Participants: Jim Reinking
Series Code: LDS
Program Code: LDS000009
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00:33 You and I know that the Bible predicts
00:36 that there is gonna be a worldwide crisis 00:38 just before the coming of Jesus 00:41 and tonight we are concerned about the issue of 00:44 how can we survive that final crisis? 00:48 And let me say from the very beginning 00:50 that the Bible makes it absolutely clear 00:54 that there is only one possible way 00:55 that we are going to survive 00:57 and that is through a personal living relationship with Jesus. 01:03 Amen. 01:04 Nobody is gonna get through on their own. 01:08 Nobody is gonna get through apart from Jesus. 01:11 We are going to get through 01:13 because of the personal relationship 01:15 we've established by faith in Jesus Christ. 01:18 Indeed unless we've the right connections 01:21 we will not survive. 01:24 And so I'm gonna focus in on the relationship 01:26 that is so vital to everyone of us 01:29 and I know we've been talking about it 01:30 all through this series. 01:32 But as very specifically tonight 01:35 I'm gonna get into some specific issues 01:37 about that relationship that are so important to us. 01:40 And I want to begin with the series of questions 01:43 that will help us to get really focused 01:45 on the issue that is at hand. 01:47 The first question I want to share with you is, 01:50 on what basis, on what basis does God accept us? 01:56 Now think about that. 01:58 Number two, how good does a person need to be, 02:02 before God will accept him or her? 02:05 How good do you have to be 02:07 before God will accept you? 02:10 And number three, can anyone become 02:12 good enough for God to accept? 02:15 Which is an important question, don't you agree? 02:19 You know, our salvation is directly dependent up on 02:23 how we answer those questions. 02:26 And I'm so grateful tonight again to know that the Bible 02:29 gives us some very specific answers to those questions. 02:34 Now, our study tonight 02:36 is broken down into two major parts 02:40 and the first part of what we are gonna be studying is 02:42 what I call the bad news. 02:45 The bad news, which will be followed by the good news. 02:50 Now we will get to the good news, 02:52 I don't want you to get discouraged 02:54 as we're going through the bad news. 02:56 But we have to understand and appreciate the bad news 02:59 to be able to really, fully appreciate the good news. 03:03 That makes some sense, doesn't it? 03:06 And the bad news, we must understand, 03:08 we must really understand something about the human heart. 03:10 We must understand something about ourselves. 03:14 It's the ugly truth again what sin has done to us, 03:18 that what the knowledge of evil has done to us. 03:22 I begin 03:25 where the Bible tells us 03:26 "But we are all like an unclean thing, 03:29 and all our righteousness are like" what? 03:33 "A filthy rag." 03:34 Now there's a word that is a mouthful, isn't it? 03:38 Righteousness is, its talking about basically comes down 03:43 to you know, how good really are we 03:45 and the saying our goodness or righteousness 03:49 is as filthy rags and that is a truth 03:54 that is based upon the fact that we have been tainted, 03:57 we have been deeply affected by sin. 04:02 And it goes so deep that I don't know 04:04 that any of us can fully appreciate 04:07 how this has affected us. 04:09 This is the way we have always been, 04:11 you know, its down into the roots of our thinking, 04:14 our motivations. 04:16 It just plays out and sometimes 04:18 in very subtle ways in our life 04:20 this thing of sin, doesn't it. 04:22 It does. 04:24 I take you to Romans 3 the New Testament page 120. 04:29 Romans 3 and we'll be looking at verse 10 04:32 and then we'll drop down to verse 20. 04:34 And Paul speaks about this issue very clearly here in this letter 04:38 written to the Romans again its Romans 3:10. 04:43 He is quoting from the Old Testament when he says, 04:46 "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one.'" 04:52 Boy, that's pretty universal, isn't it? 04:55 None that are righteous. 04:58 Now I don't know about your parents but in my-- 05:02 when I was growing up my father was, 05:06 again my father wasn't a Christian, 05:09 he was a lovely man, he loved his kids we loved him, 05:13 he was a very loving affectionate. 05:14 I never heard the words I love you from the lips of 05:17 my parents until I was well into my adult years. 05:22 That's just not the way that generation 05:24 express their affection but I knew that they loved me 05:26 because they were very affectionate. 05:28 My dad expected even into my adult years 05:31 that when I was home when I retired for the night 05:35 that if he was still up 05:37 I would go over and I would lean over 05:39 and I will give him a kiss on the cheek 05:42 and I did that right up into my 40's. 05:44 It just was something I had always done 05:46 even as a child and I still did it as an adult. 05:50 And even though he was not really a spiritual man 05:55 he had that deep affection and I would add to it 06:00 that he was indeed the preacher in the household. 06:05 My dad loved to preach. 06:07 He didn't preach un-theology his big thing was safety. 06:12 He just had, you know, 06:13 he had been a Washington State patrolman 06:15 so he saw the worse of what could possibly happen, 06:18 you know, and so he had all of these sayings, 06:20 you know, I'm trying to remember some of them 06:23 because there's one, there's several of them 06:24 that had just stuck with me. 06:27 He would talk about risky behavior 06:29 and when he would talk about risky behavior 06:32 he would tell me Jim, it only has to go wrong once, 06:39 only once. 06:42 Another one of his sayings that I remember his saying 06:44 often you know Jim, 06:46 there is always an exception to the rule. 06:50 And you know what I found in light that, that is often true. 06:54 And certainly its true about this particular statement 06:56 there is an exception, but there is only one 07:00 and who would that exception be? Jesus. 07:04 He is the only exception, He is the only one 07:06 that ever walked upon this planet 07:09 that was free of sin not even by a thought 07:14 did Jesus ever sin. 07:17 None of us can say, you know, that's me, 07:21 because that is not us. 07:23 Verse 23 where Paul says 07:25 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 07:29 All others have sinned. 07:32 Even the Pope has sinned by the way 07:34 I don't know if that startles anybody. 