House Calls

Living The Justified Life, Part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton

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Series Code: HCL

Program Code: HCL130005


00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend and sit back
00:04 as we explore God's word together
00:05 on this edition of "House Calls."
00:22 Welcome to another "House Calls" program.
00:24 As you can see I stand out today.
00:26 I didn't know my shirt was this bright.
00:28 But there is a guy to my right,
00:30 his name is John Stanton. Good to have you here, John
00:32 It's good to be here, John.
00:34 Man, I didn't--I'm looking at the monitor there
00:36 and this is really bright. But that's okay.
00:38 I think I'm allowing my light to shine today,
00:40 not just through my shirt
00:42 but through the glory of God's word.
00:43 So thank you for tuning in,
00:45 because today we are excited not only
00:47 to share the Bible with you, but to talk about the topic.
00:51 Many people, John, wonder, what it means to be justified.
00:54 That's a word that just seems to elude many people
00:56 when they try to extract from it all that it really means
00:59 and we're gonna talk about that today, right?
01:00 Amen. And also your Bible questions
01:03 and comments are very important to us.
01:05 And we'll talk about that in just a moment,
01:06 in case you have questions or comments,
01:08 you want to send to us, but before we do anything
01:11 we always like to begin with prayer.
01:12 So, John, take us before the throne of God with prayer.
01:15 Let's do that. Father in heaven, we need You each and every day.
01:18 And it's no different today.
01:20 We pray for Your presence to be with us
01:22 here during this program and with all our viewers
01:25 and listeners that You would and impress upon our hearts.
01:28 Speak to us today through Your word.
01:29 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
01:33 Well, the first half of our program
01:34 is always Bible questions and comments
01:36 and we appreciate, even if you send
01:38 a question to rebuke us, we read them.
01:41 And so today I have a few that I'm gonna--
01:43 actually one that I'm gonna read.
01:45 I don't read too many of those.
01:47 And but remember also we have a question
01:49 that has come to us today.
01:51 And make sure you look at those Bible verses
01:54 before you send them because sometimes,
01:56 you'll include a Bible verse that really doesn't exist.
01:59 And such is the case today, so we'll try.
02:01 Thankfully the person that sent this question
02:03 put more than one verse.
02:05 And but the question itself is still there.
02:08 So we do appreciate it.
02:09 But, John, what do you have for us today
02:11 as far as questions are concerned?
02:12 Well, we've got a question from Mona
02:14 who writes from Virginia.
02:16 Okay. And she asked the question,
02:18 "What does it mean, when the Bible says
02:20 we will judge our angels?
02:22 Does that mean they mess up sometimes or layoff the job.
02:27 If you don't really know the answer, don't make it up.
02:29 I'd rather have you say that you don't know
02:31 if you don't know.
02:33 What happens if we judge them critically?"
02:36 Okay, let's look at a couple of things
02:38 that might be behind this topic
02:40 that we really need to understand.
02:41 The first one is that at the very beginning of sin,
02:48 Satan who was an angel,
02:50 the highest angel looked to deceive
02:55 the rest of the angels to believe that God was not fair,
02:58 was not just, did not have their true
03:01 and best interests at heart. And spread his lies
03:04 and tales throughout all the angel host.
03:07 He was successful in deceiving a third, the Bible says.
03:11 We don't know if that's exactly a third or what.
03:14 But we do know it's a large number of angels,
03:17 a third of the angels from heaven,
03:19 they were then embroiled in this battle.
03:23 That's right. And then eventually these angels
03:25 that followed Satan were cast out of heaven.
03:27 And they are known as evil angels, demons.
03:31 There still remains double the host in heaven
03:35 who were loyal and faithful to God.
03:37 And the battle that we see on this earth
03:40 is between good and evil. It's a great controversy,
03:43 if you will, between good and evil,
03:45 Christ at the head of His angel host
03:48 and Satan at the head of those that followed him,
03:51 his angel host, the demonic host.
03:54 And so what we see here is when sin finally wraps up,
03:58 when we finally see an end to sin
04:02 and see an end to those who followed in the sinful life,
04:05 including those angels, there will be a judgment.
04:09 And if you turn to 1 Corinthians Chapter 6,
04:12 we read about the judgment of these wicked angels,
04:16 not the good angels of heaven,
04:17 not the angels that are sent to our aid,
04:20 to help us along, they can do no wrong.
04:23 The Lord sends them
04:25 and they follow the Lord's will in every way.
