God. This external sign, you know, and right that declared, you know, you belong, you're accepted in the family. You're one of us. You have a home. Now you're at home with our nation of people. You know, it was a little procedure, but with a very significant impact. You know, what does it take to belong in a community? To belong in a family, you have to be born into that family. In case you get in by abnormal means, like me, I was adopted as a, you know, six or seven year old kid. And so you become part of the family. But typically, to be a member of the family, you have to be born into that family. You know, I've got a California driver's license and I have a passport. You know, that means I'm a citizen of this country. I have the rights of a citizen. I belong, if you will, as a member of this country. I have a Blockbuster card. And you know, I think when I got that card, if the guy was telling me the truth and I have no reason to believe he wasn't, the 150 bucks I spent to get it, you know, put me in a very, put me in a very exclusive club where I could rent the movies. So if you paid more than 150 if you're a Blockbuster card, I'm sorry, they saw you coming. But you know, these things in all seriousness, so they serve as identity markers. They prove that we qualify to belong to the community. And for the Jewish people in the Old Testament, the fundamental identity marker for the men certainly was the act of circumcision. It was an outward sign of circumcision. It was supposed to point to an inward reality that what, that you had faith in the living God, that you were part of Israel and that you were in covenant with the living God. But if you didn't have that outward sign, you didn't belong to the community. And unfortunately, you know, the sign produced two negative results. You know, one was that a lot of the people in the community became arrogant and looked down on everyone else who wasn't part of the community. The Jews at times were very arrogant people because of that. And sometimes we have to be very careful too, yes? And a lot of people that aren't Christians in the world, oftentimes that's part of their excuse for not becoming one is that, you know, we're arrogant, we look down, we're judgmental. Sometimes that's true. Other times it's just that, you know, we have a hard line stance on what truth is and we're not going to, you know, water that down so somebody might feel better because it's not our place to do that, only God can do that. But sometimes we are. So we have to be careful of that. And then so the other one though, however, the other negative impact was that people who are on the outside, you know, while this, this, this all loving, all powerful, full of promises, God looked alluring and they really wanted, they didn't feel like they could be part of it. They felt like my heritage doesn't allow it. There's no in for me. And so they became bitter towards these people. And many times, you know, as you read through the Old Testament, you see all the wars, oftentimes people, you know, wanted to kill the Jews, not just for their land, but because they felt like they were so arrogant and judgmental and separatist, if you will. And so those couple of those negative impacts could result. And so we can see why we read this in Colossians, while the message of the gospel in this passage is, is really so astounding, you know, if you have that past background because it calls to the Jews, the original insiders and to the Gentiles, the original outsiders. And it says, look, there's a new way of being in Christ. There's a new way of salvation. And that way is to be in Christ. That way comes to us through the cross of Christ. Amen? See everything that circumcision promised, acceptance, embrace, inclusion, faith in God's promises, the assurance of God's love can be ours, you know, can be yours through faith in Jesus who died for your sins. And that's really what verse 11 means. And you were also circumcised into putting off of the sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ. See Christ circumcised us, Christ circumcised you, but He did it deep in your heart. You know, why did He do this? The new way to come to Jesus according to this passage is through the cross, it's through the work that Jesus did on the cross. You know, so every time someone puts her faith in Christ, you know, she experiences a new birth. And by saying her, you know, you go her, are you trying to be politically correct? No, but what I'm trying to show is that, you know, obviously in the old cultures, it was all just about the man and it was only just about a Jewish man. But now it's open to all Jews and non-Jews, right? Men and women, rich and poor, it's open to everyone. Jesus opened the door so that everyone could be part of this community. Look in verse 13, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." You know, one fundamental thing that every true disciple of Jesus has in common, you know, we can all say, look, I was dead, but in Christ, I was made alive again. Amen? Now I belong to God. Now I've been accepted and embraced and I'm in for good if I persevere