How Do I Humble Myself?

Introduction:

That Can Happen to Me: Reality Check About God's People and Disqualification. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

  1. Taking God's BLESSINGS for Granted: That Can Happen to Me. (1 Cor 10:1-6)

  2. Falling into SIN: That Can Happen to Me. (1 Cor 10:7-10)

    1. IDOLATRY. (1 Cor 10:7)

    2. IMMORALITY. (1 Cor 10:8)

    3. TESTING God. (1 Cor 10:9)

    4. COMPLAINING. (1 Cor 10:10)

  3. Claiming God's PROMISES When Tempted: That Must Happen By Me. (1 Cor 10:11-13)

    God's Promises When You're Tempted (1 Cor 10:13)

    1. COMMON. (1 Cor 10:13a)

    2. BEARABLE. (1 Cor 10:13b)

    3. AVOIDABLE. (1 Cor 10:13c)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Questions and Answers: How Do I Humble Myself?
Jeff Miller
  • 00:36-00:41

    Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Corinthians 10.

    00:43-00:46

    While you're turning there, let's just pause.

    00:46-00:53

    Please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately.

    00:54-01:00

    I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what the Lord is teaching.

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    Because as usual, There's something here for each of us.

    01:07-01:08

    Let's pray.

    01:10-01:21

    When all of God's people said, "Amen, we'll try next week." "That won't happen to me." Did you ever say that?

    01:23-01:23

    Did you ever say that?

    01:23-01:27

    "That won't happen to me." Do you know who says that?

    01:29-01:33

    Well, I think everybody, but do you know who most often says that?

    01:34-01:38

    in their teenage years and in their 20s.

    01:39-01:40

    That won't happen to me.

    01:42-01:43

    Right?

    01:44-02:01

    You're out somewhere and you see some little kid disrespecting their parents, and you're like, "When I have kids, that won't happen to me." And then you have kids.

    02:04-02:14

    Or, you see kids all glued to their screens, their iPads and their iPhones and all that, and you're like, "Look at that.

    02:16-02:17

    Those parents have their kid addicted to screens.

    02:17-02:36

    That won't happen to me." And then you have kids, and you're like, "Can't you just go play the iPad for a few hours?" "That won't happen to me." I think we've all said that in considering maybe some of the things that our parents have said.

    02:37-02:50

    I think back to when I was a teenager, hearing some of the things my dad would say, I'm like, "That won't happen to me." And now I find myself, even just the other day, "Who left the lights on?

    02:50-02:56

    "I don't work for Wes Penn." That won't happen to me.

    02:57-02:58

    You know what the biggest one though was for me?

    02:58-03:09

    I know this might sound dumb, but, As a much younger man, I see these people get married and have kids and then they get the minivan.

    03:10-03:12

    And I'm like, "That won't happen to me.

    03:15-03:16

    We've had too many vans.

    03:18-03:20

    That won't happen to me." You ever said that?

    03:22-03:22

    Have you ever said that?

    03:22-03:29

    "That won't happen to me." Well, before we look at this passage, just back up a verse.

    03:31-03:49

    Chapter 9, verse 27, Paul's given this sports athlete analogy, and he says, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." What's he talking about?

    03:49-03:59

    This whole section that we've been in these past few weeks, this Q&A section, the issue is should a Christian eat meat sacrificed to an idol?

    03:59-04:03

    And that turned into a whole discussion about your witness.

    04:03-04:04

    Like I don't want to offend.

    04:05-04:13

    And then he started talking about disciplining yourself so that you don't get disqualified.

    04:14-04:15

    He's talking about his witness.

    04:16-04:25

    Like I want to reach lost people, and if I'm disqualified, if there is sin in my life, I've shot my testimony.

    04:26-04:28

    He's not talking about losing your salvation.

    04:29-04:34

    He's talking about losing the opportunity to be used by God.

    04:34-04:35

    That's what he's talking about.

    04:35-04:38

    He's talking about your witness, your testimony.

    04:39-05:02

    And he says, "Last, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." And of course, people can read that in the Corinthians day and in our day and say things like, "Well, maybe you have something to worry about." But that won't happen to me.

    05:04-05:05

    That won't happen to me.

    05:08-05:10

    A lot of Christians have said that.

    05:12-05:21

    They see the sin of others and think, "That won't happen to me." And it did, right?

    05:22-05:45

    How many Christians have we seen who have ruined their testimony, maybe because it's been found out that they are guilty of some kind of abuse toward a spouse, toward a child, or it comes out that there's some kind of addiction that they've been keeping hidden for years.

    05:47-05:48

    That won't happen to me.

    05:51-05:52

    How about pastors?

    05:52-05:54

    How many pastors have we seen disqualified?

    05:55-05:56

    No longer usable.

    05:58-05:59

    They've ruined their testimony.

    05:59-06:04

    How many times have we seen that with affairs, with embezzlement?

    06:06-06:07

    That won't happen to me.

    06:09-06:13

    Well this section that we're looking at today is a warning to God's people.

    06:14-06:15

    And here's the warning.

    06:15-06:20

    Being blessed by God can make you think that you're above failing.

    06:23-06:54

    When you know God, when you're walking with God, when you're experiencing the blessing knowing God, the danger is you can get to the point where you say, "That won't happen to me." And the key to all of this is verse 12. Jump down there for a second. Chapter 10 verse 12, he says, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall.

    06:58-07:10

    So are you telling me that you think that people who have been so blessed by God, who have been so used by God in such powerful ways, you think they couldn't possibly fail?

    07:12-07:22

    You think God's people, even God's people, you think there's no way that they could be disqualified from being usable to God.

    07:27-07:29

    Well, let me tell you about Israel.

    07:32-07:33

    That's where Paul goes.

    07:33-07:43

    If you're jotting things down in your outline, the heading, "That can't happen to me." So this is a reality check, church.

    07:43-07:48

    This is a reality check about God's people and disqualification.

    07:50-07:51

    That can't happen to me.

    07:51-07:57

    Number one, right, just taking God's blessings for granted, that can happen to me.

    08:00-08:07

    Now Paul here is going into this illustration from Israel from Old Testament times.

    08:08-08:13

    And he's talking about Israel when they were going from Egypt to Canaan.

    08:16-08:26

    And if you're familiar with that story at all, you know that they were blessed incredibly.

    08:28-08:37

    They saw God's hand at work in their lives, in their nation, every step of the way.

    08:39-08:39

    Right?

    08:40-08:41

    They were so blessed.

    08:42-08:43

    Like, how?

    08:43-08:45

    Well, look at chapter 10, verse 1.

    08:46-08:54

    Paul says, "For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud." Stop there.

    08:54-08:58

    That's the first blessing that they experienced.

    08:58-08:59

    They were led by God.

    09:00-09:03

    This cloud - we're not going to look up all these passages.

    09:03-09:05

    We'll be here until Thanksgiving.

    09:07-09:11

    But Paul here is giving sort of a paraphrase of the history.

    09:12-09:13

    But you can jot them down.

    09:13-09:14

    You can look them up later.

    09:15-09:16

    What's the cloud? Exodus 13.

    09:17-09:20

    The Bible says this is how they were led.

    09:20-09:23

    By day, it was a pillar of cloud.

    09:24-09:26

    By night, it was a pillar of fire.

    09:26-09:27

    That's how Israel was led.

    09:28-09:32

    You realize, not one of the Israelites could have ever said they never saw God.

    09:33-09:37

    He was right in front of them every single step of the way, right?

    09:37-09:38

    So they were led by God.

    09:38-09:41

    Secondly, Paul says they were delivered by God.

    09:42-09:43

    Look at the rest of verse 1.

    09:44-09:52

    He says, "And all passed through the sea." You probably could guess what that is, right?

    09:52-10:00

    Exodus 14, God basically led Israel to a dead end.

    10:00-10:02

    He led them to a dead end.

    10:03-10:05

    And now there's the sea.

    10:05-10:07

    Here comes the Egyptians after them.

    10:07-10:09

    They're like, "We are doomed." Do you remember what happened?

    10:10-10:12

    God parted the waters, so they walked through.

    10:12-10:14

    The Egyptians followed them.

    10:14-10:16

    God closed the waters, drowned the entire army.

    10:19-10:20

    That's what He's talking about here.

    10:21-10:25

    So not only could none of them say, "Well, I never saw God." They did.

    10:26-10:30

    Not one of them could say they never experienced God's power to save.

    10:32-10:33

    They were all delivered by God.

    10:35-10:39

    Thirdly, they were given a great leader by God.

    10:40-10:40

    Look at verse 2.

    10:44-10:56

    He says, "And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Baptized into Moses - that's just talking about their identification with Moses as a leader.

    10:57-11:00

    I mean, you think you have a great leader.

    11:02-11:11

    Well, they had, who is in my opinion, the greatest human in the Old Testament, Moses.

    11:11-11:13

    I don't think there's anybody greater than Moses.

    11:13-11:14

    He was their pastor.

    11:16-11:16

    Awesome.

    11:18-11:19

    Given to them by God.

    11:20-11:22

    All right, they were also provided for by God.

    11:22-11:24

    Look at verses 3 and 4.

    11:26-11:42

    It says, "And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." They were provided for by God.

    11:42-11:43

    How did they eat?

    11:44-11:44

    Manna.

    11:45-11:47

    It was food that God just put on the ground.

    11:47-11:55

    They gathered it up every day, except the Sabbath, but God just put this perfect food for them on the ground.

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    And He gave them water from a rock.

    12:00-12:03

    God handed them everything they needed.

    12:03-12:17

    By the way, when it says, "The rock was Christ that followed them around," Paul is telling is that somehow, these provisions that Israel received literally came through Jesus.

    12:17-12:22

    Paul is saying Jesus Christ was literally with them every step of the way.

    12:25-12:30

    But you notice in these first four verses the word "all." He says it five times.

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    All.

    12:30-12:31

    All.

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    All.

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    Five times.

    12:34-12:40

    Every single Israelite experienced God's presence and His provision.

    12:41-12:41

    Alright?

    12:42-12:58

    He says in verse 5, "Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness." With most of them, God was not pleased.

    13:00-13:05

    Most scholars estimate there was about two million Israelites in the Exodus.

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    Most of them God was not pleased.

    13:08-13:11

    There were, do you know how many there were that God was pleased with?

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    Two, Joshua and Caleb.

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    I did the math on that.

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    Two people out of two million, do you know what that is?

    13:22-13:30

    That's 0.00001% of the people God was pleased with.

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    All the rest.

    13:35-13:36

    The rest, Paul would say most of them.

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    They were disqualified.

    13:43-13:51

    God's like, "You're not usable to Me because you refuse to be faithful." They were disqualified to death.

    13:53-14:00

    So Paul's point here in these first five verses is just simply this, Old Testament Israel, They saw all they saw.

    14:00-14:06

    They experienced all they experienced, and they got disqualified.

    14:09-14:09

    So what's the point?

    14:10-14:11

    That was like thousands of years ago.

    14:13-14:14

    Why are you telling us this?

    14:16-14:34

    Verse 6, he says, "Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did." So this is an example for who?

    14:36-14:37

    It's an example for who?

    14:38-14:49

    It's an example for us, because those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right?

    14:53-15:12

    made everything they saw. Everything they saw. Like, what was the problem? It tells us right here what the problem is. They desired evil. That's the problem. They desired evil.

    15:12-15:23

    See, the problem was God was with them, but their hearts weren't with God. And Paul says Hey, He's talking to us, church.

    15:25-15:27

    Their story is our story.

    15:27-15:29

    You know those provisions we just listed?

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    Can we say the same?

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    I would argue we can say God's provision for us has been greater than God's provision for Old Testament Israel.

    15:41-15:42

    Here's what I mean.

    15:43-15:47

    We just said they were led by God, right?

    15:47-15:48

    Are we led by God?

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    Much greater than a cloud and fire, as awesome as that was.

    15:54-15:56

    You realize how God leads us?

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    He put His Spirit in us, and He put His wisdom down in this book so that we can have guidance directly from God Himself.

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    Wow.

    16:11-16:13

    Have we been delivered by God?

    16:15-16:16

    If you know Jesus Christ, you have.

    16:17-16:24

    And again, as awesome as the Red Sea had to have been, do you realize your deliverance was so much greater?

    16:25-16:39

    That because of your sin, you were heading to hell, and God sent His Son to die in your place to bear the wrath of God on Himself while He suffered on the cross, and then to raise from the dead so that we can have eternal life.

    16:40-16:41

    We have been delivered.

    16:46-16:47

    We've been given great leaders.

    16:49-16:53

    I couldn't possibly overstate the greatness of the elders that lead this church.

    16:57-17:00

    We have been blessed with great leaders in this church.

    17:03-17:04

    All of our needs have been met.

    17:07-17:09

    So much more than manna and water from a rock.

    17:09-17:12

    You have so much more than any of these Israelites ever had.

    17:14-17:14

    Right?

    17:18-17:20

    We have the same problem, don't we?

    17:21-17:22

    We have the same problem.

    17:22-17:24

    We - what do you say?

    17:25-17:25

    desire evil.

    17:30-17:39

    Even as redeemed people, those of you who know Christ, even the redeemed, we live in in this fallen flesh.

    17:41-17:44

    And this fallen flesh still hungers for sin.

    17:46-17:49

    That's why we've been talking about self-control.

    17:50-17:59

    And I remember as a young Christian, I prayed so often that God would remove any desire from me for sin.

    17:59-18:01

    I prayed that so many times as a young Christian.

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    And then as I grew in my faith, I realized that's just not how it works.

    18:07-18:11

    Because as long as you live in the flesh, you're gonna have a desire for sin.

    18:12-18:17

    Instead, what I needed to pray for and what I continue to pray for until today is self-control.

    18:18-18:19

    That is a fruit of the Spirit.

    18:19-18:20

    That's how God works.

    18:20-18:21

    That's what he's commanded us to.

    18:25-18:30

    So Israel failed to get their hearts devoted to God.

    18:32-18:33

    That's the moral of that story.

    18:34-18:45

    "How are you doing? How are we doing, church?" You're like, "Well, how did Israel fail?" Well, let's get specific, shall we?

    18:46-18:49

    That takes us to number two, "I'm falling into sin.

    18:51-18:56

    That can happen to me." First, they took God's blessings for granted, as we do.

    18:57-19:01

    Secondly, falling into sin, that can happen to me.

    19:02-19:05

    Sin hasn't changed, you know that.

    19:06-19:15

    And these blessed people under Moses fell into the same sins that we can fall into.

    19:16-19:16

    It's the same.

    19:18-19:20

    Specifically, jot these down.

    19:20-19:21

    We're gonna go through these quickly.

    19:22-19:27

    Pastor Taylor's gonna be unpacking some of these on the series in July.

    19:29-19:31

    Letter A, idolatry.

    19:35-19:37

    The sins they fell into that we can fall into.

    19:37-19:38

    Idolatry, look at verse seven.

    19:39-19:42

    He says, "Do not be idolaters as some of them were.

    19:43-19:53

    "As it is written, "if people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." Idolatry.

    19:53-19:54

    We've talked about this.

    19:54-19:56

    It was a big issue in Corinth, wasn't it?

    19:57-19:59

    And it was a big issue in Israel.

    20:02-20:05

    Now here he's speaking specifically of the golden calf incident.

    20:05-20:06

    Are you familiar with that?

    20:07-20:09

    If not, just jot down Exodus 32.

    20:09-20:11

    You can go back and read this later.

    20:11-20:15

    But what was happening was Moses was up talking to God.

    20:17-20:20

    Moses was in like the ultimate business meeting with God.

    20:20-20:22

    God was giving Moses the 10 commandments.

    20:23-20:26

    And what were the people doing while Moses was talking to God?

    20:26-20:34

    praying for Moses, fasting, excitedly seeking the Lord, you know, wondering what is God going to do for Moses?

    20:35-20:41

    You read your Bibles, what you see is instead, Israel just got tired of waiting.

    20:44-20:45

    We don't know what happened to Moses.

    20:45-20:54

    So they go to his brother Aaron, and they're like, "Can you make us like a God that'll go before us?" Golden calf.

    20:56-21:00

    And the point is this, idolatry, you're going to worship something.

    21:02-21:16

    And if it's not the living God, if you're not worshipping the living God, if Jesus Christ is not everything to you, something else is going to get your attention and your affection.

    21:18-21:20

    Idolatry, look, that can happen to me.

    21:22-21:23

    That can happen to me.

    21:23-21:28

    I can take my eyes off of Christ, and all of a sudden, something much lesser is so much more important.

    21:29-21:30

    That can happen to me.

    21:32-21:37

    By the way, it says they sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.

    21:41-21:45

    To play, that doesn't mean shoots and ladders, okay?

    21:46-21:47

    That leads us actually to letter B.

    21:47-21:48

    Write this down, immorality.

    21:50-21:50

    Immorality.

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    Sexual immorality bleeds right into this.

    21:56-22:08

    He says, "We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in a single day." That's Numbers 25.

    22:09-22:10

    You can read that.

    22:11-22:18

    Israel saw the daughters of Moab and went hubba hubba.

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    God sent a plague that killed 23,000 people.

    22:26-22:29

    Israel disqualifies from usefulness, disqualified to death.

    22:30-22:36

    And we've talked so much these past few weeks about sexual immorality, but here it is again, it comes up again.

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    Look, it's gonna disqualify you.

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    If you choose to engage in sexual immorality, unrepentant, you're gonna be disqualified.

    22:52-22:53

    That can happen to me.

    22:55-22:56

    That can happen to me.

    22:58-22:59

    Idolatry can happen to me.

    22:59-23:01

    Immorality, that can happen to me.

    23:02-23:03

    Letter C, testing God.

    23:04-23:06

    Testing God, look at verse nine.

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    He says, "We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents." Testing God, right down on Numbers 21.

    23:19-23:29

    Numbers 21, Israel spoke against God and Moses, the Bible says, "You brought us here to die." Right, was that your plan, Moses?

    23:29-23:31

    You brought us out of Egypt to die.

    23:31-23:33

    Moses is like, "Yeah, that was my plan.

    23:34-23:36

    You caught me." Sarcasm.

    23:38-23:41

    They said, "You brought us out here to die, Moses.

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    You brought us out here." They said, "There's no food.

    23:45-23:45

    There's no drink.

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    All we have is this worthless manna." They said that.

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    Can we just pause for a second and acknowledge how horrific that statement is?

    23:59-24:00

    Worthless manna?

    24:01-24:02

    Worthless manna?

    24:02-24:06

    Do you mean the supernatural food that God provided for you every day?

    24:07-24:08

    That worthless manna?

    24:08-24:16

    Do you mean the stuff that all you have to do is bend over and pick it up and stick it in your mouth?

    24:16-24:18

    You mean that worthless manna?

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    Oh, and by the way, manna was the perfect food.

    24:23-24:25

    It was absolutely perfect.

    24:27-24:27

    How do you know?

    24:28-24:28

    Did you have any?

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    No, I didn't have any.

    24:29-24:30

    Not today.

    24:33-24:40

    But you know, in the Old Testament it talks about how their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

    24:40-24:41

    You ever see that in there?

    24:41-24:51

    Like, "Well, their feet didn't swell, what's that mean?" There's a disease called beriberi that's a result of malnutrition, and it makes your feet swell.

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    And what the Bible's telling us is this food was perfectly nutritious, so they were not malnourished.

    24:59-25:01

    Banana was perfect food.

    25:02-25:28

    And Israel gets in God's face and says, "All we got is this worthless stuff that you gave us." Well, God sent serpents, serpents that bit many of the people died, and that's when God told Moses to make the bronze serpent on the pole look to this, "You will live." Jesus said that was a picture of Himself lifted up when you look to Him.

    25:29-25:30

    You'll be saved.

    25:33-25:34

    Testing God though, testing God.

    25:35-25:36

    What's it mean to test God?

    25:37-25:43

    It's when you have this hard attitude towards God where you say, "God, why did you do this?

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    Why did you do this, God?

    25:46-25:51

    God, you don't love me because God, if you loved me, this wouldn't be happening to me.

    25:52-25:54

    God, what have you done for me lately?

    25:55-26:24

    Or God, you need to prove yourself to me." testing God. That can happen to me. That can happen to me. How much irreverence do you think God tolerates? How much? I would say, let's not find out. But I imagine it's not Not too much.

    26:24-26:31

    When your attitude is constantly accusing God, testing God, he says don't do that.

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    Letter D - complaining.

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    Complaining.

    26:38-26:45

    Verse 10, he says, "Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer." Complaining.

    26:45-26:50

    Literally, it's expressing unwarranted dissatisfaction.

    26:51-26:54

    expressing unwarranted dissatisfaction.

    26:54-26:55

    That's what complaining is.

