Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000037
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00:20 Hello, friends.
00:21 Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible study 00:23 here in Thompsonville, Illinois at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:27 Thank you for tuning into A Sharper Focus. 00:29 As you know, 00:30 we have been studying 00:32 what it means to carry my cross. 00:35 Not Christ carrying His cross, 00:38 but what does it mean to carry our cross 00:40 from day-to-day? 00:41 And so tonight, thank you for tuning in. 00:43 Get your Bibles, get your pens, quiet down your family members 00:46 if you are at church watching this together. 00:49 This is going to be a very instructive hour 00:51 because this is something 00:52 that each of us needs to know very much about 00:55 because what Christ did on the cross 00:57 was the beginning of what He wants us to do 01:00 on a day-by-day basis. 01:01 If you like a copy of our lesson, 01:03 lesson number 12, go to this website, 01:05 ASF.3abn.org, don't put www, 01:10 and download lesson number 12 which is, "Carry My Cross," 01:15 "How to Carry My Cross." 01:17 And then for the next hour, join us, 01:19 I think a little less than an hour, 01:21 and we'll have a wonderful time of instruction 01:22 in the Word of God. 01:24 But before we do anything, 01:25 let's begin tonight with a Word of prayer. 01:27 Let's pray. 01:28 Father in Heaven, 01:30 thank You for the opportunity to open Your Word. 01:32 We pray that You'll open our hearts and our minds. 01:35 That we will hear what the spirit has to say 01:38 to each one of us, 01:40 we are in a journey, we are in a process, 01:42 and we want to be made in the similitude of Christ. 01:47 We want to live with the power of His resurrected life. 01:51 And we want to understand 01:52 what it means to reflect the righteousness of Jesus 01:55 on a day-by-day basis. 01:57 So speak to us tonight as we study Your Word. 01:59 We pray in Christ's name. 02:01 Amen. 02:03 Now we always sing our theme song, 02:04 if you like to sing along with us, you can. 02:06 It's our theme song which is simply what? 02:09 What's the title of the song? 02:10 Victory in Jesus. 02:12 Join us as we sing our song tonight. 02:23 I heard an old, old story 02:27 How the Savior came from glory 02:30 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:34 To save a wretch like me 02:38 I heard about His groaning 02:42 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:46 Then I repented of my sin And won the victory 02:52 Together. 02:53 O victory in Jesus 02:57 My Savior, forever 03:01 He sought me and bought me 03:04 With His redeeming blood 03:08 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:12 And all my love is due Him 03:16 He plunged me to victory 03:20 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:22 That's right. 03:23 I heard about a mansion 03:27 He has built for me in glory 03:31 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:35 Beyond the crystal sea 03:39 About the angels singing 03:42 And the old redemption story 03:46 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:50 The song of victory 03:52 Key change. 03:54 O victory in Jesus 03:57 My Savior, forever 04:01 He sought me and bought me 04:05 With His redeeming blood 04:09 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:13 And all my love is due Him 04:16 He plunged me to victory 04:20 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:24 He plunged me to victory 04:28 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:34 Amen, everyone? Amen. Amen. 04:36 That is really where our hope lies 04:38 and we are glad that you are tuning in. 04:40 And few times I mentioned that one of our members 04:44 was at the LIFE Institute there in Lady Lake, Florida, 04:51 and he's back now. 04:52 Good to have David Butler back, 04:54 all trained in canvassing, 04:57 and studying God's Word, 04:58 and we are excited about it 05:00 because we're gonna hit the street 05:02 and carry the gospel message all around our community, 05:06 and we are thankful that, 05:07 and his wife is happy that he is back too, right? 05:10 And so those of you who are joining us tonight, 05:12 get your Bibles 05:13 because tonight we are talking about "How to Carry My Cross." 05:17 How do you carry your cross on a daily basis? 05:21 What we're gonna begin with tonight is a question 05:24 that we ended with last time we studied. 05:28 It's question number six. 05:29 But I want to set this up before we go to the question. 05:33 There was a transition that took place 05:35 between who Christ was and who we are 05:41 that happened at the cross. 05:44 Now you'll notice I said, "Who Christ was?" 05:48 Never do you put Christ in the past tense. 05:50 Something happened at the cross 05:52 that changed who He was before the cross. 05:57 And something happened at the cross 06:00 that changes who we were before the cross. 06:04 The cross was a place of transition. 06:06 So when we begin to study our lesson tonight, 06:08 or at least continue 06:10 in the study of how to carry my cross, 06:12 we are gonna see the transition 06:14 was for the benefit of Christ as well as for our benefit. 06:20 For whose benefit, 06:22 the first person I mentioned was who? 06:23 Christ. Christ, and second person is? 06:26 Us. Say, "Me." 06:27 Me. 06:29 Oh, that was a weak me. Say, "Me." 06:30 Me. 06:32 You know what, if I'd do music, 06:33 I'd say, "Me, me, me." 06:35 But the benefit was our benefit. 06:39 And you'll find also, 06:40 there's a great blessing in it for Christ. 06:43 But I want to begin by going to question number six tonight. 06:46 And we're gonna ask the question 06:48 which will appear on your screen. 06:50 What does the Bible describe 06:53 as our first place of unity with Christ? 06:58 Go with me to Romans 6:5, 07:00 and there we'll find our answer. 07:02 Romans 6:5. 07:04 There is a particular word 07:06 we're gonna spend a little bit of time on tonight 07:08 because we got to understand what takes place there. 07:11 The cross, you know, lot of songs, 07:13 "The old rugged cross," 07:14 lot of cross symbols on buildings, on jackets, 07:17 and the list goes on and on, 07:19 but what actually happened at the cross. 07:21 Let's see what Paul says in Romans 6:5. 07:26 Let's read this first one together. 07:28 Are you ready? Here we go. 07:29 "For if we have been united together 07:34 in the likeness of His death, 07:36 certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His" what? 07:40 "Resurrection." 07:41 So get this. His death had a likeness. 07:44 His resurrection has a likeness. 07:47 When you read Isaiah 53, go there with me. 07:50 Isaiah 53, 07:52 Isaiah the prophet talks about that likeness, 07:58 the likeness that he took on on account of us. 08:02 Isaiah chapter 53. 08:04 I want to spend a little time on the word there, 08:07 "likeness." 