until the end, right? No one can take away your salvation, not if you persevere, but certainly sometimes people say one saved, always saved, you know, because verses like that say, you know, that if you persevere to the end, you'll be saved or that no one can take it away, and that's true. I can't take your salvation away, you can't take mine away, but you can give it back. And you better believe that God can take it back, God can do whatever He wants. God says, look, here's a standard for my saved people, and if you don't continue to live this way, once you start living this way and get saved, if you don't continue to live this way, you don't stay in my protection. All we have to do is look at the history of the Israelites and see how true that is. Man, when they stayed in His way, they were protected in huge ways. They could fight these wars, all they had to do sometimes is just march around the outside city wall, march around it seven times and shout out a Louis or something, that wall came down and it was over. But when they weren't in Jesus, when they weren't in God, if you will, their protection was now gone. And so we have to understand that you might go, well, that's not what I, you know, that's a great thing for it to start off with a question when you begin studying the Bible. It's a great question to get answered scriptually. But the new sign of being into this relationship with God, or into this acceptance is what? Baptism. That's what the verse says. Look in verse 12, "Having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead." You know, it's not just a matter of going to the ritual, but what makes baptism so powerful? It was our faith in the power of God. See, that's what we have when we get baptized, we have to have faith in the power of God. We have to have made a decision that Jesus is now going to be the Lord of our lives. Otherwise, we can get baptized all we want. All we're doing is getting wet. Okay? If a Jew got circumcised but then lived in a totally unJewish manner, they would no longer be part of the community. They would be exiled from the community. It wasn't like, "Well, once you get circumcised, you're in for good, nobody can never take you out, but you could take yourself out." It's the same with our Christianity today. So you might think, "Well, you know, I'm already in God because I was born that way. I was born into a Christian family. I was born a Christian." You know, I used to hear that a lot. "Oh, are you a Christian? When did you become a Christian?" "Oh, I've always been a Christian." "What do you mean?" Folks are Christians. They're folks are Christians. We've always been Christians. "When did you become one?" "Well, I've always been one." Have it. I know that you were born into a family that believed in Christianity, but when did you become a Christian? I've always been one. Right? But then you study the Bible and you say, "No, there's a point in time for every single person that becomes a Christian." There is a point in time when you become a Christian. When you weren't a Christian and then you become a Christian, it's very distinct. You ask someone, "When did you become a Christian?" "Ah, I don't know. Maybe I was around 11 or 12." Maybe I was 17. I don't know somewhere about, you know, but you ask a true disciple. They can tell you the date, sometimes even the time because they knew, "Okay, at this moment I was on this side and then I crossed from death into life at this very moment." You say, "Well, what is that very moment, Doug? I'm not going to tell you. You've got to ask the person that brought you out to study the Bible with you so you can learn it, amen?" I'm going to make this stuff that easy. You want to be challenged a little bit, don't you, you come in here? Not really. No, I just assume you tell me everything and make it really easy for me because I don't have a worldwide web, so that's what we call it when it first came out. I'm on the worldwide web, amen. So the question you have to ask yourself is, "Do you know this new way of acceptance, or have you partook of the new way of acceptance?" Some of you might think, you know, like I said, you're in God because you're a family or you're in because don't we live in a Christian culture, isn't this a Christian nation, you know? So I'm in because of that. How could I not be in? So we might say, "Well, I'm not in because my family's never been that way, or I'm not in because, you know, it's not the culture I was brought in, or I'm not in because my past is so opposite of that that not only am I not in, I could probably never be, and I have disqualified myself from ever being in, even if I wanted to." We feel those ways, but this passage undercuts a false sense of security, one that says, "I'm in because I've always been in," or a false sense of fatalism, which says, you know, "I could never, I'm not in now, nor could I ever be in." This passage takes away both of those. You know, you can begin with God right now, today, in a sense, even in this place, wherever you're at in your life, right in your heart. You don't have to wait for a better time, or a better