04:27 But as we read beginning with, just to get the context,
04:31 verse 1of Corinthians Chapter 6, it says,
04:34 "Dare any of you have a matter against another,
04:38 go to law before the unrighteous,
04:40 and not before the saints?
04:42 Don't you know that the saints will judge the world?
04:46 And if the world will be judged by you,
04:48 are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
04:51 Do you know that we will judge angels?
04:53 And much more-- how much more things
04:56 that pertain to this life?"
04:58 Here is one thing that,
05:00 I'm gonna kind of step out of the question here
05:02 for just a minute, John,
05:04 and just open up a little dialogue.
05:06 Because I think sometimes
05:08 we to a degree here are so careful about this
05:12 word judgment and making sure we don't judge people.
05:15 Paul is saying that there is a kind of judgment
05:18 that we should do as Christians
05:20 and then there's a kind of judgment
05:21 we should not do. Over and over again,
05:25 Jesus said that we should not judge
05:27 another and Paul says the same word,
05:29 we shouldn't judge another human being.
05:31 But here he says we should judge
05:35 between each other in these matters that come up.
05:37 That's right.
05:38 And the judgment we're finding here
05:40 is a more discernment kind of a judgment
05:41 between right and wrong,
05:43 not judging an individual and their salvation,
05:46 their destiny but judging a matter,
05:50 a situation that might come up
05:51 between individuals or even in someone's life.
05:54 They may be battling a situation.
05:55 We can judge, we can discern
05:57 whether or not that is right
05:59 and or whether or not it's wrong.
06:02 And this is what he's talking about here.
06:04 So as we carry it into the realm of angels,
06:07 what he's saying here is there will be
06:08 some angels that do wrong and that they will be judged
06:12 and we will play a part in that judgment,
06:13 but these are not good angels.
06:15 These are the demonic host of angels
06:17 that followed Satan when he was cast out of heaven.
06:21 John, this idea about judging is just--
06:25 it has taken such a bon rapid ain't.
06:27 When people say, "Don't judge me,"
06:28 they're almost saying,
06:31 "Let me do what I want to do
06:32 without you commenting about it."
06:35 That's really what they're saying.
06:37 You have no right, they're saying--
06:40 and I've-- this is what I picked up,
06:41 because I've seen situations,
06:43 a person could be smoking or drinking or living
06:46 a double life and they say, "Don't judge me."
06:48 They're almost saying don't condemn my actions.
06:51 Now we can condemn actions.
06:53 What people fail to realize is there's a whole book
06:56 in the Bible called Judges.
06:58 So if you read the Book of Judges,
07:00 you'll come away with a reality that God has given
07:04 many that are in positions of responsibility,
07:08 the right and the responsibility to be able to judge.
07:14 What they're missing is
07:16 and then let me just go to the court setting,
07:18 because the court setting will help you
07:19 understand this very, very carefully.
07:21 When a person is on trial, who is the one--
07:25 who are the ones that are listening in
07:28 on the testimony to the accused?
07:30 An entire jury and they are a jury of your peers.
07:35 And what are they there for? To judge.
07:37 Determine right from wrong.
07:38 Determine whether you're telling the truth
07:40 or whether you're being dishonest.
07:42 They are judging. They are called to judge.
07:45 And the question will be where did that idea come from?
07:49 Well, that's a clear scriptural example in the Bible.
07:52 You have the Matthew 18 as one of the classic examples
07:55 of this whole idea about judging.
07:58 If a person does something that is right or wrong
08:00 or in this case wrong and you go to that person
08:05 and say to them, talk to them about the matter
08:08 and they don't listen, you bring another person.
08:10 What's the purpose of bringing the other person?
08:12 To judge about this--
08:13 to be not a mediator
08:21 but to be a witness, because the Bible says
08:23 in the mouth of two or three a thing shall be established.
08:28 So you bring that another person
08:29 along to once again reiterate,
08:31 this is what I'm asking you not to do.
08:33 Then if they choose not to then they go
08:35 before a committee, the church.
08:38 What are they there for?
08:39 They are to judge in these matters,
08:42 singular, double, committee
08:45 and then if that person chooses once again not to listen,
08:48 you deal with that person as a heathen.
08:50 But we miss this whole ideology.
08:53 When the Bible says by their fruits you will know them,
08:57 well, how do we know them by their fruit?
08:58 We judge their fruits.
09:00 Now what I know you're meaning in many cases
09:02 is don't condemn me.
09:04 That's pretty much what they're meaning.
