Inland Empire: Riverside
Transformed by the Truth - Audio
that song that we were just saying was written for a play about the life of David, and I remember the first time that I heard it was when they first performed a play, and I've never been necessarily into musicals, which I'm sure might surprise you, but the story that was told gave power to the song, because it was a song about what God can do with ordinary people, and it gave me hope for what God could and might do in my life, because I struggle all the time against what I am and what I want to be, but today it was so incredibly moving to me just to see E.J. walk out onto the stage, because a year and a half ago I'm the one that got up and brought him before the body, because of the depth of his sin and where he was at, and that was not done as a punishment. That was done out of a desire to get all of us together, to bow before God and to lay E.J. on the altar before the Lord, because we believe that E.J. needed help, and so to see E.J. come out here and to watch him be able to share about his God, because his God Almighty reigns. What an incredible victorant I know E.J. well enough to know, he's not fixed, he's not done, but he's moving in the direction that God draws him in. And then to have Evan, Sadness get up here, and Evan is one of those young guys that I just like him. I'm not sure why, but I like him. I like his drive. I like his passion. I like his spirit. I like the fact that what he shared is something he's sharing out of the conviction that I know exists in his own life, because he's fighting every single day against his own personal desires, his own will to surrender to God's will, because he believes that his God Almighty reigns. And that's why we're here to worship today, because every one of us, no matter where we're at, no matter how well we feel like we're doing spirits, or how many struggles we have, we're here, because we want to move in the direction that brings us closer to God. Because we believe God Almighty reigns. And if you're like me, we're in an ugly world, we're in an ugly life sometimes where it's just hard to be able to maintain spirituality past the front doors of the building. And I love that I can come in here and see you. And it's not because you're that good looking. Look around. But it's because I see the direction you're going in. And as Christians, we're herd animals. And we move together. And so having people on the left and people on the right and people in front of me and behind me, they're moving in the direction that I want to go. That helps me get to my ultimate goal to be with God. We have been over the last year focusing on the whole concept of transformation. And most recently, we started a revival. And if you're not a member, and even if you're a member, let me kind of explain why we say revival. Because, you know, I work on Monday in the yard pruning trees. And I'm real naturally fit. And by nature, just don't need to rest. I'm just an incredibly awesome physical specimen in my mind. But it didn't take long before I finished the first tree for me to feel like I had maybe bitten off more than I could chew. And by the time I had finished my neighbor, it'd come out to kind of, I think cheer me on and remind me I had one more tree to do in his yard. And I was standing in the driveway and I thought I'd just lay down on the concrete in the shade and hose myself down. And he told me he was afraid that I might have a stroke because I still hadn't finished his other tree. That's not true. He's a great guy. But it was an incredible struggle. That's how my life is spiritually. I may have in my mind an idea of what I wish I was. But the battle to become that is really hard when you've got to do it by yourself. The reason I lay down on the concrete because I thought I might pass out if I didn't lay down. But the reason I hose myself off was because I needed to feel revived. And what we're doing, we're doing now because we want to revive each other. We want to lift each other up, point each other back in the right direction with the rest of the herd. And we want to move with vigor and conviction in the direction that draws us closer to God, amen? And so we've got a lot of different activities that we're doing and there's going to be more today. But I want to focus on some of the aspects of that and we're using the book of Hebrews to do that. Most of what we're talking about today is going to be taken from the text of Hebrews 9, 10 and 11, primarily 10 and 11. But the title of my lesson is transformed by the truth. To see E.J. up here. To know E.J. And to see what God is doing in his life gives me hope. And I need hope because sometimes I look at myself and I feel somewhat hopeless. It seems like I struggle with some of the same things I've always struggled with. And in writing this chapter of the Bible, most theologians believe that it was written. We're not really sure exactly who it was written to or even who wrote it. But the general consensus, it was about 65 to 68 AD and it was after the time when Nero had burned Rome and he had put a lot of blame on primarily the Christians but also the Jews. And there was an overall feeling about the Christians that they were not God's people, but just dupes. And there was a tendency among the Christians and especially among Jewish Christians to drift back to things that they used to rely on to feel secure. And so ours part of the book of Hebrews is written to remind them that our God is an awesome God. And our God almighty reigns, amen? And we need to be reminded of that because we're