Participants: John Dinzey
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000089
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00:19 Hello, and welcome to A Sharper Focus.
00:22 My name is John Dinzey, 00:24 and it is a pleasure to be with you during this hour. 00:27 A Sharper Focus is a program each Wednesday 00:30 that goes deep into a Bible study 00:33 or some portion of the Scripture. 00:36 Normally there are handouts, 00:39 a website where you can go and download information. 00:42 We do not have that today. 00:43 However, we encourage you to join us 00:45 for this Bible study. 00:47 And you may want to jot some of these down. 00:50 This is a topic that everyone should be acquainted with. 00:54 And most of you will be familiar 00:56 with some of the scriptures we will be sharing today. 00:59 However, we may go into an area 01:01 that may be new for some of you. 01:04 So I would like to encourage you 01:05 to stand by and join us in this study. 01:08 And before we continue, 01:10 we'd like to go to the Lord in prayer. 01:12 And so before we do that, I do want to make an appeal 01:17 for those that are in the close to the Thompsonville area, 01:20 Thompsonville, Illinois area that watch our channel 15 01:24 or listen through 3ABN Radio 01:28 that broadcast locally. 01:31 You may join us, 01:32 you're welcome to join us here on Wednesdays at 7 PM. 01:36 We also have services on Saturday morning, 01:39 and Saturday afternoon. 01:41 So we encourage you to join us for worship, 01:45 join us to praise the Lord, 01:46 join us to have prayer and Bible study together. 01:50 So before we continue, again, 01:52 we would like to go to the Lord in prayer. 01:53 So let's pray together. 01:56 Our loving Heavenly Father, 01:58 we thank You for this privilege to come 02:00 before Your throne of grace. 02:03 And we come in Jesus' name. 02:06 And, Father, we pray for Your guidance, 02:08 Your Holy Spirit to guide us as we study this topic. 02:13 We pray, Father, for blessing for everyone here 02:16 and those that are joining us, whether it be as they drive, 02:20 as they do their everyday chores 02:23 in their home, 02:24 by radio, or internet or TV, wherever they may be, 02:29 we pray that this program will be a blessing. 02:31 So we pray that your Holy Spirit 02:32 will illuminate their minds as well. 02:35 And we pray, Father, for Your name 02:36 to be glorified in all things. 02:38 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, 02:40 for we bring it to you in Jesus' name, amen. 02:44 Amen. 02:45 Well, I'm not very good with titles 02:48 and I also usually like to look into the Bible 02:51 for some words that help me with a title. 02:54 And I would say that if this were to have a title, 02:58 it would be "Saved by His life." 03:02 And you'll understand that when we get to that portion. 03:06 But when we look into the Bible, 03:09 we notice right away in Genesis Chapter 1 03:11 that God created a perfect world, 03:14 a world that was, wherever the eyes will lay, 03:20 would look upon, 03:21 it was beautiful and the Bible says 03:23 that God declared everything very good, 03:27 in so much that it was very good. 03:29 You know, of course, that God created Adam and Eve. 03:32 So you must come to the conclusion 03:33 that if God said everything was very good, 03:35 Adam and Eve were also very good, 03:38 created very good. 03:39 All their thoughts were pure. 03:41 They were in harmony with God's, 03:42 with God and His principles. 03:44 There are two great principles 03:46 presented in the Bible that God is love. 03:50 Amen? 03:52 The God is love, and all who follow Him, 03:55 He expects them to love Him 03:57 with all of their hearts, soul, mind and strength. 04:00 And He tells us that 04:01 we should love our neighbor as ourselves. 04:05 These are the two great principles of God's law, 04:07 the Ten Commandments, 04:09 and this is how His universe runs. 04:13 Everywhere you go, things are move with law, 04:20 there's law, and without law, there's what? 04:24 Disorder, there's chaos. 04:26 So you cannot go anywhere in this world 04:29 where there is no law. 04:31 And so we look into the scriptures, 04:34 and we see that God created everything very good. 04:36 Adam and Eve were very good. 04:38 And so there was only one prohibition 04:41 that God put upon Adam and Eve at that time. 04:44 So let's look into Genesis 2:16-17. 04:53 And before we read this scripture, 04:55 I'd like to say to you 04:56 that it was the joy of Adam and Eve 05:01 to have communion with God face to face. 05:04 This is before they sinned. 05:06 They had communion with God. 05:07 They talked with God, 05:08 they had the privilege to ask Him questions. 05:10 And why did you make this like this? 05:12 And what does this mean? 05:14 And it was magnificent opportunity 05:17 for them to have communion with God. 05:19 How do we know that 05:20 they had this face to face communication? 05:22 We're going to share a scripture in a moment 05:26 that is, we can base that upon 05:28 and that is that after Adam and Eve sinned, 05:30 they heard the voice of God walking in the cool of the day. 05:35 So this was something normal for them to experience. 05:39 However, after they sinned, 05:41 there was a different experience for them, 05:42 and we'll look into that in a moment. 05:43 So let's look into Genesis 2:16-17. 05:47 And the scriptures tell us, 05:48 "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 05:51 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, 05:56 but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil 06:00 thou shalt not eat of it: 06:01 for in the day that thou eatest thereof 06:04 thou shalt," what? 06:05 "Surely die.'" 06:07 So this was the only provision 06:09 that God made of every tree in the garden, 06:11 you may freely eat. 06:14 And so there was no problem for Adam and Eve 06:17 obeying this commandment. 06:20 And there was no, they felt no restraint. 06:23 They felt that their freedom was not limited. 06:26 They could go and eat of every tree of the garden, 06:28 and it was the joy for them to obey God, 06:30 oh, it must not be good for us. 06:33 And so they kept away from this tree. 06:34 Of course, you know that in the process of time, 06:38 Satan came in disguised as a serpent 06:41 and used the serpent as a medium to tempt Eve. 06:44 And, of course, we know that the scriptures reveal 06:47 that Eve ate, and Adam ate, and they sinned. 