Participants:
Series Code: ASIC
Program Code: ASIC190015S
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00:18 I want to introduce you to my friend David Asscherick.
00:21 I actually think many of you know him 00:23 because you've seen him on the network. 00:25 He's in Table Talk. 00:27 He has an amazing program called God, and he also 00:32 has livestreaming sermons from his church: 00:37 Kingscliff SDA Church from Australia. 00:44 How to describe David in just a moment? 00:47 He's an amazing dynamic young man 00:50 who God put a call on his life when he was a young man. 00:54 He was influenced very strongly by a vegetarian 00:58 health ministry in So. Dakota called Veggies. 01:03 It was run by Mary Burt and her team. 01:06 And he thought the people were a little unique 01:08 but the food was amazing! 01:11 They introduced him, over a period of time and through 01:15 friendship, to a Great Controversy, and David's life 01:18 has been forever changed. Praise God! 01:23 David has many interests. He enjoys rock climbing. 01:27 He's a professional skateboarder. 01:30 He likes to go backpacking. 01:31 He likes fly fishing. 01:33 He has very many interests. 01:36 And he is going to share from his heart today. 01:39 But primarily David is a communicator. 01:42 He communicates truth. 01:45 He communicates to youth. 01:48 He communicates about God... the real, loving God, 01:54 the Creator of heaven and earth who loves you 01:57 as if you were the only person in the world. 02:02 May God anoint and bless our brother David 02:04 as he shares with us today. 05:43 Good morning ASi! 05:45 Good morning. Or as my sons say 05:49 acai... like the fruit. 05:54 They're still looking for the fruit bowls, I think. 05:57 It is good to be in Louisville! 06:01 I'm not sure I said that right 06:03 but I'm certain that the locals do not say LOUIEville. 06:07 That's how the northerners say it. 06:10 It's good to be in Louisville here at ASi. 06:12 It's been a number of years since I've been at an ASi 06:15 Convention and it looks like things are going 06:17 swimmingly well. And so thank you to the programming 06:20 committee and the leadership team for inviting me to be here. 06:23 It's a real honor. 06:24 We're going to start with a quick prayer. We're going to dig 06:26 deep into the text of Scripture. Let's begin with prayer. 06:32 Father in heaven, we have every reason to believe 06:35 that You are going to meet with us here today. 06:37 You've already ministered to us powerfully 06:40 in the music, the prayers, 06:41 and the incredible testimonies of the various projects 06:45 that are taking place all around the world. 06:47 Father, we ask now that as we meet here 06:50 that You would come not only into the walls of this large 06:53 facility but that You would come into the hearts 06:55 of the individual people that are here. 06:58 Father, speak to us by Your Spirit. 07:01 May the Spirit that inspired the text 07:04 now become the Spirit that instructs in the text. 07:08 Father, I'm praying that You will give me both clarity 07:11 and charity that I might communicate in a way 07:15 that is similar to the way that Jesus might communicate 07:18 were He here today in person. 07:21 Father, we know that You and Your Son Jesus are here 07:24 by the Spirit, and so we're claiming the promise that You 07:26 will send the Spirit of Truth to guide us into all truth. 07:30 Be with us now. Challenge us; inspire us; 07:33 rebuke us; and encourage us 07:35 is our prayer In Jesus' name. Let everyone say 07:39 Amen and Amen. 07:43 All right. ASi, I want to begin by asking you 07:46 what might sound like a really silly question 07:48 and it is purposely provocative. 07:50 The question is: is it good news 07:53 that there is a God? 07:56 I'd like you to give me a hearty Amen 08:00 if your answer to that question is a yes. 08:02 I'll ask it again. ASi, is it good news 08:05 that there is a God? AMEN! 08:08 OK. Well, like all Adventists that I have given this 08:13 trap to around the world you have fallen unwittingly 08:16 and headlong into a trap that has been laid for you. 08:21 Let me ask a question that will tease out 08:24 the trap. I think it might make it a little apparent 08:26 how you have fallen into my linguistic trap. 08:32 Ladies, is it good news that there is a husband? 08:38 Now I hear giggles. 08:41 I hear laughs. 08:43 What is the answer to that question? 08:45 Is it good news that there is a husband? 08:49 Yeah, I actually heard somebody say it 08:51 and it is the appropriate answer. 08:53 The answer is: "It depends. " 08:56 What two words did I say everyone? 08:58 It depends. It would depend on what? 09:01 What word do you think I might say right here? 09:03 It would depend on what kind of a husband. 09:07 You will notice that I was purposely ambiguous 09:09 when I asked you the question: 09:10 "Is it good news that there is a God? " 09:13 You all assumed I think reasonably but also mistakenly 09:17 that I was referring to the same God that's in your mind. 09:21 In answer to the question "Is it good news that there is 09:24 a husband? " would boil down to the question 09:27 about the kind of husband, we're describing. 09:29 The character of that husband. 