bombarded day and day out by advertising, by friends and family members and people around us who are so focused on their success being dependent on something other than God. It is easy to drift out of God's herd and into the world's herd and become more like the world. And so this spirit with which this book was written helps me in getting back on track. I struggle with every possible man anybody else struggles with. And yet there's a part of me that wants to be spiritual. And in Hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 through 15, the writer begins talking to whoever he was writing this with. And part of why he's writing this was because there was a tendency to go back to even in the Jews' mind to some of the habits they had being raised as Jews. And we can do that as Christians. We come to church almost by routine. We dress up almost by routine. We can as Evan asked us give our offering almost by routine. But I love what he said when he tried to bring us back to letting what we're doing be an act of worship. And so much of what is going on here is it's trying to get us back to God because times were hard then times are hard now. And in verse 11 it says when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made. That is to say not a part of this creation. He did not enter by the means of the blood of goats and calves but he entered by the most holy place once for all by his own blood having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and ashes of the half of sprinkle on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctified them so they are outwardly clean. A lot of the things that the Jews did they did as a ceremonial representation that they were going to trust that God would release them from the consequence of their sin. How much more than will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleans our consciences from actually death. So we may serve the living God. For this reason Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant that those who are called may receive the promise eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. He's simply saying if you felt secure before by bringing your offering and there's a Levitical system before God shouldn't you feel that much more with Jesus but there's a part of all of us that we become accustomed to what we do and it can lose the meaning. You get up in the morning you get ready to go work and you kiss your spouse and say goodbye honey but is it an act of worship or just something we do. One is sweet the other's trite and what God wants from us when we come together to worship what God wants for us when we're out at the workplace forever is that we lift our hands towards heaven and kiss him. That's what worship is and so he wants what we're doing now to be done with that spirit and that heart that we recognize that it's not the rituals that we do here but it is the fact that we have a better priest that we have the Messiah the Son of God that God let Jesus show the full extent of his love for you and for me by himself choosing to live just like we lived and then to offer himself guiltless without blemish so you and I don't have to live in guilt consumed lives. It's an amazing amazing thought to worship God not because we're trying to keep from going to hell and I can tell you I don't want to go to hell. I was cooking earlier this week for the college students and it was so awesome to have them over. I love being around them because they remind me of spiritual youth and excitement and they're so fresh and there's just something about them and it just infuses life but in the course of doing that I burn my finger on the grill and I like to think that I'm relatively tough and bulletproof but it hurt and I came in to Libby and I said Libby look and there was part of me I just I don't know that I want her to fix it I just wanted her to know I was suffering and she looked at me with incredible compassion to get some ice. No she didn't you gotta know Libby she's like sugar on a donut. Just that little experience tells me I don't want to spend eternity in hell. Think of the hopelessness of hell I don't want to go there but that's not why God wants us to worship. God wants us to worship because we recognize who he is and how awesome it is that the creator of the universe and his son chose us. We're going to look at five brief things in these texts and I'm not going to read through the old things so don't panic when you're five. The first thing I want to talk about is the superiority of Christ's sacrifice over every other sacrifice that was offered. These people had grown up their whole lives bringing offering to God like Paul who once said about himself that as for legalistic righteousness he was fallen safe they were so used to doing the form of worship that there had lost in that act of worship the spirit of worship and so what Jesus did was he showed them true worship in everything he did every word he spoke every action it just dripped out of him that he adored God no one could be around Jesus and not hear about God no one could be around Jesus and not see a reflection of God in his life. How many of us can actually say that no matter where we go without knowing us very well people are going to pick up on the presence of the Lord. That's what Jesus was you couldn't be around him without him giving all the credit to God the only thing that he drew attention to himself for was how he reflected God's glory the thought never occurred to him the media he was spiritual to he didn't think that way and so there was just by nature being around