place, or a better background, or a better past, or to get right. You know, oftentimes, tell people, you know, and they're like, "You know what, I've got to get some things right in my life before I study the Bible." You know, I'm a mess right now. I need to take some time away, you know, from all you guys, and from other things, and just, you know, I've got to get some things right in my life where I can, and yet that's the exact opposite of what God says to do. God says, "No, come as you are, and then I will help you get those things right in your life." Right? God says, "Come to me wherever you are," and it's not as if, you know, "Come to me wherever you are," means, "You don't have to change a thing. Come on in. Let me open this church." Come on in. You can be a racialist, or a racist, in this church. That's not what "come as you are" means. But Jesus does say, "God says, 'Come as you are, and then I will take you where you need to be.'" But He says, "If you try to get right without me, you'll never get right, and if you try to get right without me, so that you can get right with me, you will think you're right when you're not right, and therefore when someone says you're not right, you'll be angry because you go, "No, look at how much I've changed already. You can't tell me I'm not right with God, look at how much I've changed already." Certain churches, you know, you go to, they may be catered to one thing or another, and maybe I know of a certain church that really caters to people that have been stuck in addiction. And oftentimes it gets these people out of addiction, and so now they're convinced that I'm right with God because I'm no longer addicted to such and such. But really have no clue or concept of what the plan of salvation is. Have no understanding of how you're really supposed to live your life as a disciple of Christ. But because they've overcome something that was so severe in their life and they believe they did it through God's power, which in some ways is probably true, they think therefore I must be right with God. But again you read through your Bible, you see God doing all kinds of amazing things for all kinds of people that aren't yet right with Him. And more often than not it's because He's trying to inspire them to get right with Him. But please don't think that you have to get things figured out and get things right before you can start to think about God. Because Satan will make sure that doesn't happen, you know, through consequence, through circumstance, through time, any number of things will make sure that you never get to that point where you feel like, "Okay, now I'm ready." You can do that. You can start that process now. Why is that? Because Christ offers forgiveness. Christ offers acceptance and Christ offers forgiveness, amen? You know when we say to the world Christ offers forgiveness, the whole church says because it's incredible. And we hear it all the time and sometimes we lose how incredible it is. I know why I do. Sometimes, oh yeah, Jesus forgives, you know, I could just, I could run through the litany of things that Jesus does and the way you get saved, the way you get right with God and not even be blown away by that. But I can't lose my sense of wonder, you know, that song I hope you dance, you know, I think one of the lines and I hope you never lose your sense of wonder, you know, and we do that so easily in life and sometimes even more easily in Christianity. I mean, do you remember? I was really genuinely amazed when I studied the Bible and found out what it really meant to be a Christian. I had grown up, you know, believing in Christianity, thinking I was a Christian. I was one of those guys that thought I was always a Christian crying a lot. I was in a church of Christ orphanage as a kid and then I got adopted into a Presbyterian family. So I had both those things going on. I must be a Christian. I got everything covered. Presbyterian's the church of Christ couldn't be more on opposite ends of the spectrum. But you know, I started saying the Bible realized, no, that, wow, I'm lost. I'm not right with God. This is impossible. I've been baptized two or three times. I've gone forward, you know, and prayed juice into my heart. I don't know how many times every time I went to a revival, I grew up in Texas. I'd go to a revival, you know, at least one a year, maybe two. And you know, I get all emotional and shook up and, you know, and soon as they said, come to the front old DWW, you know, little Douglas Lane wins there. He went, you know, I'd come home and I told you before I come home, my mom would say, so Doug, did you go forward again? Yes, ma'am. She wasn't saying it because she's hoping I did. She just saying it because she got a kick out of it, you know? But once I found out that I wasn't, I said the Bible saw clearly what it meant to be a Christian, and thank God God was able to humble my prideful heart and break my prideful heart so that I'll accept the truth and become it. I was in awe. I was in wonder. Just really? After the way I've lived my life, I can be forgiven. I really can't start all