House Calls

Why Did Christ Have To Die?

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton

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Series Code: HCL

Program Code: HCL090006


00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend and sit back
00:03 as we explore God's word together
00:05 on this edition of 'House Calls.'
00:22 Well, friends, welcome to "House Calls"
00:23 as you could see John and John are in the house today.
00:26 Good to have you here, John.
00:28 It's great to be here, John.
00:29 Looking forward to another "House Calls" program,
00:31 I am excited about it.
00:32 Yeah, friends, you know, we want you to just stay tuned,
00:35 sit back, hit the record button.
00:36 This is the program you don't want to miss.
00:39 Our topic is an exciting one today,
00:41 'Why did Jesus have to die.'
00:42 We're going to get into that in various details,
00:45 but you know, before we do anything,
00:47 we always like to have prayer and I am going to ask John,
00:51 if he could have prayer for us today.
00:53 Absolutely, let's do that.
00:54 Dear Father in heaven, we rely upon you for everything
00:57 and especially when we open Your Word,
00:59 Lord we want you with us, to lead and guide us,
01:02 so Father send Your Holy Spirit, to open our minds,
01:05 to open our hearts as we study Your Word,
01:06 especially this important topic today,
01:08 'why did Jesus have to die' we want to know more.
01:11 So lead us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
01:15 Praise the Lord for that prayer.
01:16 Thank you, John, I appreciate that.
01:18 You know, this part of our program is so vitally important,
01:21 because it has to do with your Bible questions
01:23 and many people have been sending Bible questions,
01:25 in which, it really makes this program, what it is,
01:28 that's why it's entitled "House Calls."
01:30 But some people are sending in scrolls,
01:32 you know, very, very thick questions.
01:34 Try to make them concise and to the point,
01:36 so that we can answer them.
01:38 There sometimes we get on recipient list. Yeah.
01:40 You know, we have where one of our "House Calls"
01:42 is one of hundred different emails.
01:45 We don't have time to read those,
01:46 we basically just delete them.
01:47 And so I feel bad about telling you that,
01:49 but if you send us just as a recipient list,
01:50 if it's not a Bible question, we had to delete it,
01:53 just for the essence of time, just to add that
01:55 because I knew that some people just add us to that,
01:57 but it doesn't really get through. That's true.
02:00 And so if you-- if you have a question today,
02:02 you like to send to us, send that to housecalls@3abn.org,
02:05 that's housecalls@3abn.org.
02:09 And we will try our best to get to those questions
02:12 and answer them in the best way we can.
02:15 If it's our opinion we'll say so
02:16 but we like to stick with the Bible as much as we can.
02:20 So who'd like to start, John, me or you?
02:22 You go ahead, you start today,
02:23 and my question may take a little longer.
02:25 Okay, Revelation 14:4.
02:28 You have your Bible turned there with us to Revelation 14:4.
02:34 Okay, notice the text and, by the way I am--
02:38 we are having a Revelation seminar
02:40 at our church, going through the Bible,
02:41 chapter by chapter, verse by verse.
02:44 Very interesting text.
02:45 And this is on the heels of
02:48 the description of 144,000, but notice it.
02:52 Revelation 14:4, "These are the ones"
02:55 speaking of the 144,000,
02:57 "who were not defiled with women,
02:59 for they are virgins,
03:01 they are the ones who follow the lamb,
03:04 where ever He goes.
03:06 These were redeemed from among men,
03:08 being first fruits to God and to the Lamb."
03:12 It begins by describing something very important.
03:14 It says first of all, these are the ones
03:16 who were not defiled with women for they are virgins.
03:21 Now the Bible, when the Bible uses the word,
03:23 'in prophecy women' is describing the church.
03:26 Now the woman is first introduced in Revelation 12,
03:29 and you'll find a woman clothed with a sun,
03:34 and the moon and the stars, meaning natural.
03:40 The glory of God is being reflected from this woman.
03:43 Then you find in Revelation 17, another woman.
03:46 She is decked with purple and scarlet and precious stones
03:51 and she has a golden cup in her hand,
03:53 full of the blood of the saints.
03:55 And the reason why it's purple and scarlet,
03:58 she is missing the color, blue.
04:00 Which is the color of the commandments of God.
04:02 Now this group in Revelation 14,
04:04 they also have another description.
04:06 Let's look at that description in Revelation 14:12,
04:10 and showing that they are the ones
04:12 who are honoring the commandments of God,
04:15 so they would have blue, represented in their garments.
04:19 It says, "Here is the patience of the saints.
04:21 Here are those who keep the commandments of God,
04:24 and the faith of Jesus."
04:26 But now going back to Revelation 14:4,
04:30 the reason why I say, they were not defiled with women
04:32 for they are virgins is,
04:34 at a time when the people of God are having to take a firm stand.
04:38 This is the time where the 144,000 are sealed.
04:43 It's a time where the world
04:44 is correlates into two particular groups.
04:46 Those who have stood for the truth,
04:49 and those who are yet to either hear the truth
04:51 or those who have turned away from the truth.
04:53 So the 144,000 are pure. Their message is pure.
04:56 They are sealed in the pure gospel.
04:58 And they go forth to proclaim this message.
05:01 And what they proclaim is totally undefiled.
05:05 It's pure, that's why the Bible says they are virgins.
05:08 As a matter of fact,
05:09 when you look at the other portions of this,
05:13 look at verse 5, Revelation 14:5, it says,
05:16 "And in their mouth was found no deceit,
05:20 or no guile" depending on the translation,
05:22 "for they are without fault before the throne of God."
05:26 In other words, they don't tell a lie.
05:28 They're telling the truth. Truth about what?
05:30 Truth about the gospel message.
05:33 You could register in on anytime you like, John.
05:35 Well, I like--what you're saying is absolutely true.
05:38 And I think one of the things interesting of verse 4,
05:40 talking about them being first fruits to God.
05:44 You were saying that these were,
05:47 this is talking about a group who were sealed to God,
05:51 they were sealed in the truth.
05:54 And as we read about the 144,000 in Chapter 7,
05:58 it talks about that they are sealed
06:00 before the four winds are released. That's right.
06:03 So by the time when the four winds are released,
06:05 the time of trouble comes upon the earth,
06:07 the 144, 000 have been sealed.
06:10 So when it says 'their first fruit
06:12 it means they're sealed first,
06:13 they've been judged as not defiled,
06:16 they've been judged as clean,
06:18 they have been judged as dedicated and loyal
06:20 to their God and their Savior.
06:22 And as keeping the commandments of God as well.
06:25 So, they're sealed in, they're ready for the work,
06:28 that they're going to do, they're called to do
06:29 during that time of trouble.
06:31 That's right, as a matter of fact,
06:32 if you compare that with the condition,
06:34 because Revelation talks about seven churches.
06:37 So if the woman represents the church,
06:40 we are in essence talking about seven women.