him something it made people either feel incredibly humble and drawn to God or incredibly defensive in John chapter 14 verse 6 Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me and in making that statement he's not saying I'm all that he's simply saying that in me you see the way to God that in me you see the glory of God in me you see the reflection of God how many times did he say I tell you the truth and that was done to emphasize that in knowing the truth the truth would not only set you free but the truth would transform you if you truly believe if you believe the confession of faith you may when you were baptized it has to by its very nature change you do you believe that Jesus Christ was a son of God do you believe that because if we believe that that truth alone should completely transform how we live our life but the next aspect of that is do you believe he died for you this is the personal aspect of where it's not a congregational act of worship I'm not here just worst thing as a country I'm here to worship because of what he did for me here in EJ share touched me for Egypt but it touched me for me too because Jesus did the same thing for me that it's not like a meal if the only person who eats it gets fed it's a meal that anyone who eats it feeds everyone and so when Jesus says I am the way the truth of life when he talks about being the bread of life he's saying that in me you find the truth and the assessments of God and so the very fact that he is so by nature God loving God acknowledging makes what he offers for you even more special to God Steve Lansbury came to God and said hey can you take care of this oh God might listen to him but if Jesus does Jesus comes to God and says I care about Tom Bundy and the life I lived to glorify you I lay down now at the foot of the cross because I love Tom Bundy and I want you to love him too do you not believe that gets God's attention and so in the middle of all their struggles and everything it was drawing them away from God Jesus was trying to draw him back to God by showing what it is when a greater offering is laid on the sacrificial altar of the Lord and he's saying I want to do it I want by my life by my sacrifice to sign my name that this one belongs to me chapter 10 of Hebrews verse 5 says therefore when Christ came to the world he said sacrifice and offering you didn't desire God wasn't that interested in all their sacrifices and offering but a body you prepared for me with burnt offerings and sin offerings you and I please then I said here I am Jesus knew that those sacrifices were they were kind of ritualistic and so what is he saying God forget the sacrifices here am I I will become like rocks payment in full and everything I am glorifies you I said here I am that is written about me in this scroll and this is what it was written I have come to do your will he is declaring to God that everything is there to honor God first he said sacrifices and offerings burnt offerings and sin offerings you do not desire no he pleases them although the law required them to be made then he said here I am I have come to do your will he set aside the first to establish the second and buy that will we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all when the Corinthian church was struggling by comparing their spirituality with each other in their gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 all the way through 13 Paul tried to get them off of that to see as he says at the end of chapter 12 the most excellent way and the excellent way was the way of love it was the way of love where someone will express it in one of the most beautiful passages 1 Corinthians 13 1 through 13 love his patient love his kind he is wanting them to take the part of their nature that fights over who is the most spiritual but fights over who is doing better spiritually and just get back to a place of love where you and I recognize the sacrifice that brings us to this room right now today was the Messiah you were invited by your neighbor you were invited by the king of kings the Lord of lords the host of hosts you invited by the Alpha the Omega the beginning the end the Son of God and that invitation is emblazoned with blood the blood of a lamb perfect and unblemished that was slain just so you could be here today do you not feel you're in the right place but the second thing is you go through this that if you understand what Jesus did in the first place then secondly you see that Jesus is the one true safe place if there is any place in the world you and I feel like we can come and have no matter what's going on be okay it's with Jesus when someone loves us that much when someone lays everything out in his life as an example and as a reminder of what he's willing to offer then we ought to be able to feel safe with him in John chapter 13 verse 1 says it was just before the past hold of these Jesus knew the time that come for him to leave this world he knew he was going to die this is just a day and a half prior to what was the worst day in eternity the day the Son of God was tortured by man he knew it was time for him to leave this world and go to the Father having loved his own who were in the world he now showed them the full extent of his love and you know what he did he got down on his knees in front of you and in front of me and he took the role of an untouchable and washed our feet do you feel that right now the Son of God is washing your feet not just to clean the outside but to set the inside free John chapter 14 same evening verse one he's telling the disciples do not let