over, right, in awe, and then when the waters of baptism came up, a new creation, you know, and started living my life for other people, started living my life for a purpose that was greater than anything I'd ever purposed in my life up to that point in time. And I was blown away to watch other people be radical for God and all these incredible things. But we lose that wonder. And I think sometimes we lose the wonder because we no longer work, and it's amazing how when we work hard for Christ, we keep the sense of wonder. Without work, no wonder. You get it? Oh, you're not doing any work, well, no wonder. Deep and free, my brother. Deep and free. Christ offers forgiveness of sins, look at verse 14. Having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away nailing it to the cross. See verse 14 outlines our problem and it also gives us God's solution to our problem. It states that we had a written code with its regulations that was against us, that stood opposed to us. It literally meant, you know, a handwritten document. Some people point to the fact that the document was used to indict prisoners in those days, like an ancient arrest warrant. It listed the charges of how you failed to keep the law. And it could refer to the law of the Old Testament. For instance, in the law of the Old Testament, we know that one of the Ten Commandments was what? You shall not murder. So then, you know, most of us and probably all of us, right, hopefully all of us in this room would say, "Well, I'm good. I haven't murdered anybody," right? Yet, in Matthew 5, verse 21 and 22, can we put that one up, Mike? You've heard that it was said to people long ago, "Don't murder, and anyone who murders would be subject to judgment." They go, "Okay, I'm good. I'm no judgment for me." But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, "Raka, is answerable to Sanhedrin, but anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell." And so Jesus says, "Anyone who is angry will be subject to judgment." So see, this law doesn't have to only be broken outwardly. It can be broken in our hearts. It's much deeper even than just our outward actions. And we know this is true, right? We know that oftentimes we may not have done something outwardly yet, but in our heart it's done, right? People leave their spouses all the time in their hearts long before they may physically do it. People cheat in their hearts oftentimes long before they physically do it, but in their hearts it's done. And that's what Jesus is saying here. Looking at verse 14, can you put 14 up there again, Mike, and one we just read. But see, this verse might also mean our internal conscience, a sense of right and wrong. It would include anything that a written code and regulations would include, but it could include things in our own minds like these internal regulations or internal laws in our own mind. For instance, how much should I weigh or how do I be a real man or a real woman or how well I do in school or don't do in school, how well I do at my job, how well I've parented or should have parented my children. All these written codes and regulations are against us. They're opposed to us, see opposed to us, says that was against us and that was opposed to us. And how are they opposed to us? Well, it's a couple ways. Number one, they stand as accusers. Those thoughts, right? Those thoughts on the time accuse you, do they not? I'm not doing this right. I'm not doing that right. It should be better at this. I should be better at that. And sometimes those who are, you know, prompters from the Holy Spirit saying, you know, work on this, change this, be humble and get some help. But other times we just, you know, it's just Satan, you know, trying to accuse us and bring us down by guilt. And secondly, they stand as a barrier to prevent us from getting close to God and to others. And you know, when I've been doing this for a long time and I've learned, you know, a few things, probably not as much as I should have learned, but I'm trying to learn more about this. But the more I get with people and counsel people and, you know, when I find out people are having a real struggle with relationships, I don't necessarily mean this one relationship is kind of bumpy. But when they just have in general, people around them feel this sense of, you know, not too close, not too, it's typically because more often than not, it's because they've got unresolved sin, unconfessed sin. And oftentimes that unconfessed sin, you know, is really just a lack of forgiveness. That's a big one in our society. And sometimes even in our church, but there's either unconfessed sin or not being able to forgive our people that now we push people away because subconsciously, sometimes very overtly, but we're trying to keep people away so that they don't find out what's really going on. I don't want anybody to get too close in my life because if they did, I would have to, I would have to reveal if I were going to be honest that I cheated on my wife and I can't afford to lose my family. I will never do that. So I'll, I'll just die and go to hell or people