06:44 But if you look at Isaiah 4:1, go there with us,
06:46 I want you to see this, "The condition of the woman"
06:52 or the 'women,' Isaiah 4:1,
06:58 and this is-- the context here is the,
07:03 in that day, the motive in the day of God, it says,
07:07 "In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
07:14 We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel,
07:18 only let us be called by your name,
07:21 to take away our reproach."
07:22 So the name that they're going to be associated with
07:25 will definitely take away their reproach.
07:26 In other words, give me the name of Jesus,
07:28 give me the Christian name.
07:30 So this is not talking about--
07:32 this is not talking about paganism,
07:34 this is not talking about witchcraft,
07:36 this is talking about those who are under the banner of Christ,
07:41 but they have their own bread,
07:42 meaning their own teachings.
07:44 They have their own apparel, their own clothing,
07:46 their own righteousness.
07:48 They don't want that from Jesus Christ,
07:50 they don't want His teachings.
07:52 And so look at the contrast
07:53 between this description here in Isaiah 4:1,
07:58 and the description given in Revelation 14:4,
08:00 they are not defiled, these are defiled.
08:03 They have their own message, their own righteousness,
08:06 they just want Jesus' name.
08:08 But these have not only the name,
08:10 but they have the message, and they are undefiled.
08:12 Yeah, and if you read on in Isaiah 4:2,
08:15 it says, "In that day, the branch of the Lord
08:17 shall be beautiful and glorious,
08:19 and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent
08:20 and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped."
08:24 And it says, "And it shall come to pass,
08:26 he who is left in Zion, remains"
08:29 this is talking about the remnant. That's right.
08:31 "Remains in Jerusalem, will be called holy,
08:34 every one who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem."
08:36 So it's talking about those who are left
08:38 not the ones who are saying, we have our own brand,
08:40 we have our own thing. Right.
08:41 Those who are left, who remain,
08:43 who are part of the remnant, are called holy.
08:45 That's right. So yes, very good.
08:47 So in a nutshell I believe, that's what is, it's talking,
08:50 and this is a, this text is symbolic,
08:53 in a sense of the women, the first fruits,
08:56 but the Lamb is a symbol of Christ,
09:01 and so the other part we didn't emphasize very much
09:03 is these are the ones who follow the Lamb where ever He goes.
09:06 So Jesus directs and as a matter of fact,
09:10 when the Bible says, they follow the Lamb where He goes,
09:14 that's what a disciple is.
09:15 He says, take up your cross and follow Me.
09:19 They have decided to do that,
09:20 but in this context they are sealed already,
09:23 and wherever He directs them to go,
09:25 they will follow Him.
09:26 And what's so important about that,
09:28 is there is a multitude still to be won,
09:31 during this time of tribulation, during this time of trouble,
09:34 not when the doors of probation are closed,
09:37 but when 144,000 are sealed,
09:40 there will go forth to proclaim the message of God,
09:43 more fully, the loud cry of Revelation 18.
09:46 Very good. Thank you.
09:49 Here's a question from Bob, and he is sending it in.
09:52 He doesn't say exactly where he is from,
09:54 but thank you Bob for sending this question.
09:56 It's kind of a question, that's asking us
09:59 to clarify an earlier statement. All right.
10:01 He says, on a recent House Calls program,
10:03 the two Johns indicated that
10:04 the tribulation in Mathew 24:32 and 33,
10:07 refers to the time of trouble of Daniel 12:1,
10:10 instead of the days immediately following
10:12 the great papal persecution of the Dark Ages.
10:15 A reading of Desire Of Ages, page 631 and 632
10:20 puts these events in a different perspective,
10:22 than that presented on House Calls.
10:25 Well, that's a matter of perspective.
10:29 But let's clarify, John, here,
10:30 what in fact we did say about that.
10:32 I was reading Mathew 24:32 and 33,
10:36 and I don't think that those are the quick verses
10:38 that he means to put in here.
10:40 Because it's not talking about
10:41 any tribulation in those two verses.
10:43 I believe Bob is speaking of--
10:46 because I remember talking about the verses
10:49 regarding the great tribulation from verse 21 and 22.
10:53 So I'm going to read, 21 and 22 here. All right.
10:55 And we'll talk about those in its proper context.
10:59 Verse 21, "For then, there will be great tribulation
11:04 such as has not been since the beginning of the world
11:06 until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
11:10 And unless those days were shortened,
11:12 no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake
11:15 those days will be shortened."
11:17 This verse as we have said before
11:20 refers to the time of trouble,
11:23 a great tribulation, not in period or duration,
11:27 because it says, the days are shortened. Right.
11:29 But a great tribulation in intensity
11:31 and we've said it before as well,
11:34 that this compares to the scripture in Daniel 12,
11:40 and I'll read that very quickly
11:42 because you'll see very similar language
11:44 occurring in verse 1 here.
11:47 Daniel 12:1, "And at that time Michael shall stand up,
11:50 the great prince who stands
11:51 watch over the sons of your people,
11:53 and there shall be a time of trouble,
11:55 such as never was since there was a nation even to that time."
11:59 So you see, same language there. That's right.
12:01 Great tribulation, such as never was,
12:04 the time of trouble, a time such as never was
12:07 and so there we find the connecting link.
12:09 Now if you want to refer
12:11 to the 1260 years of papal persecution,
12:14 back up a little more in Mathew 24 to verse 9.
12:23 Verse 8 talks about some things,
12:26 you know, nation rising against nation,
12:28 being the beginning of the sorrows
12:29 and then in verse 9, it says,
12:31 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you
12:34 and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
12:37 And then many will be offended,
12:39 will betray one another, and will hate one another."
12:41 And then it goes down.
12:42 So that's the period of tribulation
12:45 which is the time of the 1260 years of persecution,
12:49 but the end is not yet,
12:51 because that period was not the end. Right.
12:54 That period was a tribulation period
12:56 and the end came, finally we know,
12:59 at the very end of that time,
13:01 as we ushered into 1844 and the events following that,
13:05 being the time of the unofficially.
13:08 So Jesus is very, I think He is very poignant here,
13:12 He is very accurate here, when He goes through
13:14 a segment of a tribulation period, John,
13:18 to then the things that happened
13:19 the gospel being preached to all the world
13:21 and then a great tribulation happening,
13:23 and then in fact tribulation is mentioned again,
13:26 in verse 29, where it says,
13:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days
13:31 the sun will be darkened,
13:32 and the moon will not give its light,
13:33 and the stars will fall from heaven."
13:35 Now I believe that tribulation which is saying of those days
13:38 is also the great tribulation,
13:41 and I think this is where some get kind of mixed up or confused
13:45 because many will say,
13:47 and I know you've done some studying into this.
13:49 and talking on this point to, John, that they referred to,
13:54 these days of the sun growing dark had already happened
13:56 You know, we are talking about 17AD,
13:59 we're talking about-- 1755.