    26:56-27:00

    That's what this literally is talking about in this passage.

    27:00-27:03

    You're like, when did the Israelites complain?

    27:03-27:04

    When did they ever complain?

    27:10-27:14

    If you're looking for some examples, numbers 11, numbers 14, numbers 16.

    27:16-27:19

    Complaining though, you're like, complaining really?

    27:19-27:21

    How did that make the list?

    27:22-27:26

    I mean, everyone does it.

    27:27-27:27

    Right?

    27:28-27:30

    I mean, everybody complains now and then.

    27:30-27:34

    I mean, is complaining really that big of a deal?

    27:36-27:40

    Well, apparently to God, it is.

    27:43-27:48

    Because the Bible says were destroyed by the destroyer.

    27:48-27:50

    Look up those passages.

    27:50-27:51

    Read the book of Numbers.

    27:51-27:55

    You'll see so often when there was complaining, do you know how God responded?

    27:57-28:00

    Fire, swallowing people by the earth, sending plagues.

    28:01-28:05

    God is not a fan of complaining at all.

    28:06-28:10

    He takes complaining very seriously.

    28:13-28:21

    You're like, "What's the big deal?" Well, just imagine you take your kid to Disney World.

    28:22-28:27

    If you don't have a kid, just imagine you've got a niece or a nephew, or you take a kid to Disney World.

    28:29-28:30

    And you're like, "You know what?

    28:32-28:33

    You can have whatever you want.

    28:34-28:40

    You get them the Fast Pass, they ride all the rides, they get the mouse ears, right?

    28:40-28:43

    and everything they want.

    28:46-29:04

    And then partway through the day, as you've provided everything, you just kind of lean down and you say, "So how do you like Disney World?" And they say, "Disney World stinks!" Like, what's the matter?

    29:04-29:08

    They're like, "I wanted curly fries, They were straight fries.

    29:11-29:12

    How would you react to that?

    29:14-29:15

    Not good.

    29:17-29:18

    Are you kidding me?

    29:19-29:20

    And see, that was Israel's story.

    29:21-29:49

    God was handing them everything, and they're like, "We don't like man anymore." We can point the finger, but that is so me, and that is so you, that God showers millions of blessings on us every day, and we have the audacity to complain about the two or three things in our lives that we don't prefer.

    29:51-29:52

    That can happen to me.

    29:54-29:59

    So idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God, complaining.

    29:59-30:00

    Well, sin hasn't changed.

    30:03-30:05

    People haven't either, right?

    30:06-30:06

    Can happen to me.

    30:08-30:08

    Can happen to me.

    30:11-30:14

    It's a reality check about God's people and disqualification.

    30:16-30:20

    Taking God's blessings for granted, that can happen to me.

    30:20-30:22

    Falling into sin, that can happen to me.

    30:24-30:25

    Let's change gears, all right?

    30:26-30:32

    Number three, claiming God's promises when tempted, that must happen by me.

    30:33-30:35

    That must happen by me.

    30:35-30:37

    Claiming God's promises when tempted.

    30:38-30:39

    Look at verse 11.

    30:39-30:53

    He says, "Now these things happened to them as an example, "but they were written down for our instruction "on whom the end of the ages has come." End of the ages, he just means we live in the last days.

    30:53-30:54

    That's all that means.

    30:54-31:03

    "Ever since Christ ascended, until He returns, we're living in the last days." That's an example for the Corinthian church, and we're in the same days as them.

    31:04-31:06

    But notice again, this is an example.

    31:06-31:07

    He said it in verse 6.

    31:07-31:09

    This is an example to instruct us.

    31:10-31:13

    Okay, verse 12, the key verse in all of this.

    31:14-31:23

    He says, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall." It's a warning.

    31:24-31:26

    This whole passage is a warning against pride.

    31:29-31:30

    You think you stand.

    31:30-31:31

    You think you stand.

    31:32-31:37

    You think sin is something that affects other people.

    31:37-31:43

    You think getting disqualified from ministry and being usable by God, that only happens to others.

    31:44-31:46

    That won't happen to me.

    31:48-31:50

    And Paul says, "You better humble yourself here.

    31:52-33:03

    think you stand, you think you're on a different level, you better humble yourself because it absolutely can happen to you. It can. It is a scary thing, church, but do you realize you are, each of you, each of you are one bad decision away from ruining your life. Do you know that? You are one bad decision from wrecking your family. You are one bad day away from destroying your testimony. Do you realize that? You're like, "Well, I don't want to be disqualified." Great, because here's the encouragement. This is where Paul lands. It doesn't have to happen to you. It doesn't have to. Because look at verse 13. He says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

    33:03-33:11

    But with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to to endure it.

    33:14-33:28

    We pray as our Lord taught us, rightly we pray, lead us not into temptation, but there will be times temptation shows up at your door.

    33:32-33:34

    So here's God's promises when you're tempted.

    33:35-33:35

    Alright?

    33:37-33:48

    I was going to give you like the ABCs of it, after studying through this, it's CBA. It's CBA. That's just how it is, right?

    33:49-33:56

    CBA. Remember God's promises when you're tempted. The first one, "C" is for common.

    33:57-34:37

    Common. Did you see that? Look at verse 13 again. He says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." That's the first promise from God. Look, When you're struggling in a sin, any kind of sin, whatever it is, whether it is sexual, whether it's with your mouth, whether it's coarse joking or gossip or fits of rage or whatever sin you struggle with, Satan loves to come along and lie to you and convince you you're the only one. You know this problem you have? You know in the history of mankind you're the only person ever had that problem.

    34:40-34:42

    And you're like, "I am a sin freak.

    34:43-34:48

    I'm doing something that nobody in the history of mankind has ever done." That is a lie.

    34:49-34:54

    The thing that you're dealing with has been dealt with by countless other people.

    34:56-34:58

    You are not the only one.

    34:59-35:00

    You're not the only one.

    35:00-35:04

    And you're like, "Well, why is this happening to me?" Do you know why it's happening to you?

    35:04-35:05

    It's just your turn.

    35:09-35:10

    It's common.

    35:12-35:18

    You have never, you will never face anything that hasn't been faced by countless others before you.

    35:18-35:19

    And that's encouraging.

    35:20-35:21

    That's encouraging.

    35:23-35:27

    That when you're faced with temptation, you can say, "Oh, this temptation, it's nothing new.

    35:27-35:31

    "Others have resisted, I can too." Right?

    35:31-35:32

    So it's common.

    35:32-35:34

    I'll let it be as forbearable.

    35:36-35:37

    Be as forbearable.

    35:40-35:57

    Look at the middle part of verse 13, he says, "God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability." By the way, this is the most misquoted verse in the Bible, I think.

    35:59-36:17

    How many times you're going through struggling of some kind, you're suffering, you're going through some kind of trial, the storms, you're going through the storms of life and somebody comes along and says, "Well, you know, the Bible says God won't give you any more than you can handle." And that's just not at all what this says.

    36:19-36:20

    It's just not.

    36:21-36:28

    Actually, I think God will give you way more than you can handle so that you learn to depend on His strength and not your own.

    36:29-36:34

    But this verse, three times in this one verse, He says temptation.

    36:34-36:36

    He's talking about temptation.

    36:36-36:39

    He's not talking about suffering and trials and storms and all that.

    36:40-36:41

    He's talking about temptation.

    36:43-36:54

    And the reality is, church, God does not tempt, James 1.13, God does not tempt, but nothing happens to you without God's permission.

    36:56-36:57

    There is nothing that's coming into your life.

    36:58-37:02

    No temptation is coming to you that God doesn't okay first.

    37:04-37:09

    And God has promised that He's not going to allow you to face more than you can handle.

    37:10-37:12

    And this is individualized, by the way.

    37:13-37:14

    He knows.

    37:15-37:15

    God knows.

    37:17-37:20

    No one can say, "You know what?

    37:20-37:21

    I sinned.

    37:21-37:21

    Yes, okay.

    37:21-37:22

    I sinned.

    37:22-37:23

    I'm guilty of sin.

    37:23-37:24

    But you don't understand.

    37:25-37:26

    I sinned because I couldn't help it.

    37:27-37:28

    It was just too much for me.

    37:29-37:32

    God makes sure that it's never too much for you.

    37:32-37:33

    That's the promise.

    37:34-37:35

    He makes sure.

    37:37-37:46

    And this might be a tough pill to swallow, but according to this verse, maybe it's why you don't have more money.

    37:49-37:51

    For some of you, you're like, "You know, I've tried and I've tried.

    37:52-37:53

    Financially, I just can't seem to get ahead.

    37:54-37:59

    Why do I not have more money?" Because God knows that more money would be too much temptation for you.

    37:59-38:02

    I was like, "I don't want him to go there.

    38:02-38:07

    I'm going to make sure that he doesn't." For some of you, you're like, "I don't understand.

    38:07-38:08

    I applied for this job.

    38:08-38:09

    I was a perfect candidate.

    38:10-38:11

    It would have been the perfect job.

    38:12-38:14

    Why didn't I get the job?" I'll tell you why you didn't get the job.

    38:14-38:20

    God knew something was going to happen at that job that was going to be too much temptation for you.

    38:20-38:30

    Whatever that is, God's like, "No, they're not going to be able to handle that, so I'm I'm not going to let them have that job." Maybe for some it's a relationship.

    38:30-38:37

    You're like, "Man, I was so into this person and we just kind of started dating and I really thought it was going to be a long-term thing that worked out.

    38:38-38:46

    Why did it not work out with this person?" Because God knew that there was going to be too much temptation for you there.

    38:47-38:50

    He says, "I'm just...I'm not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.

    38:50-38:57

    I'm not going to do it." And you know, that's encouraging, church, because God knows me better than I do.

    38:59-39:01

    And He's not going to put me in a hopeless situation.

    39:03-39:04

    All right?

    39:04-39:07

    So the CBA is here of temptation, God's promises.

    39:08-39:09

    It's common, it's bearable.

    39:10-39:13

    And letter A, it's avoidable.

    39:14-39:15

    It's avoidable.

    39:15-40:23

    Look at the end of verse 13. He says, "But with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it." God promises that when temptation comes, He's always going to provide a way out. You know, for the person that says, "I had no choice but to sin." I had no choice but to sin. That's that's not actually how we say it. You know how we say it? It's an addiction. And look, I'm not denying that addiction is a real thing. I know addiction absolutely is a real thing, but I think a lot of Christians have just slapped the addiction label on any sin propensity, and all of a sudden now it's not my fault. I can't help it, I have an addiction." Well, maybe the problem isn't you have an addiction, maybe the problem is you chose not to look for the way out that God provided.

    40:26-40:35

    Because if you're like, "Well, I was forced to sin, there was no option, I was just forced to sin," well then you're basically calling God a liar because He's promised that there's there's always going to be a way out.

    40:35-40:40

    He's going to make sure that you're not cornered into some "I must sin" situation.

    40:42-40:44

    There's no excuses.

    40:44-40:46

    There's no one to blame but myself when I sin.

    40:48-40:51

    And I will remind you that temptation isn't sin.

    40:51-40:52

    Jesus was tempted.

    40:53-42:07

    But it is on you to find the way of escape that God has provided so that you can avoid in to the temptation. And that's encouraging. That means I'm never forced to sin. God always provides the way out. "Oh, that won't happen to me. That won't happen to me." Remember blessed, tempted to sin, not exempt from disqualification. And we are just like Israel, but today we have an opportunity to make different choices than many of them did. I just have to ask you, is your reputation worth it? Is your testimony worth it? Is Jesus Christ worth it? Will you bow your heads with me, please?

    42:10-42:13

    Father, we just want to pause and we want to thank you.

    42:16-42:26

    Sometimes we idealize Old Testament Israel, but your word here reminds us that we're just like them.

    42:29-42:51

    Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters here, that we would make better choices, is that we would not lean into the craving for evil that we have, but instead, Father, I pray that we would claim and live the promises that You have given us regarding temptation.

    42:52-43:02

    Father, we thank You that we know there's nothing that we're going to face today that hasn't been faced by countless people before us.

    43:02-43:04

    That's encouraging to us, Father.

    43:04-43:04

    Thank you.

    43:06-43:16

    Father, we thank you that you're making sure that we're not suffocated by temptation, that we're in some kind of a hopeless situation.

    43:16-43:23

    Your word is clear, God, that you have promised that you are not going to allow us to be tempted beyond our ability.

    43:24-43:28

    Thank you, Father, for that individual care that you give for every one of your people.

    43:31-43:33

    God, I thank you that you provide the way of escape.

    43:34-43:36

    I just ask, Father, you give us eyes to see it.

    43:38-43:48

    Yes, we need to avoid situations where we might be tempted, but when we get in those situations, Father, show us very clearly the way out.

    43:50-44:03

    Father, above all, give us humility today, because I'm sure there's gonna be people walking out the door still thinking that it can't possibly happen to them when your word so clearly says otherwise.

    44:04-44:05

    Humble us, Father.

    44:06-44:08

    Give us the faith to humble ourselves.

    44:08-44:10

    We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

    44:39-44:40

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 Corinthians 10:1-13

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. In what ways has the church been blessed as Old Testament Israel was? How can these blessings make us feel exempt from being disqualified (i.e. no longer useable by God)?

  3. What does it mean to “test the Lord”? How can people do that today (1 Cor 10:9)?

  4. Why is complaining (1 Cor 10:10) such a serious sin in the ears of God?

  5. Many people, talking about trials, wrongly quote 1 Cor 10:13 by saying, “God doesn't give you any more than you can handle.” Explain why this statement is wrong when it comes to suffering. What is 1 Cor 10:13 actually saying?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

How Do I Control Myself?

Introduction:

How to Get Self-Controlled: (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

  1. You Must Give Maximum EFFORT. (1 Cor 9:24)

    2 Peter 1:5-6 - For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control...

  2. You Must Be Motivated By the PRIZE. (1 Cor 9:25)

  3. You Must Have a PLAN. (1 Cor 9:26)

    The Plan for Self-Control:

    1. AVOID Situations Where You'll Be Tempted.

    2. ACCOUNTABILITY.

    3. Put OFF / Put ON.

  4. You Must Have a Healthy Fear of Being DISQUALIFIED. (1 Cor 9:27)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Questions and Answers: How Do I Control Myself?
Jeff Miller
  • 00:36-00:41

    Open up those Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians, in chapter 9.

    00:43-00:55

    After a little break from 1 Corinthians to go through our Easter series about the offices of Jesus, Prophet, Priest, and King, we are back in 1 Corinthians.

    00:56-01:05

    Let's get caught up, let's review, for those of us who have been part of it, and for those of you who are visiting with us, of 1 Corinthians so far.

    01:05-01:11

    The first four chapters are about the church being united.

    01:13-01:15

    Paul's like, "You guys have to get it together.

    01:15-01:19

    You've got to stop the faction, stop your little clique, stop the divisiveness.

    01:20-01:32

    You guys have got to get it together." And then, chapters 5 and 6, he talks about the church purified, dealing with sexual sin in the church.

    01:33-01:34

    you guys got to get it together.

    01:35-01:42

    All right, and then when you get to chapter seven and beyond, 1 Corinthians sort of turns into a Q&A session.

    01:43-01:46

    Paul's like, okay, you had some questions for me and I'm gonna answer them.

    01:46-01:55

    And the first issue was about marriage and the issues that go with that singleness, intimacy, all of those things.

    01:55-02:06

    And then this last stretch we've been on before our little break was the issue of Should Christians eat the meat that was sacrificed to idols?

    02:08-02:23

    And that turned into a whole discussion where Paul says the mature believer is willing to lay down his rights or her rights for the sake of winning the lost.

    02:24-02:30

    And that takes us to chapter nine, verse 24, picking up where we left off last time.

    02:30-02:35

    So, I'd like you to just bow your heads and just take a moment and please pray for me.

    02:36-02:44

    To be faithful to clearly communicate the word of God, I'll pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is.

    02:46-02:49

    The Lord has something for each of us in this passage today, all right?

    02:50-02:50

    Let's pray.

    02:52-02:58

    Father in heaven, as we turn to your word today, it's such an ironic concept because we think we're in control.

    03:00-03:07

    But when we insist on doing things our way, we actually aren't in control at all.

    03:10-03:11

    You've commanded us, Father.

    03:11-03:15

    You've empowered us to be self-controlled people.

    03:17-03:40

    And I pray for every single one of us in this room, everyone who's watching the stream, everyone who's going to be downloading the podcast later, everyone who encounters this teaching from your word, Father, every single one of us, please, by the wisdom of your word, by the power of your Spirit, make us different than the world.

    03:43-03:50

    Make us kingdom people who are self-controlled. To your glory and honor, We pray in Jesus' name.

    03:52-03:56

    And all of God's people said, "Amen." Amen.

    03:59-04:03

    When you drive home today, just be careful.

    04:04-04:13

    I'm not sure legally if I'm allowed to say anything, but I have a pastor friend who, driving home from Easter, was crashed into by a door dash driver.

    04:15-04:17

    And I was so confused when he told me.

    04:17-04:25

    I'm like, "I thought they just brought the food to your house." Like, "Ah." But there's a lot of maniacs on the road.

    04:25-04:45

    You're like, "Yeah, I'm one of them." But several years ago, Aaron bought me a tire cover for the back of my Jeep that says, "To God be the glory." And at first I thought, that's just a nice little witnessing tool or something, right?

    04:45-04:49

    but I found that it's had a much different effect than I was expecting.

    04:50-05:18

    That thing has given me a lot of self-control. Aaron's always reminding me in traffic, "Remember what the back of your Jeep says, remember what the back of your Jeep says, do not give that driver a thumbs down, remember what the back of your Jeep says." And the reality is we all need help with self-control, don't we? We You and I, we have an enemy.

    05:20-05:22

    And if you're not careful, this enemy is going to destroy you.

    05:24-05:34

    And your enemy is not some spiteful coworker, not some other student in your school, not some slanderous church member.

    05:34-05:39

    And I'm not even talking about the devil himself.

    05:42-05:45

    Your biggest enemy is you.

    05:48-06:01

    And if we're going to be honest with ourselves, which we certainly encourage, many of your problems ultimately find their root in a lack of self-control.

    06:03-06:06

    I mean, just think about the problems a person can have.

    06:06-06:08

    Think about the problems that you have.

    06:08-06:13

    How much of it comes from just a complete lack of self-control, right?

    06:13-06:15

    People dealing with issues of lust.

    06:16-06:17

    It's a lack of self-control.

    06:18-06:21

    People dealing with anger issues, fits of rage.

    06:22-06:22

    What do they say?

    06:22-06:25

    "I just lost control." Right.

    06:26-06:28

    People dealing with addiction issues.

    06:29-06:33

    Zero self-control, whether it's a chemical or a drink or food.

    06:35-06:36

    Lack of self-control.

    06:36-06:37

    For some people, it's spending.

    06:39-06:40

    They just spend out of control.

    06:41-06:44

    There's no budget, there's no discipline, there's no self-control.

    06:47-06:49

    For some of you, it's your words.

    06:50-07:01

    Like, man, I just, I say things and I joke about things, I'm determined I'm not gonna do that, and then I just kinda go with it and I don't have any self-control.

    07:03-07:06

    But church, God's word is absolutely clear on this.

    07:07-07:13

    Your walk with Christ is to be on a path of self-control.

    07:15-07:19

    Self-control is going to affect every single area of your life.

    07:21-07:25

    Do you want to feel like you're walking in victory with Christ?

    07:28-07:30

    It's a path of self-control.

    07:32-07:34

    Lack of self-control can affect your physical health.

    07:36-07:39

    Lack of self-control can affect your mental health.

    07:40-07:46

    How many people dealing with depression, at the very base of it is, they lack self-control.

    07:50-07:54

    Lack of self-control can affect your witness for Christ.

    07:55-08:01

    So in this passage we're looking at today, Paul is going to show us how to grow in spiritual self-control.

    08:02-08:06

    And Paul says you need to learn principles from an athlete.

    08:07-08:17

    And they tell you, you know, when you're in preaching class, you don't always want to go to a sports illustration in your sermon.

    08:17-08:21

    And Paul didn't get the memo about no sports illustrations because that's where he went.

    08:22-08:28

    So this illustration we're going to look at is a familiar analogy to the Corinthians.

    08:29-08:32

    They were a sports-dominated culture.

    08:34-08:34

    Sound familiar?

    08:36-08:38

    They had the It's Me In Games.

    08:39-08:43

    It was every two or three years, depending on who you read.

    08:44-08:45

    But they were like the Olympics.

    08:47-08:49

    And I found this fascinating.

    08:49-09:01

    The athletes in these games had to take an oath that they were going to train for ten months, including abstaining from eating anything unhealthy.