08:09 Okay. 08:11 Let's look at all the things that Jesus went through 08:15 that really had nothing to do with Him. 08:17 See tonight the reason I'm rejoicing 08:19 is that Jesus was willing to go through what He did 08:22 so that we can have the benefit of eternal life. 08:24 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 08:26 I mean, when you think about what He did, 08:28 that He didn't have to do, 08:30 to benefit us, 08:32 He could have easily said, 08:34 "Well, it's a little tiny dot 08:36 in the course of many other dots." 08:39 And He could have easily ignored earth, 08:41 let it consume itself, 08:43 and they would have been so many worlds 08:44 that were not stained by sin. 08:47 But the text says, "Well, for God so," what? 08:50 "Loved the world." 08:51 And so when we look at Isaiah 53 tonight, 08:53 let's look at what Jesus went through for us 08:56 because it talks about the likeness of His death 08:58 and also the likeness of His resurrection. 09:00 Isaiah 53, what did He go through for us, 09:02 and verse 3. 09:04 "He was," Isaiah 53:3, what's the next word after, 09:07 "He is despised and rejected by men. 09:13 A Man of sorrows and" what else? 09:16 "Acquainted with grief. 09:20 And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. 09:24 He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." 09:29 Let's not go past that verse too quickly. 09:32 In other words, what the Bible is saying here 09:33 is when we see what sin had done to Christ, 09:37 it was so, 09:38 and I want to try to use the word 09:40 without swallowing my tongue, 09:41 ignominious that we had turn our face, 09:45 we could not bear the sight. 09:47 When you think of scourging and the mocking 09:49 and the crown of thorns placed on His head, 09:52 when you think of all He went through 09:53 in Pilate's judgment hall, 09:55 being rejected by His own, 09:58 people spitting on Him and striking Him, 10:02 and then nailing His sinless body to the cross, 10:06 if you think of all He did for us. 10:08 It says that, "When you look 10:10 at what Christ had gone through, 10:12 it says, "We hid, as it were, our faces from Him." 10:16 It says in verse 4, 10:18 look at that together with me, 10:20 "Surely He has borne our grieves 10:24 and carried our sorrows. 10:27 Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." 10:32 You know, initially, what was said of Christ 10:35 and what was said of those who accused Him, 10:36 they said, "He's going through what He's going through 10:38 because of what He has done." 10:40 Not because of what we have done. 10:42 And you know, they accused Christ of blasphemy, 10:45 they accused Him of wrongly associated Himself 10:49 to be one with God. 10:51 So they said, "What He's going through 10:52 is because of His sin. 10:54 What He's going through is because of what He has done. 10:57 He is receiving the penalty of His transgression." 11:01 But that's not the truth. 11:02 He went through what He did for who? 11:05 For us. 11:06 Let's look at the next verse. 11:08 Let's read verse 5 together. 11:10 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, 11:14 He was bruised for our iniquities. 11:18 The chastisement of our peace was upon Him," 11:21 and what? 11:23 "By His stripes we are healed." 11:25 So everything that we received 11:28 was because of what He received. 11:30 He went though the torment. 11:33 We've read that text so many times. 11:34 If I said to you, 11:36 "Let's think about what Christ had gone through." 11:39 People will say, "Yes, He was wounded, He was beaten, 11:40 He was nailed on the cross, He was spat upon, 11:43 they put a crown of thorns that caused His brow to bleed." 11:47 We say those things as though it's some kind of movie 11:49 we are watching. 11:51 But if you were to switch the roles around, 11:52 really what He went through is what every human being 11:56 should have gone through rather than Him. 11:59 So if you think about that, if the Father said, 12:02 "Here's what you need to do to get saved. 12:05 So start lining up to get your scourging, 12:08 start lining up to get your crown of thorns, 12:12 start lining up 12:13 to go through all the persecution 12:14 that Christ went through 12:16 in order for yourself to be redeemed." 12:19 We couldn't do that. We could not survive that. 12:22 And you will see in just a moment 12:23 why we couldn't survive that. 12:25 Because what had happened here was divinity and humanity 12:30 were merged together. 12:33 He was very God but He was also very man. 12:38 And how did He become very man? 12:40 Let's go to the Book of Romans chapter 8. 12:45 And by the way, I want you to answer question number six. 12:48 What does the Bible describe 12:50 as our first place of unity with Christ? 12:54 Death. 12:56 And there's a word that shows up twice 12:58 in Romans 6:5. 12:59 Did anybody notice what that word is? 13:02 Did anybody write that word down? 13:04 The word is likeness. 13:06 Likeness of His death, likeness of His resurrection. 13:09 So here it is. 13:10 I want you to get this before we run through it. 13:12 What did I tell you to turn to? Romans 8, Romans 8. 13:17 What I like about Wednesday night, 13:18 it's not like a sermon. 13:20 I don't have to end my sermon before the clock runs out. 13:23 We could continue next week. 13:24 Amen? Amen. 13:26 But Romans, because it's important that 13:28 like a strainer, we get the juice 13:30 that's in these verses 13:32 and understand it and comprehend it. 13:34 Romans 8, 13:36 and look together with me at verse 3. 13:38 Now what the word I want you to notice 13:40 is the word likeness 13:42 because at the cross something happened, 13:46 something merged together. 13:49 And if we were united in the likeness of His death, 13:52 we'll also be in the likeness of His resurrection. 13:54 The death that He took on Himself was our death 13:57 because He took on Himself our sin. 13:59 So He took us to the cross. 14:01 But what came after that? 14:04 Okay, let's look at this. 14:06 Romans 8:3. 14:08 "For what the law could not do in that it was" 14:12 what's the next word? 14:14 "Weak through the flesh, 14:16 God did by sending His own Son 14:21 in the likeness of" what? 14:24 "Sinful flesh, on account of sin. 14:28 He condemned sin in the flesh." 14:30 So what happened at the cross? 14:32 The reason why the death had to take place 14:34 is because Christ came 14:36 in the likeness of what kind of flesh? 14:39 Sinful flesh. Sinful flesh. 14:41 He came and took on sinful flesh. 14:43 So that sinful flesh had to die. 14:46 In order for there to be a different context 14:49 after the cross, 14:50 the flesh that Christ took on had to be crucified 14:54 and left at the cross. 14:56 Because if you read Romans 6:5, 14:57 "If we are united together in the likeness of His death, 15:01 we will be in the likeness of His resurrection." 15:04 So in order for the resurrected life to show up, 15:08 one of them has to perish. 15:10 So the Father sent His Son forth and He knew that, 15:13 "When you go to earth," Galatians 4:4, 15:17 "When the fullness of time had come, 15:18 God sent forth His Son, 15:20 born of a woman, born under the law." 15:23 When He was born through the woman, 15:26 what did He take on? 15:28 What did He take on? 15:29 Look in the verse, tell me, what kind of flesh? 