14:02 1755, Yeah, well, 1833 with the stars fell,
14:05 with the meteoroid shower, so we talk about those events
14:08 that's already occurring, but you know,
14:10 Jesus speaks of in Mathew 21, these things happening
14:15 in the context of the very last days,
14:17 again on a global scale. Right.
14:19 And the Bible is very, very consistent on this matter,
14:24 and that it speaks often of something happening locally,
14:27 that will eventually in its literal context
14:29 happening globally. Right.
14:31 And we find that as well, where there was a picture
14:33 or shadow of the last day events happening in 17AD, in 1833,
14:38 that will happen on a global scale at the very end of time,
14:41 and I believe that's what this is speaking of here.
14:43 And if you want take a look quickly at Luke 21.
14:47 It puts in context what is being spoken of there
14:51 by Jesus regarding the sun growing dark.
14:55 I'll just read that John, and then I'll let you chime in.
14:57 Sure. In verse 25--
15:00 now this is Luke's record of the same message
15:04 that Jesus is giving only Luke, he gives,
15:06 gives some additional detail on what Jesus is saying.
15:09 It says in 25, there will be signs in the sun,
15:12 in the moon and in the stars, and on the earth,
15:14 distress of nations with perplexity,
15:16 that sea and the waves roaring.
15:19 Men's hearts failing them from fear,
15:22 and the expectation of those things
15:24 which are coming upon the earth,
15:25 for the powers of the heaven will be shaken."
15:28 And then notice right there within the context here,
15:31 "Then they will see the Son of Man
15:33 coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
15:36 So this happens right before Jesus comes back.
15:39 It also happens in the context of people
15:41 who are with perplexity,
15:43 nations that brings into that context,
15:46 not just one nation, not just a local issue,
15:48 but a global issue where nations are coming together
15:51 saying, John, look, what's coming upon the earth,
15:54 what are we going to do and the sun is growing dark,
15:56 the moon isn't giving its light,
15:57 but the moon's turned to blood.
15:59 And people are saying, this is an incredible time,
16:02 things have changed, God's dealings are not the same,
16:05 what shall we do.
16:07 As a matter of fact, John, this text gives such foundation
16:10 to that very timeframe
16:12 that is just before the coming of the Lord, that verse 28 says,
16:15 "Now when these things begin to happen, look up,
16:20 and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near."
16:23 So now if you look at the timeframes of the events
16:26 that have been recorded, 1755, Lisbon earthquake,
16:29 1780, the great dark day, 1833,
16:34 all these events that happened,
16:36 those all those events chimed in didn't happen,
16:39 I use the phrase here, before 1844.
16:42 And the early advent believers lead out by William Miller,
16:45 a Baptist preacher, and those who have been coming
16:48 from other movements during that time,
16:50 they were no Seventh-day Adventists at that time.
16:52 Sabbath keeping started a little later on, as a matter of fact.
16:57 Even after 1844. In 1850s.
16:59 Se in the 1850s, They got back to the message of the Sabbath.
17:03 So those believers who had gone back to the Bible,
17:05 had come to the conclusion in their study
17:08 that, Jesus was coming in 1844.
17:10 So notice the context of that, all these events had to happen
17:14 in order to convince them that Jesus was ready to come in 1844,
17:18 so the last of these recorded events was 1833,
17:21 eleven years earlier. All right.
17:23 The great tribulation, that's often referred to,
17:26 as from 538 to 1798, 1798 is only 46 years earlier.
17:33 So when you look at the papal reign
17:37 from 538 to 1798, 1260 years.
17:41 By no means is that time period cut short,
17:45 to save a person's life, because you die of natural causes.
17:48 Right. You see.
17:49 So but all these events had to happen before 1844
17:50 in order for those who believe that Jesus was coming then
17:55 to be convinced that everything was fulfilled. Right.
17:59 But if you look at these, Jesus is saying in verses 28,
18:04 "Now when these things begin to happen,
18:08 look up, and lift up your heads,
18:10 because your redemption draws near."
18:12 Mathew also adds another component to this,
18:15 and I want to go back to Mathew 24,
18:17 because Jesus also used the phrase,
18:19 the parable of the fig tree.
18:21 Look at Mathew 24:27, it says, "For as lightning coming"
18:29 just as the second coming,
18:31 "For as the lightning comes from the east,
18:33 and flashes to the west,
18:35 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
18:38 For wherever the carcass is,
18:40 there the eagles will be gathered together.
18:43 That's the great supper talked about in Revelation.
18:46 But notice this, "Immediately after the tribulation
18:49 of those days, the sun will be darkened,
18:51 the moon will not give its light,
18:53 the stars will fall from heaven."
18:55 But this is the part that we often have no application for,
18:59 this didn't happened in 1833, in 1780, not at all.
19:03 "The powers of heavens will be shaken."
19:05 But notice the word, in verse 30,
19:07 'then' it's talking about a sequential,
19:10 a sequence of events happening one after the other,
19:12 after the other, after the other,
19:14 not hundreds of years spanning between them
19:17 because verse 30 says, "Then the Son of Man
19:21 will appear in heaven and then all the tribes'
19:26 not just a certain part of the earth,
19:28 not just the upper northeast.
19:29 Right, all the tribes. Right.
19:32 "Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
19:34 and they will see the Son of Man coming
19:36 on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
19:39 But now notice the context, and He will send His angels,
19:42 okay, we know that, that's the coming of the Lord.
19:44 But now what does Jesus say,
19:46 "Now learn the parable of the fig tree
19:48 when its branches already become tender
19:50 and put forth leaves, you know the summer's near."
19:52 So like wise, here's again, just like Luke.
19:56 "When you see all these things, know it is near at the door."
20:03 And how near is it?
20:04 He says, one generation, won't pass.
20:07 Right, because that generation will all,
20:09 see all these things. Thank you.
20:11 "Assuredly I say it to you" verse 34,
20:13 "This generation" that is the one it sees all these things
20:17 "Will by no means pass till all these things take place."
20:21 And speaking of that generation
20:23 will see the Lord in the cloud's coming.
20:25 So we are not denying any of the events
20:27 that happened, Lisbon earthquake.
20:30 Somebody talked about that as the great earthquake.
20:32 Well, now have we had any greater earthquakes since then.
20:35 Just a few years ago, I think it was December 26,
20:39 2004, 2005 around that time, with that earthquake
20:42 that happened in the Pacific Rim
20:44 and over 300, 000 lives were lost from the ensuing tsunami,
20:50 way larger than 60,000 people died in the Lisbon earthquake.
20:54 The earthquake in China.
20:55 Okay, earthquake in-- Okay, so we've had much huger
21:00 and I am using this word loosely here,
21:02 much larger earthquakes than the earthquake in 1755.
21:07 You know, another point here too is,
21:09 that not only does the Lord work in shadows,
21:12 or type and then antitype, on a global scale.
21:17 What we find here even with disasters,
21:19 is that God gives us glimpses
21:22 of what will come during the time of trouble,
21:24 through the natural disasters, that have been coming,
21:26 we've been seeing those over time.