    09:02-09:02

    Okay?

    09:03-09:35

    Funyuns for 10 months. These people were dedicated. But it was even harder than that because the last 30 days before the event, they were required to be in the gym every single day. And the winner of the event got a pine wreath. Alright, with that as a background, let's look at what Paul says, we're going to read all of it and then go back, pick up some principles.

    09:36-09:37

    That is a background.

    09:37-09:39

    They knew what he was talking about here.

    09:39-09:52

    He says in verse 24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

    09:53-09:55

    So run that you may obtain it.

    09:57-10:02

    Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

    10:04-10:11

    They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable.

    10:13-10:15

    So I do not run aimlessly.

    10:15-10:26

    I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.

    10:28-10:30

    It's obvious Paul's point here, right?

    10:30-10:33

    He says our life is like a race.

    10:34-10:41

    And we need to run our race in such a way that we are useful to God.

    10:43-10:48

    And to do that, Paul makes it very clear, we must be self-controlled.

    10:48-10:53

    We have to be willing to give up anything that's going to hinder our race.

    10:55-11:03

    So using this race metaphor, God gives us principles for self-control.

    11:03-11:07

    So if you're taking notes on your outline, I certainly encourage you to do that.

    11:08-11:11

    Just very simply, here's the point.

    11:11-11:12

    This is how to get self-controlled.

    11:13-11:18

    Number one, you must give maximum effort.

    11:21-11:25

    You must give maximum effort.

    11:25-11:26

    Look at verse 24 again.

    11:27-11:39

    He says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?" Here it is.

    11:40-12:09

    run, that you may obtain it." Now their race only had one winner. But this prize he's talking about in this passage is open to everyone because it's your own race. Listen, in this race you're not competing with anyone but yourselves. You're like, "What's this prize he's talking about? Only one receives a prize. I knew what it was for the athletes, but how How does this analogy translate spiritually?

    12:10-12:12

    What prize is he talking about here?

    12:16-12:19

    You know, when you read the Bible, you have to read it in context.

    12:20-12:30

    You know, too many people just pull a passage out and kind of run with it, but he's keeping the same train of thought going throughout this whole section.

    12:32-12:33

    What is the prize?

    12:34-12:39

    Well, in the previous section, he talked about being all things to all people.

    12:41-12:43

    Why? Why, Paul?

    12:44-12:47

    If you recall, he said he wants to win people.

    12:48-12:49

    Win people.

    12:50-12:51

    He said it five times.

    12:52-12:54

    Verse 19, verse 20, verse 21, verse 22.

    12:54-12:58

    Paul's like the Jews, those under the law, those outside the law, the weak.

    12:58-13:00

    I want to win lost people.

    13:00-13:03

    That's the prize in view here.

    13:03-13:13

    You see, the prize he's not talking specifically here about salvation, or heaven, or some believers' heavenly rewards specifically.

    13:13-13:15

    All of those are prizes for sure.

    13:15-13:18

    But specifically in this context, he's talking about people.

    13:20-13:23

    Specifically here, he's talking about winning lost people with the gospel.

    13:24-13:34

    You see, this flows from the thought of the previous passage where he says, "Holding on to your rights can make you lose your opportunity to share the gospel and win people.

    13:38-13:41

    So what's his point here with this analogy, with this illustration?

    13:42-13:43

    This is the whole point.

    13:46-13:52

    If you're concerned about winning the lost, listen, church, you have lost your audience.

    13:54-13:55

    You have ruined your opportunity to share.

    13:56-14:04

    You have shot yourself in the foot when you're trying to win someone to Christ, but they don't see Christ in you.

    14:10-14:15

    You see, if somebody looks at your life, somebody that you're trying to win to Christ, they look at your life and they see sin.

    14:16-14:18

    They see hypocrisy.

    14:18-14:22

    And you're telling them that they need Jesus like you need Jesus.

    14:22-14:26

    They're thinking, well, Jesus didn't seem do you any good.

    14:27-14:32

    You know, all your church, and all your Bible studies, and all your Sunday school didn't seem to help you at all.

    14:33-14:35

    So why would I be interested in that?

    14:39-14:46

    That's why Paul says, "Run that you may obtain the prize." Run that you may obtain the prize.

    14:46-14:48

    You're like, well, that's obvious, right?

    14:49-14:51

    I mean, you run like you're trying to win.

    14:55-14:58

    He's talking about putting forth the effort.

    15:01-15:03

    Isn't this kind of a no-brainer?

    15:03-15:08

    I mean, what athlete would show up and not try to win?

    15:08-15:13

    Who shows up to the event and puts no effort into it?

    15:19-15:19

    a lot of people.

    15:23-15:24

    Here's what I mean.

    15:25-15:51

    For example, Christian men say, "I'm struggling with looking at things on the computer that I shouldn't look at." And I've dealt with a lot of this over the years where men come to me and they're like, "I'm struggling with that!" And I'm like, "Okay, well, tell me about your struggle." Well, I do it every day.

    15:52-15:53

    Like, that's not a struggle.

    15:54-15:55

    You know what struggle implies?

    15:57-16:01

    Struggle implies that there is some effort going on to deal with it.

    16:01-16:07

    But to just sort of roll over and give yourself to some besetting sin, and be like, well, it's a struggle.

    16:07-16:08

    You're not struggling.

    16:13-16:23

    Just doing it in no way suggests there's any effort for self-control with any besetting sin.

    16:24-16:24

    Not just that one.

    16:26-16:27

    And that's what Paul's saying here.

    16:27-16:28

    This is where it has to start.

    16:28-16:30

    Look, church, you've got to make the effort.

    16:33-16:37

    You can't just go to bed and hope the self-control fairy shows up.

    16:38-16:39

    You have to make the effort.

    16:42-16:46

    You have to get to the place where you're like, look, I am in a race, okay?

    16:47-16:52

    And maybe I haven't been putting the effort in, but that changes today.

    16:52-16:53

    I'm gonna win.

    16:53-16:58

    Look, you're gonna get to the place in your life where you say, I'm not okay with living in defeat.

    16:58-17:00

    I'm not okay with that anymore.

    17:01-17:02

    This ends right now.

    17:03-17:04

    You gotta put forth the effort.

    17:07-17:08

    How are you doing there?

    17:11-17:14

    As you know, I coach my son's deck hockey.

    17:14-17:17

    We, I've done it for years.

    17:18-17:25

    And several years ago, at the time, actually, the GOAT was coaching with me, we had a couple players on our team.

    17:25-17:26

    Don't say their name.

    17:26-17:36

    We had a couple, they're gonna be watching this, we're like, "Hey!" We had a couple players on the team a few years ago, extremely high-skilled players.

    17:40-17:52

    And during the game, we noticed - Sean and I did - we noticed that these two players in particular, any time we had a line change, they'd go out on the deck.

    17:54-17:57

    It was somewhere between a walk and a trot.

    18:00-18:37

    And I'm like, "Sean, what's going on there?" And he's like, "What are they doing?" we called them over like next line change and we're like what's going on out there why are you guys are like barely moving out there everybody else like running and they're just like and they said well we got a we got a big important game with another league this weekend we don't want to risk getting hurt so Sean and I were like hey that's great we'll help you with that you can and just sit the rest of the game.

    18:38-18:41

    Because we're not putting players out there that aren't putting forth any effort.

    18:42-18:43

    We're not going to do that.

    18:43-18:46

    You're embarrassing yourselves and you're embarrassing the team.

    18:49-18:54

    But you know, those two young men had everything they needed to win.

    18:55-18:57

    They had their equipment on.

    18:57-19:00

    They had a great knowledge of the game.

    19:01-19:03

    They had a lot of experience.

    19:04-19:29

    what they didn't have that day? Effort. So you see, it doesn't matter what else they had. When there was no effort, it was game over before it started. It's like, why did you guys even show up? Why did you put your gear on and go on the deck if you don't want You don't have to make any effort.

    19:32-19:36

    And I think that describes a lot of Christians in their walk with Christ.

    19:40-19:50

    I mean, you come to church, you go to small group, you go to the men's conference, you go to the women's conference, and you show up.

    19:50-19:57

    You have everything you need to succeed, but there's just zero effort in the area of self-control.

    20:00-20:00

    It's a problem.

    20:02-20:03

    It's a problem.

    20:06-20:10

    Look what 2 Peter 1:5-6.

    20:10-20:11

    Same thing.

    20:11-20:22

    Look, "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with..." Oh, oh, there it is again.

    20:24-20:25

    Self-control.

    20:27-20:28

    Yes, listen, I know.

    20:29-20:35

    Before you send me a text or an email, I know that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit.

    20:36-20:43

    I know that the only way that happens is if the Lord empowers you to do that.

    20:43-20:44

    I know that. Yes.

    20:44-20:47

    That is 100% true, and that is also another sermon entirely.

    20:48-20:51

    This is telling us right here.

    20:52-20:56

    This passage is telling us here, you and I are commanded to make every effort.

    20:57-20:58

    Are you doing that?

    21:01-21:02

    You must give maximum effort.

    21:04-21:07

    If you're not willing to do that, none of the rest of this sermon is going to apply.

    21:08-21:12

    But if you are willing to do that, if you're willing to say, "I'm done.

    21:12-21:16

    I'm done living in defeat." If that's you, great, let's keep going.

    21:16-21:19

    Number two, you must be motivated by the prize.

    21:21-21:23

    You must be motivated by the prize.

    21:24-21:25

    Look at verse 25 again.

    21:28-21:29

    Bless you.

    21:31-21:36

    "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

    21:39-21:53

    They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." First of all, note, "every athlete." This isn't a passage for preachers and missionaries alone.

    21:54-21:55

    This is for you too.

    21:57-22:00

    And then notice he says self-control in all things.

    22:01-22:02

    All things.

    22:02-22:03

    Every area.

    22:04-22:14

    You have an area of your life right now where you're like, you know what, I think overall I'm doing good in my walk with Christ, but I do have this area where I'm not self-controlled.

    22:14-22:14

    Do you have that?

    22:19-22:20

    You need to stay motivated.

    22:21-22:22

    You've got to keep your eyes on the prize.

    22:28-22:29

    I like Paul's point here.

    22:30-22:32

    The comparison of the prizes.

    22:33-22:37

    Paul says here that these Greek athletes, all that training, right?

    22:37-22:40

    Ten months, 30 days, all that training.

    22:40-22:41

    And what do they win?

    22:43-22:44

    What do they win?

    22:44-22:49

    A Christmas decoration put on their head.

    22:52-22:53

    Hip, hip.

    22:54-22:55

    No.

    22:56-22:58

    No, not even close.

    23:00-23:01

    That's Paul's point, right?

    23:01-23:05

    He says, "They do all that for a lame prize." Talk about lame prizes.

    23:05-23:09

    In these past Olympics, didn't those medals like fall apart or something?

    23:09-23:15

    Wasn't there a whole thing like, "Hey, I've traded my whole life for this medal." Oh, and a stuffed animal, yay.

    23:16-23:16

    (audience laughing)

    23:19-23:30

    He goes, "It's a lame prize." It's like, you know, that's like several years ago, a bunch of guys from church, we went to, do you ever see those indoor places where you can throw the ax at the wood,

    23:30-23:31

    (imitates ax thudding)

    23:31-23:32

    when you're into the bulls eye,

    23:32-23:32

    (imitates ax thudding)

    23:33-23:34

    do you ever see these?

    23:34-23:40

    What's it called, the lumber jacks or something, or you know what I'm talking about?

    23:40-23:41

    The old ax throwing thing?

    23:42-23:48

    Well, a bunch of us went there, And there might've been some ladies there too, I don't remember, but here's what I do remember.

    23:50-23:51

    I won.

    23:53-23:53

    I won.

    23:56-23:58

    Yeah, thank you, the one person that's proud of me.

    23:58-24:02

    No, Tristan, just Tristan, just Tristan.

    24:03-24:05

    The rest of you, too late, thank you, Tristan.

    24:07-24:07

    I won.

    24:08-24:09

    Do you know what I won?

    24:11-24:11

    A sticker.

    24:11-24:12

    (Laughter)

    24:14-24:15

    I'm not even joking.

    24:16-24:19

    It's on my wastebasket in my office, the sticker.

    24:20-24:22

    That's what I want. And that's Paul's point here.

    24:22-24:36

    He goes, "They did all that training, all that competing, and all they got was a stupid wreath for their head." Paul's point here is, shouldn't we be more motivated?

    24:37-24:39

    Because our prize is winning people to Jesus.

    24:39-24:50

    We're talking about eternity, and we're talking about lost people who are going to suffer apart from the presence of God forever, and we have the opportunity to change that.

    24:54-25:00

    And look, if you've ever won someone to Christ, you know the humble joy that that brings.

    25:03-25:05

    And if you haven't, go do it.

    25:09-25:10

    And if you have, go do it again.

    25:12-25:14

    It's about winning people to Christ.

    25:14-25:15

    That's the prize.

    25:15-25:16

    That's the prize.

    25:17-25:28

    I know there are some people that are hearing this, and they're like, "Oh, that's the prize." Yet people aren't excited about the gospel because they aren't doing what makes the gospel exciting.

    25:29-25:31

    That's the problem in the church.

    25:31-25:33

    They're not living it, and they're not sharing it.

    25:34-25:35

    That's what makes the gospel exciting.

    25:38-25:39

    That's the prize.

    25:41-25:56

    I promise you, someday, someday, Christian, when you stand before the Lord, you're going to realize it was worth it.

    25:58-26:12

    You're going to stand before the Lord, you're going to say, "Jesus, You were worth it." You're going to say, "Jesus, every time I used the self-control you gave Me by the power of Your Spirit for the sake of imitating You, it was all worth it.

    26:12-26:22

    Every person that you reached, Jesus, through Me, that is now beholding Your glory and worshiping You for all of eternity, it's worth it.

    26:24-26:27

    There's a glorious victory celebration that's coming soon.

    26:29-26:31

    And Paul reminds us, keep your eyes on the prize.

    26:31-26:33

    Not some stupid wreath.

    26:34-26:35

    Perfecting eternity.

    26:38-26:40

    So keep control of yourself.

    26:42-26:44

    How to get self-control.

    26:44-26:45

    Maximum efforts.

    26:46-26:47

    Motivated by the prize.

    26:48-26:52

    Number three, you must have a plan.

    26:53-26:54

    You must have a plan.

    26:56-26:57

    Luke 26.

    26:59-27:04

    Paul says, "So, I do not run aimlessly.

    27:06-27:10

    I do not box as one beating the air.

    27:12-27:13

    I do not run aimlessly.

    27:15-27:18

    Track and field people, you know this, right?

    27:19-27:26

    When you show up for a meet, when you show up for a race, there has to be a track and a finish line, right?

    27:26-27:34

    You don't show up to the event, you're like, "I'm ready to run." They're just like, "Run wherever you want." Well, how do I know if I win?

    27:34-27:35

    That's his point.

    27:35-27:36

    I don't run aimlessly.

    27:37-27:39

    You got to stay on track.

    27:40-27:46

    You don't show up at the track meet and you just start running through the bleachers, running by the concession stand.

    27:47-27:48

    Well, this is my race.

    27:48-27:49

    No, no, no.

    27:50-27:51

    No track.

    27:54-27:55

    No finish line.

    27:57-27:58

    Likely, no effort.

    28:00-28:01

    Definitely no victory.

    28:04-28:05

    You have to have a plan to win.

    28:10-28:10

    Please hear me.

    28:12-28:14

    This is why many of you struggle with self-control.

    28:16-28:19

    Many of you struggle with self-control because you do not have a plan.

    28:21-28:21

    Here's what I mean.

    28:21-28:26

    You'll walk out of church today, and this is your big takeaway.

    28:26-28:27

    You'll say, "You know what?

    28:29-28:30

    He's right.

    28:31-28:33

    From now on I'm going to have self-control.

    28:36-28:41

    And you're going to leave it that vague, you're going to leave it that non-specific, and you're going to fail again.

    28:44-28:45

    Because you don't have a plan.

    28:49-28:50

    You're not being intentional.

    28:51-28:53

    You're running in a concession stand.

    28:54-28:55

    You have to have a plan.

    28:55-29:00

    So very quickly here, you're like, "Well, I don't know what the plan is." tells you what the plan is.

    29:00-29:02

    I'm going to give you the plan for self-control.

    29:03-29:04

    Start here, okay?

    29:06-29:07

    Three things, again, quickly.

    29:07-29:13

    We could spend a whole lot of time on these, but if you want to dig deeper, come and meet with one of our pastors.

    29:14-29:15

    We will be glad to walk through this with you.

    29:15-29:17

    But letter A, the plan for self-control.

    29:17-29:19

    Avoid situations where you'll be tempted.

    29:19-29:21

    We just talked about this recently in a message.

    29:23-29:28

    You know, I'd like to remind you, as I do often, I've never ever ever lost a fight to Mike Tyson.

    29:29-29:29

    Not once ever.

    29:30-29:32

    I have a perfect record against Mike Tyson.

    29:33-29:35

    Zero losses, thank you, thank you Tristan.

    29:35-29:37

    Tristan is the only person in this church that's proud of me.

    29:40-29:42

    I've never lost a fight to Mike Tyson, why?

    29:42-29:43

    Because I've never showed up.

    29:45-29:53

    Right, you have to avoid situations where you'll be tempted because I guarantee you if I would have showed up to fight Mike Tyson, my teeth would have been in the fourth row, okay?

    29:54-29:57

    you won't lose the fight if you don't show up.

    29:58-30:00

    So avoid situations where you'll be tempted.

    30:00-30:01

    Put up fences for yourself.

    30:02-30:06

    You're like, "Well, that sounds like legalism." Listen, it's okay to be a personal legalist.

    30:07-30:07

    It's okay.

    30:08-30:13

    Legalism is a problem when I start enforcing my convictions on you.

    30:13-30:14

    That's when it's a problem.

    30:14-30:19

    But when I have convictions and fences that I enforce on myself, that is healthy.

    30:20-30:21

    That is self-control.

    30:23-30:24

    You can be a personal legalist.

    30:25-30:25

    It's okay.

    30:27-30:29

    But avoid situations where you'll be tempted.

    30:30-30:31

    Letter B, how about accountability?

    30:32-30:33

    Accountability.

    30:33-30:35

    You should be in a small group.

    30:36-30:39

    You should have a trusted brother or sister in Christ.

    30:40-30:41

    Somebody that you can be open with.

    30:41-30:43

    Somebody that you can share your heart.

    30:44-30:45

    Where you're really struggling.

    30:45-30:46

    Where you really need prayer.

    30:46-30:48

    Where you really need them to check up on you.

    30:48-30:53

    You should have a two-way street with someone that way.

    30:53-31:04

    Someone that's not going to judge you or look down on you or be harsh with you, but somebody who's going to love you through it and encourage you.

    31:05-31:06

    And you do that for them.

    31:06-31:07

    Accountability.

    31:11-31:13

    The third plan for self-control.

    31:14-31:14

    Put off, put on.

    31:16-31:17

    Put off, put on.

    31:18-31:19

    This is all through the Bible, by the way.

    31:21-31:24

    This is a key piece in your personal discipleship.

    31:24-31:26

    This is a key piece in your walk with Christ.

    31:29-31:30

    Here's the short version.

    31:30-31:32

    The Bible doesn't tell you to just stop sinning.

    31:33-31:37

    The Bible tells us that you need to replace sinning with something good.

    31:38-31:40

    That's over and over and over in Scripture.

    31:43-31:45

    It's like, "Okay, stop sinning." No, no, no. Don't stop sinning.

    31:46-31:47

    Replace sinning.

    31:48-31:51

    Take the sin off and then replace it with something else.

    31:56-32:07

    If you've ever come to one of us for counseling, especially if you're dealing with a besetting sin, this is what we do, because this is what the Bible commands.

    32:08-32:11

    That besetting sin, okay, here's what we're going to do.

    32:11-32:18

    We're going to look at it the way God looks at it, and we're going to replace that sin with something else, with something that honors and glorifies God.

    32:20-32:22

    It's like the old story.

    32:24-32:25

    I've shared this with you before.

    32:26-32:27

    I didn't make this up.

    32:27-32:30

    This is ancient, but I love it because it's effective and I like dogs.

    32:30-32:32

    But this guy had two dogs.

    32:33-32:36

    He had a white dog and a gray dog.

    32:38-33:35

    And every time he let him off the leash to eat, that old gray dog, he just beat that white dog up and the gray dog got all the food. So over time the gray dog was getting stronger and stronger and the white dog not getting to eat was getting weaker and weaker and the guy's like this isn't working. So here's what he did he he leashed both dogs and for a season he gave the white dog all the best most Awesome dog food kibbles and bits and bits and bits and and the gray dog He barely gave enough food to keep it alive. It's just an illustration. It's made up. Do not call PETA But the guy says no for a season I'm only feeding the white dog So, you know what happened the white dog got bigger and stronger in the gray dog at that And that season got weaker and weaker. So when he let him off the leash guess which dog was stronger, right?