15:30 Sinful flesh. Sinful flesh. 15:32 When He came through Mary, 15:33 He took on the very characteristics of the flesh 15:36 that she has. 15:37 Now I want to catch this. 15:39 He did not take on the propensity's descent 15:42 but He took on the very nature that Adam transferred 15:47 to everyone that was born after the entrance of sin. 15:50 You get that? 15:53 I want you to make sure because sometimes, 15:55 if you get that mixed up, you could make Jesus a sinner. 15:59 And if that's the case, we are in trouble, all right? 16:03 So when He took on the likeness of sinful flesh, 16:07 being born through Mary, 16:10 He had to be tempted, 16:12 He had to walk on the same nature 16:14 that we walk in everyday 16:17 because that nature had a destiny, 16:19 and I want to say, "Thank God," 16:21 the destiny of that nature was not heaven, 16:23 the destiny of the nature that He had 16:25 when He came into world was the cross. 16:27 Amen. 16:28 That's as far as Jesus was willing 16:31 to take that nature. 16:32 What do you say? 16:34 You got to get that. 16:35 He was not willing to take that nature beyond the cross. 16:39 That sinful nature had to die at the cross. 16:42 If it survived the cross, 16:45 the plan of salvation could not be in effect. 16:48 Are you following what I am saying? 16:49 So sin made it past the cross, 16:52 if the sin nature wasn't put to death at the cross, 16:55 then Christ had nothing to offer us. 16:59 Are you following me? Amen. 17:01 So the likeness, 17:02 He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. 17:03 And by the way, 17:05 the likeness that is talked about in Romans 6:5 17:07 is His likeness. 17:09 The likeness talked about in Romans 8:3 17:11 is our likeness. 17:12 So His likeness and our likeness merged. 17:19 But when He took our likeness to the cross, 17:23 this is powerful, 17:24 only His likeness survived. 17:27 Amen. 17:29 I am ready to preach. 17:31 I thought about that but... 17:33 I am so glad my likeness didn't survive 17:36 because if he had brought any of me, 17:37 if he brought any of me with Him, 17:40 the plan of salvation would not be in effect. 17:43 He took my likeness and His likeness to the cross. 17:48 Humanity and divinity merged. 17:50 But only His likeness survived the cross. 17:53 Amen for that. 17:54 Amen. 17:57 That's why it says in Romans 6:5, 17:59 that's the verse that we kind of run through. 18:01 It says, "For if we have been united together 18:04 in the likeness of His death, 18:06 certainly we also shall be 18:08 in the likeness of His resurrection." 18:12 That's huge. 18:14 So nothing came out of that grave. 18:16 He didn't come out of that grave 18:18 with all the traces of the character or the nature. 18:23 He didn't have any of the nature 18:25 He had before. 18:26 But what did He take out of that? 18:28 The only thing He maintained 18:31 was the marks of the price 18:35 of our salvation. 18:36 Look at another one. Philippians 2:7. 18:39 Talking about the likeness. 18:41 I want you to see because as I study this text, 18:45 it jumped out of me and I thought, 18:47 I've read this text before 18:48 but sometimes you read a Bible verse 18:50 and it sometimes scoots by you 18:53 but when you do, like the theologians say, 18:55 when you take one word out of time 18:57 and begin to look at that word 18:59 in the Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic, 19:01 wherever you are reading it from, 19:02 then all of a sudden, it comes alive. 19:05 What did I say? Philippians 2:7. 19:08 Let's look at this again. We're gonna look at our verse. 19:12 Philippians 2:7. 19:13 Romans 6:5, it began with our likeness 19:16 but His likeness survived, 19:18 our likeness ended at the cross. 19:21 Romans, I mean, Philippians 2:7. 19:23 Notice what the Bible says. 19:27 Well, let's start with verse 5 19:29 because it's a continuation of thought. 19:32 Philippians 2:5. 19:33 "Let this mind be in you which was also in" who? 19:36 "Christ Jesus, 19:38 who, being in the form of God, 19:41 did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." 19:45 Now is man equal with God, yes or no? 19:48 No. 19:49 So Paul is talking about this here 19:52 in the context of the very thing 19:54 the Jews accused Him of, 19:55 "How could you being a man claim to be God?" 20:00 Paul says, "He didn't consider it robbery. 20:02 He didn't steal anything. That's His rightful place." 20:08 Let's look at the next one. 20:10 "But made Himself of" what? 20:13 "No reputation, taking the form of a servant, 20:19 and coming in the" what? 20:21 "Likeness of men." 20:24 That's a big issue right there. 20:26 Lot of people say, "Oh, no, no, no. 20:28 When Jesus came, He came sinless." 20:30 He didn't have any sin but He had the nature, 20:35 He had the nature that could, 20:38 if He yielded could fall to sin. 20:42 He had the nature of Adam after the cross. 20:45 Because who did He come through? 20:47 He came through Mary 20:49 who herself had the nature of Adam 20:51 after the cross. 20:53 So summarizing Romans 6:5 again, 20:56 the likeness of His death 21:00 was consumed by the likeness of His resurrection. 21:05 Our nature did not survive the cross. 21:11 So when He came forth from the grave, 21:14 He came forth to give us something 21:16 that we could not have gotten any other way. 21:19 I want you to get that because this is huge. 21:22 He had to go to the cross, He couldn't bypass the cross. 21:25 That's why when He was on the cross 21:26 and He said, 21:28 "Save yourself. 21:29 Bring yourself to..." 21:31 He could not save Himself and save us 21:32 at the very same time. 21:35 But by being willing to take our transgressions 21:40 and our nature to the cross, 21:44 it was pulverized on the cross, 21:47 and then the only thing that survived 21:50 was the glorious nature of His divinity. 21:56 He has the marks. 21:57 But when He came forth from that grave, 21:59 there was no trace of sin 22:02 that was there before the cross. 22:05 And the only trace of sin He bore 22:07 was the nature. 22:10 He didn't lie and steal and kill and cheat. 22:13 Had any of those things happened, 22:15 He could not have been our savior. 22:16 Praise the Lord that the Father who delivered Him 22:20 is the same Father who is available to deliver us. 22:23 Amen. Now look at number seven. Wow. 22:26 Did we spend that much time on number six? 22:29 It's important. Okay. 22:30 Number seven and number eight are gonna be quick. 22:34 And then we'll dive into some other deeper thoughts 22:37 about this particular characteristic. 22:39 Question number seven. 22:40 What does the Bible reveal as the end result of sin? 22:45 We all know that one. 22:46 Romans 6:23. 22:48 What does the Bible reveal as the end result of sin? 22:52 You notice Romans 6:23, the first part. 22:57 Are you ready for that? 23:00 "For the wages of sin, together, is death..." 