21:29 But this person, references The Desire of Ages
21:32 and if you also references to Great Controversy,
21:34 you'll find that what we find on a local scale around the world
21:39 will happen globally even with disasters at the end of time.
21:42 Because she describes, thousands of cities will be destroyed.
21:47 In other words wiped out, thousands. Right.
21:50 That is much larger than anything we've experienced
21:53 on a individual local scale even if it does kill 300,000 people.
21:59 We are talking about millions, at a time wiped out
22:02 and perishing in the city. Right.
22:04 Repeated thousands of times.
22:06 So the time of trouble that is coming,
22:08 and I am not trying to scare everybody,
22:10 is going to be so much greater.
22:12 So much more significant and powerful,
22:14 than anything this world has ever seen.
22:17 And you and I can go into lot more detail,
22:20 on what it's going to be about,
22:22 but anyway that's the context of Christ description
22:27 of last day events there in Mathew 24.
22:29 And we were in Revelation 7, a moment ago.
22:33 I want you to look at that very briefly here.
22:35 Because Revelation 7 also brings in the very same phrase,
22:39 Great Tribulation. That's right.
22:42 The 144,000 have a function, they are not just sealed
22:48 because they are chosen as the first fruits.
22:52 They have a function and they're chosen
22:54 to proclaim a message, but to whom
22:58 and then what's going to be the response
23:00 to the proclamation of this message?
23:02 Well that's spelled out in Revelation.
23:04 Because
23:07 John shows another group, look at verse 9.
23:10 "After these things I looked and behold a great multitude,
23:15 which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples,
23:21 and tongues" and where are they?
23:23 "Standing before the throne, and before the Lamb,
23:26 clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands.
23:31 And crying out with a loud voice,
23:32 saying, salvation belongs to our God
23:35 who sits on the throne, in to the Lamb.
23:38 All the angels sit around the throne,
23:40 and the elders and the four living creatures,
23:42 and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,"
23:45 and it says what they said,
23:47 but now look at verse 13 because the question is,
23:50 "Then one of the elders answered, saying to me,
23:54 Who are these arrayed in white robes?"
23:57 and here's the key question, "And where did they come from?"
24:02 "And I said to him, Sir, you know, so he said to me,
24:05 These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,
24:10 and washed their robes, and made them white
24:13 in the blood of the Lamb."
24:15 Notice it says, these are the ones who come out.
24:17 Yes. Now read Revelation 18:1.
24:22 How do they come out? How do they come out?
24:26 It's one of the commands
24:28 given by God's people in those last days. Actually verse 4.
24:33 Verse 4 it says, "The voice came from heaven,
24:35 saying, Come out of her,
24:36 my people, that lest you share in her sins,
24:39 and lest you receive of her plagues."
24:41 Okay, now notice the Bible says,
24:43 the voice came from heaven.
24:44 You got to keep this in mind.
24:46 God is not going to be yelling down from the sky.
24:50 In the same way the messages of the three angles
24:54 that talked about, flying in the midst of heaven.
24:56 I want to put the context to that.
24:58 So the-when it says, the voice from the heaven.
25:01 In another words, this is heaven's message to you.
25:05 This is not a loudspeaker coming from heaven,
25:08 this is heaven's message,
25:09 just as the first angel flying in the midst of heaven,
25:12 the second angel, the third angel.
25:14 And you notice the second angel says,
25:15 'Babylon has fallen' but it's not said
25:17 with a loud voice in Revelation 14.
25:20 It's said with a loud voice in Revelation 18,
25:23 and that's the reason why, 144,000 are sealed.
25:28 And I know, John,
25:29 we could do this for the rest of the program.
25:32 The reason why the 144,000 are sealed
25:33 as they sent this message, the message reached
25:36 its pinnacle at that particular point.
25:39 Because the entire earth is now ripe for the harvest.
25:45 Come out of her my people, and that's why Revelation 7:14
25:49 says, "They came out" they came out, what timeframe?
25:53 Out of the great tribulation.
25:56 And that large multitude that's going to come out of the great,
25:59 that's going to come out and join the people of God,
26:02 are going to come out during a time of great tribulation,
26:05 that for God's, in God's plan, He's going to cut it short.
26:10 So that no flesh-- so that some flesh will be saved.
26:14 Because the time is so severe.
26:16 Yeah, it's going to be terribly severe.
26:18 You've anything else.
26:19 Well, I think we are about ready to go with our topic, today.
26:22 Okay. Which I am excited about.
26:24 Let me go ahead and ask if anybody has any questions,
26:26 you know, we talked about a lot here today.
26:29 We didn't get to all the questions but, you know,
26:31 we do have some upcoming programs,
26:32 so you do stay tuned for that next week.
26:35 But if you have any more Bible questions,
26:38 may be about the tribulation, about the time of trouble,
26:40 about the 144,000, great multitude,
26:42 or anything that we talked about here today.
26:44 Send those questions to housecalls@3abn.org,
26:48 that's housecalls@3abn.org.
26:50 And either Pastor John or Pastor John will respond.
26:53 We really appreciate that very much.
26:56 Now, John, this topic of, why did Jesus have to die.
26:59 Since I did so much talking here,
27:01 let me go ahead and let you chime in on this one.
27:04 Well, it's a topic that, a question,
27:06 that I think needs to be answered.
27:10 Because there are so many Christians throughout the world
27:12 who have heard very simple answers,
27:16 for why Jesus is their Savior.
27:18 Why they've put their faith and trust in Him,
27:20 to save them from their sins and why he had to die.
27:25 But there is a depth I believe
27:27 to answering that question that we all--
27:30 that will enhance our salvation experience. Okay.
27:33 That if answered correctly, if we really know,
27:37 why did Jesus, the Son of God have to come to die,
27:40 to pay the price for our sins.
27:42 If we understand that, I think that our life,
27:45 our spiritual life could be transformed in a way that may be
27:49 many are not transformed to this day.
27:52 Because I've asked, I mean as a pastor,
27:54 you asked this question, why do you believe in Jesus?
27:59 You know, well, because Jesus is my Savior.
28:02 You know, He saved me, and He forgave my sins and--
28:05 What does that mean? How did He forgive your sins?
28:08 Well, these questions become difficult to answer.
28:11 In this program we are going to commit at this question.
28:14 Why did Jesus have to die from difficult angles?
28:17 You and I, I know there's a lot of different
28:19 directions we can go here, and I've had people asked me,
28:22 and I know you've had people asked you.
28:23 How do you plan for these programs?
28:26 You know, what do you guys have a script or what do you do?
28:28 They are always surprised when I say,
28:30 "we don't really plan for these programs."
28:34 These programs are designed,
28:35 I believe to be lead by the Spirit of the God.
28:38 And we come, we talk about a topic beforehand,
28:40 what we like to talk about generally.
28:42 We may bring some text or some things
28:44 may be to held in front of us, but we have no script.
28:46 Right. And today we have no script.