    33:35-33:39

    The point of the story is this, the dog that you feed is going to be the stronger dog.

    33:42-34:00

    And if you find in your life that you're constantly feeding your sin, whatever your sin, your besetting sin is, your sin tendency, if you're constantly feeding that, it's a lot harder if you don't want to do the right thing when you're constantly feeding doing the sinful thing.

    34:00-34:03

    Self-control is feeding the white dog.

    34:03-34:05

    I'm only going after the things that honor the Lord.

    34:06-34:07

    That's what I'm going after.

    34:07-34:08

    I'm not feeding my sin.

    34:08-34:11

    I'm feeding righteousness, so to speak.

    34:14-34:15

    That's the plan.

    34:16-34:20

    I want to remind you that self-control has to happen before you encounter temptation.

    34:21-34:27

    Self-control isn't, well, I hope if I encounter a temptation today, I hope I stand strong.

    34:28-34:29

    It's usually too late by then.

    34:30-34:31

    The work has to be done beforehand.

    34:32-34:34

    Decisions have to be made beforehand.

    34:36-34:48

    That's why Paul here says in the second part of the verse, "I do not box as one beating the air." Same principle, right?

    34:48-34:49

    Paul says I have a plan.

    34:49-34:50

    I stick to the plan.

    34:50-34:52

    I stay focused on the plan.

    34:52-34:53

    Like wait, wait, wait, wait.

    34:54-34:55

    Boxing? I thought we were talking about racing.

    34:58-34:59

    I thought we were talking about running.

    35:00-35:56

    boxing thing. You know that'd be a great new sport. Wouldn't that make the Olympics so much more interesting if the people that were running were also allowed to punch each other? Wouldn't that be awesome? You know, because you, right, as one person pointed out, you would have one guy that's like really fast and like he's not getting punched and he's probably gonna win but I think that everybody faster. And I think it would really make those middle-of-the-pack people... I think we need to get on this. So what's he talking about here? Well, Paul says, "Yeah, I'm still talking about racing, but while I'm running my race, I have an opponent who wants to knock me off track. I have this opponent that I I have to knock him out.

    35:58-36:00

    Like, who is that opponent, Paul?

    36:00-36:01

    And he's like, it's me.

    36:02-36:04

    I'm the biggest problem in my race.

    36:06-36:07

    My flesh is my biggest enemy.

    36:10-36:17

    Which is why number four leads us to this, you must have a healthy fear of being disqualified.

    36:19-36:21

    You must have a healthy fear of being disqualified.

    36:23-36:24

    Look at verse 27.

    36:25-36:39

    He says, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." I was like, hey, hey, I control my body, not vice versa.

    36:39-36:42

    My body doesn't control me.

    36:42-36:46

    I tell my body what we're doing.

    36:48-36:51

    Paul, why are you so adamant about that?

    36:51-36:56

    Why are you coming in hot about self-control here?

    36:56-37:02

    What's your issue, Paul?" He tells us right here, he says, "Because I don't want to be disqualified." That's why.

    37:06-37:21

    You know, it's interesting, in these It's Me and Games, their Olympic Games, the whole The whole thing began with a herald.

    37:22-37:26

    They would have a guy who got up, he announced the contest.

    37:27-37:28

    He announced the games.

    37:29-37:30

    He announced the rules.

    37:30-37:32

    He announced the contestants.

    37:34-37:38

    And anyone who broke the rules was disqualified.

    37:38-37:39

    You're out.

    37:40-37:41

    We don't tolerate that.

    37:42-37:44

    And here's the point, church.

    37:46-37:57

    Paul here is telling us that the Christian is the herald and an athlete in the race at the same time.

    38:03-38:07

    Do you see why that's such an important point to make?

    38:10-38:21

    Paul is saying here, how embarrassing would it be You stood up and told everybody the rules, and then you got disqualified because you broke the rules.

    38:22-38:24

    How embarrassing would that be?

    38:25-38:27

    Oh, it's worse than embarrassing.

    38:31-38:36

    Because a ruined testimony discredits the gospel in the eyes of the unsaved.

    38:40-38:41

    It's Paul's point here.

    38:42-38:45

    He goes, "Look, you're no longer effective.

    38:48-38:50

    You're worthless when it comes to witnessing.

    38:50-38:52

    You've discredited yourself.

    38:54-38:54

    It's happened to too many.

    38:55-38:57

    It's happened to too many Christians.

    38:57-38:59

    It's happened to too many preachers.

    39:00-39:03

    You stand up and announce, and then you break the rules yourself.

    39:03-39:06

    Like, dude, shouldn't you have known more than anyone?

    39:11-39:13

    So you need another motivation for self-control?

    39:14-39:16

    You should have a healthy fear of failure.

    39:17-39:23

    And please, let's be clear, he is not, when he's talking about disqualification, he's not talking about your salvation.

    39:24-39:25

    Understand that.

    39:25-39:27

    You cannot lose your salvation.

    39:27-39:48

    If you are truly born again, I mean, if you are truly born again, you believe in Christ, you receive Christ, you believe in His death on the cross to take away your sins, If you believe He rose from the dead, He gave you the promise of eternal life, if you truly believe that, you are an adopted child of God.

    39:49-39:52

    You are sealed in the Holy Spirit and nothing can change that.

    39:52-39:55

    There is not a force in the universe that can change that.

    39:55-40:00

    And I see no language in the Bible that talks about being unadopted.

    40:02-40:05

    That talks about the seal of the Spirit being removed from you.

    40:05-40:07

    I don't see any language in the Bible about that.

    40:08-40:11

    He is not talking about losing your salvation.

    40:12-40:13

    You can't.

    40:13-40:17

    But, you can lose your ministry.

    40:21-40:29

    And if you're a believer, you know, that's one of the greatest losses that you can experience in this life.

    40:31-40:42

    Any ministry, however you serve God, Whatever you're doing for the king, you lose that.

    40:46-40:50

    You're like, "You know, I was partnering with the living God.

    40:50-40:54

    I was doing things that matter for eternity and it's over.

    40:55-41:01

    And I have no one to blame but myself because I just couldn't control myself.

    41:02-41:07

    And I got myself disqualified." on the outside looking in.

    41:09-41:13

    Watching other people do what used to give you so much purpose and joy.

    41:14-41:14

    You're disqualified.

    41:17-41:19

    You ruined your testimony.

    41:19-41:21

    You shattered people's trust in you.

    41:22-41:24

    You're no longer useful for ministry.

    41:26-41:27

    You're disqualified.

    41:29-41:31

    You should have a healthy fear of that.

    41:33-41:41

    You should always have it in the back of your mind what's at stake if you fail to be self-controlled.

    41:43-41:47

    If our worship team would come back up, I'd like you to just bow your heads, please.

    41:47-41:49

    I just want us to take a couple of moments.

    41:50-41:57

    I want us to take a couple of moments for prayer, self-evaluation.

    41:58-42:00

    You know, sometimes we get together and go to little groups and pray.

    42:03-42:05

    That's wonderful, but we're not doing that today.

    42:06-42:08

    Today, this is between you and the Lord.

    42:10-42:12

    Just you and the Lord.

    42:15-42:16

    Right now.

    42:19-42:26

    Is there any area of your life right now where you are not exercising self-control?

    42:28-42:30

    We talked about this not too long ago.

    42:30-42:30

    Confession.

    42:31-42:32

    Agreeing with God.

    42:33-42:35

    Do you need to do that today?

    42:35-42:36

    Agree with God.

    42:36-42:36

    Yeah, God, you know what?

    42:36-42:45

    This is an area, Father, where I have completely neglected to exercise any kind of self-control.

    42:46-42:55

    I just want to ask you today - your head's bowed - how much effort are you putting into this?

    42:57-43:00

    Can you honestly say you've been struggling with sin?

    43:01-43:06

    Or have you just been sort of letting sin walk all over you?

    43:08-43:10

    Are you putting forth any effort?

    43:12-43:14

    Do you realize the prize?

    43:17-43:19

    Oh, there are so many prizes.

    43:21-44:07

    Eternal life in the presence of our Lord, the rewards that come through faithful service, all of that, but specifically again, here he's talking about winning the lost in this whole section. He's talking about winning the lost. That's the prize. Changing eternity for people, winning people to Christ, should motivate us to repent of our hypocrisy. So Again, my friends, you don't want to walk out of here with some generic, "I'm going to try to be self-controlled." It's just not going to work.

    44:08-44:09

    You've got to have a plan.

    44:11-44:18

    Are you willing to put up fences for yourself to stay out of places where you know you're going to lose that fight if you walk in there?

    44:20-44:22

    Are you willing to get accountability?

    44:22-44:33

    Are you willing to replace that sin, that time, that energy, that effort you're putting into sin, will you put that into something that honors the Lord instead?

    44:33-44:37

    You're going to start feeding the white dog and stop feeding the gray dog.

    44:38-44:39

    What's your plan?

    44:41-44:42

    Remember what's at stake.

    44:44-44:55

    Oh yes, there's always shame and embarrassment in being found out that you've been living in some kind of unrepentant, besetting sin.

    44:57-45:15

    There's also forfeiting your ministry, disqualifying yourself, being completely ineffective for the kingdom because you were so unwilling to get with God.

    45:17-45:25

    Today's the day to put the flag in the ground, draw the line in the sand, whatever other metaphor you want to use, but today's the day.

    45:26-45:28

    We're changing things today.

    45:29-45:38

    Father in heaven, I pray for every single one of us who are called by Your name.

    45:40-45:45

    Father, we all have areas of our lives where we just have let it go.

    45:45-45:46

    We've made excuses.

    45:46-45:49

    We've not exercised any control.

    45:50-45:53

    Today, Father, let us be done with the excuses.

    45:53-45:56

    Give us a reality check on what's at stake.

    45:59-46:04

    The main thing, Father, is Your glory and honor.

    46:06-46:24

    So I pray today, Father, that we leave here recommitted that the light of Your Word, the and the light that comes from Your Holy Spirit would shine in all of the dark places in our hearts and minds and show us where we are not honoring You.

    46:26-46:32

    Father, let today be a day of confession and repentance.

    46:33-46:39

    Let us be people who actually show up to the race to win.

    46:42-46:46

    We thank You, Father, for the power that You give us to do that through Your Holy Spirit.

    46:48-46:52

    Give us the want to by that same power.

    46:53-46:56

    We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. What strategies have you found effective to be self-controlled?

  3. Why do you think many Christians put little (or no) effort in self-control?

  4. The “prize” in this context is winning lost people. How is that a motivation to self-control?

  5. NO NAMES! – but do you know someone who disqualified themselves from ministry due to lack of self-control? How did you react to that news? How does this make an unbeliever think about the Gospel?

Breakout

Pray for one another. In what area are you struggling with self-control? What is your plan for change?

Because He is King, I Will Obey

Introduction:

What Does God Want Me to See and Know This Easter? (Ephesians 1:15-23)

  1. The HOPE THAT IS FOUND in Belonging to Christ. (Eph 1:18a)

  2. The UNENDING RICHES THAT ARE AVAILABLE in Christ. (Eph 1:18b)

  3. The RESURRECTION POWER of Christ. (Eph 1:19-20a)

  4. The SIMPLICITY OF SUBMITTING TO THE KINGSHIP of Christ. (Eph 1:20b-23)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Respect the Office - Because He is King, I Will Obey
Taylor Brown
  • 00:00-00:05

    Please turn your Bibles to where Sydney just read, Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.

    00:06-00:10

    Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.

    00:12-00:16

    You know, kids are so easily distracted, aren't they?

    00:17-00:19

    Their kids, their heads are often in the clouds.

    00:20-00:22

    They're not thinking about what they should be thinking about.

    00:22-00:25

    They're not looking where they should be looking.

    00:25-00:28

    They don't know important things that they need to know.

    00:29-00:33

    I know this from first-hand experience with my own kids, Sam and Emmy.

    00:33-00:40

    Sam and Emmy are so easily distracted, and it can be so hard to get their attention.

    00:41-00:47

    Sometimes I physically have to put my hands on their faces to redirect their focus.

    00:47-00:49

    Why do I do that?

    00:49-00:55

    'Cause I want them to see something so that they will know something.

    00:56-01:02

    Sam makes a huge mess and he's not cleaning up despite my many pleas for him to clean it up.

    01:02-01:07

    I have to gently put my hands on his face to redirect him to the disaster zone.

    01:08-01:14

    I want him to see the mess so he will know that he needs to clean up the mess.

    01:15-01:21

    Emmy throws a temper tantrum about something completely unreasonable and she's not listening to reason.

    01:22-01:26

    I lovingly put my hands on her face to redirect her focus to my eyes.

    01:27-01:37

    I want her to see the seriousness of my face so that she will know that she needs to say sorry, she needs to ask for forgiveness, and stop her pouting.

    01:38-01:46

    My kids are so easily distracted, and they need parental reminders from their mom and dad.

    01:47-01:50

    But if we're honest, we're not much better than kids, are we?

    01:51-01:53

    You and I are easily distracted.

    01:54-01:58

    You and I do not think about what we should be thinking about.

    01:58-02:01

    You and I do not look where we should be looking.

    02:02-02:06

    You and I do not know important things that we need to know.

    02:07-02:15

    You and I need our Heavenly Father to lovingly grab a hold of our faces and redirect our focus.

    02:17-02:25

    You and I need to see and know important truths that God wants us to see and know.

    02:26-02:33

    You and I need to truly see Jesus Christ for who he is so that we can truly know him both now and forever.

    02:34-02:45

    You and I need to truly see what is expected of us in this book so that we will know what responsibilities we need to carry out from day to day.

    02:45-02:47

    We're at the end of our latest series.

    02:49-02:49

    Respect the office.

    02:50-02:53

    Jesus' roles determine my responsibilities.

    02:53-03:00

    Last Sunday, we saw that Jesus is the ultimate prophet who perfectly represents and speaks for his Father.

    03:01-03:10

    When you truly see Jesus as prophet, you know that you must listen and believe whatever he says.

    03:13-03:25

    This past Good Friday, Pastor Jeff showed us that Jesus is our great high priest who laid down his own life, who shed his own blood as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

    03:26-03:36

    When you see Jesus as priest, you know that you must confess your sin, you must repent of your sin, you must ask for forgiveness of your sin.

    03:38-03:51

    This morning we will see that Jesus Christ is the king of all, who is high above any ruler, any president, any CEO, any billionaire, and nothing and no one can compare to Jesus Christ.

    03:51-03:58

    And when you see Jesus as King, you know that you must obey whatever he says.

    04:00-04:10

    As is our custom at Harvest, please pray for me that I'll faithfully proclaim God's word, and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive God's word.

    04:13-04:18

    Father, we come to you, And we thank you for what this day represents.

    04:20-04:27

    We thank you that because of your son, because of what he has done, we can have true hope.

    04:27-04:30

    We can have true life.

    04:31-04:36

    And if there are people in this room who do not have true life, may you seek and save the lost today.

    04:36-04:39

    May you bring the dead to life.

    04:39-04:42

    May you give faith where there previously was no faith.

    04:42-04:48

    And for the rest of us, Lord, may we be comforted, may we be encouraged, may we be challenged and built up by your word.

    04:48-04:52

    I thank you so much that you watch over your word to perform it.

    04:52-04:54

    Your word never returns to you empty.

    04:54-04:57

    It always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it out.

    04:57-05:00

    And Lord, I trust you and we trust you this morning.

    05:00-05:03

    We ask that you would do a great and mighty work in all of our hearts.

    05:04-05:08

    We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.

    05:10-05:19

    In the original Greek, the apostle Paul writes, one long run-on sentence in Ephesians chapter one, verses three through 14.

    05:19-05:26

    Have you ever listened to a family member or friend who breathlessly tells you a story, they're really, really excited, they just wanna get it out?

    05:26-05:30

    That was me growing up, no one could understand any story I was telling growing up.

    05:31-05:33

    That is the Apostle Paul in this passage.

    05:33-05:40

    He is so blown away by who Christ is and what he has done for the Ephesian church.

    05:41-05:48

    He gives a huge list, they have been redeemed, they have been rescued, they have been adopted into the family of God.

    05:48-05:54

    They have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and on and on the list goes.

    05:56-06:03

    In Ephesians chapter one, verse 15, Paul takes a deep breath, so he can go on for another run-on sentence.

    06:04-06:07

    So let's read the beginning of Paul's second run-on sentence.

    06:08-06:10

    In chapter one, verses 15 through 17.

    06:10-06:12

    of Ephesians.

    06:12-06:38

    He says, "For this reason, because I have heard "of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love "towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks "for you, remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him." Paul isn't indifferent to the Ephesian church.

    06:39-06:40

    He isn't like, eh, whatever.

    06:41-06:46

    He has a deep love for these people because he ministered in Ephesus for years.

    06:46-06:50

    He personally led many of the Ephesians to Christ.

    06:51-06:55

    And since the day he left Ephesus, he has been receiving reports about them.

    06:55-06:56

    He's been checking in on them.

    06:56-07:01

    He's been hearing about their deep faith in Christ and their love for one another.

    07:03-07:13

    All that the Ephesians have been given in Christ and all they've been doing for Christ Paul to constantly give thanks and pray for them?

    07:15-07:16

    What is he praying for?

    07:17-07:19

    What is he asking for on their behalf?

    07:21-07:35

    Well he tells us in verses 17 through 18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know.

    07:38-07:39

    Let's stop there for a minute.

    07:39-07:41

    pick up the rest of Paul's thought very soon.

    07:42-07:44

    What is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians?

    07:45-07:48

    To see so that they will know.

    07:49-07:57

    To see important truths with the eyes of their hearts so that they will know these truths in their hearts for the rest of their lives.

    07:59-08:09

    The truths that Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know are the same exact truths that you need to see and know on April 5th, 2026.

    08:11-08:14

    Some of you are here because you really wanna be here.

    08:14-08:20

    You couldn't wait to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

    08:21-08:23

    Others of you would rather be someplace else.

    08:24-08:26

    You're really hoping, I won't talk for too long.

    08:27-08:37

    You're really hoping that this service will be mercifully short so you can get back home, eat Easter lunch, hunt for some eggs, and pass out from a food comb on the couch.

    08:38-08:42

    And if that's you, I want you to hear a loud and clear message from me.

    08:42-08:44

    I am so glad that you're here.

    08:45-08:48

    I have been praying for you all week long.

    08:48-08:54

    I have been praying that you would see and know what God wants you to see and know.

    08:55-09:01

    Whether you are excited or unenthused to be here, you need to ask yourself one question this morning.

    09:02-09:06

    What does God want me to see and know this Easter?

    09:07-09:11

    What does God want me to see and know this Easter?

    09:12-09:15

    Number one, your outline, the hope that is found in belonging to Christ.

    09:16-09:19

    The hope that is found in belonging to Christ.

    09:22-09:26

    Let's return to Paul's thought that we left hanging a minute ago in verses 16 through 18.

    09:27-09:45

    He writes, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, "remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him, "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, "that you may know." What does he want them to see and know?

    09:46-09:50

    What is the hope to which he has called you?

    09:51-09:57

    Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know the hope that is found in belonging to Jesus.

    09:59-10:02

    Have you ever noticed that the hardest words to define are the simplest?

    10:04-10:06

    We use words like hope every single day.

    10:07-10:08

    But what does it actually mean?

    10:08-10:10

    What is hope?

    10:12-10:13

    There are actually two definitions for hope.

    10:14-10:18

    There is the worldly definition and there is the biblical definition.

    10:19-10:24

    There is the wrong definition and the right definition.

    10:25-10:30

    And your personal definition depends upon your status relationship with Christ.

    10:33-10:38

    If you do not love and follow Jesus, hope is only wishful thinking and nothing more.

    10:39-10:42

    Hope is crossing your fingers and wishing for the best.

    10:43-10:47

    Hope is knocking on wood and longing that nothing bad will happen to you.

    10:49-10:52

    You have no basis for this hope beyond your desire for it.

    10:54-10:57

    That kind of hope is no hope at all.

    10:59-11:09

    In the next chapter of Ephesians, Paul says that until you trust in Christ for salvation, you are without hope and you are without God in the world.

    11:11-11:16

    So that is the wrong and unbiblical definition of hope.

    11:17-11:21

    Let's talk about the right and biblical definition of hope.

    11:22-11:28

    According to God's word, hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.

    11:29-11:34

    Hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.