23:03 So the end result of the cross was what? 23:06 Death. 23:11 What died at the cross? 23:17 The nature. Say that again. 23:19 The sin nature. 23:21 Christ said 23:23 that this sin nature could be defeated 23:25 and I just did. 23:28 So when you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 23:30 one of the most beautiful books in the Bible, 23:32 you will see the comparison 23:34 between the earthly and the heavenly, 23:38 the first Adam and the last Adam, 23:41 as we are born the image of the earthly man, 23:44 we shall also bear the image of the heavenly 23:47 because the earthly man did not survive the cross 23:50 but the heavenly did. Praise God for that. 23:53 So the answer to question number seven, 23:55 "What does the Bible reveal as the end result of sin?" 23:57 The end result of sin is what? Death. 23:59 And by the way, 24:00 there's nothing else 24:04 that sin could lead you to but death. 24:07 Sin can't lead you to a second chance. 24:10 The only way to handle sin is it has to die. 24:14 It can't be refurbished. 24:16 It can't be... 24:17 I mean, you can't restore sin. 24:19 You can't build the new scaffolding. 24:21 You can't give a person that's sinful more vitamins. 24:25 The only way that sin could be dealt with 24:27 is it has to die. 24:30 Look at the next one. 24:33 Question number eight. 24:37 What did Jesus accomplish on the cross 24:39 that belongs to us? 24:42 What did Jesus accomplish on the cross 24:46 that belongs to us? 24:48 Oh. 24:49 And I should put it, that was gifted to us. 24:54 You know what? I want to say this. 24:56 It belongs to me now. 24:58 I'm an inheritor of what He has done for me, 25:01 what He has made available at the cross. 25:02 Amen somebody? Amen. 25:04 We have inherited that. 25:06 Look at the part of Romans 6:23, 25:08 the last part. 25:09 I like that singular word, and there it is. 25:13 "But the gift of God is eternal life 25:18 in Christ Jesus our Lord." 25:21 So what we couldn't get before the cross, 25:24 we could now get after the cross. 25:27 This gift, 25:29 and this is huge, 25:31 the gift was a promissory note 25:33 before the cross. 25:35 Do you know what that means? 25:37 Let's think of... 25:38 This is the time of the year where people are buying gifts. 25:40 And some people say, 25:41 "Now wait till Christmas to open your gift." 25:44 What Jesus was saying, "Wait till the cross. 25:47 Wait till after the cross to open your gift." 25:52 The gift was a promissory note, 25:54 but until He delivered it at the cross, 25:58 it was not available. 25:59 Until He was victorious over the tomb, 26:03 it was not available. 26:04 You see that's why the cross is so necessary, 26:06 that first, that Adam nature had to be put to death. 26:10 Then as He survived that and was victorious over death, 26:15 now He made available to us 26:16 something that was not available, 26:18 except by promise, before the cross. 26:21 That's why Satan tried to defeat Him 26:23 before the cross. 26:25 In so much as asking him, "Come on down." 26:34 And taunted so much as human nature that he said, 26:36 "Father, why have you forsaken Me?" 26:43 But I praise the Lord 26:45 that the gift is available today. 26:47 Amen. 26:50 I can hear all the people out there 26:51 saying amen on television. 26:55 Question number nine. 26:58 You may want to put on question number eight, 27:00 "The gift." 27:01 Gift was made available after, 27:05 after the resurrection. 27:09 And why do I say after the resurrection? 27:11 Because you know, one of the reasons 27:12 why everything about the death, burial, 27:14 and resurrection of Christ was so important to Satan 27:17 was he said, "Okay, I couldn't stop Him 27:20 from going to the cross. 27:21 But maybe I could keep Him in the tomb." 27:25 Do you get this now? 27:26 He couldn't stop Him. 27:28 He tried to stop Him from going to the cross. 27:31 He couldn't stop that process. 27:34 And so they sent a centurion of soldiers 27:38 to guard the tomb. 27:39 They sealed the tomb, 27:40 put a stone in front of the tomb, 27:43 and they said, "Well," 27:44 and the devil tried to get them to think, 27:46 "Well, maybe we could keep Him from being resurrected 27:50 because if that news gets out, we are done." 27:54 So even though He was resurrected, 27:56 what did Satan still seek to do after that? 27:59 Does anybody remember? 28:03 He said, "Tell them," now you know why? 28:08 Because if the news got out that the Lord was resurrected, 28:11 the whole plan of salvation there 28:14 was ratified. 28:15 Amen? Amen. 28:16 If they knew that He rose, 28:19 if the news got out that He really did die, 28:21 was buried and rose again. 28:23 And they even made it seem 28:25 as though He was still alive at His death. 28:27 Remember that deceiver said that 28:31 after three days He will rise, "Make sure the tomb is secure. 28:35 Make sure He doesn't get..." 28:36 And when you read in Desire of Ages, 28:38 you could see the imps, 28:40 demons tried to prevent that all 28:42 but I thank the Lord that Jesus is stronger in death 28:45 than Satan is stronger in life. 28:48 Wow. 28:50 I'm soaking this in. 28:51 So don't mind me if I get a little excited here. 28:55 Wow. 28:56 Question number nine. Question number nine. 28:59 What does the Bible reveal as the purpose of the cross? 29:01 What does the Bible reveal 29:03 as the purpose of the cross? 29:06 We're gonna go to Ephesians 2:16 29:08 to find our answer here. 29:09 Ephesians 2:16. 29:14 The gospels are great. 29:17 And I praise the Lord for them 29:19 but when you really want to understand 29:20 the theme of the cross, 29:22 the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, 29:24 you got to spend some time in writings of Paul. 29:27 Books like Galatians, 29:29 Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 29:31 those books are huge 29:33 when it comes to understanding the theme. 29:34 Romans is the heaviest book. 29:36 But Galatians and Ephesians, you can't miss those 29:38 because it talks about also the resurrected life. 29:41 Ephesians 2:16 is where we find our answer. 29:44 Okay, let's look at that. 29:46 Answering the question, what does the Bible reveal 29:47 about the purpose the cross? 29:49 Here's the answer. On the screen. 29:51 "And that He might," 29:53 say the next word together with me, 29:54 what's the next word? 29:56 "Reconcile them both to God 29:58 in one body through the cross, 30:02 thereby putting to death the" what? 30:05 "Enmity." 30:07 Now the word enmity there is the Greek word, "echthra." 30:11 Say that with me, echthra. 30:15 Don't try to sound Jewish. 30:16 Just say it, echthra. 30:18 Echthra. 30:19 Now that word means, 30:21 the enmity there means the hatred or the hostility. 30:26 The nature that was, 30:28 the nature that we have is hostile to righteousness. 30:33 The nature that Adam had 30:35 after the fall is a hostile nature. 30:39 It hates anything that's righteous. 