09:31 The person that he was. 09:33 We could ask similarly: "Is it good news that 09:35 there is a neighbor? " Not all neighbors are good news 09:40 but some neighbors are really really really good news. 09:44 But I want to tell you this this morning: 09:46 my sermon is titled An Unusual God. 09:50 And 99.999% of all of the gods of human history 09:56 or of human invention are not good news. 10:01 And so to automatically assume when I ask the question 10:05 "Is it good news that there is a God? " 10:07 to give me a rousing Amen. I want to try 10:10 and go to the text of Scripture to understand 10:14 why it is that we are so persuaded 10:17 that the God of Scripture is good news. 10:20 Analytic philosopher and professor 10:24 Alvin Plantinga in an incredible book that was 10:27 published by Oxford University Press 10:29 titled Where The Conflict Lies 10:30 says these words: "This display of overwhelming 10:35 love... " - speaking of the gospel, 10:37 the gospel of Scripture - 10:39 "This display of overwhelming love 10:42 is not only the greatest story ever told 10:45 it's the greatest story that ever could be told. " 10:49 I want to talk to you today about a God who is unusual. 10:54 If you were to survey the various and sundry gods 10:57 of human history and of human invention 10:59 that have populated history, you would find that all of them 11:03 except one are universally not good news. 11:09 Enter into this thought experiment with me if you would 11:12 momentarily. It's a thought experiment 11:14 that I would imagine that most of you are actually 11:17 conducting every day of your life, and it goes like this: 11:20 can you imagine better good news than if these two things 11:24 were true? Just try and conceive of 11:27 better good news than that these two things are true. 11:29 Number one: there is a God 11:32 and Number two: He looks like Jesus. 11:37 Just allow your imagination to run as wild as 11:40 you need it to be. Just try and conceive 11:43 of better good news than there is a God. Yes, 11:45 we live in a theistic world, a theistic universe. 11:48 But not just that there is a God in some general sense 11:51 but that that God looks like the Jesus of the gospels. 11:56 This is what leads Plantinga and others like him 12:00 to say: "This story - the story of the gospel - 12:03 is not only the greatest story ever told. 12:06 It's the greatest story that ever could be told. " 12:10 Come with me in your Bibles - 12:12 and we will be deep in Scripture this morning - 12:15 to the book of Romans. 12:16 We're going to start in Romans chapter 1. Join me there 12:18 if you would. Romans chapter 1. 12:22 We're just going to make a couple quick notes in Romans 12:24 chapter 1 on verses 16 and 17 12:27 and then we will spend the lion's share of our time 12:30 in Romans chapter 3. So come with me to Romans chapter 1 12:32 just by way of setting up a context. 12:36 Most scholars agree that Paul in Romans chapter 1 12:40 verses 16 and 17 gives us an advance summary 12:44 of everything he's going to talk about in the next 15 chapters. 12:47 The book of Romans is 16 chapters, but here 12:50 in chapter 1 in two verses - 12:53 two verses that are so theologically dense 12:57 so as to contain all of the various tentacles and narratives 13:00 that Paul will unpack in incredible detail 13:04 in chapters 2 to 16. 13:06 Romans chapter 1. We're going to just read verses 16 and 17. 13:08 I would hazard a guess that this will be a familiar passage 13:12 of scripture for many of you. 13:14 Paul writes: "For I am not ashamed 13:17 of the gospel of Christ 13:18 for it is the power of God to salvation 13:21 for everyone who believes: 13:23 for the Jew first and also for the Greek. " 13:25 Amen. And then verse 17: 13:27 "For in it... " in the gospel... "the righteousness of God 13:31 is revealed. From faith to faith as it is written 13:35 'the just shall live by faith. ' " 13:39 Direct your attention to verse 17 again. 13:42 Verses 16 and 17 hover around three basic ideas. 13:46 All of them are contained textually in verse 17. 13:49 He says first of all: "The righteousness of God... " 13:52 then secondly "is revealed in... " 13:56 some faith transaction. Those are the three ideas. 13:59 The righteousness of God some- how revealed or demonstrated 14:04 or displayed. That's the very point that Plantinga makes. 14:07 This is not only the greatest story ever told. 14:09 This overwhelming display - display of love - 14:13 is the greatest story that ever could be told. 14:16 Paul is giving us an advance summary here of everything 14:19 he's going to talk about. And he wants us to know 14:21 right up front that somehow in the gospel 14:24 the righteousness, the good- ness, the character of God 14:27 is encapsulated and revealed 14:30 somehow through a faith transaction. 14:32 We'll talk about the nature of that faith transaction. 14:34 Paul then goes forward from Romans chapter 1 14:38 in his summary to describe 14:41 the unqualified and universal brokenness 14:46 of the Gentile world. 14:48 In Romans chapter 2 Paul describes the unqualified 14:52 and universal brokenness of the Jewish world 14:55 so that when he arrives finally in Romans chapter 3 14:58 where we will spend our time this morning 15:00 he wants you to be absolutely clear that the human plight 15:03 is universal and ubiquitous. 15:06 That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 15:10 We're going to pick it up in Romans chapter 3. 15:13 Come with me to verse 9. 