    11:34-11:48

    When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that every single one of your sins have been wiped away, have been paid for, that your past, present, and future offenses are no longer held against you.

    11:49-11:57

    When you trust in Christ and belong to him, You have a confident expectation that God will keep every single promise in this book.

    11:57-12:06

    When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that you are bound for heaven and not hell.

    12:09-12:13

    These hopes aren't maybes or mightbes that you're unsure of.

    12:13-12:16

    These are firm and fixed realities that cannot change.

    12:18-12:23

    If you're a true born-again believer in Christ, You have no need for wishful thinking.

    12:23-12:25

    You have no need for crossing your fingers.

    12:25-12:27

    You have no need for knocking on wood.

    12:28-12:37

    When you truly belong to Jesus Christ, you see that he is trustworthy, and you know that there is a 0% chance that he will fail you.

    12:40-12:43

    What does God want me to see and know this Easter?

    12:44-12:48

    Secondly, the unending riches that are available in Christ.

    12:49-12:53

    the unending riches that are available in Christ.

    12:57-13:07

    At the end of verse 18, Paul goes on to pray that the Ephesians would see and know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

    13:08-13:14

    If I were to ask you to come up with your net worth off the top of your head, would you be able to do it?

    13:16-13:19

    Some of you uber savvy and prepared individuals exact number.

    13:20-13:25

    This would also be really easy for you teenagers and college students because your net worth is practically zero.

    13:26-13:27

    You own nothing really.

    13:28-13:30

    Others of us would need to sit down and crunch the numbers.

    13:31-13:33

    Subtract our debts, add our assets.

    13:35-13:39

    Do you realize that all of your assets will belong to someone else?

    13:40-13:43

    All of your stuff will be passed on.

    13:45-13:52

    Maybe you've already thought about the family heirlooms, the keepsakes that you wanna pass down to your kids, your grandkids, your friends, your relatives.

    13:52-13:57

    Maybe you've already been the beneficiary of a very small or a very big inheritance.

    13:59-14:01

    You inherited a house and all that came with it.

    14:02-14:06

    You inherited a decent chunk of money that you were not expecting.

    14:08-14:19

    No matter what you've inherited in the past or what you plan to pass down to others in the future, these things pale in comparison to the inheritance that God gives to his children.

    14:20-14:21

    I mean, think about it.

    14:21-14:22

    What is God's net worth?

    14:24-14:25

    It's limitless.

    14:25-14:26

    It's incalculable.

    14:26-14:28

    What does God own?

    14:30-14:32

    You are the first service, so I'll give you some grace.

    14:32-14:33

    Let's try that again.

    14:34-14:36

    What does God own?

    14:37-14:41

    So if you belong to him, what do you stand to gain?

    14:42-14:43

    Everything.

    14:45-14:46

    God isn't a cheapskate.

    14:47-14:53

    If you're a born again believer in Christ, God doesn't put you on a weekly allowance plan that is based on your performance.

    14:54-15:08

    God's not up in heaven thinking, "Well, I was gonna loosen the purse strings a bit more "and give Taylor more this week, "but he really let me down, he really failed me, "so too bad for him, maybe next week, if he behaves better." That is not how God operates at all.

    15:09-15:11

    He is unbelievably generous towards you.

    15:12-15:15

    He's unconditionally loving towards you.

    15:18-15:21

    I know what some Christians in this room and watching online are thinking right now.

    15:21-15:23

    Taylor, that sure sounds nice.

    15:25-15:26

    But that's not my experience.

    15:27-15:31

    You're saying that I have everything, but I feel like I have nothing.

    15:33-15:35

    Life isn't going very well for me right now.

    15:37-15:40

    I get that, and I felt that.

    15:41-15:43

    You may feel like you have nothing.

    15:44-15:47

    You may feel like you are running on empty.

    15:48-15:52

    You may feel like you have nothing left to give.

    15:53-15:59

    But I want you to see and know all that is available to you in Christ.

    16:00-16:04

    In Christ, you have unlimited access to God the Father in prayer.

    16:04-16:10

    You can come to him 24/7 to bring your request, your Thanksgiving just to talk to him.

    16:11-16:14

    You've been given the very word of God.

    16:14-16:18

    You can talk to God in prayer and God talks to you in his word.

    16:19-16:23

    You've been filled with the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, and comforts you.

    16:23-16:29

    You have a protective and older brother named Jesus who is constantly interceding for you in heaven.

    16:32-16:37

    As a pastor, I hear so many people tell me, I just want more of God.

    16:38-16:40

    I just want more of the Holy Spirit.

    16:40-16:42

    I just want more from God.

    16:43-16:48

    Listen, in Christ, you have been given everything that God has.

    16:49-16:50

    You have been given all of him.

    16:51-16:55

    God cannot give you more of himself because he's given you all of it.

    16:58-16:59

    Do you really believe that?

    17:01-17:03

    Do you really live like you believe that?

    17:05-17:07

    No gift has been reserved.

    17:07-17:09

    No blessing has been withheld.

    17:10-17:13

    No grace has been kept back from you.

    17:15-17:19

    Even if you are financially poor, you are spiritually rich.

    17:20-17:25

    Even if you feel empty, you have been filled with the fullness of God.

    17:27-17:31

    If the past 12 years, my wife and I have shared a joint bank account.

    17:31-17:41

    And whenever we open that account, For some reason, PNC Bank put her name in bold letters on the top of the checks and me in smaller letters underneath of hers.

    17:43-17:44

    I'm told that's not how it usually goes.

    17:44-17:45

    Am I right?

    17:46-17:47

    It's very emasculating.

    17:48-17:51

    I think PNC laughs at me every time they print those checks for us.

    17:52-17:53

    But here's the thing.

    17:54-17:56

    My checks clear just as well as Kate's does.

    17:58-18:03

    My card withdraws money out of our account just like Kate's card does.

    18:05-18:14

    I have unlimited access to a bank account with my wife, but I also have unlimited access to an even greater account.

    18:14-18:18

    I share the resources of someone even greater than my wife.

    18:18-18:21

    I share the infinite riches of an infinite God.

    18:22-18:31

    On our account, his name is huge and mine is teeny tiny small, but I still get to access those riches whenever I want to, whenever I need them.

    18:33-18:37

    And the same is true for you if you've been adopted into the family of God.

    18:38-18:48

    And the same can be true of you today if you let go of the unsatisfying garbage of this world to grab a hold of the infinitely satisfying treasures of heaven.

    18:51-18:56

    God wants you to see and know the riches that are available to you in Christ.

    18:58-19:01

    What does God want me to see and know this Easter?

    19:02-19:04

    Thirdly, the resurrection power of Christ.

    19:05-19:07

    The resurrection power of Christ.

    19:11-19:21

    In verse 19, Paul prays the Ephesians would see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his, God's power towards us who believe.

    19:22-19:23

    Power.

    19:25-19:28

    Power is such a foreign concept to so many people.

    19:28-19:34

    Power is such a foreign concept to most people who fill churches Sunday after Sunday.

    19:34-19:38

    Most Christians feel so powerless.

    19:40-19:44

    They feel powerless to resist temptation so they give in without a fight.

    19:45-19:49

    They feel powerless to serve the church so they sit on the sidelines.

    19:50-19:54

    They feel powerless to share the gospel so they stay silent.

    19:55-20:03

    They feel powerless to be the husbands and wives they've been called to be, so they settle for being passive rather than active.

    20:04-20:09

    They feel powerless to be godly parents, so they make excuses.

    20:12-20:13

    How about you?

    20:15-20:17

    Do you feel powerless?

    20:20-20:22

    If you feel powerless, you're not alone.

    20:23-20:24

    I certainly feel that way.

    20:26-20:31

    I certainly feel that way as a homeowner because I am not a handyman whatsoever.

    20:32-20:39

    If there's something broken at your house, I wouldn't recommend calling me as your first, second, 20th, 100th option.

    20:40-20:45

    When something breaks at my house, I mostly feel powerless to address it.

    20:47-20:52

    Recently, the toilet paper roll holder ripped off our downstairs bathroom wall.

    20:52-20:56

    I wasn't surprised, it's the bathroom my kids use the most and they're not gentle with the toilet paper.

    20:57-21:00

    It's like they're on the Price is Right rolling down the toilet paper.

    21:05-21:10

    I walked into the bathroom, I assessed the damage and I'll be honest with you, I felt an initial wave of powerlessness.

    21:12-21:16

    And I thought, well, guess what's gonna be savages in keeping toilet paper on the bathroom sink from now on.

    21:18-21:22

    But then I thought to myself, wait a minute, I own a drill.

    21:23-21:24

    I own wall anchors.

    21:25-21:31

    I have a teeny tiny screwdriver set that can be used as teeny tiny screw that locks this toilet paper holder into place.

    21:33-21:38

    I realized that I already had all that I needed to fix this issue.

    21:40-21:41

    And guess what?

    21:41-21:42

    I did fix it.

    21:44-21:45

    Thank you.

    21:48-21:52

    The next time you come to my house, I'll show you the glories of the toilet paper holder.

    21:57-22:09

    Whenever you feel that initial wave of powerlessness as a Christian, remember that you already have all that you need to face the issue in front of you.

    22:10-22:13

    What you already have is far better than a cheap set of tools.

    22:14-22:17

    You have the very power of the God of the universe.

    22:19-22:24

    And Paul tells us in verses 19 through 20 what this power is truly capable of.

    22:24-22:38

    He says that he wants the Ephesians to see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

    22:41-22:47

    The power of resurrection isn't just something that Jesus experienced and no one else will ever again.

    22:49-22:57

    The power of resurrection is something that everyone who trusts in Christ experiences right now.

    22:57-23:03

    It is something that you will experience for all of eternity if you've given your life over to him.

    23:04-23:07

    Please catch this because this is truly life-changing.

    23:08-23:20

    If you have trusted in Christ for salvation, that same power that brought him back from death and raised him from the grave 2,000 years ago resides within you.

    23:21-23:26

    That same power raised you from spiritual death and gave you new life.

    23:27-23:36

    That same power will enable you to share the gospel, not caring what anyone thinks about you, not worrying about what the response will be.

    23:37-23:43

    That same power will inspire you to not believe the lies and discouragement of the enemy.

    23:43-23:49

    That same power will motivate you to love your wife, respect your husband, serve your children.

    23:50-23:56

    That same power will equip you to use your spiritual gifts in the life of the church.

    23:58-24:01

    Yes, in and of yourself, you are powerless.

    24:02-24:14

    In and of yourself, you cannot do anything of value for anyone, but in Christ, you have access to the death-defying, life-giving power the God of the universe.

    24:14-24:19

    It is at your fingertips whenever you want it, whenever you need it.

    24:24-24:33

    Do not insult the sacrifice and resurrection of your Savior by believing that he has left you unequipped for the responsibilities you've been given.

    24:36-24:41

    At this point in the message, you may be thinking, wasn't this supposed to be about seeing and knowing Jesus as King?

    24:41-24:42

    when is that part gonna come up?

    24:44-24:47

    Well, I'm gonna take a page out of Pastor Jeff's preaching book.

    24:47-24:49

    Everything I've said so far has been the introduction.

    24:50-24:51

    Here's the actual sermon.

    24:52-24:53

    Don't worry, it'll be short, it won't be long.

    24:55-24:56

    Everything leading up to this has been the warmup.

    24:57-24:57

    Here's the main event.

    24:58-25:01

    What does God want me to see and know this Easter?

    25:02-25:06

    Finally, the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.

    25:08-25:11

    the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.

    25:17-25:23

    When you hear the gospel story, it's usually concluded with the resurrection of Jesus.

    25:25-25:26

    Usually goes like this.

    25:26-25:30

    Jesus, God himself, took on flesh and came to this earth.

    25:30-25:31

    He lived a perfect life.

    25:32-25:36

    He had a three year long ministry filled with miracles and sermons.

    25:36-25:41

    He was crucified in the tomb for three days, rose again, roll credits, the end.

    25:44-25:45

    Is that actually the end of the gospel story?

    25:47-25:57

    There is a major event that is missed, and that is the ascension of Christ, which is a fancy theological way of saying that Jesus went back to heaven.

    25:59-26:05

    Paul wants the Ephesians as well as you and I to see and know the importance of the ascension.

    26:06-26:26

    In verses 20 through 21, he says, the same power that raised Christ from the dead also seated him at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

    26:28-26:33

    Through his crucifixion, Jesus is the Savior who destroys the power of death.

    26:34-26:39

    Through his resurrection, Jesus is the victor who destroys the power of death.

    26:41-26:48

    Through his ascension, Jesus is the king who defeats the power of those who challenge his rightful rule and authority.

    26:50-27:00

    Yes, Satan and the forces of darkness seem to be winning right now, but I promise you they have lost already because they cannot compete with the one who sits on heaven's throne.

    27:01-27:13

    Yes, people do and can resist the king right now, but one day, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

    27:15-27:16

    You have two options.

    27:17-27:23

    You can willingly bow the knee right now, or you can be forced to bow in eternity.

    27:25-27:35

    You can joyfully proclaim that Jesus is your savior, your Lord in the present, or you can begrudgingly admit that you were wrong and he was right in the future.

    27:38-27:45

    No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you cannot change the reality of this universe's political situation.

    27:46-27:49

    Jesus Christ rules and reigns.

    27:50-27:55

    But your position, your side of this political reality can change.

    27:56-27:58

    Will you choose team pride?

    27:59-28:00

    The captain of that team is Satan.

    28:01-28:04

    Spoiler alert, that team is gonna lose big time.

    28:06-28:14

    There is team submission, and the captain of that team is Jesus Christ himself, who wins every single game in an absolute shutout.

    28:16-28:17

    What will you choose?

    28:19-28:22

    Will you resist, or will you submit?

    28:24-28:29

    Let's wrap up by reading more about the kingship of Jesus in verses 22 through 23.

    28:29-28:48

    Paul writes, "And he, God the Father, put all things under Christ's feet and gave him his head over all things of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Jesus Christ is the head, the ruler, the boss, the king of the church.

    28:49-28:56

    He's in charge around here, not me, not Pastor Jeff, not Pastor Rich, not the elders, not you.

    28:56-28:59

    Jesus Christ is head over the church.

    28:59-29:03

    He is in charge of every true church across the face of this planet.

    29:04-29:11

    And the church should be a living example of what it looks like to submit to the kingship of Jesus.

    29:12-29:16

    The church should be on the front lines displaying the love of Christ.

    29:16-29:21

    The church should show a watching world what it looks like to obey the word of God.

    29:24-29:29

    How are most Christians doing at setting that example of submission in 2026?

    29:32-29:32

    Not the best.

    29:33-29:42

    Most professing Christians act like they know Jesus, but they live like they do not know Jesus.

    29:43-29:49

    Many professing Christians seem to care more about their own personal opinions than the authoritative word of God.

    29:50-29:58

    Most professing Christians seem to love themselves more than the lost, more than their fellow church members.

    30:00-30:04

    Do you profess to know Jesus, but make Jesus look bad?

    30:08-30:13

    Do you give others around you a totally inaccurate picture of what it looks like to submit to King Jesus?

    30:15-30:21

    If your answer to those questions is yes, it's time for repentance, it's time to change course.

    30:22-30:31

    Earlier I said that God can never give you more of himself and that's 100% true, but you can always give God more of yourself.

    30:32-30:34

    God withholds nothing from you.

    30:35-30:37

    What are you withholding from him?

    30:39-30:40

    Is it your finances?

    30:42-30:47

    Do you foolishly think that all the money in your account belongs to you when it actually belongs to God?

    30:48-30:49

    Is it your time?

    30:50-30:57

    You've been wasting the most precious gift you've been given, time, by spending it on yourself and no one else.

    30:59-31:00

    Is it social media and entertainment?

    31:01-31:06

    You're constantly consuming garbage, yet you act surprised that garbage comes out of your mouth?

    31:07-31:09

    Is it your status and reputation?

    31:10-31:16

    You care so much about what people think of you that you're willing to tear others down and lie your way to the top.

    31:17-31:22

    Listen, care about nothing and no one more than Jesus.

    31:24-31:26

    The Christian life is so simple.

    31:28-31:31

    Do you want me to share the not so secret secret of the Christian life?

    31:33-31:34

    Doesn't seem like you want it, no one said anything.

    31:35-31:38

    Do you want the not so secret secret to the Christian life?

    31:39-31:40

    All right, fine, I'll share it with you.

    31:41-31:43

    Just do what Jesus says.

    31:46-31:47

    Just do what Jesus says.

    31:48-31:50

    Obey his word.

    31:50-31:56

    Life is so much simpler when you submit to Jesus in every single way.

    31:56-32:00

    It's so complex to figure out other masters to follow.

    32:00-32:06

    It's so unsatisfying to be the boss of your own life 'cause if you are honest enough to admit it, you are clueless.

    32:07-32:08

    You have no idea what you're doing.

    32:09-32:10

    You have no idea what's going on.

    32:13-32:17

    Yes, the Christian life is simple, but it's also challenging, isn't it?

    32:18-32:24

    It is absolutely pride crushing to admit that you know nothing and Jesus knows everything.

    32:25-32:29

    It's humbling to acknowledge that he is in control and you are not.

    32:30-32:35

    It's difficult to follow Jesus, not cater to your own personal preferences.

    32:37-32:39

    I have to tell you, you will feel miserable.

    32:40-32:48

    You will feel directionless until you see and know that submitting to Jesus is the only way to lasting joy.

    32:50-32:52

    The worship team can now make their way forward.

    32:54-32:59

    Do you see and know that Jesus is the ultimate prophet?

    33:01-33:05

    He spoke the truth 2,000 years ago and he still speaks the truth to this day.

    33:06-33:10

    Do you see and know that Jesus is the high priest?

    33:10-33:17

    He laid down his own life, he shed his own blood on the cross to wash away your many sins.

    33:19-33:22

    Do you see and know that Jesus is the king of all?

    33:23-33:31

    He resurrected from the grave, he ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand, where he rules and reigns right now.

    33:32-33:37

    This position of prominence proves that He is God and you are not.

    33:38-33:45

    This position of prominence proves that He is a rightful claim over your life and you have none.

    33:47-33:52

    If your heart is still unyielded to Christ, if your knee is still unbowed, what are you waiting for?

    33:53-34:00

    There is no better time to obey Jesus' command to believe in Him than this very moment.

    34:02-34:06

    There is no better opportunity to trust in Jesus for salvation than right now.

    34:08-34:16

    There is no better day than Easter Sunday to draw your line in the sand and say, today is the day when I gave my life to Jesus.

    34:16-34:19

    Today is the day when everything changed for me.

    34:21-34:29

    If you turn from your sin and you place your faith in Jesus, the old you will die.

    34:30-34:33

    never to be seen or heard from again.

    34:34-34:43

    A new you will rise from the grave with Christ, and one day you will live with Christ forever and ever.

    34:45-34:51

    That is the ultimate truth that God wants you to see and know this Easter.

    34:52-34:53

    Let's pray.

    34:56-34:59

    Father, this amazing news often seems too good to be true.

    35:00-35:10

    How could a holy, perfect, all-powerful God care about weak people like us?

    35:11-35:15

    People who have rebelled against you, who've wanted nothing to do with you.

    35:16-35:34

    Lord, instead of just turning your back on us, instead of just consigning all of us to hell forever, You sent your one and only Son to become one of us, to live the perfect life we could never live, to die the death that we deserved to die.

    35:36-35:38

    Lord, let this news never become old to us.

    35:39-35:40

    May it never become normal.

    35:41-35:42

    May it always blow us away.

    35:43-35:49

    And Lord, I do lift up those of us in this room who are still resisting, who are still doubting.

    35:51-35:54

    God, I can't change anyone, but you can.

    35:56-35:57

    I know you can save.

    35:58-35:59

    I know you can bring the dead to life.

    35:59-36:02

    Lord, I ask you would do that this very moment.

    36:04-36:05

    Lord, we thank you for who you are.

    36:05-36:09

    We thank you for what you've done, and we thank you for all that you continue to do for us.

    36:10-36:13

    We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Ephesians 1:15-23

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. What is the difference between worldly hope and biblical hope?

  3. What are the riches and blessings that have been made available to you in Christ?

  4. What does it mean that you share in the resurrection power of Jesus? How should this truth change how you live from one day to the next?