think, well, no, I'll just confess it to God and then we'll be good. And yet their hearts never feel clear. Why is that? Because God says also therefore confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. See, if you were ever in a situation where you couldn't confess your sin to someone else, then God will be enough. You find yourself, you know, locked in a room for the rest of your life and you never get to talk to anyone, then confess it to God, I bet that's enough. But God, you know, makes, obviously knows that most of us have an opportunity to at least speak with somebody. But we have those issues and we don't, and so we're, we're, so everybody's constant way. You know, if you're a young person or whatever, you know, a college student or me, your, your single, whatever, and you've never been able to really keep any relationships and, you know, your, your, your girlfriends or boyfriends are always telling you, don't let me in. You don't let me, you know, they're probably right. And we don't let people in though because we're afraid of what they'll see. And some of it is this written regulation that we have against ourselves. Some of it is as simple as that. We're, we're embarrassed. What if somebody really found out who I was? Right? You ever felt that way? You know, I, I know even as a young Christian, you know, it was like, I had to confess all my sin and everything and I got, I got baptized and was trying to grow in the Lord and people say, Oh, I got drink, drink for you to do this and that. And then you're gonna be able, and all the time inside, I'd be like, well, you really know me yet? That was pretty bad. I mean, I can't even change the oil in my car. I mean, I'm not really all that talented. I don't know what you're talking about. You know, you, you feel that way. You know, and Steve, you know, I can change you all in my car, don't you? That's just a thing I was saying. Um, but you know, I, I'd have those internal things against me like, well, yeah, but you know, you're not as talented as, why do they think you're so talented? You, you can't even do this. And do they know that you stunk a geometry? I mean, these, these, you know, true story. I did stick a geometry. That's true. That part's true. Um, so I couldn't figure out how to twist the whole thing off because it's, anyway. Um, but you know, they stand as those accusers and there's, there's a, a wall there. If you ever watched, any of you ever watched a college basketball game? Okay, I know the sisters have, but brothers, have you ever watched a college basketball game? Okay. Um, well, you know how when someone's shooting a free throw, right? All the fans behind that, they're waving, you know, streamers and throwing confetti and balloons and yelling, all, you know, you stank you, you know, and it's probably not, it's probably something worse than you stank, but we'll go with you stank, uh, for, for a worship service. If someone put their feet on that thing and break the communion tray again, okay, you guys keep your feet off those cup holders, please, second time in three weeks and it's always a teenager that does it. So far I've had three of those broken. They've been by teenagers every time, uh, Natalie Mardicon. She's a sweetheart though, I love her. But they, they're, they're, they're yelling, you know, trying to get the person, you know, you can't make it. You're lousy. You stink kind of thing because they, you know, they don't want them to make it. And that's really what the written, written code, the law says to us, you know, basically you stink. You're, you're, you're, you're not worthy. You're never going to be worthy and we can feel that way and we, we can believe that. You've messed up. You're going to do it again. You don't qualify. You don't measure up. But it's so painful at times that most of us, instead of really dealing with it, we flee from it. I know that's what I did for years. I just didn't really want to deal with, you know, it's kind of like, you know, you get a bill in the mail and, and you throw in the drawer and close the drawer, right? Right? So you're laughing nervous. What, how does he, you're not, that doesn't make him go away. We don't want to deal with it. You know, it's funny because psychologists will say, well, that's what's called defense mechanisms. But the Bible says, well, no, that's what's called pride or shame that make us want to run away and not deal with these situations in our life. You know, you talk to a police officer and you'll say, you know, most of the time they pull somebody over, try to arrest somebody, the person will always say, you know, look, I know I was feeding, but, you know, why don't you go out and arrest the drug dealers, right? Again, nervous laughter in the audience or, or if they're arresting a drug dealer, you know, a drug dealer says, well, look, I know I deal drugs, but why don't you out there get rid of these pedophiles? Those are the people that are messing up society, right, because none of us want to take responsibility or blame for what's wrong with us or what we're doing wrong. You know, it's hard to face the pain at