06:53 And they now had to face the consequences of their sin. 06:59 And so, now I invite you to go 07:00 to Genesis Chapter 3, 07:06 and this is the scripture that I talked about before. 07:10 Genesis Chapter 3 07:11 and we're going to read verse 8. 07:13 Genesis 3:8. 07:18 Okay, these pages are sticking together, 07:20 but we've got it, 07:21 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God 07:25 walking in the garden in the cool of the day, 07:28 and Adam and his wife hid themselves 07:30 from the presence of the Lord God 07:32 amongst the trees of the garden." 07:36 Now, verse 9 tells us, 07:38 "And the Lord God called unto Adam 07:41 and said unto him, 'Where art thou?'" 07:44 So we can see here that it was a... 07:48 We can see that there was a custom, 07:49 we conclude there was a custom God 07:51 came to talk to them. 07:52 But this time, He does not find them. 07:57 And so the question is, "Where art thou?" 08:03 So where was Adam and Eve? 08:05 The Bible says that they hid themselves 08:07 in the trees. 08:09 Now, what we have here is that after Adam and Eve sinned, 08:13 they began to experience things 08:14 they'd never experienced before. 08:18 Being that the case, one of them was fear, 08:22 they never experienced fear before. 08:24 They remember that God said in the day 08:26 that you eat thereof, you will what? 08:28 Die. 08:30 So they're wondering, when is this going to happen? 08:31 How is it going to take place? 08:33 And so here God talks to them. 08:35 And we have to ask the question, 08:40 why didn't Adam and Eve die that very day? 08:43 We cannot go through all of the conversation 08:44 that God had with them, 08:46 but we like to point your attention to verse 15. 08:49 God told the serpent in the hearing of Adam and Eve, 08:52 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, 08:56 and between thy seed and her seed, 08:58 it shall bruise thy head, 09:00 and thou shalt bruise his, "what? 09:04 "Heel." 09:05 So we have this statement by God 09:08 that really was communicating to them hope 09:12 and that God was extending mercy, 09:15 that the enemy would be crushed, 09:18 the head of the serpent will be crushed, 09:21 and that the seed of the woman 09:23 would be the one to crush the serpent's head. 09:26 And so this brought hope to them, 09:27 and they understood that God was extending mercy to them. 09:31 We cannot go deeply into this right now 09:33 because we have to move very quickly. 09:36 But the reason they didn't die 09:39 is because God extended mercy to them. 09:41 And God already had a plan of salvation 09:45 that at this point was revealed. 09:48 It was already in place, 09:50 instituted as soon as Adam and Eve sinned. 09:55 I'd invite you to turn your attention 09:57 to Revelation 13:8, 10:03 we are most interested in the last part of verse 8 10:08 that helps us understand something 10:09 about what we are talking about right now. 10:12 Revelation 13, the last book of the Bible, 10:14 and we turn to verse 8, thus it is written, 10:18 "And all that dwell upon the earth 10:20 shall worship him, 10:22 whose names are not written in the Book of Life." 10:25 If you read the context, you'll know 10:26 that this is talking about a beast. 10:30 However, the last part tells us, 10:31 "Whose names are not written in the Book of Life 10:33 of the Lamb slain from," when? 10:38 "The foundation of the world. 10:40 "So when we look into this scripture, we read 10:44 that from the foundation of the world, 10:46 the Bible declares that the Lamb was slain. 10:49 Who is this Lamb? 10:50 Remember that John the Baptist said concerning Jesus. 10:54 "Behold the Lamb of God 10:56 who taketh away the sin of the world." 10:58 So really, we can say 10:59 that since the Lamb was slain 11:02 from the foundation of the world, 11:03 and that is because as soon God had already a plan 11:08 of salvation in place, 11:09 and it is, 11:11 as if it was already done. 11:13 God looking ahead saw that Adam and Eve would sin 11:16 and His plan was already in place. 11:19 And it was instituted, the moment Adam and Eve sinned. 11:22 And so Adam and Eve did not experience 11:26 the penalty for their sin immediately, 11:28 because God extended mercy to them. 11:31 However, they disconnected themselves 11:35 from the source of life, and therefore, 11:39 they died a physical death, such as we die now. 11:43 People have been dying 11:44 ever since sin entered into the world, 11:47 it is not because of their particular sins 11:50 that they are dying, 11:51 but they are dying because man disconnected himself, 11:57 Adam and Eve from the source of life, 11:59 which was God and from the tree of life 12:02 which was in the Garden of Eden. 12:04 So we see here that God extended mercy to them. 12:07 And as soon as there was a sinner, 12:09 there was a savior. 12:11 So we ask ourselves, 12:12 what happened then to Adam and Eve? 12:15 When they sinned, 12:17 their relationship with God was broken. 12:22 They no longer enjoyed. 12:24 Because of sin entering into their mind, 12:30 it corrupted them, 12:31 and they had now a desire for things 12:34 that were not good for them. 12:35 No longer were their thoughts always very good. 12:39 No longer were their desires always very good. 12:43 Now, they had evil inside their mind, 12:49 inside their flesh, 12:51 and Satan prompted them with temptations, 12:56 so they could continue in a downward course 12:59 to over sin and evil. 13:02 But God instituted the plan of salvation 13:05 and took immediate action. 13:07 And this is why you have God coming in and saying, 13:10 "You're going to have to leave this garden." 13:12 So man, Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden, 13:15 because there was the tree of life 13:19 and you can read that in the scriptures and, 13:22 but we need to understand 13:24 what happened with Adam and Eve. 13:25 Let's go to Isaiah 59:2, 13:28 if you turn quickly 13:30 because we have a lot of scriptures to go through. 13:32 Isaiah 59:2, 13:35 notice what the Bible tells us 13:37 happens when sin or iniquity is a part of our lives. 