28:49 And so we just want to answer the best we can
28:51 as two pastors in your living room
28:53 or in your vehicle if you're driving,
28:55 answering the question, why did Jesus, have to die?
28:59 And so, John, I just kind of springboard from there,
29:01 and I think, the place to start is,
29:05 this one text, and then we kind of go off with that. Okay.
29:10 Jesus is being described as a Lamb, the Lamb of God.
29:16 And John even proclaimed as he was coming down to the water,
29:19 where he was baptizing, John proclaimed that Jesus,
29:22 behold the Lamb of God,
29:24 who takes away the sin of the world.
29:29 So clearly, we have a lamb associated with sin.
29:32 We have imagery there
29:33 that is associated with the sanctuary service.
29:36 And the ceremonial sacrifices that were going on in Israel
29:39 and have been going on for quite some time.
29:42 But if you go back even before that,
29:43 you'll find that these sacrifices began immediately
29:46 after sin entered the picture. Right.
29:48 Because we have Cain and Abel, and the two altars there.
29:51 And how Cain or how Cain brought the wrong sacrifice
29:53 which was the fruit of his own hand,
29:55 and Abel brought the sacrifice of the lamb,
29:58 which pointed to Christ.
30:00 Even before the whole ceremonial
30:02 sacrificial system came into place,
30:04 at least became the fixture through the law of Moses.
30:09 But let's take a look at one text here in Revelation,
30:12 and we were just in Revelation answering a question.
30:15 But in Revelation 13:8, it says this.
30:23 And this is in reference to the worship,
30:28 initially the worship of this first beast power.
30:30 "All who dwell on the earth will worship him"
30:32 speaking of the first beast,
30:34 "Whose names have not been written in the book of life."
30:37 And then he goes on to say, "Of the Lamb slain
30:40 from how far before" the foundation of the world."
30:43 the foundation of the world.
30:45 Jesus knew that He was going to give up His life.
30:50 He was going to die on man's behalf,
30:53 even before the world was created.
30:56 Now that's an amazing fact to me
30:57 and I know you want to chime in on this little bit,
30:59 but it's an amazing thought to think,
31:00 that even before He created the world,
31:03 before even the world is in its perfect way,
31:06 He came into existence.
31:08 He knew that sin would enter the picture one day
31:11 and that He would have to die,
31:13 He would be slain. Yet He still created us.
31:17 Well, you know,
31:18 that's a beautiful picture to know that
31:20 He had the plan of salvation in place before it was needed,
31:24 but I want to approach it also from this perspective in Romans.
31:28 I think for me, as I springboard into this topic
31:32 "why did Jesus have to die."
31:34 I'm going to go to, what I would referred to as in very broad,
31:41 a very multi-dimensional process but in a very simple text.
31:48 The reason why Jesus had to die was this,
31:50 "For the wages of sin is death."
31:55 Why would you have to die? Well, that's what sin requires.
31:58 For the wages of sin is death.
32:00 Before we even get down to the gift,
32:02 the gift was, what would come after.
32:04 So built into this plan of salvation was two things.
32:07 I have a way to pay the price for what they would do,
32:11 if they do it, and I have a way to bring them back.
32:15 And there's nothing they could do
32:17 to warrant that of themselves.
32:18 It's going to be a gift. Right.
32:20 and so you see salvation, John, is not just a gift,
32:24 but it's a gift to specifically to those who accept this gift,
32:27 and why do we all have to accept it.
32:29 Another verse, you have both verses of verse 23,
32:33 but in two different chapters.
32:35 Romans 3:23, whydo we need Jesus,
32:42 why did He have to die?
32:43 "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."
32:48 So when you look at that, when you begin to see that,
32:51 before we can get into the lamb,
32:54 we are going to get into some very figurative language today,
32:57 even some prophecies that are been fulfilled aboutthe Messiah,
33:00 and how they all fit into the timeframe of why He had to die,
33:03 or the theme of why He had to die.
33:05 The bottom line is, He had to die because of sin.
33:11 You know, you said that. It's a sin, it is a sin problem.
33:14 The sin problem, the sin problem required payment.
33:18 And so somebody say, why do I have to pay?
33:20 Because it requires payment. The wages of sin is death.
33:24 And we'll go to the gift of God in just a moment.
33:26 But to me that's the first thing,
33:28 wages, that's why He had to die.
33:30 And you know what?
33:31 To me, John, it's really, when you think of that
33:34 from the beginning of the world,
33:36 when Adam and Eve fell into transgression.
33:40 There was no doubt in the mind of the Father,
33:43 the Son and the Holy Spirit, that the Redeemer's plan,
33:46 that was now in place, it wasn't,
33:49 they didn't have to figure it out,
33:51 it was now in effect.
33:52 And you know what's so wonderful about that,
33:55 as people talked about Jesus' coming,
33:57 'you know, one day the Messiah would come'
33:59 one day the messiah would come.
34:00 Well, you know what's so beautiful about that.
34:01 It wasn't a one day thing.
34:03 Jesus came the day they sinned He showed up.
34:07 And go with us to Genesis 3,
34:08 and I would just jump back to you.
34:10 Would you go and do that.
34:11 Let's go to Genesis 3, and what I'll say to is,
34:14 we're turning there to Genesis 3
34:15 is that if there was no plan in place,
34:19 when Eve sinned she would have dropped dead on the spot.
34:24 Very good point. Think about it.
34:26 I mean, if there was no plan in place,
34:29 God's mercy could not have been put in effect.
34:34 Right, there was no padding at all.
34:35 There was no room, no latitude.
34:37 But she did not drop dead, Adam did not drop dead.
34:41 Instead God came looking for them,
34:44 because He had a plan. That's right.
34:46 And that's the wonderful thing about the Lord.
34:49 You know, He showed up--
34:50 He didn't show up necessarily 4,000 years later,
34:53 which in fact we look at the redemption of the cross,
34:56 truly 4,000 plus years later, but He came that day,
34:59 and I like the way that Genesis 3 brings this out,
35:03 it says, "And I heard," verse 8,
35:07 "And I heard the sound of the Lord God
35:11 walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
35:15 and Adam and his wife hid themselves
35:18 from the presence of the Lord amongst the trees of the garden.
35:22 And the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, where are you?"
35:27 And you know why he hid, while you read the rest of the story,
35:29 he hid because he was afraid.
35:31 I'm going to stop at the point right there,
35:33 the Lord came and called Adam, where are you?
35:36 And you know what, that has been the theme of salvation.
35:39 The Lord coming after us, not us going after the Lord.
35:44 That's why I'm always turned off when people say,
35:46 well, I'll decide whether or not I went to church,
35:49 and that's where I found Jesus.
35:51 No, He found you before you even entered the building.
35:53 Where are you, get you to where you're supposed to be.
35:56 Even though Adam and Eve sinned.
35:59 Right. God looked for them.
36:01 And here's the grace of God is bigger than our sin.
36:07 That's right.