times, but I, I just want to let you know, sometimes you got to face the pain, you know, if you, if you want to get better, if you want to be healed, sometimes you've got to go through the pain. It's like physical therapy, right? It doesn't feel good and you know, and you're like, I don't want to do this, well, no, you got to do it or you'll, you'll never be right again. Sometimes you got to be willing to go through that, you know, but how? So what did God do to deal with this problem? Well, first he sent Jesus to fulfill it, right? To fulfill the law. How did he get rid of the law? He sent Jesus to fulfill it. That's according to Matthew five and verse 17. Secondly, he took it away by nailing it to the cross. You know, if you go back to the gospel of John, you see that what they did to Jesus in the gospel of John, it says that when Jesus died, you know, this document was nailed to the cross. It was called a title. And there was this, this, this document that was nailed to the cross above its head and said, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Okay. It was a document again called a title. It was nailed above his head so that everyone who walked by could see this is who this guy claimed to be. This is why he's being crucified. He was a scoundrel and a, you know, a troublemaker. And so he's being hung and, and, and killed on the cross because he claims to be Jesus, the king of the Jews. You know, the amazing thing is when Jesus died, it was God. It was not Pilate, but God himself who took the written code against us, the handwriting, the tireless, if you will, and nailed it to the cross. All the ways that we failed, all the ways we failed God, all the ways we failed others, all the way we failed ourselves, all the ways we failed to measure up to a myriad of wrong duties that stood against us that were opposed to us, that were opposed against us that disqualified us and made us want to run and hide. He took all that on that written document and he nailed it to the cross. He took it away. And he not only nailed it to the cross, but the Bible says he also erased it. He not only nailed it to the cross, but he absolutely erased it, right? He dealt with our sins by nailed him to the cross and by erasing him. He's saying, look, the list of charges against you is completely gone, gone, gone. I'll never bring it up again and neither should you, not the things you've done. You've confessed them and humbled yourself out before it and moved on. I won't bring it up again and neither should you, God says. But see, sometimes we get stuck and we want to throw this even other people's faces when they're challenged. See, you always bring up the past. Well, no, because you're still living in the past. You're still doing the same things. You know, the thing you did yesterday, you did again today. See, if you had done it a month ago and you hadn't done it since then, then maybe, you know, it's not going to be brought, but if you're doing it, you did a month ago, you did a month for that, you did a month for that, no one's bringing up. You need to change and repent of that, but you might need help to get there. See, if Jesus is the Lord of creation, the Bible says he is, he's also the Lord of the new creation, which is us after baptism, amen? You got to allow that to sink into your heart today. Find my third point is here, we're going to wrap it up. Christ offers us victory over evil, amen? Verse 15, Christ offers victory over evil. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them, the cross. You know, if you read the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you'll see a pattern running through every story. You know, when Jesus, you know, through the story of the cross, when Jesus was going to the cross, every form of evil in its most potent concentration, all came rushing together. You look at the rulers, the authorities, the political, religious, and demonic, they all banded together, all these forces at once against Jesus to strip him, hold him up the public content, you know, beat him, spit on him, march him through the city, and then hang him on the cross, and then kill him, seemingly permanently triumphing over Jesus once and for all. But the gospel says that Jesus, you know, that the evil is not just out there, it's in us. And oftentimes we think that man is such an evil place or so much evil out there. But the Bible teaches us that it's in us, it runs through our hearts. We know that's true, you know, Peter, one of Jesus' favorite followers, you know, Jesus told him once, get behind me, Satan, he was full of sin. James and John, a couple of other favorites, you know, we're arguing about who was number one, who was the best. I mean, these things seem small, but they're the very things that are in the seeds in the heart that become worse and worse since Thomas grumbles and doubts. All these things happen even to the guys that were following Jesus. N.T. Wright says that the gospels tell the whole story in order to say that the tortured young Jewish prophet hanging on the cross was the point where evil had become truly and fully and totally itself. The