13:42 Isaiah 59:2 tells us, 13:44 "But your iniquities have separated 13:47 between you and your God, 13:49 and your sins have hid His face 13:53 from you that He will not hear." 13:55 So we have here an explanation 13:58 as to what happens when people really live according to sin. 14:03 The iniquity separates them from God. 14:07 And notice how it says 14:08 that your sins have hid His face from you 14:13 so that He will not hear. 14:16 But it is very interesting the way the Bible tells us 14:20 that God loves us with an everlasting love. 14:24 You can read that in Jeremiah. 14:26 But I want to point out some scriptures to you 14:29 that even though it says here that His face is hid from them, 14:35 God is very near, because God is what? 14:37 Interested in restoring the relationship 14:41 that was broken and since God had said 14:46 that He will sent His Son to die for us, 14:49 God continue to pursue and through the Holy Spirit 14:55 direct their thoughts toward heaven 14:57 and toward serving God. 14:59 So I would like to point you now 15:02 to a scripture that helps us to understand that. 15:05 Now we go to the Book of Acts. 15:07 In the Book of Acts Chapter 17, 15:09 you will notice 15:10 that God does not completely turn His back on people. 15:15 He tries to draw them with His love, 15:18 with messages of mercy and hope. 15:20 So in Acts Chapter 17, 15:23 I like to ask you to turn 15:25 to verse 26 and 27. 15:31 Thus, it is written, "And hath made of one blood, 15:33 all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." 15:39 It's interesting that it says that, 15:40 when we see wars, from place to place, 15:43 people disagreeing and having fights and really, 15:46 we're all made of one blood. 15:48 Let's continue starting in, 15:50 "And hath made of one blood 15:52 all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, 15:55 and hath determined the times before appointed, 15:58 and the bounds of their habitations, 16:01 that they should seek the Lord, 16:04 if happily they might feel after Him 16:07 and find Him, though He," what? 16:10 "Be not far from every one of us." 16:14 So this scripture tells us 16:15 that He's not far from every one of us. 16:17 He is near. 16:19 There are many scriptures that communicate this. 16:23 Psalms 147 says that God is near. 16:26 And it is powerful to read these things. 16:30 In Psalms 119, 16:32 we also have another scripture that tells us concerning this, 16:35 Psalm 119. 16:36 Normally when I'm preaching in a church, 16:38 I ask people to help me read the scriptures as well. 16:41 So I'm not the only one talking 16:43 but here you do not have a microphone 16:44 so I'll have to do the reading. 16:47 So Isaiah, I'm sorry, 16:48 Psalm 119:151, 16:55 the Bible tells us, 16:56 "Thou art near, O Lord, 17:00 and all Thy commandments are truth." 17:03 So we have one scripture telling us 17:05 that He's not far from every one of us 17:07 and it says that God is near 17:10 and so if we make a decision 17:15 to respond to God, 17:17 He's right there. 17:19 Isn't that marvelous? 17:21 The scriptures tell us, 17:22 Jesus tried to tell us through the law, 17:24 the parable of the lost sheep that He's the one 17:27 that goes out looking for the lost sheep. 17:30 That's why we have the mercy of God 17:34 extended to us. 17:36 Isn't that great? 17:38 Magnificent. 17:39 Notice, well since we're in Psalm, 17:40 let's look another one. 17:42 Psalm 34, very quickly, Psalm 34. 17:46 I think some of you may know what scripture we're going to. 17:48 Psalm 34, 17:51 and we are going to read verse 7. 17:54 Ready? 17:55 If you have it, say amen. 17:57 "The angel of the Lord 17:59 encampeth round about them that fear Him, 18:03 and delivereth them." 18:05 Praise the Lord. 18:06 The angel of the Lord, what does he do? 18:09 Encamp round about them 18:10 that fear him and delivereth them. 18:12 So God is seeking to save those that are lost, 18:17 and He does not leave them to their sin. 18:22 There are other scriptures that tell us, 18:23 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 18:26 I will be with you until the end of the world. 18:30 So it is God's desire 18:33 to reconcile us to Himself. 18:37 So when we use this word reconcile, I say, 18:39 well, let me look up the word in one of the dictionaries 18:41 to see what it tells us. 18:43 To be reconcile means 18:45 to restore to friendship, or harmony, 18:49 to restore to friendship or harmony. 18:51 This is the Merriam Webster dictionary, 18:52 they gave us this definition. 18:54 So this is what God wants to do, 18:56 to restore to friendship or harmony. 19:00 And God is the one that takes the first step. 19:04 What do we have in the Garden of Eden 19:06 after Adam and Eve sinned? 19:07 Do we have Adam and Eve looking? 19:09 Oh, we can't wait till God gets here? 19:11 When He gets here, we're going to run to Him 19:13 and say we're sorry to please forgive us. 19:16 Do we have Adam and Eve doing that? 19:18 What are they doing? 19:19 They're hiding from God. 19:22 See, God takes the first step 19:23 and God takes the first step to search for us, 19:26 to seek for us, to rescue us. 19:29 And so that is why God so loved the world 19:32 that He gave His only begotten Son. 19:36 Amen? 19:37 So, God's desire is to reconcile us to Himself. 19:42 When Adam and Eve sinned, 19:44 they separated themselves from God. 19:46 They separated themselves from the source of life, 19:49 and they sinned. 19:50 Let's look into 1 John 3:4, 19:56 and some of you know this scripture by memory 19:59 but some of us that have joined us, 20:02 some of the people that have joined us 20:04 on radio, television, internet, 20:05 whatever it may be, are not familiar. 20:08 So we are going to read it. 20:10 And that is 1 John 3:4, 20:12 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, 20:16 for sin is the transgression of the law." 20:19 So when Adam and Eve sinned, 20:21 they transgressed the law of God, 20:23 the express command not to eat of the tree of knowledge 20:26 of good and evil. 20:28 And so sin separated them from God. 20:32 And the Bible declares to us very quickly in Romans 6:23, 20:38 what does the Bible tell us? 20:39 Does anybody know that by memory? 20:41 Anybody raise your hand. 20:44 We have a few. 20:46 Romans 6:23, 20:48 "For the wages of sin is death." 