07:37 We are all sinners, we are all lost. 07:41 And then we need to tie into a Roman 6:23 where it says 07:44 "For the wage of sin is death." 07:47 My friend, God is not being arbitrary about it 07:49 as we've already know that on number of occasions 07:51 in the end there is going to be no place for sin 07:55 and I say Thank you, Jesus. 07:59 The horrible mess that we've had to live with 08:02 and the problems of difficulties that sin 08:04 had brought into our lives, 08:06 I don't know about you, I'm fed up of it. 08:09 And I, when it's done 08:11 I want it to be done, I want it to be over. 08:15 And will preach us a sad chapter of the history of the universe 08:21 when it's over. 08:23 That's why the wages of sin is death 08:25 in the final analysis it will be destroyed. 08:28 But again, we have this you know, 08:30 I'm talking about the bad news 08:31 but I keep slipping into you'll find into the good news. 08:35 But this is a tribute to the depths of God's love 08:40 that He has paid the ultimate prize 08:43 so that we might be redeemed. 08:46 My friend, He doesn't want one of us here to die. 08:49 He does not want one individual in this community 08:53 or the state or in this world to perish. 08:59 But we have a choice. 09:02 We have a choice, right? 09:03 And choices do carry consequences. 09:06 And so the wages of sin is death. 09:08 Because the wages of sin is death 09:10 and all of us have sinned 09:11 therefore we are all deserving of death 09:13 because the Bible says that is the outcome of sin. 09:18 And then I take you to Jeremiah 13:23 on the screen. 09:22 We had asked the question 09:23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? 09:28 Then you also can do good who are accustomed to do evil." 09:32 Now what is this really talking about, do you know? 09:34 An Ethiopian-- by the way, lets settle it. 09:37 What kind of skin does an Ethiopian have? 09:40 Light, dark, medium what do you think? 09:43 Have you ever met an Ethiopian? 09:46 Very dark skin. 09:47 I've been in Ethiopia. 09:49 Very dark skin people and it talks about here, 09:55 God is talking about leopards. 09:58 Well, you know leopards, leopards have spots. 10:01 So what's the point, what's the point here? 10:05 Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? 10:08 Can a leopard change its spots? 10:12 My friend, there is a deep spiritual lesson 10:13 that is in all of this. 10:15 No, an Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin 10:19 or her skin because an Ethiopian by nature has dark skin 10:25 and so it is with the leopard. 10:27 A leopard cannot change his spots because by nature 10:30 a leopard has spots and the spiritual lesson is this, 10:35 nor can we who have been tainted and deeply affected 10:38 by evil change our hearts. 10:42 We cannot change what we are by nature 10:45 and by nature we are fallen, by nature we are sinners, right. 10:52 I know, I told you this is gonna be the bad news of it. 10:55 Okay. And that is fundamental. 10:58 We got to get that clearly into out thinking we, you, me, 11:03 we cannot change what we are by nature. 11:07 Education's not gonna do it, culture is not gonna do it, 11:10 none of those things are gonna do it 11:12 is what the Bible tells us. 11:13 Now return to Matthew 5, the New Testament page 3. 11:16 Page 3, Matthew 5:20, actually chapter's 5-7 11:22 is a record of what we call the Sermon on the Mount 11:25 where Jesus is laying down the principles of His kingdom 11:29 and this all took place up there by the Sea of Galilee. 11:32 You remember the setting by the thousands 11:34 they have come to Jesus, 11:36 they have been spending a long day with Jesus 11:39 the time had just really sped by. 11:41 They just love the teachings of Jesus 11:43 but Jesus said something that to the average person 11:46 I can well imagine on that day that just must have, 11:49 absolutely just astounded them 11:52 because Jesus said here Matthew 5:20, 11:55 He said "For I say to you that unless your righteousness 12:00 surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees 12:04 you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." 12:09 Now again, just consider, 12:11 you know, again what the average individual 12:13 must have been thinking. 12:14 They knew something about the Scribes and the Pharisees. 12:16 They knew lot about Scribes and the Pharisees. 12:19 They were quiet in the religiosity, 12:24 I mean, they were very demonstrative 12:27 at least of the claims that they made. 12:29 I mean, they were rigid more or less, 12:31 they were meticulous in the pursuit of purity 12:36 and that's what must have, 12:37 we would say in the modern vernacular 12:39 that must have blown them away 12:43 that Jesus would say of the Scribes in the Pharisees, 12:46 you know, your righteousness must exceed that of these 12:52 well, self righteousness man 12:54 that's what it really comes down to. 12:57 That must have just absolutely astounded them 13:00 that Jesus would say it. 13:01 And my friend, it is actually well, 13:04 it is true because Jesus said it was true, right. 13:07 All righteousness must exceed far exceed 13:10 that of the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees. 13:13 What God requires on this is not 99.9% perfection 13:20 He requires of us absolute perfection. 13:27 Anybody again discouraged at this point? 13:29 Just hang on, just hang on. The standard is high. 13:35 And, my friend, let me tell you the plan of salvation 13:39 does not encompass the lowering of the standard. 13:44 This would be against the very character of God 13:47 and what He stands for to lower the standard for our salvation. 13:52 I knew it would be at affect when I and you sinned God say 13:56 its all right, I know you didn't really-- 13:57 you didn't really mean to do this, 14:00 let's just forget it I forgive you. 14:03 No, no sin is much more serious than that. 14:06 It was so serious God could not do that 14:08 and be consistent with, with His principles 14:11 what He stood for and who He was in all of it. 14:16 This was of such a nature that required 14:18 the death of Jesus Christ to deal with this matter of sin. 14:22 It is never God saying, its all right, just forget it, 14:25 just, just you know. 14:27 God never lowers the standard in seeking to save us. 14:33 Now just hang in there, 14:34 I know that can be some kind of discouraging 14:37 to know that the standard is so high the problem. 