09:05 Right. Don't condemn,
09:07 because the position of the jury
09:11 is in fact moderated or refereed by the judge.
09:17 But when it comes down--
09:19 The judge sentences. Right, the judge sentence,
09:22 but the community of jurors decide
09:25 whether they're guilty or innocent.
09:27 So what are they doing? They are judging.
09:30 So that whole concept of don't judge is misused today,
09:36 almost to give a person license to be living in transgression
09:41 or when we see something we disagree with they say,
09:44 "Well, don't judge me." Well, we're not condemning
09:47 or we're not appointing you to hell or to heaven.
09:50 We're simply saying what you're doing is wrong.
09:52 And that's why the Bible says in this context
09:54 we should judge.
09:56 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
09:57 but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
09:59 What does a friend do? A friend looks at the life
10:01 you're living and says this is not right.
10:04 They're judging your actions. Right.
10:06 This is not what God wants you to do.
10:08 And hope to do what?
10:11 To turn you back to the right path,
10:13 to make sure that your outcome is good,
10:16 not the direction you're heading.
10:18 Right and so when you look at that,
10:20 if you just do that word judge or judging,
10:22 you look that up in the Bible,
10:24 give yourself an homework assignment
10:26 and you'll find there is a number of Scriptures
10:28 that puts us in the responsibility as those
10:31 who are under God's guidance to make
10:33 a judgment about a certain situation.
10:35 And Paul makes that very clear.
10:37 The church, if those of us in leadership in churches
10:40 didn't have the right to judge,
10:41 well, those of us who are called to be Christians
10:43 didn't have a right the judge in a matter
10:46 as Paul just talked about
10:47 in this Scripture that John read,
10:49 then we would all just be giving license to sin.
10:52 And unfortunately, John, that's the kind of world
10:55 we're living in today. People just want to do wrong
10:58 and have no one say anything about it.
11:00 I've had parents come to me,
11:02 where their teenager just flipped in one day.
11:05 And they say to me, "You know, what's the first thing
11:07 my daughter said to me this morning?
11:09 Don't judge me.
11:10 You used to be a teenager, so don't judge me."
11:13 And I'm thinking, she says,
11:14 "She forgets that I'm not her friend, I'm her mom."
11:17 And so that's the key, but when the Bible says,
11:22 "Judge not that, ye be not judged,"
11:24 it means you cannot appoint a person saying,
11:26 well, you're going to hell
11:27 or you're going to heaven or you are lost.
11:30 That's the context of that "judge not that,
11:32 ye be not judged."
11:34 We're all on a journey. Yes.
11:35 We have not reached are in this nation,
11:37 so to say to someone who's going to be
11:39 ultimately lost is condemning them.
11:42 But to say that someone is doing
11:44 something right or wrong in a specific situation,
11:46 to judge that, to discern that is absolutely
11:49 what we're called to do in the Scriptures.
11:51 And John 7:24, here's the text that you could appreciate.
11:54 It says. "Do not judge according to appearance,
11:57 but judge with righteous judgment."
12:01 So it's given you, don't judge by what you see,
12:03 because God looks at the heart,
12:05 man looks at the outer appearance.
12:07 Sometimes a person we'll look at one individual and say,
12:10 "wow, they look like an upstanding citizen,"
12:12 yet they could be a criminal
12:14 and the person who looks very poor
12:15 and not well kept could be such a just person.
12:20 So John 7:20, "Do not judge according to appearance."
12:24 So they say, "See there it is."
12:26 "But judge with righteous judgment."
12:29 So the Lord is saying,
12:31 "You got to do that, you must do that."
12:34 Okay, I don't know, shall I go?
12:36 Yeah, your question.
12:37 Okay, I want to read this question, John,
12:40 just because I want to put this in context
12:41 and I just want to respond to it.
12:43 It's not a Bible question. It's just a comment.
12:45 I was listening to your message tonight
12:47 for the prayer meeting program.
12:49 While I have been blessed many times
12:50 with what I've--I'm hearing on a 'Sharper Focus,'"
12:54 that's by the way on Wednesday night,
12:55 live Bible study, 7 o'clock central time.
12:57 This is not a commercial.
13:00 They said, "While I was listening to the program,
13:02 I was disappointed tonight, not in the subject,
13:04 but in the way you endeavored to teach this
13:07 by the comparative use of competitive sporting events.
13:12 I do not think that I'm confused.
13:14 I'm looking for preaching to call sin by its right name.
13:17 We have been counseled against competitive sports
13:20 yet as a denomination we seem to be
13:22 joining in them by leaps and bounds.