15:16 As Paul is drawing the strings of his arguments 15:20 in chapters 1 and 2 to a close 15:21 he begins by asking a question: "What then? " 15:25 "How should we think about these things that I have said? 15:28 The case that I am marshalling? " 15:31 "What then? Are we better than they? 15:33 No... not at all. For we have previously charged 15:37 both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. " 15:42 There is a universality: 15:45 the ubiquity of the human plight and the human condition. 15:48 And he uses this phrase. It's a particularly pregnant 15:51 and strong phrase: "under sin. " 15:55 I know of only other one place in the writings of Paul 16:00 where this exact construction is used. 16:02 It's in Galatians chapter 3 verse 22 16:04 where he says that scripture has concluded 16:07 or confounded all under sin. 16:11 Paul will then take us on sort of a rabbinical tour de force 16:16 through many passages of the Old Testament 16:19 mostly from Psalms but also from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 16:22 and Isaiah to marshal his case. 16:25 He has made a strong point about the universality 16:29 of the human condition, the brokenness of that condition 16:32 and of a seemingly hopeless helpless plight. 16:37 And so he will here marshal his case 16:39 from the law... from the Old Testament. 16:42 We pick it up in verse 10. 16:43 "As it is written... " Notice before we read here 16:47 there will be two phrases I want you to hone in on. 16:50 The first phrase is "there is none" or "there is no. " 16:54 You will find that construction five or six times 16:56 depending on your translation. 16:58 The second phrase is: "No... not even one. " 17:02 Just pay attention to the refrain here, to this chorus. 17:05 I'm in verse 10: "As it is written, there is none 17:08 righteous, no not one. 17:10 There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after 17:13 God... they have all turned aside. 17:16 They have together become unprofitable. 17:18 There is none who does good. No... not even one. 17:22 Their throat is an open tomb. 17:24 With tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps 17:27 is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing 17:30 and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. 17:33 Destruction and misery are in their ways 17:36 and the way of peace they have not known. 17:38 There is no fear of God before their eyes. " 17:43 Paul paints an undeniable and unflattering 17:47 picture of the human plight here 17:49 that he roughly divides up into three basic ideas. 17:53 Number one is humanity's alienation from God. 17:56 And in this particular category of sin 18:01 he picks up those threads that are found in Genesis 18:04 chapters 1 to 11... the vertical alienation 18:08 that mankind fell from God and they hid themselves 18:11 in the trees amongst the garden. 18:14 But also the horizontal alienation 18:16 on display in Genesis 4 and Genesis 11 18:18 where human society and human families were fragmented. 18:22 And so Paul begins by saying 18:25 "The plight of humanity is that they are fundamentally 18:28 alienated from God. " He then goes to his second 18:31 sort of line of reasoning: "The reason is that they have 18:34 believed and they have spoken untruthful speech. " 18:38 Fascinatingly, in this passage 18:42 there are hints... and not even particularly 18:45 subtle hints... of Lucifer's own deception 18:48 and misrepresentation of the character of God. 18:50 Two references to snakes are made here. 18:54 And so humanity is alienated from God - 18:56 picking up the great theme of Genesis 3- not just because 18:59 of the decisions that they have made or the actions that they 19:01 have done but because they have misapprehended 19:04 what God is like. 19:06 And then the third category of sin 19:09 Paul simply describes as "rampant violence. " 19:12 So between alienation and untruthful deceitful speech 19:16 and violence Paul paints an unqualified picture 19:21 of the plight of humanity and says: 19:24 "Everybody is in need. " 19:27 Nobody escapes... "No, not even one. " 19:30 And if you're listening carefully 19:32 you can almost hear echoes of Revelation 4 and 5 here 19:35 where John in that great throne room scene 19:38 as the scroll is there on the throne of the Ancient of Days 19:43 he begins to weep because he says in apocalyptic vision: 19:46 "There was no one worthy to open the scroll. " 19:50 That language is on display here. 19:52 "There is none... there is none... there is none... 19:55 not even one" he said. 20:00 So Paul then in verses 19 and 20 20:03 comes to what he regards 20:07 in his apostolic authority 20:10 and his human observation 20:12 as necessary conclusions. 20:15 And it's right here that we come to what you might call 20:18 a fold or a corner or a crease in the book of Romans. 20:21 Paul has been arguing very strongly 20:24 in a single direction: the fallenness of the Gentile world; 20:27 the fallenness of Israel, God's covenant people; 20:29 the fallenness and broken- ness of all of humanity. 20:32 And we are just here at the crease or the turn 20:35 where Paul is about ready to transition 20:38 and to get into the passage that we're going to be spending 20:41 our time on largely this morning. 