20:51 I knew that as soon as I started reading, 20:52 some of you will start quoting it, 20:54 "For the wages of sin is death, 20:57 "but the gift of God is eternal life 21:02 through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 21:05 So what does God offer? 21:07 He says, "The wages of sin is death." 21:09 So if you want the wages of sin, 21:12 that is your choice, 21:14 but if you want eternal life 21:15 that comes through Jesus Christ. 21:17 So in this scripture, 21:21 we see that God is offering hope to us, 21:24 He wants to reconcile us to Himself, 21:28 so that we can enjoy peace. 21:31 In Luke Chapter 19, 21:36 Jesus expresses the desire of God and His purpose, 21:42 because God so loved the world 21:48 that He gave His only begotten Son. 21:50 In Luke 19:10, the scriptures tell us, 21:54 "For the Son of Man is come 21:58 to seek and to save that which was lost." 22:02 He didn't come to condemn, 22:04 He came to seek and to save that which was lost. 22:09 And so John 3:16 tells us that God what? 22:15 "So loved the world 22:17 "that He gave His only begotten Son, 22:19 "that whosoever believeth in Him 22:21 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 22:26 And this is what God wants 22:28 to restore to us, eternal life. 22:34 Are there any conditions presented in this verse? 22:37 For God so loved the world 22:39 that He gave His only begotten Son, 22:41 God takes the first step, that whosoever, 22:44 nobody's excluded, believes in Him, 22:48 is there a condition? 22:49 Yes, there is, you must believe should not what? 22:53 Perish. 22:54 What does perish mean? 22:56 To die, to cease to exist. 22:58 So the wages of sin are cancelled 23:01 when we believe and give our lives to the Lord, 23:04 because Jesus paid the price for us, 23:07 and we then have the privilege of eternal life 23:10 through His Son, Jesus Christ. 23:13 So that is a fact that God offers to us. 23:16 And it says, whosoever believeth in Him 23:18 should not perish. 23:20 I'd like to remind us 23:23 that it is written in Romans 3:23, 23:33 the Bible reveals, 23:34 for all have sinned and come short 23:37 of the glory of God. 23:40 So nobody can say in the world 23:42 that has ever lived on this earth, 23:47 I have no sin, except for Jesus Christ, 23:53 for He was tempted in all points like as we are, 23:55 yet without sin, 23:58 but the Bible declares that the rest of the world, 24:02 the rest of every human being 24:04 that has lived upon the world has sinned 24:06 and has come short of the glory of God 24:08 and upon that individual because of sin, 24:11 the wages of sin is a part of that person's destiny 24:17 unless he chooses to believe 24:20 and chooses to walk in God's ways. 24:23 So God wants to reconcile us to Himself. 24:27 Notice here in Romans Chapter 7, 24:29 I like to invite you to Romans Chapter 7, 24:31 sorry, Romans Chapter 8. 24:33 Romans Chapter 8 24:35 describes the condition of those that are in sin. 24:39 Romans Chapter 8, 24:40 we're gonna read verse 7 and 8. 24:42 And we have the following scripture, 24:43 "Because the carnal mind 24:47 is enmity against," what? 24:52 "Against God, 24:53 for it is not subject to the law of God, 24:56 neither indeed can be." 25:02 However, we did not read the verse before, 25:04 Romans 8:7. 25:07 Notice what Romans 8:7, 25:10 we understand that the carnal mind 25:12 is at enmity at war with God 25:17 because it is not subject to the law of God, 25:19 neither indeed can be. 25:21 But Romans 8:6 tells us, 25:25 "For to be carnally minded is death, 25:30 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." 25:36 Since we are there, 25:38 let's go ahead and read verse 8. 25:39 Romans 8:8, 25:42 "So then, they that are in the flesh 25:45 cannot please God." 25:47 So there must be a change in the individual, 25:50 there must be a change in the person 25:52 to go from death to life. 25:56 And God offers, 25:58 God has made provision 25:59 so that every individual can have eternal life. 26:03 And so, God so loved the world 26:06 that He gave His only begotten Son. 26:09 Why did Jesus come? 26:12 Let's just see what the Bible tells us 26:16 in Matthew Chapter 1. 26:19 Part of His mission is described there 26:21 in Matthew Chapter 1, 26:22 and we are going to read verse 21. 26:25 Matthew 1:21. 26:29 It says, concerning Mary, talking about Jesus, 26:32 and He, I'm sorry, 26:34 "And she shall bring forth a Son, 26:37 and thou shall call His name Jesus, 26:40 for He shall save His people from their sins." 26:45 Praise the Lord. 26:46 So we have here that the mission of Christ 26:49 was to save the people from their sins. 26:53 So I ask, do you want to be saved from your sin? 26:55 Do you want to be saved from the wages of sin? 26:57 Jesus Christ is the answer. 27:03 Notice here how John the Baptist describes it. 27:06 We already quoted it earlier. 27:08 But it's found in John 1: 29. 27:14 We could have continued reading there 27:16 in Romans Chapter 8, 27:17 but we have to advance here. 27:21 In John 1:29, John the Baptist says, 27:28 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, 27:33 and saith, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, 27:38 which taketh away the sin of the world.'" 27:42 Now that is good news. 27:45 If you have sin upon you, 27:48 Jesus Christ can take away the sin 27:51 and when He takes away the sin, 27:53 He takes away what would be the wages of sin from you 27:57 because He already paid the price. 28:01 So what must we do? 28:03 We must accept this gift of salvation 28:06 that God offers through His Son. 28:09 Romans Chapter 4, a lot of scriptures, 28:13 a lot of scriptures, Romans Chapter 4. 28:17 We are going to read in Romans 4:24-25. 28:21 So if you join me there, 28:23 Romans 4:24-25. 28:26 Ready? If you are, say amen. 28:29 Okay, we have at least two witnesses, 28:31 we read, "But for us also, 28:33 "to whom it shall be imputed, 28:36 "if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus, 28:40 "our Lord from the dead, 28:42 "who was delivered for our offenses, 28:46 and was raised again for our," what? 28:50 "Justification." 28:54 Now something is communicated to us here. 28:58 Notice that verse 25 says, 29:01 He was delivered for our offenses. 29:03 In other words, He died for our sins. 29:07 But why was He raised? 