36:08 But it doesn't make insignificant our sin. No.
36:13 Sin is an issue that had to be dealt with,
36:14 and if you want any other, there is no better answer
36:17 I would say, to that, to knowing that's the case,
36:21 than the fact that Jesus had died because of our sin.
36:24 Right. He died to take away our sins.
36:26 So sin is a big issue for the Lord,
36:30 and often, you know, John, as a pastor,
36:31 you know the most difficult sermons
36:33 for us to preach are sermons about sin.
36:36 'Cause people don't want to hear about that. Yeah.
36:39 They don't want to hear about their sins. No.
36:43 And in fact last Sabbath we had communion.
36:47 And communion is the time where we can take some latitude there
36:50 to talk about sin, because Jesus did,
36:53 you know, it's all about Jesus' death.
36:54 His broken body. He shed blood for us.
36:57 And it's hard to go through a communion
36:58 without thinking or talking about sin.
37:00 So I took some opportunity to talk about that,
37:03 and one of the questions we looked at was,
37:05 why did Jesus have to die.
37:07 Why are we here doing this, you know,
37:10 partaking of the bread and the juice here
37:12 representing Christ's body and His blood.
37:16 We are doing that because we are sinners.
37:19 And we will be sinners until we are glorified.
37:23 That's right. And so sin exists even today.
37:27 Although it was dealt with in two different phases,
37:30 we have old covenant where it was dealt with by the sacrifices
37:34 the ceremonies that pointed to the Lamb of God,
37:37 who would come and take away the sin of the world.
37:40 Before Christ dealt with in type,
37:43 which is by the shedding of the blood of goats and bulls
37:46 and the other things that, they used for sacrifices then
37:50 and then after Christ came,
37:52 the sin problem is still being dealt with by Jesus--
37:55 in Hebrews it's talking about, in the heavenly sanctuary
37:58 whereby His own blood shed for us,
38:01 He applies that still for us in the heavenly sanctuary,
38:04 for the sins that we commit to this day.
38:06 And, John, what amazes me, is that we have any debate
38:11 whatsoever, as to whether or not,
38:15 the law of God is still in effect.
38:19 That's a good one, John.
38:20 Because if Jesus is still dealing with our sin problem,
38:24 a law must still be in effect, but if there's no law in effect,
38:28 we are not sinners. That's right.
38:30 Where there's no law, the Bible says, there is no sin.
38:34 There can't be-- There cannot be--
38:37 if a police officer pulls you over
38:39 and says, you were speeding.
38:43 He will pull you over anywhere,
38:44 except on the autobahn for speeding,
38:47 because there's no law for speeding.
38:49 I also learned this in this,
38:50 if this is not true, somebody let me know,
38:53 may be not in the city of Manila.
38:55 I am sure that you can't drive
38:56 through Manila, Philippines wildly,
38:59 but I notice as I was driving in the Philippines,
39:01 one of the drivers said to me, we have no speed limits here.
39:06 And I thought, you know, I haven't seen any.
39:09 He said, you know, they figured, we know how to drive,
39:13 we are not going to--
39:14 I mean there are some people that drive really crazy,
39:16 it depends on where you are,
39:18 quite a difference in the outer provinces,
39:22 as compared to Manila.
39:23 But people do drive with some, aggressiveness.
39:27 My point being made is that if there were no laws
39:30 against speeding then you couldn't be stopped
39:33 and given a citation for speeding.
39:35 There could be no law, there could be no sin
39:38 against what's existing in the world today,
39:40 if there is no law.
39:42 Jesus would not have to die
39:44 if there wasn't a law in effect that city had to.
39:46 And yet people, Christians today teach that,
39:50 by Jesus' death on the cross, He did away with the law.
39:55 I mean if you understand why Jesus had to die,
39:58 that question doesn't even come into play.
40:01 Because we don't get a ticket and then the officers turns
40:06 and says to us, now that you had your ticket,
40:08 the law isn't in effect anymore,
40:09 go out speed as much as you want.
40:10 I mean, that's insane. Right.
40:13 We get a ticket to remind us-- It's backward.
40:15 That the law is still in effect. Right.
40:17 So we come to Jesus, and we receive from Him forgiveness,
40:21 because we are reminded by the law
40:23 that is still in effect, that we are sinners still.
40:25 It's almost like Jesus died and saying, you know what,
40:27 I had to die to get rid of this law because it's ridiculous.
40:31 And then but in the reality of it if the law was an issue,
40:35 He would have gotten rid of it
40:37 rather than gotten rid of Himself.
40:39 That is, He would have killed the law,
40:41 rather than had to be killed.
40:44 And if the law could have been changed,
40:46 He would have changed it after sin,
40:48 so they wouldn't have to die.
40:50 In fact, one of the texts that I wrote down here, this is,
40:53 I was jotting down some notes was, God Himself says,
40:56 "I am God, I do not change." Right.
41:00 And His law, representing His character,
41:03 we see as there's some all kinds of verses we can go into here,
41:07 you know Exodus 33:34 where Jesus meeting
41:10 or God is meeting with Moses on the mountain,
41:13 and Moses says, "Show me Your glory."
41:16 And so He says, "I'll make all my goodness pass before you."
41:19 And what does He do?
41:20 He takes two tablets of stone-- And give it to him.
41:23 Pens it out of the rock, gives them to Moses
41:25 and he proclaims His name,
41:27 which is His character and gives him His law.
41:30 So His law is as much a part of Him,
41:32 He cannot get rid of that as much as He can change it.
41:36 And so one of the reasons, Jesus had to die
41:38 was because the law is unchangeable,
41:42 it is immutable, it cannot be changed,
41:44 so Jesus paid the price for you and for me.
41:49 So for us to say, well, I have accepted Jesus as my savior,
41:51 so I don't have to obey the law anymore,
41:53 I don't have to keep the law,
41:54 it's not in effect for me any more.
41:55 It's not reading salvation, or the plan,
41:59 God's plan of salvation correctly throughout scripture.
42:03 Going into another passage in the Bible in Titus.
42:06 That's right, after the book of 2 Timothy,
42:08 I want you to look at that with us Titus 2:11-14,
42:14 because you know, Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says
42:17 "For by grace are you saved through faith.
42:20 And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
42:23 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
42:25 So we have this saving relationship with Christ,
42:27 which is based on His grace.
42:29 But now, how many of us are in need of that grace.
42:32 I want you to read for us, John, Titus 2:11 down to verse 14.
42:37 Okay. And I'll emphasize that.
42:39 "For the grace of God that bring salvation
42:42 has appeared to all men."
42:43 Right, now why?
42:44 Because all have sinned. Go ahead.
42:46 "Teaching us" now listen to this,
42:48 grace of God is also teaching us something. Right.
42:51 Teaches us "That, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
42:55 that we should live soberly, righteously,
42:57 and Godly, in this present age.
43:00 Looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing
43:03 of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
43:06 Who gave himself for us, that He might redeem us
43:08 from every lawless deed and purify for Himself,
43:11 His own special people, zealous for good works."