20:42 And so verses 19 and 20 are that crease, that fold or turn. 20:48 "Now we know that whatever... " Torah... "whatever the law says 20:53 it says to those who are under the law 20:55 that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become? " 21:00 What does your Bible say? 21:02 "the whole world... " the ubiquity and the universality 21:07 of the human plight here Paul has spelled it out in Scripture. 21:10 He has spelled it out in chapters 1 and 2 21:12 and he says: "The whole world is guilty before God. " 21:17 And then verse 20: we're right on the point at the end of that 21:20 crease: "Therefore... " This is a summary statement. 21:25 Paul has made his case in chapters 1 and 2 21:29 and half of chapter 3 and he says: "Therefore... " 21:33 This is the necessary inescapable required conclusion 21:36 that I come to: "Therefore by the deeds of the Torah, 21:41 the law, no flesh will be justified in the sight of God 21:45 for by the law is the knowledge of sin. " 21:50 And if you spend a lot of time in the book of Romans 21:52 you get a sense that it's right at this point 21:54 on the corner, on the crease 21:56 where Paul takes a breath. 21:58 He has made his case and he almost invites, 22:02 he almost provokes, he almost challenges us 22:06 to refute that case... to try and make some case 22:09 for human goodness or human faithfulness 22:12 or human righteousness. No! Paul is convinced on the basis 22:15 of the text. He's convinced on the basis of his own 22:17 observation. He's convinced on the basis of history 22:20 that all the world is guilty before God 22:22 and the necessary conclusion is that none can be innocent 22:26 or justified in the sight of God by the works of Torah. 22:31 Breathing sounds. 22:36 And then a key, crucial, pivotal 22:41 two-word phrase. Take a look at it in the text. 22:43 The two-word phrase is: "But now... " 22:47 Now the word but as you are probably aware 22:50 is a conjunction in the English language. 22:51 But it's a conjunction unlike the word and 22:54 which just joins two ideas. 22:55 "I will have the pizza AND the pasta. " 22:59 Right? And... there's no change of direction, 23:01 there's no reversal of direction. 23:02 But the word but functions not just as a joining conjunction 23:06 but as a change or even as a reversal of direction. 23:11 If you have applied for a job and you went in for 23:15 the interview and you sent in your CV and filled out 23:18 the application and a week or two after the interview 23:22 you get a letter that says: "Dear sir, dear madam: 23:24 thank you so much for coming in. It was a pleasure to meet you, 23:27 to receive your resume and to sit down with you 23:30 in the application process, but... " 23:34 Do you need to read the rest of the letter? 23:37 Did you get the job? 23:39 No... because that's the way the word "but" functions. 23:42 Paul makes this incredible case about the universal 23:46 and the ubiquitous nature of the human plight, 23:48 human fallenness. "There is not even one" 23:51 he says. And then these two words: "But now... " 23:56 Ah, this is going to get really good. 24:00 The but now indicates a fantastic change of direction 24:05 grammatically and theologically, and Paul here is going to 24:08 drive his point home. In fact, you would have to be... 24:11 You'd have to be blind... you'd have to be worse than blind. 24:14 You'd have to be dead to not see the point that Paul is 24:18 going to drive at here. He's going to drive this point home. 24:21 And the point is the very one that he made back in Romans 24:25 chapter 1 verses 16 and 17. Let me just remind you of it. 24:29 "For in the gospel the righteousness of God 24:33 is revealed. " What is revealed everyone? 24:35 What is revealed? The righteousness of God! 24:38 And Paul was going to make this point in just six short verses. 24:41 Not once, not twice, not three times. Four times! 24:44 Let's race through it. 24:46 Verse 21: "But now... " 24:49 In response, in answer... 24:53 to the fallenness, broken- ness, and otherwise hopelessness 24:56 of the human plight... "But now... " 25:00 Paul has well and truly turned the theological corner. 25:03 "But now the righteousness of God 25:07 apart from Torah is revealed 25:10 being witnessed by the law and the prophets. " 25:12 That's an almost verbatim revisitation 25:15 of chapter 1 verse 17. 25:17 "The righteousness of God revealed... " And he says: 25:19 "the law and the prophets" and in verse 17 he quotes Habakkuk. 25:23 No wonder scholars have told us that contained in those 25:26 two verses - Romans 1:16-17- 25:29 is an advance summary of everything that Paul is going 25:33 to say. And Paul here - we're in the thick of it now - 25:35 he says: "But now... " 25:38 Yes, there has been rampant violence and untrue speech. 25:42 And yes, people have believed the lie about who God is 25:45 and isn't, "But now the righteousness of God 25:48 apart from Torah has been displayed. " 25:54 He's going from strength to strength. He's picking up 25:56 a kind of momentum here. Verse 16, excuse me, verse 22: 26:02 "Even... " here it is a second time... 26:04 "the righteousness of God... " You can't miss it! 26:07 "through the faith in Jesus... " We'll come back to that 26:10 in a moment... 26:12 "to all and on all who believe... " That sounds just 26:15 like Romans 1:16 and 17... "for there is no difference, 26:18 not Jew, not Gentile... " Verse 23, a familiar verse... 