14:40 The difficulty of that is we've already know that, 14:43 we are sinners we've been corrupted by evil 14:45 all of us have sinned 14:48 and we cannot possibly measure up to these requirements of God. 14:53 We've fallen short, haven't we? We have failed. 14:59 And, my friend, salvation does not encompass us pulling 15:03 ourselves up by the boot straps trying just hard enough 15:07 and if we try hard enough we will attain to the goal. 15:12 That is absolutely goal is at actually. 15:15 It's self made religion. 15:19 It's like reminds me of and I think I share this with you 15:22 once before in my last series down Thousand Oak, California 15:25 had a Muslim woman, 35 years of age coming 15:28 she was trying straight work this all out you know, 15:32 she want a meaning in her life, she was looking for it. 15:35 And she didn't know where to find it. 15:36 She was studying on the internet 15:38 through all of this world religions, 15:40 you may remember I shared this with you 15:42 and I told to Mona, I said Mona, you will spend a whole lifetime 15:47 and you still wont be able to study them all out. 15:50 And I said the one major difference between Christianity 15:54 and all other religions is that of a Savior. 16:01 And you have to decide whether and you know she understood sin 16:06 she did understand sin and the question I said Mona, 16:09 is do you need a Savior to help you deal with your sins? 16:16 And, my friend, that's the crucial issue. 16:19 All other religions are about self improvement. 16:24 Just follow the system, just follow the program 16:29 and you'll come out on the other side. 16:32 Well, that is not the way the Christianity works 16:35 but someone just thinking does creep in 16:37 because there we often think there just has to be something 16:40 that we do something we must do. 16:43 Look at Romans 9 the New Testament page 125, 16:47 Romans 9:31, 32. 16:50 This was the fundamental problem among God's people 16:55 when Jesus walked on the earth. 16:57 That is among His people the Jews 17:00 and Paul addresses that issue here on Romans 9 17:03 and beginning with verse 31. 17:06 Where He says 17:07 "But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness" 17:13 they pursued it, they believed in it, 17:16 they taught it, so they persuaded 17:19 but it says sadly "did not arrive at that law." 17:22 In other words they did not, 17:24 they were not successful in fulfilling that 17:27 which was required of them. 17:29 And then the questions asked verse 32, "Why," 17:32 why would that be? 17:34 They believed in the law, 17:35 as I said already they taught it, 17:38 they had all of these rules about 17:40 how you were to keep the law. 17:42 All the rules were multiplied. 17:46 Well, here comes the answer, 17:47 "Because they did not pursue it by faith 17:51 but as though it were by works." 17:54 Now look at this carefully, 17:56 was Paul faulting them for pursuing a law? 17:59 Was that the fundamental problem? 18:02 No, that was not the problem. 18:04 The problem was in how they were seeking fulfill the law. 18:08 And how were they seeking to fulfill it? 18:11 Through their own works 18:13 that is through their own efforts. 18:17 And, my friend, we can fall into that deadly type of thinking 18:23 that somehow we must make ourselves good enough. 18:28 If I'm just obedient then God will smile upon me 18:33 and you know, the doors of salvation 18:36 will be opened to me and eternal life will be mine. 18:40 My friend, eternal life will not be granted to one of us 18:44 who have depended upon ourselves in anyway 18:48 when it comes to the matter of salvation. 18:51 I tell you, you are not the savior, 18:53 I'm not the savior He is the Savior from sin. 18:59 Think that over, we got to be sure we got this down. 19:02 So, how are we to seek to fulfill 19:05 the righteous demands of the law? 19:07 What's the answer? No word. 19:09 Would I pursue it by faith and no more talking about faith, 19:12 we are talking about relationship 19:15 for faith does not stand alone faith is always connected 19:19 to our commitment in Jesus Christ, isn't it. 19:24 It's our commitment to Jesus 19:27 and so it's out of our faith experience 19:30 out of our relationship to Jesus that the law is fulfilled. 19:34 I'm gonna get more specific about it 19:36 and I'm getting, I know I'm slipping into good news, 19:38 I guess there is no way to talk about the bad news 19:41 without getting a little bit of good news 19:42 in to the whole process 19:44 but the Scribe and the Pharisees are Jesus, 19:47 you know if Jesus had any frustration 19:55 it was with these self made, 19:58 self righteous individuals. 20:03 It was coming to the end of this ministry 20:04 as we come to Matthew 23:27 on the screen. 20:08 Coming to end of this ministry 20:09 after three and half years and steadily they had been 20:14 hardening their hearts against Jesus. 20:18 They put themselves on a course 20:19 where they were not going to believe. 20:22 They didn't a feel a need, 20:23 now notice they did not feel a need of Him. 20:26 They saw Him as a threat, 20:29 a threat that needed to be eliminated. 20:33 And He knew what was going on. 20:36 He is-- Jesus loved them right? 20:40 Be clear on this Jesus does love the Pharisee, the legalist. 20:46 But He knows that you know, 20:49 something fundamental has to change in their thinking 20:52 and so Jesus coming to the end of His ministry here 20:56 and He is seeking someway to get the point across. 21:00 This may sound harsh but Jesus was trying to, 21:04 trying to get them to really listen. 21:06 To really see themselves for what they really were. 21:09 They were so pretentious about this, 21:11 they had sold themselves a bill of goods, 21:13 they were self deceived, 21:16 they thought they were righteous. 21:17 But Jesus said to them in verse 27 of Matthew 23 21:21 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" 21:24 Can you imagine how they must've felt 21:26 hearing Jesus say that. 21:27 I can imagine the adrenaline 21:29 and that the anger welling up within them. 21:33 The self righteous men that Jesus would presume 21:37 and publicly to do so to call them a hypocrite. 21:46 He goes on to say, "For you are like whitewashed tombs 21:49 which on the outside appear beautiful, 21:51 but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 21:55 Even so you too outwardly appear, 21:59 appear righteous to men 22:01 but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy" 22:05 and notice the word "lawlessness." 