your hearts be troubled I may not know what's going on in your life but I can tell you Jesus is saying the same thing to you do not let your hearts be troubled and I feel troubled today but he's trying to comfort in the midst of whatever we're going through do not let your hearts be troubled trust in God Yahweh trust also in me because my father and I are one if you're visiting you're not in a place of perfect people you're in a sewage centers but there's centers that the Messiah asked to be here to express his love for us in the presence of his father chapter 15 verse 13 he tells him greater love has no man this that he lays down his life for his friends you and I are friends of Jesus and we need to be able to feel the safety in that back in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 11 the writer says day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties every minister gets up and does what he's supposed to do again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins the sacrifice can never take away sins but when this priest talking about Jesus offered for all time one sacrifices for sins he sat down the right hand of God since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his foot still because by one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy us by his sacrifice he made us perfect holy why by his love for us the Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this first he says this is the covenant I'll make with them after that time says the Lord I will put my laws in their heart I want it to not just be a bunch of rules and regulations I want it to be in your heart and I appreciate it for both EJ and Evan and for the seniors what they tried to do for me today they tried to connect my heart with God's heart to put his words in my heart that's why we're here to worship but I love this then he adds their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more see EJ is no longer guilty not just the outside has been cleansed but the inside and God remembers his sin no more and if God will do that for EJ God can do that for me God can give me hope and where these have been forgiven there is no longer any sacrifice percent therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and a living way open for us through the curtain that is his body and since we have a great priest over the house of God let us draw near to God with the sincere art and in full assurance of faith having a heart sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience having our bodies washed up here what and let us hold and swerving me to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful or safe or at home the Messiah my Lord my friend brought me here the third thing that Jesus tried to show us and that he tries to help us understand in this is the nature of true surrender I believe that I have surrender to God's will in my life but the degree of my surrender vacillates constantly Jesus held unswervingly didn't mean that he didn't struggle didn't mean that he didn't desire other things it meant that he held the course Matthew chapter 26 Matthew records one of the greatest battles one of the greatest struggles that Jesus had the night that he's arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane when he needed so desperately to have people around him to support him to keep him to the task like you and I need and just like us sometimes his friends let him down sometimes our friends let us down but in Matthew 26 and verse 38 he said to them my soul is overwhelmed and sorrow to the point of death you ever feel that way and you're struggled to be spiritual I don't know if I can do this anymore I raise my kids perfectly I'm a Christian they have Bibles early with little animated pictures we sing Jesus songs and make Jesus faces and look what they turned out like and we struggle I remember the day I said I do to Libby she said you better that's it it told me and I have really really tried to be most excellent husband once or twice we've been together for three decades now and I am so grateful for her there's no one in this world that's had more of an influence on me than her and I love her to death but I think sometimes when she looks at me she's going what did I do and we're very fortunate today we've got two of our dearest friends Kevin and Gina Penny are here with us and Kevin and Gina I've no longer been anybody in here we were friends as kids I think I don't know when Kevin I first got to be acquainted but I know when I was six or seven I gave him this incredible gift it was a lost in space replica robot it was awesome and I wanted him to have it because he's my buddy and the next day went over his house to see what was happening and the robot is in pieces he had dissected it with household tools outside of Libby he may have had the next most influence on my life but I love him they're here just to spend some time with us and every time we're together it's worship we've been together a day and a half and it's been like a constant worship service because they help to remind us of what that surrender is supposed to look like in our lives and they struggle they're not anymore surrender to them but together we can help each other to surrender the way that Jesus did Jesus needed sinful men and sometimes they let him down but just having him there may have been what God used along with the angels to give him the courage to become the author and perfector of our salvation are we at a place where we believe that we have a personal invitation in the presence of the Son of God and that that's a safe