26:20 "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 26:23 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption 26:27 that is in Christ Jesus. " We will return to that momentarily. 26:30 "whom God sent forth... " Your translation, my translation 26:33 says propitiation... 26:35 The word is "a mercy seat. " 26:38 "whom God sent forth as the place of mercy 26:41 to demonstrate His righteous- ness. " There it is a 3rd time. 26:45 "Because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins 26:49 that were previously committed. " 26:51 Now verse 26, our final verse in this passage: 26:53 "to demonstrate at the present time... " A fourth time! 26:56 "His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier 27:00 of those who have faith in Jesus. " 27:05 When Paul turns the corner 27:08 on the universal plight and the universal condition 27:10 he does so by making it so clear you cannot miss it. 27:14 One, two, three, four times he says: "But the righteousness 27:17 of God... But the righteousness of God... 27:19 But the righteousness of God... But the righteousness of God 27:22 has been displayed. " 27:27 Which is, of course, the very point he makes in Romans 1:17. 27:30 "For in the gospel the right- eousness of God is revealed. " 27:33 Choose your word: revealed, displayed, 27:36 demonstrated. And we could ask Paul: "Paul, 27:39 where? when? was the righteousness of God 27:46 that so turns the human condition and the human plight 27:49 where and when was it demonstrated? " 27:51 And he gives us the answer in the text. 27:53 "When God sent Jesus forth as the place of mercy. " 27:58 This is an unambiguous and unmistakable reference 28:01 to the incarnation of Jesus in human flesh 28:04 and especially to the cross event. 28:10 I want to read this same passage in another translation 28:15 that actually gets several nuances of the text 28:18 in a better way in my perspective. 28:22 "But now apart from the law... " I'm picking it up in verse 21... 28:25 Walk back through the text with me but this time 28:27 perhaps just listening rather than reading. 28:29 "But now apart from the law 28:32 the rightmaking of God has been disclosed. " Ooh! 28:36 Let's just pause right there for a moment. 28:38 The righteousness of God is be- ing rendered by this translator 28:42 "the rightmaking of God. " 28:45 When God makes things right, when he sets them in their 28:48 proper order and orientation. 28:50 "But now apart from the law the rightmaking of God 28:54 has been disclosed. Witnessed by the law and the prophets... " 28:58 the Old Testament... 28:59 "the rightmaking of God thru the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. " 29:03 And time does not allow me this morning to go into the 29:06 robust grammatical and theolog- ical case that can be built 29:11 for translating this phrase in what's called the subjective 29:14 genitive. Not my faith in Christ 29:17 but the faithfulness OF Christ. 29:20 Trust me... the evidence is there. 29:24 "For there is no difference. All have missed the mark 29:27 and lack the glory of God. 29:29 But they have been set right freely by His grace 29:33 through the liberation that is in Christ Jesus. " 29:36 Pause right there. 29:37 My translation says: "the redemption that is in 29:40 Christ Jesus. " Beloved, I want you to hear one thing. 29:42 If you get nothing else, I want you to get this point. 29:44 You listen to me very carefully. 29:46 According to Paul, accord- ing to the text of Scripture, 29:50 the location of your redemption 29:53 is in Christ Jesus. 29:56 I want you to turn to the person right next to you and say: 29:59 "My redemption is located in Jesus Christ. " 30:02 Do it right now. 30:04 "My redemption is located in Jesus Christ. " 30:10 Now I want you to say to that person: 30:12 "Your redemption is located in Jesus Christ. " 30:15 Go ahead and say it. 30:21 There is no other place for our redemption, for our liberation 30:24 to reside. Heaven forbid: it cannot reside in us! 30:27 Paul has already built his undeniable case 30:31 that there's not even one righteous. 30:34 Not one that could stand before God innocent on the basis 30:36 of Torah. So if we're going to have a rescue, 30:39 if we're going to have a liber- ation, if we're going to have 30:41 a salvation, if we're going to have a redemption, 30:43 it must reside in some place external to us. 30:48 And I'm happy to tell you here today 30:49 that the place where your redemption resides 30:53 is in the person of Jesus Christ. 30:57 It gets better. 31:00 "God sent Him forth publicly as a means of reconciliation... " 31:05 Here again: "through the faith- fullness of His bloody death. " 31:10 Aah! "His bloody death. " 31:15 Again, an unambiguous reference to the cross event. 31:20 And it is right at this point 31:23 that we just press "pause" on Romans... to which we 31:26 will likely return in a moment. 31:29 I want you to come with me in your mind 31:31 to a scene that you have prob- ably familiarized yourself with 31:35 in the past. Jesus has been scourged; 31:40 Jesus has been mocked. 31:42 Jesus has been arrested 31:44 and now He finds Himself in John chapter 19 31:47 standing before Pilate. 31:49 No doubt, blood dripping down His body 31:52 and He is silent. He is reflective. 31:55 He is pensive. He is in full possession of the situation 31:59 and He knows what is happening. 