  5. How are you failing to submit to the kingship of Christ right now?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Because He is Priest, I Will Confess

Introduction:

Psalm 32:5I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Proverbs 28:13Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Conceal or Confess? If You Want to Confess: (1 John 1:5 - 2:6)

  1. You Have to Be Done LYING About Your Sin. (1 John 1:5-10)

    3 Lies You Have to Stop Claiming:

    1. I BELIEVE in God. (When You Don't LIVE Like It.) (1 John 1:6-7)

    2. I'm a GOOD Person. (1 John 1:8-9)

    3. I Don't SIN. (1 John 1:10)

  2. You Have to Come to JESUS. (1 John 2:1-2)

  3. Your LIFESTYLE Proves Your Sincerity. (1 John 2:3-6)

    Hebrews 4:14 - Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Respect the Office - Because He is Priest, I Will Confess
Jeff Miller
  • 00:00-00:09

    Open up those Bibles to the passage that Levi just read, 1 John 1.

    00:12-00:14

    While you're turning there, let's just quiet our hearts for a moment.

    00:14-00:19

    And I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to faithfully communicate God's Word.

    00:21-00:29

    And I'll pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us from His Word tonight.

    00:29-00:31

    All right, let's pray.

    00:33-00:44

    Father in heaven, I pray that this time would allow us to feel the weight of what it is we're remembering here tonight.

    00:46-00:48

    We're so distracted with so many things.

    00:50-01:02

    I just pray, Father, by the power of Your Spirit, everything is off our minds and hearts except your word.

    01:06-01:14

    And that we would be honest enough with ourselves to see things as you see them.

    01:18-01:24

    Thank you, Father, for the sacrifice that was made.

    01:26-01:29

    You spared not your own son.

    01:34-01:38

    We pray in the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.

    01:40-01:41

    Amen.

    01:41-01:46

    We're in this series, this short series called Respect the Office.

    01:49-01:54

    That if Jesus presented a resume, it would have a lot on it.

    01:56-02:00

    But there are three roles in particular.

    02:02-02:07

    We're just sort of slowing down and looking at, and last Sunday Pastor Rich talked about Jesus as prophet.

    02:08-02:10

    He is the word of God.

    02:10-02:14

    Who God is, is represented in Jesus.

    02:16-02:22

    Tonight, we're going to see that Jesus Christ is our priest.

    02:25-02:27

    What is a priest, anyways?

    02:28-02:36

    Well, in the simplest terms, the prophet represented God to man.

    02:37-02:42

    And the priest represents man to God.

    02:43-02:50

    And in the Old Testament, the priests offered sacrifices from sinners to God at the temple.

    02:51-03:12

    So tonight, as our minds naturally think of Jesus Christ on the cross, what you need to see in your mind in that moment when Jesus was on the cross, was He was not only the the sacrifice that was being offered for sin.

    03:12-03:17

    At the same time, He was the priest who was offering the sacrifice.

    03:19-03:28

    Jesus Christ, as our priest, came to deal with our sin.

    03:32-03:51

    There is one thing you must do Before you can receive forgiveness, before you can have a relationship with God at all, there's one thing you have to do.

    03:52-03:53

    You have to confess.

    03:55-04:09

    And if you're a Christian, if you are truly born again, and you're sitting here tonight, and you're wondering why your walk is so weak, why you aren't the strong Christian that you thought you would be by now.

    04:13-04:15

    Maybe you stopped confessing.

    04:16-04:19

    Look at verse 9 again.

    04:21-04:30

    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    04:34-04:36

    We're going to talk about confess tonight.

    04:37-04:39

    What does it mean to confess?

    04:41-04:44

    Well, in the Greek, it's a compound word.

    04:44-04:54

    It literally means, "say the same." In other words, to confess means that you're agreeing with God.

    04:56-04:58

    Agreeing with God that you are a sinner.

    04:58-05:02

    Agreeing with God that your sin is wrong.

    05:05-05:06

    I agree with God.

    05:07-05:08

    It's saying I'm guilty.

    05:09-05:11

    I'm not a good person.

    05:11-05:16

    I look at my actions and I do things that are just shameful.

    05:18-05:21

    I hear the words that come out of my mouth sometimes.

    05:22-05:24

    What is wrong with me?

    05:27-05:27

    Shameful.

    05:29-05:38

    So I look into my heart and I realize, there's something broken in me.

    05:40-05:41

    There's something evil in me.

    05:44-05:47

    How is it that I can be so full of selfishness?

    05:47-05:51

    How is it that I can be so full of hatred sometimes?

    05:52-05:53

    How is it that I can be so full of lust?

    05:55-05:56

    Why is that?

    06:00-06:01

    Confessing is agreeing with God.

    06:05-06:10

    And the three hardest words that you will ever say, it's not, "I love you." Those ones are hard.

    06:10-06:12

    But there are three harder words to say.

    06:13-06:24

    And those words are these, "I have sinned." To get to the point where you are saying this from your heart, "I've sinned.

    06:25-06:26

    I have sinned.

    06:27-06:30

    You know, I was thinking about that a lot this week and preparing for this message.

    06:31-06:32

    Why is that so hard?

    06:35-06:46

    I mean, it's clear in the Bible, it's clear from observation that we have a problem, but why is it so hard for me to get to that place where I say, "I have sinned"?

    06:46-06:49

    Why is it so hard for you to admit that, to confess that?

    06:52-06:53

    I think it's a lot of things.

    06:55-06:57

    I think the big reason is pride, right?

    06:58-07:02

    To admit that you're a sinner is also an admission of weakness.

    07:02-07:06

    I'm not the morally strong person that I want to think that I am.

    07:07-07:15

    Maybe it's hard to confess that I am a sinner because deep down the reality is we actually kind of like our sin.

    07:16-07:19

    We would miss it if it wasn't in our lives.

    07:19-08:13

    is that. If you're sitting here tonight and you're like, "Well, I don't feel like I love my sin. I want out of it, but I feel trapped in it. I'm in bondage to it." That's hard to confess. That something is so ruling over you. "I don't want to do this, but I keep doing it. What is my problem?" You know, I think really for a lot of us, it's hard to say I have sinned because it's just so hard to not see yourself as the hero in your own story. Sometimes you're the bad guy. So am I. Acknowledging sin is uncomfortable. It's offensive. And it just it goes against our natural inclinations.

    08:17-08:18

    Here's the reality from God's Word.

    08:20-08:21

    Unsaved people.

    08:22-08:29

    People who don't sincerely know the Lord, are always going to try to downplay sin.

    08:31-08:32

    It's not that big of a deal.

    08:33-08:36

    And one of the ways they do that is by trying to redefine sin.

    08:36-08:40

    We won't call it sin, we'll call it something else and kind of soften the blow.

    08:41-08:46

    But the big one is, unsaved people conceal their sin.

    08:47-08:48

    Let's keep it hidden.

    08:48-08:50

    Let's make sure nobody finds out about it.

    08:50-08:52

    They conceal their sin.

    08:55-09:05

    Saved people, on the other hand, according to that passage Levi just read, saved people confess their sin.

    09:08-09:10

    So tonight I just want to ask you one question.

    09:12-09:12

    What are you doing?

    09:16-09:18

    Conceal or confess?

    09:19-09:20

    Which one are you?

    09:25-09:32

    Bible's so clear about this and what's at stake in this.

    09:33-09:40

    Psalm 32.5 says, "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.

    09:41-09:49

    I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." Do you see that?

    09:51-09:52

    Conceal or confess.

    09:55-10:20

    Same thing, Proverbs 28.13 says, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." So what are you doing with your sin? Are you concealing it? Or are you confessing it?

    10:23-10:33

    So on your outline, if you're taking notes, it says at the top, "Conceal or confess?" And there might be some people in here that are honest enough to say, you know what, I'd rather just conceal it.

    10:34-10:37

    And I would say respectfully, I don't know why you're here tonight.

    10:41-10:42

    You should have stayed home.

    10:45-10:48

    But I do know that there are some people here tonight that are like, you know what?

    10:51-10:53

    It's gone on beyond too long.

    10:54-10:54

    I need to confess.

    10:56-10:57

    I need to confess.

    10:57-11:03

    Well, I'm so glad you're here, if that's you, because I want to help you with that, from the Word of God.

    11:03-11:07

    So on your outline, if you want to confess, number one, this is where you have to start.

    11:09-11:11

    You have to be done lying about your sin.

    11:11-11:12

    You have to be done with that.

    11:13-11:16

    You have to be done lying about your sin.

    11:18-11:19

    Again, look at verse five.

    11:20-11:29

    He says, "This is the message we have heard from Him "and proclaimed to you, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

    11:30-11:31

    God is light.

    11:32-11:38

    We could spend a whole sermon series talking about that, but the bottom line is this, that represents life.

    11:39-11:40

    That represents holiness.

    11:41-11:43

    There is no death in God.

    11:43-11:45

    There's no unholiness in God.

    11:45-11:46

    There's no sin.

    11:46-11:48

    There's no darkness of any kind in God.

    11:49-11:54

    A man, on the other hand, I probably don't have to sell you on that, do I?

    11:57-12:04

    And you see, when we talk about confessing, yes, you absolutely must confess with your mouth.

    12:07-12:10

    But, it has to ultimately start in your heart.

    12:12-12:18

    Because you can say something with your mouth that isn't actually true in your heart.

    12:20-12:27

    And when you say something that's not true, that's called telling a lie.

    12:28-12:30

    And that's where John starts here.

    12:31-12:32

    Like, you want to confess?

    12:33-12:33

    You've got to be done lying.

    12:36-12:46

    You see, three times in this passage, he says, "if we claim" or "if we say" "if we say" "if we say" He's pointing out the lies We tell ourselves.

    12:47-12:48

    He goes, you've got to stop that.

    12:49-12:50

    Let's look at them quickly.

    12:51-12:53

    Three lies you've got to stop claiming.

    12:54-12:55

    You've got to stop these.

    12:55-12:57

    Number, or letter A, sorry, letter A.

    12:58-13:00

    Here's a lie that a lot of people are saying.

    13:01-13:02

    I believe in God.

    13:05-13:07

    When you don't live like it.

    13:09-13:15

    People are saying, yeah, I believe in God, but they don't live like they know Him at all.

    13:16-13:18

    It's a lie, right?

    13:18-13:19

    Not my opinion, look at verse six.

    13:20-13:31

    He says, "If we say we have fellowship with Him, with God, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

    13:32-13:35

    If we claim we have fellowship with Him," do you know what that is?

    13:36-13:40

    That's the guy or the girl that says, "Oh, I believe in God.

    13:41-13:42

    "Oh yeah, yeah, I believe in God.

    13:42-13:43

    I know God.

    13:44-13:49

    I mean, yeah, I'm a Christian." But he says they walk in darkness.

    13:49-13:54

    They're living in some secret, sinful lifestyle.

    13:57-13:59

    And John points out here, look, you're living a lie.

    14:00-14:02

    You're just, you're living a lie.

    14:03-14:05

    I don't know who you think you're fooling, but it's not God.

    14:07-14:08

    And this is a hard truth.

    14:11-14:14

    that I think tonight we need to confront ourselves with.

    14:15-14:18

    Not everyone who claims to know God actually does know God.

    14:20-14:23

    Not everyone who claims they know God is actually heading to heaven.

    14:26-14:33

    Not everyone who's sitting in a church, not just tonight, any church, week after week, not everyone sitting in a church is saved.

    14:37-15:04

    I got to tell you, I talk to a lot of people who will be talking about a family member of theirs, their brother, or their adult children, or their parents, and we'll be talking about these family members, and I'm like, "Well, do they know the Lord?" And they'll say, "Well, yeah, they're Christians." And then they say, "But they haven't gone to church "in years, they're not interested in praying.

    15:05-15:08

    They really don't want to have any spiritual conversations.

    15:09-15:12

    You know, I invited them to Good Friday service and they absolutely didn't want to come.

    15:14-15:15

    But yeah, he's a Christian.

    15:18-15:24

    I mean, yeah, he's living in adultery right now.

    15:25-15:26

    Oh, he's foul-mouthed.

    15:27-15:29

    And he is such a heavy drinker.

    15:32-15:32

    But he's a Christian.

    15:35-15:36

    Based on what?

    15:37-15:39

    What are you basing that on?

    15:39-15:41

    And you know what the response usually is?

    15:41-15:47

    Well, one time we were in a church and they said they believed in God.

    15:48-15:51

    They like raised their hand in a service one time.

    15:54-15:55

    But what does the Bible say?

    15:56-15:58

    Do you see that in verse six?

    15:58-16:03

    If we say we have fellowship, but we're walking in darkness, what does your Bible say?

    16:04-16:05

    It says you're lying.

    16:06-16:06

    It's just not true.

    16:10-16:12

    But on the other hand, look at verse seven.

    16:12-16:25

    He says, "But if we walk in the light, "as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, "and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." Walking in the light.

    16:26-16:27

    No hidden sin.

    16:29-16:35

    No secret sin that you hope to heaven nobody finds out about.

    16:43-16:46

    You sin, you confess.

    16:48-16:49

    You are walking in the light.

    16:50-16:51

    You're like, yeah, I did sin.

    16:51-16:53

    That was wrong what I did.

    16:53-16:54

    It was wrong in God's eyes.

    16:54-16:55

    I've sinned against my family.

    16:55-16:56

    I'm confessing that.

    16:56-16:58

    I'm getting with God on this.

    16:58-17:04

    I'm getting accountability on this to help me drag this to the light.

    17:07-17:09

    So what's your plan tonight?

    17:09-17:10

    Are you going to conceal?

    17:12-17:13

    Or are you going to confess?

    17:20-17:23

    You're walking in the light or you're walking in darkness?

    17:26-17:28

    There's no middle ground, by the way.

    17:29-17:33

    The Bible doesn't talk about walking in half light or half dark.

    17:33-17:36

    What typifies your life right now?

    17:37-17:39

    Which one describes you?

    17:40-17:42

    Are you walking in the light?

    17:45-17:47

    Or is there a whole lot of stuff that you're trying to keep concealed?

    17:51-17:53

    Well, John says, "Stop lying.

    17:54-17:54

    "Stop lying.

    17:54-17:59

    "Your claim of believing in God means nothing if your life is characterized by sin.

    18:00-18:03

    All right, so that's a lie you have to stop claiming.

    18:03-18:06

    Here's another lie you have to stop.

    18:07-18:08

    Letter B, I'm a good person.

    18:11-18:12

    I'm a good person.

    18:12-18:14

    Well, let's see what the Bible says about that, verse eight.

    18:14-18:22

    If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

    18:23-18:25

    We claim we're without sin.

    18:26-18:27

    I'm not that bad.

    18:28-18:32

    I mean, I'm actually a good person.

    18:33-18:39

    Like deep down, you know, deep down, I have a good heart.

    18:40-18:42

    I'm a good person deep down.

    18:44-18:45

    God knows that.

    18:48-18:49

    Here's what God knows.

    18:51-18:54

    God knows that you were born with a sin nature that you inherited from Adam.

    18:55-18:58

    that's been passed down from generation to generation, and you got it.

    19:02-19:02

    Don't believe me?

    19:04-19:07

    Sometimes I have people challenge me on this, like I don't think that we're born with a sin nature.

    19:08-19:09

    I don't think that that's true.

    19:09-19:11

    I don't think that we are born with a sin nature.

    19:11-19:13

    I'm like, have you ever been around a kid?

    19:14-19:15

    Ever?

    19:17-19:18

    (congregation laughing)

    19:19-19:21

    That's exactly what I'm talking about.

    19:25-19:28

    That's exactly what I'm talking about, that little sinner tried to hijack the sermon.

    19:31-19:33

    You just proved my point, little lamb.

    19:40-19:43

    And look, if you don't have kids, there's plenty of people around here that do have them.

    19:43-19:45

    I'm sure they'll let you hang out.

    19:47-19:49

    I'm sure they might ask you to watch them for a few days.

    19:55-19:56

    Who has ever taught a kid?

    19:58-19:59

    I mean, think of a little toddler.

    20:00-20:01

    Think of little Joey back there.

    20:02-20:06

    Does dad ever sit down with him and say, "Listen, listen, Joey, I'm gonna teach you "something important here.

    20:07-20:12

    "If you learn how to lie convincingly, "you're gonna go far in life, all right?

    20:13-20:17

    "I guess, son, what I'm saying is "always cover your tracks, okay?

    20:18-20:25

    "Because if you got away with it, then you've mastered the art of deception.

    20:26-20:29

    Has any dad sat down with their kid and taught them that?

    20:29-20:30

    I sure hope not.

    20:30-20:31

    You're a monster.

    20:31-20:33

    You're a monster if you're teaching your kid how to sin.

    20:34-20:36

    But you don't have to.

    20:37-20:45

    How is it that these kids automatically know how to sneak, how to lie, how to steal, how to be selfish?

    20:45-20:46

    How do they know that?

    20:47-20:50

    Like, were they reading some manual in the womb?

    20:50-20:51

    Like, what is going on here?

    20:54-20:55

    We're born with a sin nature.

    20:57-20:59

    So if you're like, "Well, you know what?

    21:00-21:01

    I'm really not that bad.

    21:01-21:05

    I'm not really a bad person." The Bible says you're deceiving to yourself.

    21:05-21:09

    You're telling a lie, and then you're turning around and believing the own lie that you just told yourself.

    21:12-21:13

    You say you have a good heart?

    21:15-21:30

    Actually if that's your stance, if that's your stance here tonight, to think that you're You're really a good person, I've got to tell you, you're in a hopeless situation when it comes to the gospel, because you're not going to confess.

    21:32-21:36

    What can God do for someone who doesn't think that they need Him?

    21:39-21:40

    It's a hopeless situation.

    21:44-21:45

    Look at verse nine again.

    21:45-21:56

    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, excuse me, forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    21:59-22:02

    I did a lot of reading this past week in preparing for this.

    22:02-22:12

    And you get to this verse, and these scholars and commentators are like, is this verse for believers, or is this verse for unbelievers?

    22:16-22:28

    The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Confession is like repentance. Think about repentance.

    22:29-22:44

    Is repentance something you do when you first come to Christ? Yeah. But if you're a true born again believer in Christ, when do you stop repenting? Never. In Matthew 3.8, Luke 3.8, both say the exact same thing.

    22:45-22:49

    Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

    22:49-22:53

    Repentance is to be the lifestyle of the follower of Jesus.

    22:54-22:56

    And confession is exactly the same.

    22:56-22:59

    In coming to Christ, you have to confess.

    22:59-23:07

    And if you're a Christian, your life is typified by constant acknowledgment of your sin before a holy God.

    23:11-23:18

    regular occurrence in our walk with Christ, Christians are characterized as confessors.

    23:20-23:23

    A true Christian is always going to God.

    23:23-23:25

    "God, I hate my sin.

    23:25-23:27

    God, this is what I did.

    23:27-23:29

    I messed up.

    23:29-23:29

    I sinned.

    23:30-23:33

    God, specifically, here is what I did.

    23:34-23:35

    God, I need to change.

    23:35-23:37

    God, I'm confessing that.

    23:38-23:42

    Thank You for the forgiveness that You've purchased through Your Son, Jesus Christ, God.

    23:42-23:49

    I need the power of Your Spirit to help me repent." That is how a Christian confesses their sin.

    23:51-23:54

    And John says that God's response is to forgive and purify.

    23:56-23:57

    Why does He do that?

    23:59-24:00

    Because you're worthy?

    24:03-24:03

    Not hardly.

    24:04-24:09

    John says he does that because he, he is faithful and just.

    24:11-24:17

    See, God's forgiveness is based on his promise, not your performance.

    24:17-24:21

    God's forgiveness comes to you on his terms, not your terms.

    24:22-24:28

    And God's forgiveness, the assurance that we have that we are forgiven is because of God's integrity.

    24:30-24:39

    that I can say, "I know that I have the promise of heaven," not because of me, I know I have the promise of heaven because I believe in a God who always keeps His word.

    24:41-24:42

    And this is what He's promised.

    24:45-24:50

    So if you're sitting here tonight, you're like, "Yeah, I'm a good person." You're really not.

    24:52-24:59

    As long as you think you are, you're not going to understand what the cross of Jesus Christ was all about.

    25:01-25:03

    Three lies you need to stop claiming.

    25:04-25:07

    Letter C, same vein here, right?

    25:07-25:08

    Letter C, I don't sin.

    25:11-25:12

    I don't sin.

    25:13-25:15

    Believe it or not, I've met people that have made that claim.

    25:15-25:16

    Look at verse 10.

    25:16-25:30

    He says, "If we say we have not sinned, "we make him a liar and his word is not in us." If we claim we have not sinned, that's the person, And again, I've met these people, they're like, "Sin?

    25:33-25:43

    I don't sin." Well, you did just call God a liar then because He says differently.

    25:46-25:50

    It's one of the interesting things about sin, wouldn't you say?

    25:50-26:00

    interesting, that we tend to minimize our sin and we maximize other people's sin.

    26:02-26:08

    Ours is so small and insignificant, but somebody else's, oh boy, they really blew it.

    26:14-26:16

    God wants to deal with you about your sin.