22:09 In spite of all their pretentiousness 22:14 Jesus was trying to get them 22:16 to really see themselves for what they really were. 22:20 And my friend, that is essential to our spiritual welfare, 22:26 for us to really see ourselves for what we really are. 22:32 This is part of what the spirit-- 22:34 and this is the painful part of it. 22:37 The Spirit of God is working on our hearts 22:40 and God wants to get this whole ugly thing out in the open. 22:44 We can't hide it, it's not good for us to hide it. 22:49 We've got to get it out in the open. 22:52 Acknowledge and to understand 22:54 something of the nature of the problem 22:57 which reminds me and Gayle probably will relate to this 23:01 because remember Gayle and I, 23:03 Gayle was pastoring a district up in North Central Washington 23:07 and I took over that district, they moved out of that house, 23:10 that parsonage and we could do whatever was we were moving in. 23:15 We are talking about that house up there 23:18 and after two years of being there 23:21 I had Dick Renfrew come in to do 23:23 a series of meetings in Tonasket. 23:26 I don't know if you know the Okanogan country up there, 23:30 Dick and Rose we had a great time together 23:32 and we had a number people quiet a number of people 23:35 that were coming 23:36 and I remember that Alvin Doyle remember Doyle's. 23:41 Alvin and his wife were coming. 23:44 Now Alvin had been in orchid business 23:46 but now is in retirement and they had sold off place 23:51 and so they had this beautiful home 23:53 that they built in Auroville, about 1500 in population. 24:00 Alvin and his wife had been coming. 24:01 Alvin's wife was a Christian, 24:03 Alvin had never professed to be a Christian. 24:05 He just was really one of the nicest guys 24:07 you could ever expect to meet, really a nice kind gentleman. 24:13 And he had been coming as I said with his wife 24:15 and so once on the afternoon 24:17 Dick and I stopped by to visit with the Doyle's 24:19 and they graciously invited us into their front room 24:23 and we sat down we just had 24:24 some really pleasant conversation together 24:26 but we were talking to-- 24:28 began to talk a little bit about spiritual things 24:30 and some of the things we had been studying in the meetings 24:33 and I will never forget what Alvin said is 24:35 we were talking about our relationship to Jesus 24:38 the pine salvation and that commitment, 24:41 you know, to Jesus as our Savior. 24:44 Alvin said to Dick and to me, 24:47 he said that he felt that he was 24:48 as good as any Christian he'd ever met. 24:52 Now think about this for a minute. 24:54 You know, actually from a human standpoint 24:56 he probably was correct. Probably was correct. 25:02 And then he went on to say that he was a good man 25:06 and surely God would accept him. 25:10 Now he wasn't going through all the religiosity 25:13 of the scribes and the Pharisees 25:14 and all the pretentiousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, 25:18 but notice really what he was saying. 25:21 He was saying that he really didn't need 25:24 a personal relationship with Jesus Christ 25:27 because he felt that he was good enough 25:31 and that is a fatal deception. 25:34 I find that, you know, it's a temptation for many of us. 25:38 You know, I'm not a drunkard, 25:39 I've never behaved drug addict, 25:41 I haven't been living in immoral life, 25:43 you know, I'm a responsible person, 25:45 I provide for my family you know, I'm a good citizen, 25:50 I haven't done anything particularly bad. 25:52 Oh yeah, I lied once when I was a kid 25:54 or something like that 25:55 you know, people think that way. 25:59 I'm not like the guy in skid row, 26:02 the drunk, the drunkard, you know the drunk. 26:05 I'm not that and there is no sense of need. 26:10 But my friend, bless his heart 26:16 Alvin was depended up on how good he was 26:21 and what have we read from the Bible is that gonna cut it ever. 26:25 No, it's not gonna cut it. 26:28 It's not going to save us, 26:30 it's not going to get us through. 26:32 And so what's the answer to all of this? 26:37 What is the answer? 26:38 Well, I think you have some idea 26:40 where I'm going with all of this. 26:42 But its very clear the Pharisees 26:44 as we can be we're concerned 26:46 about the exterior things of life, 26:48 the outward things of life. 26:50 Remember, Jesus said it 26:51 of them they appeared to be righteous. 26:58 But you see God reads the heart. 27:02 God sees us for what we really are. 27:04 We could be self deceived 27:05 but God sees us for what we really are. 27:09 There is no hiding from it 27:11 but I just remind you as God the searcher of our hearts, 27:17 we must be reminded 27:19 that He is a God of love 27:25 who's not seeking to condemn us 27:29 and to destroy us. 27:31 He is seeking to help us, to save us. 27:35 Look at Matthew 15:19 the New Testament page 13. 27:39 Jesus again spoke of this whole matter 27:41 and He is really getting into the heart of the whole problem. 27:44 Now we have to come to turns with Matthew 15:19. 27:51 And he makes a very, very vital point, 27:54 a very vital statement right here. 27:56 He said, "For out of the heart," out of the heart 27:59 "come evil thoughts murders, adulteries, fornications, 28:02 thefts, false witness, slanders," 28:05 and the list could go on and on. 28:07 My friend, it is a heart problem 28:09 and you know we are not talking about this organ 28:11 that beats and provides blood for the body. 28:14 We are talking about the core of what we are, 28:16 what we are at the very core of our being. 28:20 Again, we have been corrupted by evil. 28:23 And it's out of the heart that all of this follows 28:26 and my friend, you cannot deal with exterior things of the life 28:30 to deal with the problem 28:31 they are just symptomatic of the problem. 28:35 They are symptomatic of a heart problem, 28:37 we need a heart transplant that's what we need. 28:43 And only God can do that as in divine position by the way. 28:47 There needs to be change of the heart 28:49 that's what it is, it's fundamental. 28:51 Absolutely that's why in Proverbs 23: 26 28:54 the Lord says, "Give Me your heart, My son." 28:58 And I'm going to tell you this is something 29:00 some of us struggle with this to gear myself, 29:03 to yield myself fully and completely to Jesus 29:06 unreservedly and particularly again those of us 29:11 who are strong willed. 29:14 You know, at some point 29:15 we have to wave the white flag 29:17 and say, I surrender. I surrender. 29:24 And we have to understand that 29:26 only He is the one that can resolve it. 29:28 Romans 3, the New Testament page 121, 121, Romans 3:28. 