30:41 That's why it's so easy to do something that's bad. 30:44 Because if you let the natural man 30:48 survive day-by-day, 30:49 he's not gonna do anything good. 30:52 If you let human nature just run its course, 30:54 if you don't ask God to hold this natural body, 30:57 do you remember what's our theme? 30:58 "How to live a" what kind of life? 31:00 "Spiritual life in a" what? 31:02 "Natural body?" 31:03 That's the whole theme of these studies. 31:05 If you let that natural body 31:09 try to live a spiritual life 31:11 without surrendering that body day-by-day to Christ, 31:13 you're gonna find, "Oh, man, 31:15 I understand why he says enmity. 31:17 I understand why he says hatred." 31:19 In other words, the nature we have 31:20 is a nature that's hostile. 31:23 It's in opposition. 31:24 Now go with me to Ephesians 2:15. 31:28 We just read verse 16. 31:29 So the answer to the question number, 31:30 "What does the Bible reveal as the purpose of the cross?" 31:33 Write this down. 31:34 "Reconcile." 31:36 "Reconciliation." 31:39 You know what reconcile means? 31:41 It means to balance. 31:43 If you write a check, 31:45 you don't reconcile your check book, 31:46 you may write too many checks. 31:48 Somebody once said, "I can't be broke. 31:49 I have more checks left." 31:53 You got to reconcile it 31:55 before you find out how much money 31:56 you still have left in the bank. 31:58 In the very same way, 32:00 the sin nature, 32:03 the nature of Christ, 32:05 when you mesh them both together, 32:08 you'll find that when one is obliterated at the cross, 32:14 then the reconciliation could happen. 32:17 Because he gets rid of one nature 32:19 and the only one that survives is the glorious nature 32:21 that we are now being remade after. 32:24 And by the way, let me just put this portion here, 32:27 it's very significant because we're gonna look at 32:29 Ephesians 2: 15 in just a moment 32:31 to see the word reconciliation there again. 32:33 But the thought here, 32:37 I added a footnote that I should not have, 32:39 and my thought just went out of my head, 32:41 it'll come back to me in about a week or so but when it does, 32:43 I promise to share with you about the human nature, 32:46 about the whole nature aspect. 32:48 But let's go ahead and look at Ephesians 2:15. 32:51 All right. 32:52 Well, why am I in Philippians? 32:55 I knew it didn't look right. 32:56 Here it is. 32:58 Looking at the word enmity again. 33:01 Ephesians 2:15. 33:05 We'll look at verse 14. 33:07 This is where the reconciliation comes in. 33:09 Ephesians 2:14. 33:11 "For He Himself is our" what? 33:15 "Is our peace," and get what He did. 33:17 Remember, keep the word reconcile together. 33:19 In order for Him to reconcile, 33:21 something that separated the reconciliation process 33:23 had to be removed. 33:25 "For He Himself is our peace, 33:26 who has made both" how many? "One." 33:29 if you look at Ephesians 2:16, 33:31 you'll see the word what was the one. 33:33 It was his body. 33:34 Let's go continuing, 33:37 "And has broken down the middle wall 33:41 of division between us." 33:45 How did he do that? Verse 15. 33:47 "Having abolished in His flesh the" what? 33:51 "The enmity," 33:52 that is the hatred, "that is, 33:54 the law of commandments contained in ordinances, 33:58 so as to create in Himself one new man from the" how many? 34:03 Two, thus making peace." 34:04 You get the whole point there, the reconciliation process? 34:07 How many men were there? 34:09 How many men did it mention? 34:11 Say it again. 34:12 Two. Two. 34:13 And how many did He want to make? 34:15 One. Okay. 34:16 Now let's ask ourselves a question. 34:18 Which one did He want? 34:20 Did Christ wanted to be like us 34:23 or does He want us to be like Him? 34:26 Okay. So you got two, us and Him. 34:29 Right? 34:31 He took on us 34:34 so that we could become like Him. 34:36 Amen. 34:37 We don't take on Him to become like us. 34:43 We are already us. 34:44 He didn't want our nature to become like us. 34:46 He took our nature to get rid of it 34:48 so that we could become like Him. 34:50 Did you get that? Amen. 34:51 So He said, let me put it in common terms nowadays. 34:54 You meet a very wealthy guy that he has got money, 34:57 money is no object. 34:58 And you are the one that's in debt. 35:01 So he takes your debt and pays off all your bills 35:03 and you are just as financially free 35:06 as he is even though you are not wealthy. 35:10 You get that? 35:11 You could have no debt but still not be wealthy. 35:15 But a wealthy person who has no debt 35:16 has a whole lot more than you do. 35:18 So let's think of Christ as the wealthy one. 35:20 He took on our debt, paid our debt, 35:22 so we had a zero balance. 35:24 So He asked the question, 35:26 "How much do you have to be paid to be saved?" 35:28 Christ said, "Zero. I already paid it." 35:30 Are you catching it now? 35:32 So how much debt did we have? 35:35 We were dead in trespasses and sin. 35:39 Matter of fact, the story in the Bible 35:41 that illustrates this so well 35:43 was a man who owed so much money 35:45 that if he tried to pay it, 35:46 he needed to live till he was 253 years old 35:49 based on the wages that were made in his day. 35:51 And his debt was forgiven. 35:52 Do you remember the story? And then he went on. 35:54 There was a guy that owed him $20, 35:56 and he grabbed him and threw him in prison. 36:00 Now here's the comparison to that. 36:02 If Christ has forgiven you, 36:04 how dare we hold something much smaller 36:07 than our transgressions against somebody else? 36:10 That's what's being said as the message at the cross. 36:12 So if Christ has forgiven you, Jerry, 36:14 Christ has forgiven you, Glen, 36:16 Christ has forgiven you, Hannah, 36:19 if He has forgiven all of our debt, 36:21 we should be open 36:23 to forgiving somebody of their small transgression. 36:27 Amen. 36:28 Wow. 36:30 So now we think of the reconciliation process. 36:34 Two of them went to the cross. 36:36 One of them survived. 36:37 And the one that survived was Christ. 36:41 That hostility, Romans 8:7. 36:44 I want to milk this now, Romans 8:7. 36:45 Go there with me again. 36:47 Romans 8:7. 36:48 Looking at the word, enmity again. 36:51 Romans 8:7. 36:52 You'll find that the reason why man had to die at the cross, 36:57 Paul says in Ephesians, 37:00 "He got rid of the law contained in ordinances." 37:04 Why did He do that? 37:05 Because up until this particular point, 37:07 the Jews thought as long as they killed the lamb, 37:09 or bullock, or goat, or duck, 37:11 they thought they had their sins taken care of. 37:15 So it's no big deal for them to kill Christ 37:17 because they had a ceremonial system in place 37:19 that they figured is good enough. 37:21 "We've been doing this for thousands of years. 37:23 This is the method by which our sins are forgiven." 37:26 And Christ is saying, "Aha." 37:28 So He had to get rid of that 37:31 for the real message of salvation 37:33 to appear before them. 37:35 He had to get rid of that which was contrary. 37:37 And when you read the book of Hebrews 37:38 chapter 8 up to Hebrews 10, 37:40 he says, "How could the blood of bulls 37:42 and goats really forgive you?" 37:47 Exactly. 