29:11 For our justification, 29:14 He was raised for our justification. 29:15 A difference is made, delivered for our offenses, 29:20 raised again for our justification. 29:22 We're going to look into that as we continue. 29:25 Let's move to Isaiah Chapter 53. 29:27 We need to establish something how this took place 29:31 in the life of Christ as He gave His life for us. 29:34 Isaiah Chapter 53 29:36 opens our eyes to understand 29:38 how Jesus took upon Himself our sins. 29:42 And notice Isaiah 53:6, a lot of scriptures 29:45 but I see you're moving quite quickly to find them. 29:49 Isaiah 53:6 tells us, 29:50 "All we like sheep have gone astray, 29:54 we have turned everyone to his own way, 29:58 and the Lord hath laid on Him, that is Jesus, 30:01 the iniquity of us all." 30:04 What does this tell us? 30:07 That whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, why? 30:10 Because the Lord laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. 30:15 He became a perfect sacrifice 30:17 so that we can have eternal life through Him. 30:22 What a joy it is to know that 30:24 the door of mercy is still open. 30:27 It would be horrible to come out here and say, 30:29 the door of mercy is closed. 30:30 There's no more salvation. 30:32 If you want to be saved, it's too late. 30:35 But we can say the door mercy still open. 30:38 You can come to Jesus and have your sins forgiven, 30:41 and you can have eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. 30:44 And I must say that door will close someday, 30:47 the time of opportunity will close someday. 30:51 And for some people, it closes sooner than others. 30:53 Why is that? 30:55 Because they die 30:59 and, but they die and the door of mercy continues open, 31:03 but the Lord... 31:04 The time will come when the Lord will say, 31:07 it is enough. 31:09 The time has come for that to close. 31:11 And really when God does that, 31:13 is because no one else will accept. 31:16 The message has been presented, 31:19 every person has had an opportunity to accept, 31:22 and all the ones that have accepted, 31:25 that will accept, have accepted 31:27 and all the ones that chose not to, 31:30 they have been appealed to, but they said no. 31:33 And God has no other choice 31:35 but to say, no one else will accept, 31:38 the door is closed. 31:41 We have in the Bible a description of a time 31:45 when the Lord chose to destroy this earth 31:49 because sin was continuing at such a pace 31:53 that the Bible says 31:55 that the thoughts of man's heart 31:56 was only what? 31:57 Evil continually. 31:59 So God instructed Noah to build an ark, 32:03 and the time came 32:04 when the door of that ark was closed. 32:06 Noah went around preaching. 32:08 Noah went around preaching, the Bible declares, 32:10 for about 120 years presenting to people 32:16 that there's an opportunity to go into this ark 32:18 and save yourself from the flood that is to come. 32:22 The time came when the door was locked. 32:26 And when that door was locked, 32:28 Noah could not open the door even if he wanted. 32:33 Question, do you think there were people 32:36 that after they saw the water going up, 32:41 they now believe, now they see, 32:42 now they believe 32:44 that they see the water coming up 32:45 that they started knocking on the door, 32:47 Noah let us in, but it was too late. 32:51 The door was locked. 32:53 And so it will be 32:54 that some people are going to be left out. 32:58 But they all had an opportunity. 33:02 And so I like to invite you to, 33:05 the Lord laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, 33:08 no one needs to be lost. 33:11 Everyone can be saved, 33:13 but not everyone will 33:15 or not everyone will decide to be saved. 33:17 Let's go to 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. 33:24 We can go a little deeper into the crucifixion of Christ, 33:27 but right now we must move in a direction 33:30 that will help us understand 33:32 that God is trying to reconcile us to Himself 33:35 and what happened when Jesus died on the cross. 33:41 Notice 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. 33:49 And he, sorry, I started in verse 4, for... 33:56 Am I in 1 Corinthians 15? 33:57 Yes, "For I delivered unto you, 34:00 first of all that which I also receive 34:02 how that Christ died for our sins, 34:06 according to the scriptures." 34:07 What did Christ do? 34:09 Died for our sins. 34:10 "And that He was buried," verse 4, 34:12 "and that He rose again the third day, 34:14 according to the scriptures." 34:17 So we have in the Scripture, 34:18 the declaration that Christ died for our sins, Isaiah, 34:21 we saw that the Lord laid on him 34:23 the iniquity of us all, and He died for those sins. 34:30 And praise the Lord, He rose again the third day. 34:35 Now that is good news. 34:37 And we're going to see 34:38 how that is good news in a moment 34:41 because if He had not risen from the dead, 34:43 we would be in serious trouble. 34:50 Question, did God wait for people to get better 34:56 to show some sign of improvement 34:59 before He sent His Son to die for us? 35:01 The God said, 35:02 "I'm going to wait till this people 35:03 show some desire for salvation, 35:06 show some improvement in their lives, 35:09 and then I'll send My Son. 35:11 I'm going to wait till they are worthy 35:14 and then I'll send My Son to die for them. 35:16 Did He do that? 35:18 Let's see what the Bible says concerning that. 35:20 The Bible answers that question in Romans Chapter 5, 35:24 Romans Chapter 5, 35:29 very, very powerful chapter of the Bible, 35:32 Romans Chapter 5. 35:34 I hear some pages turning, and some are stopping, good. 35:37 Romans Chapter 5, let's read verses 8 and 9, 35:41 "But God commendeth His love toward us, 35:45 in that while we were yet sinners, 35:48 Christ died for us." 35:51 Did God wait for us to get better? 35:53 No, while we were yet sinners, 35:56 Christ died for us. 35:58 Now, let's look at verse 9, 36:01 "Much more than being now justified by His blood," 36:06 how are we justified? 36:08 By His blood, notice how the scripture reveals, 36:11 "We shall be saved from wrath through Him." 36:17 One is past tense, one is future tense. 