    26:18-26:24

    And you can't confess Jesus as a Savior if you say you don't have what He saves from.

    26:27-26:36

    And if you refuse to acknowledge your sin, you refuse to admit, you refuse to confess your sin, then the cross means nothing.

    26:38-26:45

    And we come to a service like this, we think of Jesus Christ on the cross, and we're really left wondering why did he die in the first place?

    26:48-26:49

    Concealer confess.

    26:53-26:53

    What are you doing?

    26:58-26:59

    Concealer confess.

    26:59-27:01

    Are you going to leave tonight lying to yourself?

    27:04-27:07

    Or are you going to finally agree with God?

    27:12-27:23

    So if you want to confess, if that's you, and I want to help you, first of all, you gotta stop lying to yourself, you gotta stop lying to God, you gotta stop lying to everybody, you gotta stop the lies.

    27:23-27:27

    Number two, you have to come to Jesus.

    27:30-27:33

    Confession is about the person of Jesus Christ.

    27:33-27:47

    Look at verse one, he says, in chapter two, "My little children, I'm writing these things to you "so that you may not sin." But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

    27:49-28:01

    John says, "Look, I'm writing this so you don't sin." God's Word doesn't allow us to have a dismissive attitude about sin, which a lot of Christians have.

    28:02-28:05

    It's like, "Well, yeah, I sin, but it doesn't really matter.

    28:05-28:10

    I'm forgiven in Christ." we just sort of dismiss it.

    28:12-28:13

    John goes, "No, no, no, no.

    28:14-28:35

    I'm writing these things to you so that you are turning from sin." He goes, "But if anybody does sin, and you will," spoiler alert, "you will," John says, "when you sin, you have an advocate, if you're in Christ." And this is one of the most beautiful pictures in all the Bible.

    28:36-28:39

    You know, it's a courtroom scene actually.

    28:39-28:45

    Revelation chapter 12 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren.

    28:45-28:46

    Do you know what Satan does?

    28:47-28:52

    He goes before God, and if you're a follower of Christ, Satan accuses you before God.

    28:53-28:55

    Satan's like, he's no good.

    28:57-28:58

    Did you hear what he said?

    28:58-29:00

    That's one of your guys?

    29:00-29:01

    Did you hear what he said?

    29:02-29:03

    That's what Satan does.

    29:03-29:06

    Satan, he's a slanderer, he's an accuser.

    29:06-29:10

    But you see, when Jesus Christ is your advocate, he is your defense attorney.

    29:11-29:22

    That when Satan says, "Do you see what a miserable person this is?" Jesus steps up and says, "He did sin, "but I took his sin on myself when I died on the cross." He's forgiven.

    29:22-29:25

    He is not guilty because I paid that penalty.

    29:27-29:28

    And Satan goes to the next person.

    29:28-29:30

    You see what a miserable person she is?

    29:30-29:31

    Do you hear how she talked?

    29:31-29:32

    Do you see what she did?

    29:33-29:43

    Jesus says, "I died for her." All of the sin that was committed by her, Jesus said, "When I was on the cross, I paid the penalty." She is not guilty.

    29:45-29:50

    That's what it means that Jesus as our advocate, and that is way better than Edgar Snyder.

    29:53-29:55

    Owen might not think so.

    29:57-29:58

    If you know, you know.

    29:59-30:00

    Look at verse two.

    30:03-30:10

    He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

    30:11-30:12

    Propitiation.

    30:12-30:15

    Oh, that's like one of the best words in the Bible.

    30:15-30:20

    John's just hitting like all of the most awesome concepts in a row right here.

    30:21-30:27

    Propitiation, your Bible might translate it, atoning, sacrifice, but this is a concept that you really need to understand.

    30:28-30:29

    Propitiation just simply means this.

    30:30-30:34

    God is satisfied with what Jesus did on the cross.

    30:35-30:36

    That's what it means.

    30:36-30:43

    When Jesus was on the cross, God was pouring out his wrath on Jesus for my sin and for your sin.

    30:44-30:47

    God put all of the wrath that I deserve on Jesus.

    30:47-30:50

    And that is awesome news because you know what that means?

    30:50-30:52

    God has no more wrath left for me.

    30:54-30:57

    And if you're in Christ, he has no wrath left for you.

    30:57-31:07

    And Christian, you've gotta get this in your head I've talked to so many Christians that are like, "I just really feel like God's mad at me, "and I feel like God's so disappointed in me." He's not!

    31:08-31:16

    It's not like God poured out His wrath on Jesus, and then God turns around and sees you sinning, and is like, "Oh, I'm still mad!

    31:17-31:20

    "I gotta punish her now, too!" That's not how it works.

    31:22-31:23

    Propitiation, God is satisfied.

    31:24-31:29

    He has no wrath for you if you've truly received Jesus Christ.

    31:32-31:47

    And not just for you, not just for you, look at verse two, he goes on to say, "Not for ours only, "not for our sins only, "but also for the sins of the whole world." Again, this is where a lot of scholars get caught up.

    31:50-31:55

    I just, you're like, "Oh, you think you're smarter than those scholars." No, I don't.

    31:55-31:57

    I think they're too smart sometimes.

    31:58-32:01

    I think they make this way too complicated.

    32:03-32:04

    You know what I mean by that?

    32:04-32:16

    You know, I was reading, and I heard some pastoral panel thing, they were talking about this very verse, and they were like, what is being talked about here for the sins of the whole world?

    32:16-32:19

    Is he talking about the elect?

    32:19-32:20

    Like it's just for the elect?

    32:22-32:25

    Is this speaking to limited atonement?

    32:28-32:33

    You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

    32:33-32:34

    Do you know what this means?

    32:35-32:36

    Do you know what this verse means?

    32:36-32:38

    I'll tell you what this verse means.

    32:39-32:39

    Right here.

    32:41-32:49

    What this verse is saying is I can confidently say to anyone, when you believe in Jesus, you will be forgiven of your sins.

    32:50-32:52

    You will be adopted as a child of God.

    32:52-32:54

    I can say that to anybody, because it's for the whole world.

    32:54-33:04

    I can say that here, I can say that in Thailand, I can say that in Blonox, it doesn't matter where I am, this truth holds, Jesus forgives sin.

    33:06-33:08

    Let God figure out all that other stuff.

    33:10-33:14

    My job is to tell the world, and your job too.

    33:16-33:17

    Concealer confess.

    33:19-33:19

    Conceal or confess.

    33:21-33:31

    At this point, if you're still wanting to conceal, you're committed to walking out of here like, "Yeah, I just can't, I can't come clean about my sin.

    33:31-33:38

    "Not to God, not to anybody." Well, it's not gonna go well for you.

    33:39-33:45

    Remember what the Proverbs writers say, that if you conceal your sin, you're not gonna prosper.

    33:46-33:48

    It's not gonna go well for you.

    33:51-33:57

    But if you want to confess, that's business that you have to do with Jesus.

    33:59-34:16

    Not only confessing who you are as a sinner, but confession includes saying who He is, agreeing with God who Jesus is, agreeing with God that Jesus is your advocate, agreeing with God that Jesus is your propitiation, agreeing with God about that.

    34:17-34:24

    If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

    34:28-34:34

    So this night more than any other probably reminds us why Jesus is the only one who can take your sin away.

    34:35-34:36

    Nobody else can do that.

    34:38-34:46

    Nobody else can make you be pronounced not guilty in the courtroom of God.

    34:49-34:50

    Conceal or confess?

    34:52-34:59

    Well, if you want to confess, number three, your lifestyle proves your sincerity.

    35:02-35:04

    Your lifestyle proves your sincerity.

    35:05-35:07

    Look at verses 3 through 6 again.

    35:08-35:13

    He says, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

    35:15-35:20

    Whoever says, "I know Him," but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

    35:21-35:27

    But whoever keeps His word in him, truly the love of God is perfected.

    35:28-35:34

    By this we may know that we are in Him.

    35:35-35:41

    Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

    35:44-35:48

    I'm sure if the hospitality team grabbed every person on the way out, do you wanna confess?

    35:48-35:50

    I'm sure they would get 100%.

    35:50-35:51

    Yeah, I confess.

    35:51-35:52

    I can, yeah, I confess.

    35:58-36:02

    We'll find out if it's sincere by how you live, right?

    36:03-36:05

    That's why he says it in verse three.

    36:05-36:06

    He says it at the end of verse five.

    36:07-36:08

    We know that we have come to know him.

    36:09-36:10

    We know that we are saved.

    36:10-36:12

    Like what's the evidence?

    36:12-36:15

    How do I really know if I'm saved or not?

    36:15-36:16

    How would I know that?

    36:16-36:17

    He tells you right here.

    36:17-36:19

    Here's how you know that you're saved.

    36:19-36:20

    You keep his commands.

    36:22-36:28

    The proof that you know God is just simply you do what he says.

    36:32-36:34

    It's not just what you claim.

    36:37-36:38

    Are you saved?

    36:38-36:38

    You know the Lord.

    36:39-36:40

    And people say, well, you know what?

    36:40-36:46

    I was baptized 17 years ago at First Baptist Church of so-and-so.

    36:47-36:47

    Goody.

    36:49-36:51

    That's not evidence that you're saved, though.

    36:53-37:05

    Or somebody says, "Well, I go to church almost every week." I mean, not when Declan has lacrosse, but every other week I'm in church.

    37:05-37:06

    Great.

    37:08-37:10

    I strongly encourage church attendance.

    37:10-37:13

    I think that's a good thing, but that's not evidence of salvation.

    37:14-37:17

    Evidence of salvation is I do what God tells me to do.

    37:19-37:22

    It's just that simple, according to John.

    37:24-37:30

    I believe, I believe not verified by what you say, I believe is verified by how you live.

    37:30-37:32

    Are you gonna conceal or are you gonna confess tonight?

    37:33-37:34

    Which is it?

    37:36-37:51

    Because obviously, if you really agree with God that sin is evil, you're going to be constantly confessing and forsaking sin.

    37:55-37:57

    So do you live a life of confession?

    38:01-38:04

    Do you agree with God about your sin?

    38:06-38:19

    And do you agree with God concerning what He said the crucifixion of His Son accomplished for the person who will turn to Him?

    38:22-38:23

    Our worship team would make their way back up.

    38:26-38:54

    And our communion servers, we're gonna close our time around the Lord's table And you do not have to be a member of Harvard's Bible Chapel to take communion, but you do have to be a born-again believer in Christ. This is for believers.

    38:58-39:02

    And fellow Christians, it is gathering around the Lord's table.

    39:02-39:06

    Well, this is a time to confess everything.

    39:08-39:11

    Everything that John said in this passage, we get to confess that right now.

    39:13-39:21

    When we take these elements, what we're saying, what we're confessing, I confess that my sin is evil and wrong in the eyes of God.

    39:22-39:23

    I confess that.

    39:24-39:27

    I confess that Jesus Christ died for my sin.

    39:29-39:35

    I confess that God is satisfied with the work that Jesus accomplished on my behalf.

    39:37-39:40

    I confess Jesus Christ is my advocate.

    39:41-39:46

    I confess that I need His Spirit to make me who God wants me to be.

    39:49-40:00

    I confess that I will prove that I believe when I obey God in every area of my life.

    40:03-40:16

    Hebrews 4.14 says, "Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.

    40:18-40:22

    Let us hold fast our confession.

    40:24-40:36

    We're going to ask, when you're ready, if you would come down to the center aisles and receive the elements from one of our pastors, and you can return to your seat by the outside aisle.

    40:37-40:49

    I'm going to ask that you hold on to it, and let's confess together tonight, church, that We are agreeing with God in all these things.

    40:52-40:54

    So please come, take the elements.

    40:56-40:57

    This is our confession.

    40:59-41:05

    This is our agreeing with God that Jesus is who God said He is.

    41:06-41:09

    And that Jesus accomplished what God said He accomplished.

    41:11-41:16

    The Bible tells us on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and he broke it and he gave thanks.

    41:17-41:20

    And he said, "This is my body, which is broken for you.

    41:21-41:45

    Eat this in remembrance of me." After the meal, Bible tells us that Jesus took the cup and he said, "This cup is my blood, the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sin.

    41:46-41:48

    Drink this in remembrance of me.

    41:50-41:51

    What are you doing tonight?

    41:54-41:56

    Conceal or confess?

    41:59-42:01

    Jesus has quite a resume.

    42:04-42:06

    As the prophet, he is the word of God.

    42:08-42:11

    As the priest, he takes away our sin.

    42:12-42:15

    I want to invite you to come back in two days on Sunday.

    42:15-42:26

    Pastor Taylor is going to talk about the other role that Jesus has, the King of Kings.

    42:27-42:28

    You don't want to miss that.

    42:30-42:31

    You are loved.

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 John 1:5-2:6

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Because He is a Prophet, I Will Believe

Introduction:

Hebrews 1:1-3 - Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high...

The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:14-22):

  • Will Speak God’s Words – But they did not all listen

    See: John 12:49-50 and John 14:10, 24

  • Will be Like Moses – But they did not all believe

    See: John 6:32-35 and John 6:51, 57b-58

  • Will Die if He Lies – But they killed Jesus for telling the truth

    See: John 8:26b-28 | Psalm 22:7-8, 16-18 | Psalm 22:22-25

Jesus is the Prophet – Will You:

  • Listen to Him?

  • Believe Him?

  • Speak His words?

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Respect the Office - Because He is a Prophet, I Will Believe
Jeff Miller / Rich Sprunk
  • 00:00-00:01

    Good morning, Harvest.

    00:03-00:05

    It's a joy to be with you this morning.

    00:06-00:11

    Open your Bibles, please, if you haven't already, to Deuteronomy chapter 18.

    00:12-00:16

    It's where we will be studying God's Word this morning.

    00:18-00:37

    And as is our usual, sometimes usual custom, I would ask, please, that you pray for me, that I would clearly, accurately preach God's Word, and I will pray for you that your hearts will be open to receive it.

    00:37-00:37

    Let's pray.

    00:43-01:18

    Gracious and holy Father, I pray, Father, you would open our hearts and minds to receive your word, that we would be absolutely convinced beyond all doubt that your word is true and that Jesus is your prophet who speaks your truth to us through your word, through your spirit at all times.

    01:19-01:30

    And I pray as we believe and trust in Him, you would transform our lives and make us more like Him every day.

    01:30-01:33

    We pray in Jesus' great name, Amen.

    01:35-01:44

    So in preparation for Resurrection Sunday, we are beginning a three-part series examining the three offices of Christ.

    01:45-01:47

    the office of prophet, priest, and king.

    01:49-01:53

    And we begin this morning with the first of these, which is prophet.

    01:55-01:59

    Now, we may listen to a lot of modern day prophets for advice on how to live.

    02:00-02:12

    The experts, the doctors, the internet influencers, the media talking heads, podcasters, entertainment celebrities, even astrologists and politicians.

    02:14-02:16

    The sources of information are endless.

    02:17-02:24

    And now we have AI at our fingertips to synthesize and summarize the sum and substance of human experience.

    02:27-02:40

    Now to be clear, I'm not talking about doctors who say eating this one food three times a day cures sleep apnea or the weird trick that cures tinnitus caused by eating this one food three times a day.

    02:40-02:47

    Now I'm talking about the major life information, answers to questions like, "Who am I?

    02:48-02:49

    What's my purpose?

    02:50-03:03

    What's the best way to live?" And when it comes to that kind of information, few to none of the infotainment talking heads can really help us, because they can only tell us what they know.

    03:04-03:11

    I'm not suggesting they aren't intelligent, but what they say may or may not be true.

    03:12-03:15

    But you say like, well, no, hold on, hold on Sprung.

    03:15-03:20

    I've heard it said that all truth is God's truth, wherever it's found.

    03:22-03:24

    Well, let's think about that for a minute.

    03:25-03:29

    God's word is perfect, pure and true according to Psalm 19.

    03:30-03:44

    So I have a metaphor this morning for us, For God's word, I think that everyone can relate to the delight over opening a brand new container of Play-Doh.

    03:45-03:46

    It's all one color.

    03:47-03:49

    Nobody's played with it yet.

    03:49-03:51

    It's not mixed up with other colors.

    03:52-03:57

    It's just fresh and clean, and it's ready for my artistic expression.

    04:00-04:04

    But you know, the inevitable happens, doesn't it?

    04:04-04:19

    Soon, what was once pure and clean, it's all mashed together with a lot of other colors and that original color becomes unidentifiable.

    04:22-04:23

    I think you get the point.

    04:25-04:29

    How do you discern God's truth in a mishmash of worldly ideas?

    04:30-04:37

    How do you extract the truth once it's all blended into futile human thoughts?

    04:40-04:45

    Well, this is the problem with the infotainment experts.

    04:46-04:53

    Their learning and experience and perspective is just a conglomeration of worldly thinking.

    04:54-05:09

    They can make educated guesses as to how to live and what's going to happen, but ultimately every single one of them is going to reach a point where they have to say, "I don't know." And some of them are speaking directly out of the pit of hell.

    05:10-05:13

    And those folks will drag you down to hell with them.

    05:14-05:20

    So you see, that's why when it comes to the astrologists and the mediums and perhaps the to celebrities and influencers.

    05:22-05:33

    Verse 14 of this morning's passage says that, "As for you, the Lord, your God, has not allowed you to do this." So to whom or what can we turn?

    05:33-05:37

    Where can we get truth for an accurate world view?

    05:38-05:41

    Because we need a perspective that is outside of ourselves.

    05:42-05:46

    Outside of this world, really, and that's what God's Word is.

    05:47-05:53

    It is the specific and special revelation of God about himself.

    05:58-06:01

    It comes from the throne of God.

    06:02-06:18

    The problem with the world is, people in the world, they look at the Bible and like, "Well, yeah, that's just one more system of thought like any other." In fact, it's probably even not as good as what AI can tell us now.

    06:19-06:21

    They have a low view of scripture.

    06:22-06:24

    We need to have a high view of scripture.

    06:26-06:33

    And as we learn from the word that was just read, we can get the truth from the prophet.

    06:34-06:36

    It is to him we must listen.

    06:38-06:40

    But what is a prophet anyway?

    06:41-06:42

    What does a prophet do?

    06:42-06:52

    We typically think of prophets as forecasting future events, often in a cryptic or mystical way, like that Nostradamus guy.

    06:52-06:58

    But biblically, that is only a partial description of what a prophet does.

    06:59-07:03

    Basically a biblical prophet speaks God's words to people.

    07:05-07:09

    The Old Testament prophets revealed three basic messages.

    07:11-07:18

    The first was that God sent many prophets to his people to rebuke them for breaking the covenant and worshiping idols.

    07:19-07:31

    This was perhaps the prophet's most important function, to remind the people of Israel that they, and only they, were in a covenantal relationship with the Lord God Most High.

    07:33-07:36

    and they were violating His covenant in a high-handed way.

    07:37-07:47

    Time and again He warned them to return to Him, or they would face the ultimate covenant punishment of being expelled from the Promised Land.

    07:48-08:03

    Not only did the prophets warn Israel and Judah that they would be punished by pagan nations for their idolatry, God also spoke to them about a future restoration, both near and at the end of the age.

    08:05-08:09

    And indeed, after the exile, they would return to the promised land.

    08:10-08:18

    And the nations that assaulted and tormented Israel in their exile, they would in turn be punished and overthrown by God.

    08:19-08:29

    And then finally, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming Messiah, a sometimes suffering, but ultimately victorious anointed servant.

    08:30-08:33

    The anointed one would bring salvation to his people.

    08:33-08:37

    He would inaugurate a new covenant between God and his people.

    08:38-08:45

    And the prophets gave many clues that would help the people identify the anointed one when he arrived.

    08:46-08:51

    Now, what did God expect his people to do in response to the prophets' messages?

    08:52-09:29

    expected, well no, he commanded them to repent and believe the messages to return to him and live in accordance with the covenant he made with them at Mount Sinai. And yet the Old Testament records a nearly continuous account of Israel's idolatry. They worship the idols of the nations around them. They And they sought out and listened to the words of false prophets, mediums, fortune tellers, and diviners.

    09:30-09:31

    They did not listen.

    09:32-09:34

    They did not believe.

    09:34-09:37

    They became futile in their thinking and their worship.

    09:37-09:47

    They mixed God's truth with the religions and lifestyles of the surrounding nations, and they ended up with the equivalent of this, gudo.

    09:49-09:52

    It's just a mash, a mishmash of ideas.

    09:53-10:02

    And when the prophets exposed their sin and their hypocrisy, they took offense and they put them to death.

    10:04-10:13

    So God, after bearing with his people for hundreds of years, he brought the covenantal curses down upon their heads and inflicted the ultimate punishment.