32:01 And He chooses in this moment of great... critical... 32:05 a crucible moment of great significance 32:08 He elects to remain silent. 32:11 Pilate is confused by His silence, and he peppers Jesus 32:16 with a couple questions. 32:18 "Do You not know who I am? " 32:23 Try to imagine in your mind's eye 32:25 what Pilate sees before him. 32:27 Pilate is a governor. He is a man of significance 32:32 in the Roman system. He has seen his fair share 32:37 of roughians and criminals and miscreants come before him. 32:42 He knows which whom he is dealing... or so he thinks. 32:45 And so rather than the sort of brazen and argumentative 32:50 people that he sometimes gets in front of him, this guy 32:52 is trying the kind of silent treatment. 32:54 And Pilate wants to orient Him to the dire situation 32:59 in which He finds Himself and he says: 33:01 "Excuse me, young man. 33:03 This whole silent treatment thing is not going to work 33:05 for me and it's not going to work for you. 33:07 Don't You know who I am? " 33:11 And then this line: 33:12 "That I have the power to crucify You. " 33:17 Now just at this point I want to just say 33:21 that the ease and the casualness with which we 33:27 in the 21st century speak about the cross 33:29 would be completely lost on a 1st century slave 33:33 or a 1st century Jew or one of the "have-nots" 33:35 of the Roman Empire. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. 33:38 The psychological oppression, the psychological shadow of 33:42 the cross cannot be appreciated 33:45 here in 2019 by the ASi audience or by any audience. 33:50 Nah... you've never seen a person crucified. 33:54 You've never seen dozens... You've never walked outside 33:56 of your village, your hamlet, or the city gates 33:58 to see dozens or perhaps hundreds of people 34:00 lined up on crosses. 34:02 You have never seen it and I have never seen it. 34:04 And so we now glory in something that if you could 34:07 transport back into time would be regarded as so strange, 34:10 so incomprehensible, no wonder Paul would say 34:14 "When we go into various cities and villages and we preach 34:17 a crucified Messiah people think we're nuts. " 34:21 And so earlier this year I found my way 34:26 to an essay by a fellow named L. L. Welborn. 34:30 The essay is titled Extraction from the Mortal 34:33 Site. And here, perhaps more than any other author 34:36 I've become exposed to, he gives us a window 34:39 into the cultural significance of the cross and the way 34:43 the cross would have been perceived in those days. 34:46 Welborn writes: "In speaking about the ubiquity of the cross 34:51 I do not have in mind the occasional use of crucifixion 34:55 as the supreme penalty in notorious cases of high treason 34:59 nor the more frequent use of crucifixion as a means 35:02 of suppressing rebellious subjects 35:05 in the provinces. But rather I have in mind 35:08 the regular employment of the cross 35:11 as a punishment for slaves in cities throughout the Roman 35:15 Empire. Just out side the Esquiline Gate at Rome 35:18 on the road to Tiber was a horrific place 35:20 where crosses were routinely set up for the punishment of 35:23 slaves. There a torture and execution service 35:27 was operated by a group of funeral contractors 35:30 who were open to business from private citizens 35:33 and public authorities alike. 35:36 Indeed, the cross was not only the ominous specter around which 35:39 the consciousness of the slave cringed. 35:41 But because the cross was the evil instrument by which 35:44 the legal institution of slavery was maintained 35:47 this extracted the surplus on which the power 35:50 upon the ruling class depended. 35:52 The cross may be regarded as the dark, gravitational 35:57 center which whether recognized or repressed 36:00 allotted places to all of those who lived 36:03 within the social symbolic edifice of the Roman Empire. " 36:10 The cross was an instrument of cruelty. 36:12 It was designed not for the purposes of death. 36:14 Killing a person is very easy. 36:16 You put a knife or a spear or a sword through them. 36:19 The cross is about control; the cross is about humiliation. 36:23 The cross is about keeping people in line. 36:26 And if you were a slave or one of the many "have-nots" 36:29 in the Roman Empire you would have been familiar 36:31 experientially with what it is to see 36:36 a person, a human, a body, 36:39 a brother, a mother, a son 36:42 nailed to a piece of wood 36:44 and it would have said to you: "Stay in line or else. " 36:49 And so it was right at this point 36:52 that Jesus is standing before Pilate 36:54 and electing for a strategy of silence. 36:57 And Pilate says: "Young man, I don't think you understand 36:59 the gravity of the situation in which You find yourself. 37:03 Don't You know who I am? 37:05 Don't You know I have the power to crucify You? " 37:08 And even at the word crucify others in the audience 37:12 chamber might have... ooh... drawn back. 37:14 Pilate has pulled out the big guns: the threat of crucifixion. 37:18 Jesus is not a Roman citizen. 37:20 He is eligible for crucifixion. And it's right here 37:24 where Jesus recalibrates... no better, reorients 37:28 Pilate to what's really happen- ing in that audience chamber. 