36:22 We were justified by His blood, 36:25 we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 36:29 This is why the resurrection of Jesus Christ 36:32 is of vital importance 36:35 because if He did not rise from the dead, 36:40 we could not be saved from wrath. 36:44 We'll see that in a moment a little clearer. 36:47 I'd like to invite you to go to Hebrews Chapter 2 with me. 36:52 Hebrews Chapter 2, 36:56 in Hebrews Chapter 2, 37:00 we are going to read verses 16 through 18. 37:03 Hebrews 2:16-18. 37:08 Already, it appears, 37:09 "So verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, 37:13 but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 37:17 Wherefore in all things, 37:18 it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, 37:23 that he might be a merciful 37:26 and faithful high priest in things 37:28 pertaining to God to make reconciliation 37:33 for the sins of the people," to make what? 37:36 Reconciliation for the sins of the people, 37:39 "For in that he himself has suffered being tempted," 37:43 he is able to what? 37:46 "Sucker them or aid them 37:47 some version say that are tempted. 37:50 The experience he had on this earth, being tempted 37:57 makes it possible for him to help us as well. 38:01 So we have a scripture that tells us 38:03 that He made reconciliation for the sins of the people. 38:10 This means the price was paid 38:12 so that we could be reconciled to God. 38:16 Without this sacrifice of Christ, 38:19 we could not be reconciled to God, 38:22 because the price for our sin, 38:24 the wages for our sin had to be paid. 38:28 Either Christ pays or you pay. 38:31 The good news is that Christ has already paid the price. 38:35 And it's almost shocking, 38:38 amazing to see 38:43 that people choose the wages of sin 38:47 rather than eternal life. 38:49 How long does this life last? 38:52 How long does it last? 38:54 And is it good? 38:56 For some people, 38:57 they perhaps make a lot of money 38:59 and they enjoy some things, but some of them live in fear. 39:02 They have to have guard dogs, they have to have alarms. 39:05 They have to have guards guarding them 39:07 because they're afraid 39:08 somebody else is going to take their things 39:10 or somebody's going to kill them 39:12 or kidnap their family. 39:14 And so, there's, they really have no joy, 39:17 no lasting joy and peace, 39:19 and they live a limited amount of time. 39:22 The majority of the people are not rich, 39:25 and they struggle through life. 39:27 But God says, 39:28 I'm offering you eternal life 39:30 that has no end and there's no suffering. 39:35 That's what God offers and you say to yourself, 39:38 and you ask yourself, why would God choose? 39:39 Why would anyone choose something else 39:42 rather than what God offers? 39:44 It's a mystery, the mystery of iniquity, 39:47 the mystery of evil 39:48 that enters into the life of the individual, 39:51 and it is as if the person is blinded. 39:53 And this is why you see Jesus saying, 39:57 on the cross, Lord, forgive them, 40:01 for they know not what they do. 40:06 Now, I like to point out 40:08 that it is not just that God wants 40:11 to forgive you for your sins. 40:13 The death on the cross makes it possible 40:16 for you to be reconciled to God. 40:20 There's a scripture that we need to read 40:22 that helps us understand what happens 40:23 after this reconciliation takes place. 40:27 God not just wants, 40:28 He does not just want to forgive me for your sins. 40:30 He wants to save you from them. 40:34 He wants to transform us. 40:37 You see when a person gives his life to the Lord. 40:41 It's like he enters into a new life, 40:45 a new experience. 40:47 And that individual is a candidate for heaven. 40:51 His name is written in the book of life, 40:53 but that name can be taken out again. 40:56 Why? 40:57 Because if you start serving the Lord, 40:59 You serve the Lord one year, two years, 41:02 three and then you say, 41:04 I think I want to do something else 41:06 and you walk away from the Lord. 41:08 And you start living a life of sin 41:09 and you never come back to the Lord, 41:11 should that person be saved? 41:14 No, he has walked away from the source of life. 41:18 He has separated himself from the Lord, 41:21 who is the source of life. 41:24 And the wages of sin now are activated again 41:27 for that individual 41:30 and that's a sad condition, a sad situation. 41:35 So God wants to transform us. 41:36 Let's look at some scriptures 41:38 that help us to understand that. 41:40 In Romans Chapter 6, 41:43 the Bible begins to that we see some evidence 41:45 that the Bible tells us that there must be a difference 41:48 between those that are children of the Lord 41:52 and those that are evil. 41:53 Romans Chapter 6 41:55 talks about the experience of salvation, baptism. 41:58 Romans 6:3-4. 42:01 Let's read Romans 6:3-4, 42:03 "Know ye not that so many of us 42:06 as were baptized into Jesus Christ 42:10 were baptized into His death? 42:12 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death 42:16 that like as Christ was raised up 42:18 from the dead by the glory of the Father, 42:21 even so we also should walk in newness of life." 42:27 So what is the individual supposed to do 42:30 after he is baptized? 42:33 After he comes up out of the water, 42:35 he is supposed to walk in newness of life, 42:38 the old life of sin is over. 42:42 He turns his back on that way of life 42:44 and walks in newness of life, serving the Lord. 42:48 This is why Jesus said, 42:49 "If any man will come after Me, 42:52 let him take up his cross," how often? 42:55 "Daily and follow Me." 42:57 So it is a daily experience with the Lord that we need. 43:00 It is a daily experience 43:03 that keeps us walking in newness of life. 43:08 There is a scripture that I didn't put in my notes 43:12 that says that we are not of them 43:14 that draw back unto perdition. 43:16 So people can draw back unto perdition, 43:19 because you see, 43:20 God has given us freedom of choice. 43:27 Question, once you are baptized, 43:30 is your freedom of choice taken away? 43:34 No, you can still choose to what? 43:37 Sin, you can still choose to kill, 43:41 steal, commit adultery, 43:44 you can choose to disobey God, 43:47 dishonor your parents and down the line, 43:49 you can read all of this, all of the Ten Commandments. 43:52 You can still choose to do those bad things. 