29:35 Romans 3, oh, yes we're gonna be in and out of Romans. 29:38 We've already been in and out of Romans for Paul deals 29:41 with these fundamental issues 29:42 and he makes this really vital statement 29:44 when he says, "For we maintain that a man is justified." 29:49 Justified means to be accepted, 29:51 acceptance is the essence of salvation. 29:56 "For we maintain that a man is justified, 29:58 he is saved, she is saved by faith." 30:02 Getting back to the relationship 30:03 "apart from works of the law." 30:07 My friend, we are not saved, 30:10 we are not justified we are not accepted 30:13 because we made ourselves good enough 30:16 because guess what, we can never ourselves 30:18 good enough to be saved, right. 30:25 We cannot make ourselves good enough. 30:27 So we are saved by faith apart from the words 30:31 of the law again is what the Bible clearly says. 30:34 So its not, it's by faith 30:38 that we come, not by our works. 30:40 It is our utter helplessness, 30:43 it is in the nakedness of our soul 30:46 that we come to Him and yet there are those 30:49 who believe that somehow they must change their lives 30:52 when they think about coming to Jesus 30:53 they must change their lives, 30:54 they must stop their bad habits and start doing good, 30:57 establishing good habits before they can come to Jesus. 31:01 My friend, listen to me that is a deception 31:03 it is one of Satan's lies. 31:08 We do not seek the change ourselves 31:11 to make it somehow good enough, 31:12 at least on some minimal level so that we can come to Jesus. 31:18 It's backwards if we could fix the problem before we came 31:23 we wouldn't have to come in the first place, right. 31:27 We wouldn't have to come in the first place. 31:29 No, we come just as we are. 31:31 And my friend, that is the beauty of the plan 31:33 of salvation that is also absolutely free 31:37 to know that God knows me better then I know myself, 31:39 my life is open to Him and yet He loves me 31:42 and He longs for me and He invites me 31:44 to come just as I am. 31:45 Yes, me with my temper, me with all of the problems 31:48 and all of the issues that I have with my life. 31:53 I can come us as I am 31:55 and I know that He will receive me, 31:57 I know that because He loves me 32:01 and then it puts aside when we really grab a whole 32:04 of this personally it puts aside all of the game play 32:09 that we can get into as professing Christians. 32:13 It gets us away from wearing the mask that we could do 32:17 you know, that we are so good at wearing in church, 32:21 going through the appearance 32:24 when at heart there may be issues 32:26 that are just burning within us, 32:28 conflicts within, conflicts without. 32:32 And my friend, I tell you again its free, 32:35 I've been there 32:37 it's just freeing to be able to come to Jesus 32:39 and to know that He loves me, 32:41 He loves me sinner than I am. 32:44 And again comes just as I am 32:46 and He will accept me and He will forgive me 32:49 and He doesn't say, change your life 32:51 and then you come. 32:52 He doesn't say change your life and then I'll forgive you, 32:54 no come as you are that was one of the songs 32:57 that was being sung at the very beginning if you remember. 33:02 Yes, its all-- it's wonderful 33:04 to know that there is a God that loves us so fully like that. 33:08 All right just can't get out, keep from the good news can I? 33:13 Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, 33:15 "For by grace you have been saved through faith 33:18 and that not of yourselves," 33:20 it is never of us it's always at Him. 33:24 If it was about us then you know 33:25 we are on the wrong track you know that. 33:28 We are on the wrong track. 33:30 "It is the gift of God." Oh, no, it can't be that simple. 33:35 It's a gift. Really it's a gift, yes it is. 33:42 "Not as a result of works" which means again it's not 33:48 because we have made ourselves worthy enough, good enough. 33:56 My friend, we got to get this out of thinking. 34:00 We are never worthy. 34:05 If you feel that God can only accept you 34:09 when you are worthy my friend, 34:12 you'll never get there and it remains so. 34:19 I don't care if you've been in the way for 40 years 34:23 you are not gonna be saved 34:24 because you ever come to the point that you are worthy. 34:28 Never, never, ever. 34:31 My friend, the point is there is only one 34:33 that is worthy and that's Jesus. 34:35 I've got to-- you know, 34:38 get that connection tonight very clearly. 34:40 Look at Romans 5:8 the New Testament page 122, 34:44 122 Romans 5:8 where it says, 34:47 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us," 34:49 His own personal love, His own commitment to us 34:52 "in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 34:55 There it is clearly indicated that God loves us as sinners. 35:01 And since it is a sinners that Christ died for 35:03 and that God loves us 35:04 it is as sinners that we must come to Him, right. 35:08 It is as sinner that we come to Him. 35:11 That's how it works. 35:12 And Luke 15 the New Testament page 60. 35:16 Luke 15 and looking at verses 1 and 2. 35:19 Here again we see the scribes 35:21 and the Pharisees struggling with this. 35:23 I mean again they were self made man 35:26 they were self righteous, 35:28 you know, they thought they had attained it. 35:31 What deception. 35:33 And my friend, that deception must not be ours. 35:36 Here it is Luke 15 began with verse 1, 35:38 "Now all the tax collectors 35:39 and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him." 35:42 That was just something about Jesus the way 35:44 that He talked that these sinners, 35:47 tax collectors are they were kind of the outcast 35:49 they represent the hatred Romans 35:52 there was something about Jesus 35:53 that made them feel comfortable coming near Him. 35:57 They were coming right up close to Him. 35:59 They wanted to be right there in the front seats. 36:02 They didn't want to miss one word 36:04 that was coming from the lips of Jesus, 36:06 they were listening intently. 36:08 There was just something about the way that He spoke. 36:11 Then we-- here they come verse 2, 36:13 "Both the Pharisees and the scribes 36:15 began to grumble, saying, 36:16 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" 36:19 How can He do that? 36:22 Doesn't He know what kind of people 36:24 He is associating with? 36:27 Let me tell you this 36:28 and go on in the church shame on us. 36:32 If it goes on in the church and it does. 36:34 That's what in the series of meetings 36:36 that was years ago 36:37 and I had two young women who were coming. 