37:31 Pilate has said: "Don't You know who I am? " 37:34 And it's as if Jesus says: "Sir, it would be more important 37:37 for you to know who I am. " 37:40 "You would have no power at all... " He says in verse 11 37:44 "if it had not been granted to you by My Father 37:48 and I in heaven. " A total reorientation 37:52 of the nature of power, the nature of control. 37:55 Jesus had said in John chapter 10: 37:57 "No one can take My life from Me. 38:00 I lay it down Myself. " 38:02 When Peter thought that he was coming bravely and 38:05 courageously to the rescue of Jesus 38:07 in the garden there Jesus said: "Put your sword away. 38:09 Don't you think I could be delivered if I wanted? 38:13 My Father could send legions of angels. " 38:15 "No Pilate, it's not Me who doesn't know who you are. 38:20 It's you who don't know who I am. " 38:24 Something about the cross event and the horror 38:28 and the terror of the cross event 38:30 says Paul demonstrates that this is an unusual God. 38:36 99.999% of all gods of human history 38:40 or human invention are not good news. 38:43 But what is this God doing going willingly, 38:46 voluntarily, even almost enthusiastically 38:50 to a cross? I'll tell you what He's doing. 38:55 He's being Himself. 38:59 He is displaying who and what God is: 39:05 not in His nature and ontology 39:09 but in His character. 39:12 Welborn continues on this very line. 39:15 "Christ shared the fate... " Listen to this language. 39:18 It is purposefully provocative; it is purposefully absurd. 39:22 "Christ shared the fate 39:25 of a piece of human garbage. 39:29 One of those whom life had demolished 39:33 and who had touched the very bottom. 39:36 Even now as they lived in the shadow of the cross 39:39 and died a bit every day upon seeing the cross, 39:42 even if the cross should be their tomb 39:44 as it was of their fathers and grandfathers, 39:46 its power over them was now broken and undone 39:51 so that they could live on with value and meaning and hope 39:54 and love because the One who had died 39:57 in this contemptible way was the anointed of God. " 40:03 Friends, this is an unusual God 40:06 and I've got a breaking news piece of information 40:09 for you here today ASi: we are not the heroes of this story. 40:14 Our churches are not the heroes of this story. 40:17 Our institutions are not the hero of this story. 40:20 Our longevity is not the heroes of this story. 40:22 We are in no way, shape, or form 40:25 the heroes of the gospel story. 40:27 Jesus is the hero of the gospel story! Amen! 40:33 And He's not just any God. 40:36 He's not just some God. 40:37 He is the one true Creator God, the covenant-keeping God. 40:41 Yahweh, who went voluntarily, willingly, and again 40:45 almost even enthusiastically to a Roman instrument 40:48 of humiliation, coercion, and control 40:51 to demonstrate not your righteousness but to demonstrate 40:55 God's righteousness. Amen! 40:59 The law does not exonerate the sinner. 41:02 The law exposes the sin and exonerates the Savior. 41:08 No wonder Ellen White said... Ahh, no wonder Ellen White said 41:13 6 Bible Commentary 1113... 41:15 This statement is my all-time favorite statement from the 41:18 voluminous pen of Ellen White and it has become like a piece 41:21 of furniture in the intellectual landscape of my life. 41:24 I cannot get away from it. 41:26 "Hanging upon the cross 41:28 Christ was the gospel. " 41:33 Christ was the good news! 41:36 Then she said: "Now we have a message! " 41:40 Oh, NOW we have a message? 41:41 Oh, yes! NOW we have a message! 41:44 What is our message? 41:46 "Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. " 41:50 The righteousness of God is our message. 41:53 The faithfulness of God is our message. 41:56 We sometimes kid ourselves as Jared alluded to last night 42:00 into telling the story in such a way that we persuade ourselves 42:03 that we are the heroes in some way shape or form of this story. 42:05 WE ARE NOT! 42:07 Jesus is the only hero of this story. 42:10 He alone was found worthy to open the scroll 42:14 and to purchase permanently humanity back from its plight 42:18 of condemnation and sin and death. 42:21 She continues: "Behold the Lamb of God 42:24 that takes away the sin of the world. 42:25 Will not our church members keep their eyes 42:29 fixed on a crucified and risen Savior 42:32 in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered? 42:34 This is our message; THIS is our argument. 42:37 This is our doctrine, our hope for every believer. 42:42 If we can awaken an interest in men's minds that will cause 42:44 them to fix their eyes on Christ, 42:46 we may step aside and ask them only to continue 42:49 to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. " 42:53 Friends, the God that we have to preach 42:58 and the God that we have to save and the God that we have to 43:03 make famous in the world is no ordinary God. 43:08 He is an unusual God. 43:10 History is filled with stories of men who thought 43:14 in some moment of grandeur or absurdity 43:17 that they could become God. But history has only a single story 43:20 of God, the one true God, Yahweh, who became a man. 43:24 And He didn't just become a man in any ordinary sense. 43:27 He went voluntarily, willingly to a Roman instrument 43:31 of torture where pieces of human garbage were thrown out 43:34 as an instrument of control and manipulation. 43:37 And Jesus said: "You have not put Me here, Pilate. 