43:15 John, this tells me
43:17 that salvation is more than just a one time deal. Right.
43:20 Salvation is something that,
43:22 God brings through by His grace to us every day of our life.
43:26 Right, because we are learning.
43:28 Matter of fact-- the whole,
43:29 and you made references to the sanctuary a moment ago,
43:31 the Lamb, that take away the sin of the world.
43:33 That entire system was a system of learning.
43:35 They learned through that system of sacrifices,
43:38 what the whole process of sacrifice,
43:40 what the whole process of salvation was all about.
43:44 Not only was the lamb slain, but notice something here,
43:47 and I want to look at verse 14 again, because it says,
43:51 "Who gave Himself for us, the lamb being slain"
43:54 that's the beginning. "He gave Himself for us",
43:56 but what was the whole purpose of giving Himself for us?
43:59 Not only the second answer would be,
44:02 the first answer would be
44:03 the reason why Jesus had to die is because of sin.
44:05 The second answer would be, to redeem us. Yes.
44:08 Okay, the second answer would be to redeem.
44:11 He didn't just die for our sins but He died to redeem us.
44:16 You know the word 'redeem' there.
44:17 You ever went to buy the army bases,
44:20 people taking radios and cameras
44:22 and they get this ticket at the pawn shop there,
44:25 and they go back and they say, well,
44:28 I've come to claim my item, that I put on,
44:30 I needed, you know, $40, because I was short.
44:33 That has redemption value.
44:35 So Jesus came to redeem us,
44:38 but notice what He came to redeem us from,
44:40 every lawless deed.
44:43 That means, all of those deeds
44:44 that were out of harmony with the law,
44:47 is what I've come to redeem you from.
44:49 Now are we still being redeemed today? Absolutely.
44:52 So there are deeds that are still outside of the law.
44:54 That's right, and we're talking about here really is,
44:57 Christ dying for our sins and paying the penalty. Right.
45:01 But as you said, several times before too,
45:04 it's not just redeeming us from the penalty of sin. Right.
45:07 Which is death, He is redeeming us from the power of sin. Right.
45:11 which is giving us that holy life today. To everyday.
45:15 So Christ death is not just about justifying us,
45:19 it's about sanctifying us, it's about changing our life.
45:24 So if we just depend upon Christ
45:26 and just say, well, I believe in Jesus
45:28 because He forgave me of my sins and I don't have to die anymore.
45:31 And that's as far as we go,
45:32 we miss the other entire half
45:35 of the reason for Christ dying on the cross.
45:40 The other reason is that everyday I wake up,
45:42 I'm going to be tempted, this flesh is still mortal.
45:47 It's going to pull me constantly to sin.
45:52 And the only one that can deliver me from that is Jesus.
45:56 And what He has done for me.
45:59 And so, you know,
46:01 this part I think sometimes is overlooked.
46:04 This part of why Jesus died for us is overlooked.
46:07 He died, so that we might also be delivered
46:11 from the power of sin in our life. That's right.
46:13 As a matter of fact, I have the three P's
46:15 and John just reiterated that, and I liked that.
46:18 Once from the penalty of sin, that is justification,
46:22 then the power of sin, that's sanctification,
46:25 then finally from the presence of sin,
46:27 that's when He comes back, that's glorification.
46:30 Another way I like to look at that is,
46:31 Jesus first saves us from the curse of sin,
46:34 that's justification.
46:36 Then everyday from the confines of sin,
46:39 because sin will confine you.
46:41 That's daily, but then finally
46:43 He will save us from the condition of sin.
46:45 There will be no more condition.
46:47 He's going to change the world and make it,
46:49 He's going to change that whole sinful atmosphere
46:52 and make it sinless.
46:54 The conditions of sin will be finally erased,
46:56 so I have some C's with that also.
46:58 That's good. But let's go to the next part.
47:01 Now the spring boarding off of your last text there,
47:04 we are talking about that God is calling us to a holy life.
47:09 I use this text in my last message
47:11 with our congregation here as we were preparing for,
47:15 for communion and it's found in 1 Peter,
47:19 1 Peter 2:21. All right.
47:26 You know there are many today that wonder
47:27 what's God's calling is on their life.
47:31 You know, why does God have me where He has me today.
47:34 What is He called me to do in life?
47:37 And I like the way the Peter start with this, John.
47:39 In verse 21 it says, "For to this you were called."
47:43 Okay. It's like okay, now I am listening.
47:45 And if I am reading this text, I perked up
47:47 and I said okay, I am listening now.
47:49 "For the what purpose was I called." Right.
47:52 "Because Christ also suffered for us,
47:54 leaving us an example, okay.
47:59 That you should follow His steps.
48:02 Who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth."
48:05 Okay, so we are supposed to follow his example
48:07 by committing no sin and not allowing ourselves to deceive.
48:12 And who, when he was reviled, did not revile and return."
48:15 You means, I don't lash back,
48:17 like Jesus didn't lash out and back at somebody.
48:20 "And when he suffered, he did not threaten
48:22 but committed himself to him who judges righteously."
48:25 So we do things differently than the world does them.
48:28 And then look at this, verse 24,
48:31 "Who himself bore our sins in his own body on a tree"
48:34 referring to the cross, why did Jesus have to die?
48:37 "That we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness,
48:42 by whose stripes you were healed."
48:44 You see, Jesus died for us.
48:47 And He is calling us notice this to this you were called,
48:50 He's calling us to die to our sins as well.
48:56 So somehow Jesus is dying on that cross and in His death,
49:01 He is also calling us to die to our sins as well.
49:07 And so we find text after text, Paul talks about how--
49:11 he no longer lives, but its Christ who lives in him.
49:15 Because this flesh that he lives in now he's died to,
49:19 because he's now living in the spirit.
49:21 And several other times
49:22 he talks about how we are in Christ,
49:25 as He is dying on the cross, our sins are in Him,
49:28 we are dying on to our sins, by the cross as well.
49:33 And I have some of those texts here,
49:35 and we could probably, you are probably
49:36 looking up at one of them or several of them,
49:39 but Galatians, let see Galatians 6:14
49:42 I have that one jotted down here.
49:44 We'll just give you a few here to emphasize this point.
49:48 Another one I want to add-- You have another one there.
49:50 Another one I want to add,
49:51 He calls us not only to, He didn't come just to die
49:55 because of sin, He came to redeem us
49:58 and I want to build further on what you've just talked about.
50:03 Calling us to righteousness.
50:05 He's also come to make us righteous.
50:09 Why else He had to die,
50:11 and the dying part was the payment.
50:14 The Romans, here it is. Let me just read it out.
50:17 I was going to turn to here,
50:18 but let me just go ahead and read it,
50:19 since we're talking about that Romans 6,
50:24 here it is- the third reason.
50:27 You're reading some of the text, I was going to read.
50:30 There we go, how do we get there we have no script.