43:54 Your choice, your freedom of choice is still intact. 43:58 God does not take freedom of choice from anyone 44:01 and even after you accept Jesus Christ 44:04 as your personal Savior, you can walk away. 44:09 But God wants you to continue experiencing 44:12 the joy of serving Him. 44:15 When we give ourselves to the Lord, 44:17 the sacrifice on the cross becomes affected in our lives. 44:22 Reconciliation takes place. 44:24 You see, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, 44:27 He worked out reconciliation for every person. 44:31 He reconciled the world unto Himself, 44:33 but that does not become effective in the individual 44:37 until that person chooses salvation. 44:41 Thee is then reconciled to God. 44:44 Let's look at some scriptures 44:45 that help us to understand these things. 44:47 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 44:53 speaks of the new birth. 44:55 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. 45:03 Are we ready? 45:04 Let's read. 45:06 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, 45:07 "he is a new creature: 45:10 "old things are passed away, 45:11 "behold, all things are become new. 45:14 "And all things are of God, 45:15 "who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ 45:21 "and hath given to us 45:23 the ministry of reconciliation." 45:26 Praise the Lord. 45:28 So we have when we joined with the Lord, 45:31 we then have the opportunity, the privilege 45:34 to participate in the ministry 45:36 of reconciling others, to God, 45:40 a fantastic privilege. 45:42 So when you give your heart to the Lord, 45:44 your life to the Lord, 45:45 a work begins in you to transform you 45:49 into the likeness of Jesus Christ, 45:52 to change your way of thinking, 45:54 to change the way of living. 45:58 And this process 45:59 is really called sanctification. 46:06 It's a process that begins 46:08 when you give your life to the Lord 46:09 and continues throughout your life. 46:12 As you give yourself to the Lord, 46:14 the Lord continues to mould you into the likeness of Christ. 46:17 2 Corinthians 3:18 reveals 46:20 that it is as you behold the glory of the Lord 46:23 as you behold His character, as you behold His goodness, 46:26 a change continues to happen, 46:29 work continues to happen in your life, 46:31 you began to take more and more steps 46:33 closer and closer to the Lord, 46:35 closer and closer you walk to the Lord, 46:37 until you are so happy with the Lord 46:40 that you rather do, 46:42 you will not rather do anything else 46:43 but serve the Lord and follow Him 46:46 with all of your heart. 46:48 Praise the Lord for that. 46:50 So, how long does this last? 46:56 Philippians Chapter 1 talks about an ongoing process. 47:02 Philippians 1:6 tells us. 47:08 Ready? 47:09 Here we go, 47:11 "Being confident of this very thing, 47:13 that He who hath begun a good work in you," 47:18 what will happen? 47:22 "Will perform it, will complete it 47:24 until the Day of Jesus Christ." 47:27 It's an ongoing process to change us, to mould us. 47:32 See, it's like you, we are on probation, 47:36 to see if we're really want to follow the Lord. 47:40 It's like you are on a probation 47:43 to see if you're going to live according to God's principles. 47:47 Love the Lord your God with all your heart 47:50 and your neighbor as yourself. 47:51 Because the time will come when God says, 47:54 Okay, I'm ready to bring my children home 47:57 and if you have in there, 48:00 thoughts of stealing, killing, adultery, 48:04 whatever it is 48:05 that you want to continue doing, 48:07 you cannot take that to heaven, 48:09 you cannot have that in the new earth. 48:10 You must be willing to give that up 48:13 and God will transform you 48:15 so that your desire is to always serve the Lord. 48:19 So it doesn't end with, 48:21 I accepted the Lord as my Lord and Savior. 48:25 And now I am ready for heaven. 48:30 There is a fitting up that takes place, 48:32 a process of transformation. 48:34 And let's go to some scriptures that help us understand that, 48:37 one of them is Romans Chapter 12. 48:42 Now somebody may say, 48:43 what about the thief on the cross, 48:44 he didn't have any chance to do that. 48:48 He had made a commitment to follow the Lord. 48:52 And His desire was to follow the Lord. 48:54 He began a process. 48:56 He began, he was in newness of life. 48:59 He was a new creature in Jesus Christ, 49:01 his desire was to serve the Lord. 49:04 He already, he right away began to do 49:06 a ministry of reconciliation with the other thief, remember? 49:09 Do you not understand? 49:11 We are suffering justly because of our sins, 49:14 but he has done nothing of this, 49:15 He's already being a missionary. 49:17 Romans Chapter 12 verse, 49:19 we're going to read verse 1 and 2, 49:21 "I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, 49:23 that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice," 49:28 what kind? 49:29 "A living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 49:32 which is your reasonable service." 49:35 That means the very least you can do and it says, 49:37 "And be not conformed to this world, 49:40 but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 49:45 that you may prove what is that good 49:47 and acceptable and perfect will of God." 49:50 So what's supposed to happen in us? 49:54 We are not to conform ourselves to this world, 49:56 but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, 50:01 our minds being transformed. 50:04 So what have we to do? 50:06 Daily walk with Jesus. 50:09 Let's go to 2 Corinthians Chapter... 50:16 There are many scriptures 50:18 that we must read, 2 Corinthians. 50:20 Did I say second or first? 50:22 Second, it's 2 Corinthians Chapter 7 50:25 and we're going to read verse 1. 50:28 Yes, here we go, 50:30 "Having therefore these promises, 50:32 dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 50:37 from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 50:41 perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 50:45 So in this process of sanctification, 50:50 we are to be cooperating with God. 50:53 Because remember, Jesus said without Me you can do nothing. 