36:40 They were known to the church, 36:41 they had been raised as Christians in that church, 36:44 had departed from God 36:46 but there was something that had drawn them 36:47 into the meetings and they were coming 36:50 and they were coming 36:51 and two to three weeks in the meetings 36:53 that was a board meeting. 36:55 I wasn't invited but there was some discussions 36:57 about these two young women that were attending the meetings 37:00 and the decision was taken by the board 37:02 and it was communicated to me that under no circumstances 37:07 were those two young ladies to ever be re-baptized. 37:12 I turned on the phone and I called up 37:16 my superior Ben Liebelt 37:20 and I said Ben, in all my years of ministry 37:23 I never had anybody tell me 37:25 who I can lead to Christ and who I could not. 37:27 I just could not believe it. 37:29 I thought to myself, don't they see any potential 37:31 what God could do in their lives 37:34 that they will take that kind of position. 37:38 And so being independent guy that I was I just kept working, 37:42 I kept preaching, I kept visiting, 37:44 I kept encouraging, 37:45 I guess I already said that didn't I 37:47 and one of them made a recommitment to Jesus Christ. 37:51 How could she be denied, you tell me. 37:55 Now the other didn't make that decision 37:58 but shame on the church 38:02 that would be so self righteous 38:05 that they'll take that position of Pharisee, 38:08 how dare he associate 38:11 with this lower class of people. 38:14 May that never be said of us 38:16 who have been saved by such marvelous grace 38:18 from our own sins. 38:21 Aren't we not to have some compassion 38:24 because we are in the same predicament 38:27 as every other sinner? 38:30 Should we not have compassion? 38:32 You know, I tell you sometimes we as professing Christians 38:36 actually can have so we can have hard, cold hearts. 38:42 I have to tell something, something's missing. 38:45 I'll tell you what it is in every case. 38:47 It's the love of Jesus that's missing 38:49 because when you have the love of Jesus in your heart 38:52 you cannot judge people that way. 38:55 You can't treat people that way. 38:58 Can you? No, I don't believe so. 39:03 You know, it's like the words of that all gospels song 39:07 "Just as I am, without one plea, 39:09 but that thy blood was shed for me, 39:12 and that thou bidd'st me come to thee, 39:13 Oh God. Lamb of God. 39:15 I come, I come." 39:20 Matthew 9, the New Testament page 7. 39:23 Matthew 9:10- 13. 39:25 I've got to keep moving here. 39:27 I'm dwelling too much on-- but these essential things 39:31 I just want to be sure that 39:32 they're really clear in our thinking. 39:34 It could be make such a tremendous difference 39:37 in our spiritual welfare 39:38 and in the joy that is ours in Jesus 39:41 when we realize it's not of us it is always of Him. 39:45 And here we have them again, Matthew 9:10. 39:49 It says "Then it happened that 39:50 as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, 39:54 behold, many tax collectors and sinners came 39:57 and were dining with Jesus and His disciples." 39:59 Jesus had just called Matthew 40:00 a tax collector to be one of his closes disciples. 40:03 Matthew had invited 40:05 all of his tax collecting friends 40:08 and there were sinners among them, 40:10 they were all sinners weren't they? 40:12 And he invited Jesus to come to meet, 40:15 you know, with them. 40:16 You know, so he was already a missionary. 40:18 Wasn't He? Matthew was. 40:20 He's already showing the good news. 40:21 Verse 11, "When the Pharisee saw this," 40:24 they were always close on hand with Jesus somehow, 40:27 "they said to His disciples, 'Why is your teacher eating 40:30 with the tax collectors and sinners?'" 40:32 They just couldn't get this. 40:34 "But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those 40:36 who are healthy who need a physician, 40:39 but those who are sick. 40:41 But go and learn what this means 40:44 'I desire'" and what is the next word 40:47 "'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' 40:51 for I did not come to call the righteous, 40:54 but sinners." 40:57 And my friend, I'm one of those sinners 40:59 and Jesus came for me 41:03 and Jesus called me at some point in my life 41:06 and He still calls me. 41:09 And Jesus has come to many of you 41:12 and He has called you, as a sinner. 41:15 Praise His holy name. 41:19 What a wonderful thing. He took the first steps. 41:23 We are never the ones who take first steps 41:25 God is always the one that is reaching out 41:27 taking the first steps. 41:30 And my friend, there is a position, 41:32 there is a Balm in Gilead 41:34 as it says in the Old Testament 41:36 for the sin sick soul and my friend, 41:38 that balm is the love and the grace of Jesus Christ. 41:42 It is that. 41:43 Tell you a story about Elizabeth Barrack that illustrates this. 41:46 Elizabeth Barrack went through 41:47 some tragic experiences as a young, 41:49 as a little girl actually. 41:52 She had lost her mother in death, 41:55 her mother died 41:57 and as a very small girl she'd fallen off her horse 42:00 and had been left crippled. 42:02 And she writes about how her father had become embittered 42:05 because of the losses in his life 42:07 and she writes how often he would leave her 42:11 through the long hours of the day, 42:13 alone in her seclusion of her bedroom, 42:17 but she learned in those lonely hours 42:20 that she could write. 42:23 She wrote poetry and eventually through her poetry 42:26 she became acquainted 42:28 with the American poet Robert Browning 42:31 and that correspondence developed 42:33 all pre email of course. 42:35 Correspondence began to develop 42:37 between the two of them 42:38 and a relationship blossomed in time. 42:41 Love, they fell in love, 42:46 but Robert had a problem and so did Elizabeth 42:48 because her father was dead set against the relationship. 42:53 This is another generation. 42:55 You know, remember it used to be you go to mom 42:58 and dad to ask if you could be married to that man. 43:04 That's the kind of culture that was going on 43:06 then anyway, dad was dead set against it. 43:09 They had to marry in secret. 43:11 And secretly Robert had to come 43:14 and he had to move her out of that house. 43:16 They took a ship, made their way to Italy. 