natural conclusion to draw is that evil wins the day. With all its violence, cruelty, hatred, sin rules the world. But all of a sudden this passage turns everything upside down when it states clearly that at the cross, Jesus was the real victor. You know, and again, how can this be? How can Jesus defeat lead to victory? How can the worst day in human history at the same time be one of the greatest and be the greatest reason that you and I can always have hope? Knowing that according to Jesus, everything will be well. It will be well with our soul that we will one day share in the triumph of God's ultimate victory. You know, how does God make the light shine from this abysmal darkness of the cross? I read this analogy I'll read to you illustration. Imagine if a soldier would fall behind enemy lines and have been taken captive. A group of his captors surround him, spit on him, and mock him. But the mocking isn't enough. They start beating him. At first they take turns, but as their rage and hatred grows, they go at him altogether. One after another they beat him, punching, kicking, and cursing him. Their rage is uncontrollable, but the fallen soldier won't go down so they continue to torment him. As they continue the beatings, they cannot contain themselves like a broken cesspool, the sludge of evil in their hearts comes pouring out. They're exposed for what they are. Finally, as the beat continues, the captors, now at the point of total exhaustion, manage to kill the prisoner. He topples and falls dead at last for the captors. It's a relief because they have nothing left. They slump to the ground, utterly exhausted. Then a few days later, much of their amazement, the falling, the fallen, and dead soldier stands up again. He's alive, fully and beautifully alive. The captors can't believe it. They spewed all the evil at him, but he's back. Their energy for evil had been spent. They cannot produce more evil. In the process of tormenting their captive, they seemed to be in charge. Then when the soldier fell to the ground, it looked like they had finished him off for good instead. The soldier in the process of exposing and exhausting the full depth of their evil rage and hatred was actually routing them. This is a picture of what Jesus did for us and for his fallen creation when he died on the cross. According to Colossians 2, 15, and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. You know, as he died on the cross, he was absorbing all the world's evil and sin. And as he absorbed it, he overcame it. That's the victory over sin. All of it, the Bible says that Jesus literally became sin on the cross because all the sins of the world before him, during him, and after him were all dumped on him and once he's drove them all, and he overcame them. He claimed victory over them. So today, in this moment, in the midst of our imperfect lives with our fears and our pettiness and our sins, God offers us a chance to share in that victory of Jesus. Jesus offers this victory, guys, through what he did on the cross. But how are we going to respond to that? You know, I'm going to go ahead and wrap it up here at a couple of pages left, but we're going to wrap it up here. But how will we respond to this? You know, if you're visiting with us, if you've gone to church all your life, like I had, if you've never gone to your church, gone to church like others, no matter what it is, how are you going to respond to that? You know, there are people inside this church today, all, if not most, everyone in this church that wants to study the Bible with you, that ask you out here this morning so you can hear a gospel message. And so maybe something will be, you know, piqued in your interest and you decide, yeah, I want to take a look at this. But see, Jesus offers us all these things. The question is, what are we going to do with it? Like I said last week, if we walk out here and go, yeah, I enjoyed that. Yeah, you know, it was pretty nice, you know, it was pretty cool, you know, but then we just tomorrow, you know, after we leave here today or tomorrow, we just go and do our same old thing, then it will have made no difference. And really just wasted your time. The only way to make this Bible is to act on it, to do something about it, to say at least, hey, I want to study the Bible. I want to look at what this stuff really means. The church, you know, Jesus also says, look, He's given us an opportunity to help Him. Jesus says, look, I want to bring peace to the world. I want to save the whole world and I'm allowing you to help me. But my question for us as members of the church, are you helping? Are you helping Jesus? Are you telling people? Are you having sacred encounters every day with people who were lost that Jesus wants you? He wants your help to help these people? Or are we just going through our lives now, kind of like we did before we met Jesus? Are we just a little bit more religion involved? It's not acceptable to Christ and we know that we need to be helped Jesus bring peace to the lost world. Amen. [Applause] [Applause] (applause) [BLANK_AUDIO]
Sunday lesson by Doug Wens