37:48 It's just given you a glimpse of what Christ is gonna do. 37:51 He's gonna redeem us with His own blood. 37:53 So look at Romans 8:7 again. 37:55 Talking about this hostility. 37:57 Why did He have to get rid of it? 37:59 And here's the reason why. Romans 8:7. 38:02 It says... 38:03 Well, let's look at verse 6. 38:05 "For to be carnally minded is" what? 38:08 "Death, but to be spiritually minded is" what? 38:11 "Life and peace." 38:12 Which one are we naturally? 38:15 Carnally minded. 38:16 Everything about us, 38:17 Jesus took to the cross that carnal mind. 38:21 That's what when we read earlier 38:24 in Philippians 2:5, 38:25 "Let this mind be in you." 38:28 Because the mind we had because of enmity is carnal. 38:32 We couldn't have the mind of Christ. 38:34 So we had to take the mind that Adam gave to us, 38:37 get rid of it at the cross, 38:38 and make available to us His mind. 38:41 You get that? 38:43 So somebody says, "Well, how could I do the job. 38:44 I don't have the equipment." 38:45 Christ said, "I have to get rid of your equipment 38:48 and give you my equipment." 38:50 I remember Jose Rojas, 38:52 when he moved from California to the North East, 38:56 and he had never seen snow before up until that point. 39:00 And one morning he came out with a fresh, 39:04 heavy snowfall in the North East, 39:06 and only he had was a plant pod shovel. 39:11 Are you getting the picture? 39:12 He just had a plant pod shovel 39:14 and his neighbors had snow blowers, 39:17 and massive shovels, 39:19 and he said when he took out his plant pod shovel 39:22 to clear the snow, 39:23 he said, "God said, get que pasa, Jose." 39:27 What's up? 39:29 You don't have the right equipment. 39:31 In the very same way, 39:32 we don't have the right equipment 39:33 to get rid of sin. 39:35 So God had to send the best warrior. 39:40 Oh, man, shucks. 39:41 I just messed that up. 39:43 You guys didn't interrupt. He sent the best. 39:45 He sent heaven's best. 39:47 He said, "We're gonna do this right. 39:49 We are not going to send an angel 39:51 because we know what could happen. 39:52 Look at, one-third of them got kicked out. 39:54 So there's a chance that they might fail." 39:55 Amen. Amen. 39:57 Even though Gabriel took the spot, 39:58 he's still an angel. So let's not send an angel. 40:01 Before sin entered the world, they had a plan, 40:03 "We got to send our best. 40:06 Jesus, heaven's best, came down for humanity's worst, 40:12 merged the worst with the best, and only the best survive." 40:17 I'm looking at who I am becoming. 40:20 I've got the best promise. 40:23 And one day, I'm gonna have the best character. 40:26 Amen. 40:28 Heaven's best. 40:29 So when I read this, and I think about, 40:31 "That's right." Look at verse 7. 40:32 This is the portion of it. 40:34 The reason why the cross was so necessary 40:36 is because everything about us 40:37 could not live in harmony with a righteous law. 40:40 So you have now in the Christian world, 40:41 lot of people say, "Well, the law of God is the problem." 40:44 No. The mind is the problem. 40:46 If you are watching this and you haven't reconciled, 40:49 how do you keep God's commandments? 40:51 The way is you got to surrender that carnal mind 40:54 and that carnal nature, put that to death, 40:56 and then there's no problem with God's law. 40:58 Look at verse 7. 40:59 "Because the carnal mind is" what? 41:02 "Enmity against God, 41:03 for it is not subject to the law of God, 41:06 nor indeed can be. 41:09 So then, 41:11 those who are in the flesh cannot" what? 41:13 "Cannot please God." 41:15 There are those who feel that, 41:16 "You know, if I eat a vegetarian diet, 41:18 I don't have to become a Christian." 41:22 It's not the diet that helps. 41:25 But if you are vegetarian and you are not a Christian, 41:28 you are more combustible. 41:31 I don't know if you caught that 41:32 because greens could go up in flames real quickly. 41:35 The point of the matter is we need the nature 41:37 and the righteousness of Christ. 41:39 It's not the songs we sing only, 41:41 and it's not the lifestyle we live only, 41:43 but it's first and foremost, first and last, 41:46 we need the righteousness of Jesus. 41:49 Amen. 41:50 Wow. 41:52 Let's go the next question, question number 10. 41:55 So what does the Bible reveal is the purpose of the cross? 41:58 Reconciliation. Reconciliation. 42:02 Question number 10. 42:03 Now we're gonna move at a quicker pace. 42:05 Now would you remember the Greek word 42:06 that I shared with you just a moment ago? 42:08 The word echthra, 42:11 you are gonna see it again in a different context. 42:13 But a little derivative of that. 42:15 question number 10. 42:16 At what point in the Plan of Salvation 42:18 are we reconciled? 42:19 I had to pause and soak this one in, David. 42:24 I don't if they taught you this at LIVE, 42:27 but this one is huge. 42:29 At what point in the Plan of Salvation are we reconciled? 42:31 Normally, a person would say, 42:33 "To be saved or to be reconciled to God, 42:39 you must be born again." 42:44 Isn't that right? 42:45 To be reconciled to God, you must be born again. 42:47 I want you to catch how powerful this is. 42:50 At what point in the Plan of Salvation are we reconciled? 42:52 We are going to now, turn to Romans 5:10. 42:57 Romans 5:10. 42:58 This is huge. 43:00 You can't squeeze too much out of this great fruit. 43:03 But there's a whole lot in there. 43:05 There's a whole lot in there. 43:07 And I want to go ahead and read down to verse 10 43:11 because it's such beautiful news 43:12 in Romans chapter 5. 43:14 I almost want to read from verse 1 down to verse 10. 43:17 It's just so huge. 43:18 Since we are not rushing, can I do it? 43:20 Can you give me permission to do it? 43:21 'Cause if you stop anywhere along the way, 43:23 verse 10 doesn't jump out at you as it should. 43:26 Look at Romans 5:1. 43:27 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, 43:30 we have" what? 43:32 "Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 43:34 through whom we also have access by faith 43:37 into this grace in which we stand," 43:41 we stand in grace, 43:42 "and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 43:46 And not only that," Paul is on roll, 43:47 "And not only that, 43:49 but we also glory in tribulation, 43:51 knowing that tribulation produces" what? 43:53 "Perseverance, and perseverance, 43:55 character, and character," what? 43:57 "Hope." He's working on our character. 43:59 So if tribulation comes, He's working on your character. 44:01 Say that, "He's working on my character." 44:03 That's what He's doing. 44:05 Look at the very next verse, verse 5. 44:07 "Now hope does not disappoint, 44:09 because the love of God has been poured out 44:12 in our hearts by the Holy Spirit 44:15 who was given to us." 44:18 When reconciliation came, on the other side of the cross, 44:22 the Lord made available to us the Holy Spirit, 44:25 that daily power, 44:27 so we are nuclear reactor for divinity. 