50:57 So it is a cooperation with God 51:02 that brings us to this experience, 51:05 perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 51:08 And it says, cleansing ourselves, 51:10 that means putting away evil from our lives, 51:13 so that we can walk with Christ 51:16 and He can continue that process of transforming us 51:18 into His likeness. 51:21 Notice what Paul said, actually, 51:23 I'm just going to mention these. 51:25 We're not going to look them up, 51:27 because we'll save some time that way. 51:29 So Ephesians 3:12 and 15. 51:33 Paul says, "I pressed over the mark 51:35 for the prize of the high calling of God 51:36 in Christ Jesus." 51:38 In 1 Timothy 6:12, 51:41 "We are told to fight the good fight of faith 51:46 and lay hold on eternal life." 51:49 In 2 Peter 3:18, 51:53 we are told to grow in grace 51:55 and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 52:00 So over and over again the scriptures tell us 52:03 that we should be cooperating with God, 52:05 that we can be transformed into His likeness, 52:07 and perfecting holiness. 52:09 Remember, without Jesus, you can do nothing, 52:12 we are to partner with Him 52:14 so that He can accomplish this great work in us. 52:18 Now, you ask yourself this question, 52:23 do those good works do anything for us 52:26 as far as our salvation is concerned? 52:29 No, they do not see 52:31 because it is by grace 52:33 that we are saved through faith, 52:35 not of works, lest any man should boast. 52:38 It tells us in Ephesians 2:8. 52:40 So what about these works? 52:42 The works are a product 52:44 of your relationship with Jesus Christ, 52:47 and they speak of the change that has taken place in you. 52:51 It is a revealing to people and the world, the universe 52:58 that you want to live in God's kingdom. 53:01 Love the Lord your God with all your heart 53:03 and your neighbor as yourself. 53:04 That's what these works do, 53:06 they have no merit as far as salvation is concerned. 53:10 Notice what Jesus tell some individuals. 53:13 We read that in Matthew Chapter 7, 53:15 and we are quickly running out of time. 53:17 Matthew Chapter 7:21-23. 53:20 Matthew Chapter 7:21-23, 53:25 "Not everyone that saith unto Me, 53:27 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, 53:31 but he that doeth the will 53:32 of My Father which is in heaven." 53:34 Who enters into heaven? 53:35 He that does the will of the Father, 53:39 "Many will say to Me in that day, 53:41 'Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, 53:44 and in Thy name have cast out devils, 53:47 and in Thy name done many wonderful works?'" 53:51 What does Jesus say to them? 53:53 Verse 23, 53:54 "And then will I profess unto them, 53:56 'I never knew you: 53:59 depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.'" 54:04 So in other words, 54:05 it describes a class of people 54:07 that were depending on some good works, thinking, 54:10 oh, I'm going to heaven because of this. 54:13 But Jesus says 54:15 these individuals were practicing evil as well. 54:19 So their minds was divided. 54:22 They were not fully committed. 54:24 They were not following the Lord. 54:27 They were practicing sin along the way, 54:30 but the good works they did, 54:32 did nothing for their salvation, 54:35 because they had a divided heart. 54:38 So now we must turn 54:40 to Colossians Chapter 1. 54:45 We may have to continue this study another day. 54:48 Because there's more to cover 54:50 and the time does not permit us. 54:52 Colossians, Colossians Chapter 1 54:57 and we're going to read verses 19 to 23. 55:00 If you have found it, can you say amen? 55:04 Amen. Here we go ready? 55:05 19, and not holding the Head, 55:08 from which all the body by joints... 55:11 Am I in the right place? 55:13 No, I'm not. I'm in chapter 2. 55:15 Sorry about that. 55:16 Here we go. 55:18 Verse 19, 55:20 "For it pleased the Father 55:22 that in him should all fullness dwell, 55:24 and having made peace through the blood of His cross, 55:27 by Him to reconcile all things to Himself. 55:31 By Him, I say, whether they be things 55:33 on earth or things in heaven 55:35 and you that were sometimes alienated 55:37 and enemies in your mind by wicked works, 55:40 yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh, 55:44 through death, to present you," how? 55:47 "Holy and unblamable 55:49 and unreprovable in His sight." 55:54 How can you do that? 55:55 Notice a condition presented in verse 23. 55:59 "If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, 56:05 and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, 56:08 which you have heard and which was preached 56:11 to every creature which is under heaven, 56:13 where of I, Paul, am made a minister." 56:17 So you see, 56:19 Jesus Christ reconciled us through His death. 56:25 But the process of sanctification 56:27 continues in us, 56:28 and it is through his life living in us 56:32 and more than that, 56:33 his ministry in the sanctuary in heaven, 56:37 that continues the process of salvation, 56:39 perhaps we can read one scripture 56:41 that will help us with that, Romans 5:10. 56:46 And so, because we're not going to be able to complete this, 56:49 we're going to read this scripture 56:51 and tell you to be continued. 56:54 Romans 5:10. 56:56 There's much more to talk about, 56:59 but we must read verse 10, 57:00 notice the scripture here, 57:02 "For if, when we were enemies, 57:05 we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, 57:09 much more, being reconciled, 57:12 we shall be saved by His," what? 57:15 "Life." 57:16 Notice, it says, 57:18 reconciled to God by the death of his son, 57:21 past tense, 57:22 much more being reconciled, past tense, 57:24 we shall be saved by his life, future tense. 57:28 There's something that was of great importance 57:32 with the resurrection of Christ 57:33 and the ministry that He continued thereafter. 57:36 And that is, 57:38 His life of ministry in the sanctuary in heaven 57:40 as our high priest, 57:42 so we shall be saved by His life. 57:45 And so I will say to you this study 57:47 is to be continued perhaps at another time, 57:49 but remember that Jesus Christ died for your sin. 57:52 He has reconciled you to Himself, 57:55 accept this gift of salvation, be reconciled to God, 57:59 cooperate with Him and walk with Him 58:01 and He will take you to heaven. 58:03 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-07-12