43:21 And within a year of being married, 43:23 Elizabeth who had been this ill 43:25 with through most of her childhood 43:28 began to take her first steps 43:31 as Robert was encouraging and helping. 43:35 And she came to the point, she even climbed a mountain. 43:41 Tell me what made the difference? 43:44 Love. Love always makes a difference. 43:46 You see we are crippled by nature 43:49 and its the love of God that'll make the difference 43:54 and does make the difference in our lives, right. 43:57 And then 2 Corinthians 5:21, 44:02 this is really the point I'm working for. 44:03 Remember, remember Jesus said, 44:05 it all righteousness must exceed far exceed 44:07 that of the scribes and the Pharisees 44:08 and this is how it all works. 44:11 Second Corinthians-- are you awake out there? 44:13 Don't you fall asleep at this point. 44:15 This is the punch line that we've been working towards. 44:18 Here in 2 Corinthians 5:21speaking of God, 44:20 "He," god "made Him" Jesus "who knew no sin." 44:26 The innocent one. "To be sin on our behalf." 44:32 Now usually we think of Jesus burying our sins 44:35 but it says here that Jesus identity with us 44:39 as a sin bearer on the Cross of Calvary 44:41 is so complete that He became sin itself. 44:47 Notice it says, on our behalf or for us, 44:51 that's the substitution that's taking place. 44:55 And He experiences the separation 44:57 and abandonment because of sin. 45:00 And He experience the death 45:02 that is the wages of sin on the Cross of Calvary for us 45:06 "on our behalf, so that we might become 45:10 the righteousness of God," how? 45:15 "In Him," in Jesus. 45:17 And my friend, that's how it works. 45:19 That's why I said that-- as we got-- 45:21 we got started in this, our righteousness must exceed, 45:24 far exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees 45:26 and 99.9% is not gonna do, 45:28 it is absolute 100% perfection 45:34 which is an impossibility for us of ourselves 45:37 but when we accept Jesus who is absolutely, 45:42 fully and completely perfect 45:47 we receive perfection, don't we. 45:54 Receiving Jesus and the life of Jesus we receive 45:57 the perfect life of Jesus and that starts substitution, 46:02 He takes our sins by faith, 46:04 we embrace Him as our Savior. 46:06 We embrace His perfect life and God looks upon us 46:12 as if we were perfect through Jesus. 46:15 That's how it works. That's how it works. 46:19 That's an interesting phrase. That is how it works. 46:23 And the only way that it works. 46:25 So, it's never you know, try harder, 46:27 try be a little bit better, try to improve here, 46:29 try to improve this over here in your life. 46:32 Of course we want, you know, 46:33 if we were happy about our lives of sin 46:35 we wouldn't be motivated to come to Jesus, 46:37 it's not that we want to remain there, 46:40 but we know that it's not by trying to change it 46:43 which we cannot do that we get to the end point 46:46 which is our salvation. 46:48 It's not by our changing, it's by allowing Jesus 46:54 as we give ourselves to Him to take control of our lives 46:58 and for Him to work it out in us 47:01 and it's that process by which we become like Him. 47:05 I know I'm throwing a lot at you, but you can handle it. 47:10 Got to get this right. 47:14 You can understand this I know this, 47:16 you can understand this intellectually 47:18 and yet consciously or sub more, 47:21 more often subconsciously yet be relying on something 47:25 that we must do. 47:29 It's important to get it our understanding right, 47:33 because it can reach down into your subconscious. 47:35 So we are never relying upon us, 47:38 we're not relying upon us, who are we relying on, 47:43 we don't rely upon us we rely upon Jesus. 47:47 That's the point that we are getting at. 47:49 So, are you following me? 47:50 Are you with me at this point? 47:52 Second Corinthians 5:21 it is a marvelous thing, 47:55 it takes the burden of the law from us 47:59 and Jesus has assured us that He is gonna take care of it all. 48:02 Romans 5:17 the New Testament page 122, 48:06 122 Revelation-- Romans 5:17. 48:10 I've been in Revelation too much in recent nights. 48:14 Romans 5:17. 48:18 Notice again, how many times have we been into Romans? 48:23 It's really one of-- it's probably my favorite book. 48:27 It's actually in a ladder and we miss little but, 48:29 anyway here it is Romans 5:17, it says, 48:32 "For if by the transgression of the one, 48:34 death reigned through the one," 48:37 talking about Adam as the head of the race 48:39 "much more those who receive the abundance of grace" 48:42 receive the abundance of grace 48:44 "and of the gift of righteousness 48:48 will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." 48:51 That which God requires of us 48:53 again that absolute perfection, that absolute, you know, 48:56 100% purity and righteousness 48:59 that which God requires of us, 49:02 He gives to us as a gift in His son 49:07 and when we receive Jesus Christ by faith 49:10 we are embracing that absolute perfect life, right. 49:16 That's how it works. 49:17 We call this theologically righteousness by faith 49:22 and the opposite is legalism righteousness by my works. 49:29 Don't go there because it never works 49:32 and those who do go there find themselves 49:35 soon or later they realize how frustrating that experience 49:38 really is when you are trying to measure up 49:42 and that's part of what we give up. 49:44 And then Romans 3 the New Testament page 121. 49:49 Romans 3:21, 22. 49:52 Oh, we might as well read the whole book, right. 49:57 Because it does, it deals with these issues. 49:59 Right on through particularly chapter eight 50:02 and sometimes just read from Romans one through chapter eight 50:05 it just really puts a lot of things together. 50:07 Romans 3:21, 22 where it says, 50:11 "But now apart from the Law 50:14 the righteousness of God has been manifested, 50:17 being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." 50:20 And that manifestation of the righteousness of God 50:23 apart from the Law is the manifestation 50:25 of the righteousness in the person of Jesus 50:29 and He lived out that perfect life 50:31 upon this planet, down on our level. 50:33 It's been manifested in the living example of Jesus. 50:38 It says verse 22, "Even the righteousness of God 50:43 through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believed." 50:49 Okay. 50:51 So, the law bears testimony 50:55 to this righteousness, it is codified. 