place he's not trying to rip us off or brain washes or take stuff from us but it's a safe place and if so that needs to be reflected in our surrender if the truth is going to transform us we have to go back and remind ourselves of the truth and just as that night in the Garden of Gethsemi Jesus was faced with things that seemed overwhelming to him he turned to his friends that's why we gather together because we want to be spiritual and we believe our God is an awesome God but surrender is hard so he modeled it for us the fourth thing that he showed us and this is one of the things that people talk about all the time today is true faith faith is a very easy phrase to throw out and people use it almost to explain away our lack of actions of faith see we believe it is my faith only it's your safe but Jesus showed us what faith produces in his life chapter 10 verse 24 says let us consider how we may spur one another on towards loving good works think about how we can help each other hang in there to fight the good fight let us not give up meeting either as some are in the habit of doing saying guys you need to be together is it a burden for you to come here or do you long to come here like that water washing over me that's meant to refresh that when we come together is to revive our souls the latest encourage one another all the more you see the day approaching if we deliberately keep on sitting after we've received knowledge of the truth no sacrifice for sins is like saying guys if you continue to sin and you know you're sinning and you do it and you say well it's my faith you're saved that's what I hear so often God knows my heart you're right he does he'll understand he does understand that doesn't mean he accepts we use that for our lack of commitment whatever level but we're people of faith and we compromise our convictions I'm not really sure that you have to change that you have to repent I can see that the Bible says oh you're supposed to make it a joy for people to try to lead you but they don't have my leaders and God knows my heart and God loves me all of which are true but don't mean that we're right with God he says very clearly that when we sin and continue in sin deliberately going ahead that there is no sacrifice for sins left but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God who was this written to we don't know exactly but it was written to Christians so that is this idea we're once they've always say it's not true it's one stage are you surrendered in your surrender your faith will be displayed by what you do and he goes on to say that if God punished people under the Levitical law the one where the sacrifice wasn't pleasing to him how much more severely do you think he's going to take it when we treat the blood of Jesus as an unholy thing the concept of desecrating it is to look at the blood of Jesus from the cross poured out for you and to treat it as it was awful something to be discarded do we really think God's gonna give you a mulligan a do over it was the love of Jesus for you and me that made his sacrifice sufficient for us for us to then turn around and treat that sacrifice trivially God says you better figure out I take it serious as he goes on down he tries to remind him of the times in their life when they stood firm and they didn't falter at the end of chapter 10 he says we are not of those who shrink back but we are of those who have faith and then in the transition in the chapter 11 is the transition from that get up revive each other be that refreshing spiritual that gets the herd going in the right direction and stand firm to be finished the fight in chapter 11 verse 6 it says without faith it is impossible to please God Jesus brother James and James chapter 10 verse 18 said you some will say I have faith I have deeds you have faith I have the show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do what does your life show your faith to be but the last thing that I want to touch on in this text is the completion of all of it it's what James talked about in James chapter 2 is the concept of obedience all throughout the scripture the concept of to obey is better than sacrifice if nothing else do what you are supposed to do out of obedience John chapter 15 we're going to close that with this verse 9 before he was tortured to death Jesus looked at him and said is the father has loved me so I'd loved you the way that God has loved me throughout eternity is what I have chosen to show to you now remain in my love whole close to that love rely on that love for God so love the world remember remain in my love if you obey my commands there's that conditional clause again you will remain in my love if you obey if you do what you're supposed to do and not say I have faith but instead simply do what's right if you obey my commands you will remain in my love just as I have obeyed my father's commands and remain in his love I've told you this of my joy what night is this my joy in the middle of the struggles my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete he doesn't say I'm going to stop trouble from coming but I will teach you in the middle of suffering and struggle how to be full of joy my command is this love each other as I have loved you greater love has no one than this that he laid down his life for his friends you are here at the invitation of the Messiah and the message to you is simple truth you're my friends if you do what I command let's be transformed by the truth of the love of Christ thank you very much. [Applause] (applause) [ Silence ]
Sunday lesson by Mike Rock