    10:14-10:16

    He exiled them from the promised land.

    10:18-10:22

    Now God of course kept his promises and he returned them to the land.

    10:23-10:37

    And roughly 400 years after that, the anointed one who was known before the foundation of the world, he was made manifest in the last times for the sake of all who would believe in and through him.

    10:39-10:45

    We of course know from the New Testament that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

    10:46-10:52

    He's the Son of God who fulfilled all that was spoken of Him by the Old Testament prophets.

    10:55-11:03

    As the writer of Hebrews says, "Long ago and at many times and in many ways, "God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

    11:04-11:12

    "But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, "whom He appointed the heir of all things, "through whom also He created the world.

    11:13-11:21

    "He's the radiance of the glory of God God in the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

    11:21-11:36

    After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." And this verse summarizes the three offices of Christ that we're going to be studying this week.

    11:36-11:37

    First is prophet.

    11:38-11:48

    "In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son." And then priest, he has made purification for sins.

    11:48-11:53

    And then finally king, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

    11:56-12:01

    So how do we know Jesus is the prophet foretold by Moses?

    12:02-12:08

    What evidence is there to conclusively connect Jesus to the promise of a prophet just like Moses?

    12:11-12:15

    Well, first the prophet will speak God's words.

    12:16-12:19

    Look at verse 15 of chapter 18 in Deuteronomy.

    12:21-12:27

    Verse 15 says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

    12:28-12:35

    It is to him you shall listen." Thus the prophet would be raised up by God from among the Israelites.

    12:36-12:46

    And the gospels of Matthew and Luke establish that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and he was adopted by Joseph.

    12:47-12:50

    And both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David.

    12:51-12:53

    Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

    12:54-12:57

    His birth was attended by an angelic announcement.

    12:59-13:08

    And then when John baptized Jesus, God the Father announced that Jesus was his beloved son with whom he was well-pleased.

    13:09-13:17

    All of these events attest that Jesus was indeed raised up by God the Father from among the Israelites.

    13:18-13:29

    And these events disprove the idea that Jesus was merely a self-appointed and possibly deluded religious figure, as some people think he was.

    13:31-13:35

    And then verse 18 tells us that God's words would be in his mouth.

    13:36-13:47

    "I will put my words in his mouth and He shall speak to them all that I command Him." Now, we've already established that the prophets spoke God's words to the people.

    13:48-13:59

    But whereas they prefaced their statements with, "Thus saith the Lord," Jesus spoke as the Lord, out of the oneness that existed between Him and the Father.

    14:00-14:17

    For example, in John 12, verses 49 and 50, Jesus said, "For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak.

    14:17-14:20

    And I know that his commandment is eternal life.

    14:21-14:38

    What I say therefore, I say as the Father has told me." And then in John 14, verses 10 and 24, he said, "The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

    14:38-14:59

    And the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." As further proof of his prophetic office, Jesus spoke God's words in the way that the Israelites requested.

    15:00-15:13

    What I mean is this, In Exodus chapters 19 and 20, God descended in a dark cloud on Mount Sinai with thunders and lightnings and the mountains shook.

    15:14-15:18

    And out of that cloud, God spoke the 10 commandments to the people.

    15:19-15:54

    And when all the people saw the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet that they heard and they were seeing the mountain shake and the ground shaking beneath their feet, They were terrified and they stood far off and they told Moses, they said, "You speak to us and we will listen, "but do not let God speak to us lest we die." Certainly Moses continued to speak to the people and gave them God's commands during their journey to the promised land and during their wandering for 40 years in the desert.

    15:55-15:57

    And then in his final address to them in the book of Deuteronomy.

    16:00-16:21

    But in chapter 18, verses 16 and 17, Moses told the people that God would send a prophet in direct response to their request at Mount Sinai, to let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire anymore, lest I die.

    16:24-16:31

    So how did Jesus, in his speaking, demonstrate that he was the prophet sent by the Lord?

    16:32-16:37

    Well, there's three events that directly identify Jesus as the prophet.

    16:38-16:42

    And all of them occurred, not coincidentally, on a mountainside.

    16:44-16:48

    First, he was on the mountain when he was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.

    16:48-16:59

    and while talking with Moses and Elijah, and a bright cloud appeared and God said, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

    17:00-17:08

    Listen to him." And the three disciples were like the Israelites of old, terrified by the voice of God.

    17:09-17:11

    But when they looked up, they saw only Jesus.

    17:14-17:26

    Second, the most direct connection A connection between the prophet and God speaking in the 10 commandments out of a stormy cloud is found in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount.

    17:29-17:33

    Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up on the mountain.

    17:34-17:36

    And when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

    17:37-17:39

    And he opened his mouth and taught them.

    17:41-17:42

    And what did he teach them?

    17:44-17:50

    Well, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exegeted the law, including most of the 10 commandments.

    17:51-17:59

    The greatest commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then to love your neighbor as yourself.

    18:01-18:12

    In that sermon, he showed the people that righteousness was not about outwardly keeping rules, but inward devotion to God that flowed from a broken and contrite heart.

    18:14-18:18

    a heart that revealed itself in confident dependence on God.

    18:20-18:31

    Instead of fire and terror, Jesus spoke to the people face to face on the mountain, just as they requested of Moses so long ago.

    18:32-18:41

    He revealed God to be merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

    18:42-18:50

    And when Jesus finished, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority.

    18:52-18:57

    And yet, as so often happened in Israel's history, they did not all listen.

    18:59-19:06

    Yeah, there were those who did, but it seems for the most part, people were going out to Jesus for signs and wonders.

    19:07-19:08

    The crowds were fickle.

    19:08-19:10

    They were ambivalent about him.

    19:11-19:15

    and the religious leaders were so hostile, they wanted to kill him.

    19:18-19:26

    In Jesus, Israel got what she asked for hundreds of years earlier, a prophet speaking God's words to them face to face.

    19:27-19:35

    And even though his teaching astonished them, they eventually decided that Jesus really wasn't the prophet or Messiah they wanted after all.

    19:36-19:38

    They wanted a vending machine God.

    19:38-19:42

    They wanted a Messiah-o-matic and give them what they wanted.

    19:46-19:57

    You see, the divide between what the people craved and who Jesus is, is revealed in a third event that demonstrated the prophet would be like Moses.

    20:00-20:06

    The third thing Jesus did on a mountainside that proved He was the prophet like Moses is this.

    20:07-20:12

    He fed well over 5,000 people with bread and fish.

    20:14-20:36

    According to John 6, after everyone had eaten their fill and 12 baskets of leftovers were collected, the people said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." And a day or two later, the people went looking for Jesus in Capernaum because they wanted more bread to eat.

    20:37-20:49

    Jesus knew what they wanted and he told them, "Do not work for the food that perishes, "but for the food that endures to eternal life, "which the Son of Man will give you.

    20:52-21:16

    "For on Him, God the Father has set His seal." And then the people said to him, "What must we do to be doing the works of God?" And Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." So the people said, "Jesus, what sign do you do that we might believe you?

    21:18-21:26

    What are you going to do for us, Jesus, that will persuade us to believe in you?" And then they said, "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness.

    21:27-21:40

    Have you got more bread?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, "it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, "but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

    21:41-22:02

    "For the bread of God is he who comes down "from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life." The people responded to Jesus' assertion with grumbling.

    22:03-22:11

    First, because he said, "He's the bread that comes down from heaven." They're like, "We want food.

    22:11-22:12

    We want bread.

    22:12-22:21

    We don't want you." But their grumbling increased because of Jesus' next extraordinary statement.

    22:24-22:28

    He said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

    22:28-22:31

    "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

    22:32-22:36

    "And the bread that I will give "for the life of the world is my flesh.

    22:36-22:41

    "Whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

    22:42-22:47

    "This is the bread that came down from heaven, "not like the bread the fathers ate and died.

    22:48-22:57

    "Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." Well, this was just all too much for the Jews.

    22:57-22:59

    This was just too bizarre.

    23:01-23:09

    Jesus was speaking of himself as eternal nourishment, and all they could think about was their temporary physical hunger.

    23:10-23:24

    Like the Jews in the wilderness who grumbled about God providing manna for 40 years, the crowds and even many of Jesus' disciples grumbled about Jesus being the true bread of God.

    23:25-23:32

    Like Moses, Jesus led and fed the people in ways that revealed His prophetic office.

    23:33-23:35

    But they did not all believe.

    23:36-23:37

    They took offense at Him.

    23:39-23:42

    Many turned back and no longer walked with Him.

    23:45-23:50

    So Jesus asked the 12 if they too wanted to leave Him.

    23:50-23:52

    But Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?

    23:53-23:55

    You have the words of eternal life.

    23:56-24:00

    And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.

    24:03-24:07

    You see, Peter recognized Jesus is more than the prophet.

    24:07-24:14

    He declares Jesus is the anointed one, the Son of God, because Jesus spoke God's words of eternal life.

    24:17-24:22

    And what was the most important thing that Jesus said during his earthly ministry?

    24:23-24:27

    What did he explicitly prophesy at least three times?

    24:29-24:33

    And what did he emphasize in other ways multiple times to his disciples?

    24:35-24:41

    That he would be mocked and flogged and crucified and that he would be raised to life the third day.

    24:42-24:44

    It's a pretty extraordinary prophecy.

    24:47-25:05

    But you see, this was extremely perplexing to the disciples because they said, "Jesus, you're telling the truth." And along with the words that he spoke and the signs and wonders that he performed, all of this amply demonstrated that Jesus was in fact the Messiah.

    25:06-25:14

    There's no way he could be a false prophet because they knew that a false prophet will die if he lies.

    25:16-25:18

    Look at Deuteronomy 18.20.

    25:19-25:38

    "The prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die." The religious leaders, particularly the Pharisees and their lawyers, they insisted that Jesus was a liar.

    25:39-25:43

    They claimed he was merely witnessing about himself and that his testimony wasn't true.

    25:45-25:57

    Well, Jesus countered that by saying that God the Father is also born witness about me and that he who sent me is true and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.

    25:58-26:02

    They did not understand that he'd been speaking to them about the Father.

    26:04-26:25

    So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me." In this passage from John chapter 8, Jesus hints at what the religious leaders are planning to do to him.

    26:26-26:34

    They want to kill him, and he knows that their murderous maneuverings will result in his crucifixion.

    26:36-26:38

    You see, this is the supreme irony.

    26:39-26:42

    A prophet will die if he lies.

    26:43-26:49

    But they killed Jesus for telling the truth, just like they did the prophets of old.

    26:50-26:56

    And when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, his opponents thought he got what he deserved.

    26:57-27:06

    They were certain he was a false prophet, because if he wasn't, he wouldn't be suffering a vicious and humiliating death at the hand of Gentiles.

    27:09-27:17

    He was on the cross, the chief priests and other religious leaders mocked Him, saying, "He saved others. He can't save Himself.

    27:18-27:40

    Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." And yet in the midst of His agony, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" His enemies might have said, You're forsaken because you're a liar.

    27:41-27:44

    Everyone who gets hung on a tree is accursed.

    27:45-27:51

    The fact that we were able to get you crucified is proof that you, Jesus, are accursed by God.

    27:52-27:53

    You're no prophet.

    27:57-28:02

    But by crying out the first line of Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    28:03-28:13

    Jesus continues to speak the word of God in a way that reveals that the cross is the culmination of his earthly mission.

    28:15-28:17

    Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm.

    28:18-28:22

    It summarizes the Messiah's humiliation and exaltation.

    28:23-28:24

    Let's look at a few passages.

    28:26-28:27

    Verses seven and eight.

    28:28-28:30

    All who see me mock me.

    28:30-28:32

    They make mouths at me.

    28:32-28:33

    "For they wag their heads.

    28:34-28:35

    "He trusts in the Lord.

    28:36-28:37

    "Let Him deliver him.

    28:37-28:44

    "Let Him rescue him, for He delights in him." Then verses 16 and 18, through 18.

    28:45-28:46

    "For dogs encompass me.

    28:47-28:49

    "A company of evil doers encircles me.

    28:50-28:53

    "They have pierced my hands and feet.

    28:53-28:55

    "I can count all my bones.

    28:55-28:57

    "They stare and gloat over me.

    28:57-29:00

    "They divide my garments among them.

    29:00-29:27

    "For My clothing they cast lots." And finally, verses 22-25, "Reflect the Father's care in the midst of Jesus' great suffering and His resurrection." He says, "I will tell of Your name to My brothers, and in the midst of the congregation, I will praise You." Stop there for a minute and think about that.

    29:28-29:34

    Christ is on the cross, and he's telling the name of God to his brothers.

    29:34-29:39

    In the midst of the congregation, he is praising God.

    29:40-29:42

    All you who fear the Lord, praise him.

    29:42-29:48

    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him.

    29:49-30:03

    All you offspring of Israel, for he is not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, "And He has not hidden His face from him, but He has heard when he cried to Him.

    30:04-30:19

    And from you comes my praise in the great congregation, my vows I will perform before those who fear Him." You see, even in the throes of death, Jesus preached to all who would listen and believe.

    30:20-30:38

    If those who heard Jesus cry began themselves to recite this Messianic Psalm, perhaps the realization began to take hold that what they were reciting was happening right before their eyes.

    30:41-31:00

    The psalmist's words are being fulfilled here and now, just as Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, "then you will know that I am He." And perhaps the horrible realization set in, we've killed the Messiah.

    31:01-31:12

    And perhaps that is why, as Luke records, all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, they returned home beating their breasts.

    31:13-31:15

    We have killed the Messiah.

    31:18-31:24

    But what looked like an accursed death to the crowd instead a triumph over death.

    31:25-31:34

    On the cross, Jesus put death to death, and in his resurrection, he offers eternal life to all who would believe in him.

    31:36-31:38

    All that Jesus said came to pass.

    31:39-31:41

    He said he would die, and he did.

    31:42-31:44

    He said he would return to life, and he did.

    31:45-31:48

    He is the reliable and trustworthy prophet.

    31:48-31:51

    Every word He spoke was true.

    31:53-31:55

    And He is still our prophet today.

    31:56-31:58

    We have His word.

    31:58-32:03

    We have God's word and His Spirit to lead us into all truth.

    32:05-32:17

    You know, everyone who preaches is obligated to faithfully and accurately speak in the name of the Lord Jesus and to preach His words, not our own.

    32:17-32:20

    In this way, Jesus is still our prophet.

    32:21-32:25

    He indwells his people to speak to his people from his word.

    32:28-32:35

    Therefore, now that you know that Jesus is the prophet, will you listen to him?

    32:38-32:45

    Will you daily cast off worldly thinking and unbiblical ideas and commit to reading and meditating on God's word?

    32:47-32:58

    Are you willing to jettison old patterns of negative thinking and replace them with what the Bible says about your worth and your purpose in Jesus Christ?

    32:58-33:05

    Will you conform your thinking to God's truth and Jesus' example and teaching?

    33:08-33:14

    Or will you continue to seek advice from the influencers and false prophets clamoring for your attention?

    33:16-33:17

    Will you look for guidance?

    33:18-33:26

    Will you look for guidance in the gudo that shapes and drives the lives of so many people?

    33:30-33:35

    The skeptic will say, "Ah, I don't believe anything in the Bible is true.

    33:36-33:37

    It offends my reason.

    33:38-33:39

    I'm an independent thinker.

    33:40-33:52

    I don't need a God or a religion to tell me what to do." But that same person has no problem with the collective hive mind telling them what to think.

    33:53-33:57

    And they'll employ artificial intelligence to do their thinking for them.

    34:00-34:03

    So much intelligence, so little wisdom.

    34:05-34:20

    The short of it is, if you refuse to listen to what Jesus says, If you take offense at him and his words, you're just like the Israelites and the religious leaders in past time.

    34:21-34:26

    You're essentially putting him to death in your heart and in your mind.

    34:28-34:31

    Now, there are probably very few people in this room that hate Jesus.

    34:34-34:44

    And if we took a survey of the people in this room, probably most of you would agree that, Yeah, we shouldn't be committing the kinds of sins which the world heartily approves.

    34:46-34:49

    We shouldn't be following all that chatter out there.

    34:51-35:05

    And yet how many of us choose to remain on friendly terms with the world and feel free to indulge in all its whims and entertainments and pleasures so long as we avoid open sin.

    35:08-35:22

    The most dangerous sin is the idea that we can listen to worldly prophets advocating for the lusts and pleasures of the world and follow along and yet still be devoted to Christ.

    35:23-35:30

    Beloved, you cannot listen to and serve multiple masters and still walk uprightly before Jesus Christ.

    35:31-35:35

    You must listen to Christ and serve Him only.

    35:38-36:14

    Jesus is the prophet. Will you believe in him? In some ways I have laid this sermon out like a closing argument in a court case. You've heard from the witnesses Moses, God the Father, Peter, and of course Jesus himself. And you have evidence to consider more than 5,000 people fed on a mountainside. Jesus transfigured on a mountain. And of course Jesus crucified on a cross just as he said he would be.

    36:17-36:36

    And then this singular fact. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures and according to his own prophetic words. He to pay the penalty for their sins and remove the penalty of death.

    36:37-36:43

    And rising again, he offers forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all who would believe in him.

    36:46-36:48

    So you've heard the evidence.

    36:49-36:51

    You must now render a verdict.

    36:52-36:59

    Will you believe that Jesus is everything he says he is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

    37:00-37:03

    He's the one mediator between God the Father and humanity.

    37:04-37:07

    He is the only priest, prophet, and king.

    37:08-37:13

    And Jesus is the only name given among people under heaven by which we can be saved.

    37:15-37:22

    If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

    37:23-37:26

    With the heart one believes and is justified.

    37:27-37:30

    and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

    37:32-37:33

    Jesus is the prophet.

    37:35-37:37

    Will you speak His words?

    37:40-37:44

    As disciples of Christ, we are all prophets of His gospel.

    37:45-37:49

    We are to proclaim His life, death, and resurrection until He returns.

    37:50-37:52

    This is no mystery religion.

    37:53-37:56

    There is no hidden knowledge in the Scriptures.

    37:56-37:58

    There are no secret rites to perform.

    37:59-38:02

    The words of Christ are all out in the open.

    38:03-38:10

    And we have the awesome privilege of possessing the oracles of God, the word of God.

    38:10-38:13

    We have God's words in our hands.

    38:16-38:20

    It's not always been true, but it's true for us.

    38:22-38:28

    Do we have the ability to read it, to reason through it, to engage with it by the help of the Holy Spirit?

    38:31-38:38

    We can personally and intimately know God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

    38:40-38:50

    Jesus reveals the truth so that we can repent of our sins, trust in His finished work on the cross and receive the gift of eternal life now and forever.

    38:55-39:16

    And we have the responsibility of repeating his words clearly to others so that they may hear and believe in him by faith too. God forgive us for shirking our responsibility to share the gospel and for being insensible to the the spiritual condition of the lost and the dying.

    39:18-39:19

    We must speak His words.

    39:19-39:22

    We must share the good news of what He has done.

    39:24-39:33

    We are like beggars dressed in fine linen telling other beggars where to find bread and new garments.

    39:34-39:37

    It is the most loving and kindest thing we can do.

    39:39-39:42

    as our worship team returns to the stage.

    39:45-39:46

    I will conclude with this.

    39:49-39:52

    Not everyone will listen to us.

    39:53-39:55

    But then they didn't all listen to Jesus either.

    39:57-39:58

    Not everyone will believe.

    40:00-40:02

    But then they did not all believe in Jesus either.

    40:04-40:08

    We are not responsible for the results of sharing the gospel.

    40:09-40:11

    The results are for God to work out.

    40:13-40:18

    Our responsibility is to faithfully speak the words of God from Scripture.

    40:19-40:24

    For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

    40:25-40:25

    Let's pray.

    40:28-40:31

    The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

    40:32-40:36

    The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

    40:37-40:40

    The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

    40:42-40:45

    The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

    40:47-40:49

    The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

    40:51-40:54

    The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

    40:56-41:04

    Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight.

    41:04-41:08

    O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer.

    41:09-41:09

    Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read
Deuteronomy 18:14-22

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Can you assess how deeply worldly ideas influence your thinking? What about how deeply they influence your view of Scripture? How about your walk with Christ?

  3. What expectations do you have of God? That is, what do you want from Him, and what do you want to hear from Him? How do these questions and your answers relate to Israel’s history with the LORD?

  4. It was said the sermon was constructed like a closing argument, requiring a verdict. Imagine you are a jury member – was enough evidence and testimony presented to render a judgment that Jesus is the Messiah? If not, what further evidence would you seek? Where would you look for that evidence?

  5. What are some reasons we don’t take seriously our responsibility share the Gospel of Christ with others? How valid are those reasons?

Breakout
Pray for one another.