50:59 But again the point here 51:00 is it has been manifested in the person of Jesus. 51:06 He is the embodiment of the righteousness, 51:12 that is required of us and then that comes to us as a gift. 51:16 And so we attain true righteousness 51:19 by accepting Jesus who is again 51:21 the manifestation of God's righteousness in human flesh. 51:24 Our standing with God is not dependent 51:27 or based on how good we are but on how good He is. 51:32 And that would be something 51:34 we're really getting again into our thinking. 51:37 Philippians 3, there was a Pharisees 51:39 who did get any bold witness of it. 51:41 The New Testament page 155, Philippians 3:4. 51:50 You know, he had been there, 51:51 he had been in this self made, self righteousness 51:55 that was so typical of the scribes and the Pharisees 51:58 and telling the Damascus rode in that blinding light, 52:01 He saw one that was beyond words 52:06 afterward transformed his life. 52:09 And here it is beginning with verse 4, 52:10 "Although I myself" 52:12 Paul says, "might have confidence even in the flesh. 52:15 If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, 52:18 I far more," and notice what he is talking about 52:21 when he talks about putting confidence in the flesh. 52:23 He's talking actually about some very religious things 52:26 as you look at verse 5, "Circumcised the eight day." 52:29 That was a sign of the communal relationship. 52:32 That's what that circumcision was. 52:35 "Of the nation of Israel," 52:36 man, he has the right spiritual pedigree, 52:40 "of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, 52:42 as to the Law, a Pharisee." 52:44 He had made it. 52:46 So he thought. 52:50 Verse 6 "As to zeal, a persecutor of the church, 52:53 as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless." 52:57 So He thought but, notice that word contrast. 53:02 "But whatever things were gain to me, 53:05 those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." 53:09 And when he saw Jesus he began to gain a total new perspective 53:14 as well happened in as it does happen to us. 53:18 We began to see things as it really are. 53:25 "More than that," verse 8, 53:26 "I count all things to be loss in view 53:28 of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, 53:33 for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 53:36 and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." 53:40 Everything just seems in comparison to be rubbish. 53:44 And it was. 53:46 Those games that scribes and Pharisees were playing 53:49 my friend, they were just a bunch of rubbish. 53:51 It wasn't really, when we come down to it, 53:54 it was really nonsense. 53:57 And not of one of them would be in the kingdom 53:58 unless they went through the experience of this Pharisee 54:02 and not one of us will be there in the kingdom 54:05 unless we have a similar experience 54:07 as Paul found in Jesus Christ 54:10 and the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus. 54:17 Verse 9 "And may be found in Him, 54:19 not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law," 54:22 that is from keeping the commandments 54:24 "but that which is through faith in Christ, 54:26 the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith." 54:31 There it says it. 54:33 I now we've been talking about the Ten Commandments 54:35 in this series of, haven't we. 54:37 We talked about the fourth commandment the Sabbath 54:39 but my friend, there is a reason why 54:42 in the midst of all of the subjects we've been looking at 54:45 but I come in this one and in part it is to say, 54:48 yes, the commandments are important. 54:49 We have transgressed the law, that's why we are sinners, 54:52 that's why Jesus had to come and die for us. 54:56 But I also want to make it clear biblically 54:58 we do not establish our standing with God 55:02 through keeping the commandments. 55:04 Remember, I spoke about this keeping the commandments 55:07 is never the means of our salvation, 55:11 it's the evidence of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. 55:15 Keeping the commandments it says, it's always the evidence. 55:19 Because I tell you only the one 55:21 that knows Jesus can keep His commands. 55:23 So, it's not that we don't believe in the commandments 55:26 and that we don't believe in keeping them 55:28 we just know that if us it is impossible, 55:31 so never go beyond that. 55:32 That's impossible, forget it. 55:35 Yeah, it's impossible but in the relationship 55:39 Jesus, remember Philippians 2:13, 55:42 it is God who is at work in you, both to real 55:46 and to do according to His good pleasure. 55:50 And remember we are talking about the deeds, 55:52 well just by our deeds the deeds reveal who possess the heart 55:58 and the obedience follows. 56:01 It is the fruitage of the relationship, it's that. 56:09 That's why 1 John 2:3, 56:12 it's one of my favorite passages in this regard where it says, 56:15 "By this we know that we have come to know Him, 56:17 if we keep His commandments." 56:20 And again it's the evidence that we come to know Jesus, 56:23 it's not the means of our salvation. 56:26 There is an old Indian Chief, I'm Indian but destroyed. 56:28 There is a old Indian Chief that constantly was talking about 56:32 how much he loved Jesus, how much Jesus meant to him. 56:35 And finally somebody asked him, 56:37 you know, why you always talking about Jesus? 56:41 And at that he stood down and gathered up some sticks 56:44 and some little bit of grass 56:46 and he made a little circle out of it 56:48 and he found a little caterpillar near by 56:51 and he put it into the middle of that 56:54 you know, that round 56:56 you know, with all of the sticks and grass stuff 56:58 and he lit it on fire. 57:01 And that little caterpillar as that fire began to grow, 57:05 that caterpillar was trying to find the way out. 57:08 He went from one side to the other looking desperately 57:11 for a way out as the fire was increasing. 57:15 And finally in desperation that would found itself 57:18 in the middle of this that little caterpillar 57:22 just reached up as high as it could, the heat, 57:26 it was feeling the intensity of the heat. 57:29 And at that point that Indian Chief reached out 57:33 and brought that caterpillar out of the fire 57:36 and he said, that's what Jesus did for me. 57:41 That's why I talk about Jesus all the time. 57:45 And my friend, that is what Jesus has done for you 57:49 and that's what Jesus has done for me. 57:54 He is the center point of all truth, isn't He. |
Revised 2014-12-17