43:39 I am here voluntarily. 43:42 I am here displaying, promoting, saving, even recovering 43:47 what had been lost. " 43:49 The great truth about the righteousness of God, 43:53 the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God, 43:56 the righteousness of God. Friends, 44:00 the righteousness of God 44:02 is seen in the faithfulness of Jesus. 44:10 And your response to that faithfulness is great. 44:16 It's awesome! Your life is going to be better. 44:20 But there is never a point at which your response 44:23 to God's saving faithfulness becomes the ground upon which 44:26 you stand before Him. 44:28 When you stand before God justified as Paul says 44:31 in Romans 3, innocent... as if you had never sinned 44:34 because Jesus has done the unthinkable, 44:38 the uninventable. 44:41 No wonder Bruce Shelley said in the opening sentence of his 44:43 incredible book: "Christianity is the only major 44:48 world religion to have as its central event 44:51 the humiliation of its God. " 44:56 I recommend to you today and I commend to you today 44:59 Jesus. And as Jennifer sings 45:02 I want to just share with you a line from this song: 45:06 "And I would give my final breath... " 45:11 I am sure that Paul would do that 45:15 and I am sure that Jesus did that... 45:19 I want to not only sing this and say "Amen" with this 45:23 I want to believe that I would give my final breath 45:28 to know Him in His death and resurrection. 45:33 Oh, I want to know Him more. 45:38 Any others out there with the raising of the hand 45:41 say: "Lord, I want to know You more? " 45:44 Perhaps even if circumstances should require it 45:46 to give my final breath to know You in Your death 45:52 and in Your resurrection. 45:55 You are not an ordinary God. 45:57 You are an unusual God. 46:00 You are an extraordinary God. 46:02 You are the one true God who gave up everything 46:07 for us. Today we respond to that. 46:11 We receive that; we accept that. 46:14 And we say: "Oh God, 46:19 we want to know You more 46:21 and we want others around us to know You more. " 46:48 Just the time I feel 46:53 that I've been caught 46:57 in the mire of self, 47:03 Just the time I think 47:07 my mind's been bought 47:10 by worldly wealth, 47:16 That's when the breeze begins to blow, 47:22 I know the Spirit's call, 47:30 and all my worldly wanderings 47:36 just melt 47:38 within His love. 47:44 Oh, I want to know You more! 47:50 Deep within my soul I want to know You. 47:55 Lord, I want to know you! 47:59 To feel Your heart and know your mind 48:04 Looking in Your eyes stirs up within me 48:09 Cries that say: "I want to know 48:15 You. " 48:17 Lord, I want to know You 48:21 more! 48:36 When my daily deeds 48:40 ordinarily 48:44 lose life and song, 48:49 my heart begins to bleed, 48:54 sensitivity to Him 48:59 is gone. 49:02 I've run the race, but 49:07 I set my own pace 49:09 and face a shattered soul 49:15 Now, the gentle arms of Jesus 49:22 warms my hunger to 49:26 be whole. 49:30 Lord, I want to know You more! 49:35 Deep within my soul I want to know You. 49:41 Lord, I want to know You! 49:44 To feel Your heart and know Your mind, 49:49 looking in Your eyes stirs up within me 49:54 cries that say: "I want to know 50:00 You... Lord, I want to know you! " 50:05 When I take my final breath, 50:10 to know You in Your death and resurrection, 50:15 Lord, I want to know You 50:19 more... 50:22 Lord, I want to know You... 50:26 know You more... 50:33 Lord, 50:36 I want to know You 50:41 more! 50:59 Amen! Let's stand to our feet. 51:02 Thank you, Jennifer. 51:06 Father in heaven, 51:11 even the glorious beautiful 51:15 incredible voice of Jennifer 51:18 and the sound of this piano, even these that move 51:22 our souls to the depths... 51:25 Father, even these only come 51:29 within a fraction of a fraction of a fraction 51:32 of a percentage of the fullness of Your goodness and glory. 51:38 Father, today truly in music 51:43 and in testimony and in the text 51:45 we have basked in Your goodness. 51:49 Father, reorient us, 51:53 redirect us, and recalibrate us 51:56 not just annually at conventions like ASi 52:00 and not just weekly at church services around the world 52:05 and Father, not even just every day when we have our morning 52:09 time with You, but Father, at every moment, 52:14 at every breath may we be oriented to You 52:19 and to Your goodness 52:22 and to just how unbelievably good news it is 52:27 not only that there is a God 52:31 but that He looks like Jesus. 52:35 Father, today we have tried 52:38 to gain even just a small glimpse 52:42 of the grandeur of that glory 52:47 and we want to say thank you. 52:50 We want to respond and say: "Turn us 52:55 by Your power and by Your grace into the best versions 52:58 of ourselves into to those who not only know 53:02 the righteousness of God but those who show 53:07 the righteousness of God. " 53:10 Help us to that end and to that effect 53:13 by the infilling of Your Spirit 53:16 is our prayer in Jesus' name, 53:19 let everyone say "Amen. " 53:24 Go ahead and have a seat. 53:26 Turn to the person next to you and say: 53:29 "There's good news in the universe... 53:31 there's good news in the universe. " 53:40 The offering goal was $1,250,000. 53:44 God has been good to us! 53:47 What He has blessed us with 53:49 is $1,521,035. |
Revised 2020-04-01