44:30 But let's keep going. 44:31 Now the answer to question number 10 44:35 is gonna come up. 44:36 For, this is a transition, 44:38 "For when we were still without strength, 44:41 in due time Christ" did what? 44:44 "Died for the ungodly." 44:45 He didn't say, "Come on, are you that weak?" 44:48 When you get strong, I'll die for you. 44:50 No. He says, "No." 44:51 You didn't have the strength 44:53 therefore His strength is perfect. 44:56 "For scarcely," verse 7, 44:58 "for a righteous man will one die, 45:01 yet perhaps for a good man 45:03 someone would even dare to die." 45:06 So somebody says, 45:07 "Why shall I give my life for you? 45:08 What good have you done?" 45:10 And you say, "None at all." 45:12 And then somebody says, "There's no way 45:14 I'm gonna die for you. 45:15 You are a society cast out. 45:16 You are refused to the earth. 45:19 Why should I give my life for you?" 45:20 And Jesus said, 45:22 "That's exactly why I should give my life for you 45:23 because you are an outcast. 45:25 That's exactly why I came to die 45:28 because you were a sinful human being. 45:30 You are replete of righteousness. 45:34 Or you are devoid, 45:35 I should say, of righteousness." 45:37 None at all. 45:38 And here is where it comes now. 45:40 Here is where it gets even stronger. 45:42 "But," verse 8, 45:44 "God demonstrates His love toward us, 45:50 in that, together, 45:51 while we were still or yet sinners, 45:55 Christ died for us." 45:58 Now let's go down to the answer. 46:01 Verse 9 before verse 10. 46:03 "Much more then, 46:04 having now been justified by His blood, 46:07 we shall be saved from wrath through Him." 46:10 That is, wrath to come. 46:11 We'll be saved from that. 46:13 That's Isaiah 25:9. 46:15 And now the question was, 46:16 I'm gonna read the question again. 46:17 At what point in the Plan of Salvation 46:19 are we reconciled? 46:20 This is huge. I hope you get it. 46:22 At what point? 46:24 "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled..." 46:28 Ooh, let's not run past that. 46:30 When will we reconcile? 46:32 Somebody tell me. 46:34 No, no. When will we reconcile? 46:38 Come on. Say it again, Dave. 46:40 When we were enemies, 46:43 we will reconcile. 46:48 How many people would let an enemy 46:51 into their sphere of influence? 46:54 Now I want you to get this. 46:56 Why do you think Jesus had no problem 47:00 fellowshipping with publicans and harlots 47:03 and sinners and tax collectors? 47:05 People saw them as they were. 47:08 Jesus saw them as they could be. 47:11 Amen? Amen. 47:12 The good news is He didn't see as we. 47:14 He didn't say "Well, I came to hang out 47:15 with religious people. 47:16 I came to hang out with people 47:18 that have overcome their smoking. 47:19 I came to hang out with people that are really, really nice, 47:21 upstanding good people in society." 47:24 He came, he said, 47:25 "The Son of man has come to seek 47:27 and to save that which is lost." 47:30 So it says, we were reconciled 47:33 while we were enemies. 47:35 The plan was made available to us. 47:37 Well, here is the plan. Here is the plan. 47:39 I don't want you think that's the only step. 47:41 Let's finish the text. 47:42 "For if when we were enemies 47:44 we were reconciled to God 47:45 through the death of His Son, 47:48 I like this, much more, 47:51 having been reconciled, we shall be" what? 47:54 "Saved by His life." 47:57 Now get this. 47:59 You see two things in this text. 48:01 You see death and you see life. 48:03 So even the enemies of God 48:05 were reconciled through the death. 48:09 So that means when Jesus died, even enemies, 48:12 the Plan of Salvation 48:14 was even made available to them, to us. 48:17 However, 48:19 in order for the Plan of Salvation 48:20 to be a benefit to you, 48:22 you got to keep reading the text. 48:25 It says here, 48:26 "Much more, having been reconciled, 48:30 we shall be saved by His life." 48:32 I said a few weeks ago, if you only go to the cross, 48:36 then you don't have the resurrected life yet. 48:38 You got to go beyond the cross. 48:40 If I say, "I cling to the old rugged cross," 48:41 then you're still dead. 48:44 Because the burial is next, 48:45 and then the newness of life comes after that. 48:48 So if we are united in the likeness of His death, 48:52 we will be in the likeness of His resurrection. 48:55 And the word I told you about there, 48:56 the word enemies is the word echthros. 48:59 Echthra was hostility, 49:02 echthros, enemies. 49:06 Enemies are always hostile. 49:08 The reason why Jesus came to die for us 49:10 is as enemies of the cross, 49:12 if we went to heaven, we will be hostile. 49:15 We couldn't exist there. 49:16 And what did He do for those 49:17 that became hostile to the cross? 49:19 What happened to those who became hostile 49:21 to the environment of heaven? 49:22 What happened to them? Somebody tell me. 49:24 They got kicked out. 49:26 They started a war, they were hostile. 49:28 Here's the key. 49:29 Jesus doesn't want anybody 49:31 that's hostile to heaven's environment 49:32 to get in there. 49:34 So brothers and sisters, the good news tonight, 49:35 He's making sure that everything that's hostile 49:37 to heaven's environment 49:39 is gonna be taken care of down here. 49:41 So that when we get up there, 49:42 we won't be hostile to heaven's environment. 49:44 Can you say amen to that? 49:45 Amen. 49:47 That hostility is going to be, when we were enemies, 49:49 so here's the answer. 49:50 "At what point in the Plan of Salvation 49:51 are we reconciled?" 49:53 Write it down. 49:54 When we were enemies, 49:57 that plan was made available to us. 50:00 And the Jews had a hard time understanding that. 50:02 "Why is He hanging out with people like that? 50:05 Look at Him. 50:07 Look at Him." 50:10 Yeah, had a hard time with Mary 50:12 when she poured the flask of oil on Jesus' feet. 50:15 Do you know what kind of woman that is? 50:17 He said, "That's exactly who I came for," 50:21 and then he said to them, 50:25 "Since you say you could see, your sin remains." 50:30 If you say you couldn't see, then you have a hope. 50:32 But since you say you see... 50:33 In other words, "I got this all figured out." 50:34 He says, "Since you've got such good eyes, 50:36 you can't even see what I'm trying to teach you." 50:39 And they were so righteous 50:40 that they missed the greatest opportunity, 50:42 and that is reconciliation with Christ, 50:44 and ended up nailing Him to the cross. 50:46 Well, so the answer is, at what point? 50:48 While we were enemies. 50:50 Now let's go on because 50:51 there's another piece to this puzzle. 50:52 Question number 11. 50:54 Question number 11. Okay. 50:58 What difference should reconciliation 51:01 make in our characters?" 51:02 This is a huge part of the question 51:04 because lot of times people say, 51:05 "Well, you know, I'm saved, sanctified, 51:08 filled with the Holy Ghost, 51:10 I'll eat what I want, live like I want." 51:12 Oh, no. It all makes a difference. 51:14 Don't you think? 