50:33 Starting with verse 4.
50:34 It says, "Therefore we were buried with him" Romans 6:4,
50:38 "Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death."
50:44 Notice why did Jesus had to die. We enter into His death.
50:46 He died, we entered into it. But we don't stay dead.
50:50 You know, if you go to a church that's dead,
50:51 they've just been baptized. Yeah.
50:53 They got to be resurrected.
50:54 No, they're still under the water.
50:57 You got to come out of the water.
50:58 Okay, I like that one.
51:00 Water baptism, now they need Holy Spirit baptism.
51:05 "Buried with him through baptism into death,
51:07 that just as Christ was raised from the dead
51:09 by the glory of the Father
51:11 even so we also should walk in newness of life.
51:14 For if we have been united together
51:16 in the likeness of His death,
51:18 certainly we also shall be
51:19 in the likeness of his resurrection."
51:22 So it's not just the deaththing, it's a resurrection thing.
51:25 But not resurrection from the grave,
51:27 but resurrection from the grave of sin.
51:31 The next text, "Knowing this,
51:32 that our old man was crucified with him."
51:37 It talks about, so we shall no longer be slave to sin.
51:40 Right, "that the body of sin" the body of sin,
51:43 you know why it calls it the body of sin?
51:45 Because that's the thing that keeps us bound.
51:48 Remember Romans 7, he says, "O wretched man that I am,
51:53 Who will deliver me," Romans 7:24,
51:56 "Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
51:59 See the body of this death, primarily is the real way,
52:02 it is said the body of this death.
52:04 And, you know, I am besides,
52:05 I am taking a detour here real quick. Okay.
52:08 But some referred that as well,
52:09 we want to get out of this body and go to heaven.
52:11 That's not what Paul was talking about.
52:13 No, not, he's not talking--
52:14 Paul's talking about being delivered
52:15 from the body of death that keeps on pushing us to sin,
52:19 while we live on this earth.
52:21 Christ came to deliver us from that body,
52:23 so that we might live in righteousness,
52:25 not susceptible to the mortal flesh
52:28 that's always tempting us to sin.
52:30 And in that very same phrase, he talks about, he says,
52:33 "Do not let sin reign your mortal body."
52:36 The mortal body-- the reason why we need Jesus every day,
52:39 and this is something else,
52:40 we need Him for not only for the payment of our sin
52:44 and the redemption but the holy life,
52:47 but what else do we need Him for?
52:49 We need Jesus, another reason why He had to die is,
52:53 there was no ability on our part to do anything righteous.
52:58 So how can we be righteous,
53:01 if we couldn't even deliver ourselves from sin?
53:05 So when the Bible says,
53:06 be there for holy as your father in heaven is holy.
53:09 How can we be holy?
53:11 Jesus, His holiness is imputed to us,
53:15 and then imparted to us.
53:17 What imputed means is, we are in fact--
53:21 when He imparts His righteousness to us,
53:23 He imparts it to us as a justified saint,
53:28 as a justified sinner, now a saint.
53:31 But then He imputes to us everyday.
53:34 We're now living in His righteousness,
53:36 that's the only way we'd been declared righteous.
53:39 I know we are talking about
53:41 being crucified in Christ on the cross
53:43 and crucifying our flesh and dying to our sin.
53:47 Jesus says it in another way,
53:49 although we're seeing the same thing.
53:50 What passage are you? I am in Mathew 16:24.
53:53 All right, let's go there.
53:55 Mathew 16:24, "Jesus said to his disciples,
54:00 If any one desires to come after me,
54:02 let him deny himself," that is deny that flesh,
54:07 that he's always pulling us in a different direction.
54:09 "Take up his cross, and follow me."
54:14 There's the cross again. That's right.
54:15 Why did Jesus have to die?
54:17 See it's more than just pain, the penalty for our sins
54:19 is to deliver us from this sin even today.
54:22 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it,
54:26 but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
54:31 So in the cross Jesus is calling us as well,
54:36 not only to accept his death on our behalf
54:39 to pay for the penalty of our sin,
54:42 but he's asking us to lose our life.
54:45 So that through the cross as Christ dies,
54:48 we also die to sin, so we can experience
54:51 the resurrection power of the Lord.
54:54 And so some of us, I think today, and you know,
54:57 we John and I, we fall into this trap as well sometimes.
55:01 We don't allow ourselves
55:02 to experience the power of the resurrection,
55:05 because we haven't died first.
55:09 We haven't died to the sin and its passion in our lives,
55:12 and we don't accept the fact that Jesus died,
55:16 He's trying to help us die to that as well
55:18 by His experience on the cross.
55:21 So let's make this practical, John,
55:23 so when someone cut you off on the road,
55:26 and he makes you angry, you know those,
55:29 they just, 'this guy is an idiot.'
55:31 Yeah, we speed up and try to run off the road.
55:33 Yeah, we get upset and we start getting all angry
55:36 and you know, my question for you is,
55:39 die, you are going to die,
55:42 we have to die in that instant.
55:44 You know when these passions flare up, die, we got to die.
55:48 Yeah, unless you -
55:49 And we can only do that in a death of the cross,
55:52 or of Christ on the cross, we can't just die to ourselves,
55:55 we have no strength to die.
55:57 But on the cross we have the ability to die
56:00 because Christ took our sins.
56:01 You know, you mentioned that instance,
56:03 I remember it once, somebody cutting me off,
56:06 matter of fact it was a teenage girl,
56:08 my wife and I were in a vehicle together
56:10 and we were in our SUV and this little small car,
56:14 must have been size of a Corolla.
56:17 She was determine to play chicken,
56:19 we went left, she would cut in front of us,
56:21 we went right, she cut in front of us,
56:22 and I am thinking myself, you know,
56:24 every human feeling rose up in me. I know.
56:28 I am being very candid about, every human feeling.
56:31 And I'm thinking this vehicle is 7,000 pounds,
56:36 she's messing around with her 800 pound car,
56:39 I am just, you know, and but you know what,
56:41 I contained myself and we did what any good citizen would do,
56:45 we called the highway patrol,
56:48 while she was cutting us off, I reported her license plate
56:51 and they said, we're going to visit her
56:52 because this is dangerous.
56:53 I don't know what was in her mind
56:54 but she just won't let us pass.
56:56 The whole point of it, friends is this.
56:58 We went to the one, the only one
57:00 that could save us from doing something foolish.
57:03 In the context, why did Jesus have to die?
57:05 He is our Savior, He is also our Redeemer,
57:10 but the real reason why went down this line today is,
57:13 He is also our Lord.
57:15 And you've got to give your life to the Lord,
57:18 not just the one that is died to save you,
57:20 but the one that is going to come back
57:22 and you have to give your life to the Lord,
57:23 the one that wants to save you from sin
57:25 on the day by day basis.
57:26 So until you come back again to House Calls,
57:29 we pray that the Lord of your life,
57:31 you will invite him in today. God bless you.


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Revised 2014-12-17