51:15 If somebody is a champion, 51:17 do they walk around like they have lost the game? 51:19 Absolutely not. 51:21 So those of us who have been saved, 51:22 there should be a difference. 51:24 Let's go to this one 51:25 because these are few verses we're gonna read. 51:26 As a matter of fact, you want to make a correction 51:28 on your syllabus. 51:30 It's Colossians 1:21-22. 51:33 Okay? 51:34 But on the screen, it's correct. 51:36 Colossians 1:21-22, and the answer is, 51:41 "What difference should reconciliation 51:43 make in our characters?" 51:44 Now let's read this together. 51:46 Or follow me as I read it. 51:47 And this is, "And you," 51:49 I like the way Paul says, 51:50 "And you, who once were alienated" 51:54 and what else? 51:55 "Enemies, echthros in your mind by," 51:59 what kind of works? 52:00 "Wicked works." He didn't just say bad. 52:03 "Wicked works, 52:04 yet now 52:06 He has reconciled in the body of His flesh" how? 52:12 "Through death," 52:13 there it is, that reconciliation process, 52:15 and what's the purpose of that? 52:17 "To present you" how? 52:19 Together, "holy, and" what else? 52:21 "Blameless, and" what else? 52:23 "Above reproach in His sight." 52:26 The people of God should be how, 52:28 should live how? 52:29 Holy. And how? 52:31 Blameless. 52:32 And how? Above reproach. 52:35 But I need to add Jude to that. 52:38 Go with me to Jude very quickly. 52:41 What difference should reconciliation 52:43 make in our characters? 52:44 We should live holy, and blameless, 52:46 and our lives in society should be above reproach. 52:49 You know what that means? 52:50 It doesn't mean that you are gonna not make a mistake. 52:52 It simply means that 52:54 when you live your life before the world, 52:56 they shouldn't point to you 53:00 to downplay the significance of your walk with Christ. 53:04 Unfortunately, 53:05 the saddest witnesses of Christ is Christians. 53:10 Now why? 53:11 Because some of them in their struggle, 53:13 the world sees us sometimes when we falter, 53:15 and they point at us to denounce the name of Christ. 53:20 But I want to say 53:23 that the name of Christ is still efficacious. 53:26 His power is still available to us. 53:30 And even those who are living holy 53:32 and by the strength made available, 53:35 those who are living blamelessly 53:37 by the strength made available, 53:38 those who are living above reproach 53:40 has to be by the strength made available. 53:42 Jude, and why did I say Jude? 53:45 Because here's the reality of it. 53:47 Jude 24. 53:48 In order for us to have any of these experiences, 53:51 we got to remember where this is gonna come from. 53:53 All right? 53:54 This is not coming from 28 doctrines. 53:56 This is coming from somebody named Jesus. 53:57 Somebody say amen to that. Amen. 53:59 Now I like the way that John says this. 54:02 "Now to Him who is able," 54:05 let's read that together, to do what? 54:08 "To keep you from stumbling," or falling. 54:13 "And to present you" how? 54:15 "Faultless," 54:16 that's that word there blameless also. 54:19 "Before the presence of His glory with" 54:22 what kind of joy? 54:24 "Exceeding joy. 54:25 To God our Savior, 54:27 Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, 54:30 dominion and power, both now and forevermore." 54:33 You see, the Plan of Salvation is huge 54:36 because the Plan of Salvation 54:37 is not just answering the sin question down here. 54:39 But the Plan of Salvation 54:41 is answering the sin question in the universe. 54:43 Now if you were an angel, 54:45 I'm gonna wind up by sharing you 54:46 this very significant picture here. 54:48 And we'll begin on question number 12 54:51 the next time around. 54:52 But if you were an angel, 54:53 looking at the great controversy on earth, 54:55 and you see 54:57 the multiple millions of Christians on the earth, 54:59 and you say, 55:03 "Father, 55:06 brother so and so really messed up today." 55:10 Could I ask you a question? 55:12 Are you gonna let him come to heaven? 55:15 Because if he comes in here, 55:17 we are in trouble. 55:21 And Jesus says, "I'm still working on him. 55:25 Come on. I'm still working on him." 55:27 And they're watching us in our daily lives, 55:29 when we lose our temper, 55:31 when we blow it, when we stumble, 55:32 when we fall in word, act or deed, 55:35 they say, "Father, 55:37 Mike just blew it today. 55:40 I got records of it. 55:41 I know exactly, well, here it is. 55:44 Are we gonna let him in here?" 55:45 And Jesus says, "I'm still working on him." 55:49 Are you gonna get this? This is huge. 55:52 And they come to Glen and say, "Oh, Glen got upset today. 55:56 I know nobody is around but I heard what he said. 55:58 Father, I got it written right here. 55:59 This is exactly what Glen said today. 56:01 You are gonna let him in here talking like that?" 56:04 And Jesus says, Father, come say with me, 56:07 "I'm working on him." 56:10 And he looks at our lives 56:11 mumbling and stumbling and bumbling 56:13 coming to church 56:14 when our mind is somewhere else. 56:16 Neil and Dan are thinking about a movie. 56:18 Thinking about something we bought yesterday. 56:20 Studying our Bible, 56:21 we are thinking about some objects, 56:23 some toys somewhere. 56:24 And angel is saying, "I got another question. 56:28 We got a whole lot of folks down in Thompsonville. 56:30 That man has a lot of problem in that church. 56:32 Are we gonna let them in here?" 56:34 And Jesus says, come on, "I'm working on him." 56:39 To understand the beauty of this verse, 56:43 and Jesus says, 56:44 "Angels, you don't understand my mission. 56:47 My mission is, 56:50 I'm the only one. 56:51 Not you guys, you guys are keeping records. 56:53 But I'm the one 56:54 that's able to keep them from stumbling. 56:56 I'm the one 56:58 that's working on presenting them 57:00 before the whole universe faultless. 57:04 And when that process is done, 57:05 I just want you to know, 57:07 I'm gonna present them before my Father's glory 57:10 and I'm gonna be very happy. 57:12 I'm gonna be filled with exceeding joy." 57:14 Can you say amen to that? 57:15 You know what exceeding joy? 57:17 Now we get happy 57:18 but I can't wait till we see Jesus happy. 57:20 Because this text says, 57:22 "Before the presence of His glory 57:24 with exceeding joy, 57:26 the one who is able to keep us from stumbling 57:28 is gonna present us before His Father 57:30 and He's gonna be so elated and so excited about that." 57:33 And the angles are gonna say, "I know you could do it. 57:36 Just didn't know you're gonna do it." 57:38 And Jesus is gonna say, 57:40 "Father, you know, I did it, My blood, My blood." 57:44 He's gonna show the universe 57:47 that no matter how messed up we are, 57:49 no matter how much we struggle, 57:51 that one day He's gonna present us 57:53 before the presence of His Father 57:55 with exceeding joy. 57:57 And so, friends, if it doesn't make sense now, 57:59 keep on studying because one day, 58:01 it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-11-05