13:26 I'm referring to the Laodicean condition of God's people
13:28 and the three things they need to buy from God.
13:32 If as a people we are to have the White Rayment.
13:36 that our nakedness not show"--
13:37 now you're going into something else
13:38 that I didn't go into.
13:40 See, I used sports and let me just use an example.
13:44 I used sports as an analogy,
13:46 not to say this is what you should do.
13:49 And what the person is--
13:50 they're going into all kinds of other stuff here,
13:52 football and the folly.
13:54 They're writing papers to other people in 3ABN.
13:56 They're becoming a lot more critical about
13:59 what I didn't say then what I said.
14:02 And let me make it clear,
14:03 I don't know if you listen to the program or not.
14:04 But if you are listening to the program,
14:07 we could use anything in our world as a comparison.
14:11 I could say okay, let's look at the drug world.
14:13 Compare it to the people that don't take drugs.
14:16 Am I becoming a proponent of a person that uses drugs?
14:20 Absolutely not. We could talk about gun violence
14:23 and all these school shootings.
14:25 Am I becoming a proponent of one or the other?
14:27 Absolutely not. So when you say, okay,
14:30 one football team is at the 2 yard line
14:32 and the other football team
14:33 is trying to keep them from going in,
14:35 let's look at the football team at the 2 yard line
14:37 trying to make their goals
14:39 as a Christian trying to make it home.
14:41 And let's look at the team trying to stop them
14:42 as Satan trying to keep them from making to heaven.
14:45 That's the kind of analogy that I used.
14:47 And that is not saying
14:49 that I'm condoning competitive sports.
14:51 So when you listen to the program,
14:54 if you hear the word sports try not to go off
14:56 on a tangent of something that I'm not saying.
14:58 My program on Wednesday nights by no means says
15:01 become a basketball player, become a football player,
15:04 get all your churches involved in competitive sports
15:06 and fight against each other. That's not what's being said.
15:09 So I think that this person is out of touch
15:11 on the rest of the question.
15:12 I used that as an analogy, not as saying,
15:15 by the way, from now on,
15:16 I think all Adventist churches should have sports.
15:18 But I'm gonna go a little further.
15:19 I'm gonna go a little further.
15:21 I don't think competition is bad per se.
15:24 I think Paul even talks about those in his day
15:27 who competed for the prize
15:29 and he doesn't speak negatively of it either.
15:30 He used it as an analogy which you're talking about.
15:32 Well, the issue here is that we need to be
15:35 very careful with competitive sports.
15:36 If you look around sports today,
15:38 one of the things I'm most disappointed
15:39 about is all the fleshiness.
15:41 It's all the pride. It's all about me.
15:44 The bling.
15:46 It can very well bring the worst out in us.
15:49 But in some respects, it can also help us understand
15:54 and to be challenged in our own life to grow spiritually.
15:58 So I just carte blanche say,
16:00 you know, competition's bad
16:01 and I don't think we would advocate that,
16:03 but we are saying is that in the course of an analogy,
16:09 the Bible, Paul, so let's be critical of Paul then,
16:11 because that's what you were doing.
16:12 Analogy. You know using it as an analogy.
16:14 But even in the area of comparative sports
16:15 we have to be careful too what we're saying about that,
16:18 because to some degree
16:21 all competitive sports are not bad
16:23 and so I will say that unequivocally
16:26 and not just because I play competitive sports or have.
16:29 But I specifically made a decision, John,
16:31 years ago to stop coaching competitive sports
16:34 because I disagreed the direction it was going.
16:37 I said I will not do this anymore,
16:38 because the emphasis was on winning
16:41 more than growing and being a team
16:43 and all the things that competition can teach us.
16:46 And once you start emphasizing winning
16:48 then I would say that is bad competition.
16:51 But when you emphasize growing as a team,
16:53 working together,
16:55 that's a good kind of sporting activity, so.
16:57 I think, let me put this into context.
17:00 You know the only exercise
17:01 we get here is on Tuesday nights.
17:03 We get together with a community of guys
17:05 and we play basketball together.
17:06 We're the same people everywhere.
17:08 We're like a little family. We look forward to
17:10 "hey, see you next Tuesday night."
17:12 It's not a league.
17:14 We get together to have a good time together.
17:16 We sit down afterwards and talk about it.
17:17 We sometimes talk about it afterwards,
17:19 "hey, we have a concert coming up Saturday night.
17:20 Come on out." You know we have a Bible study coming--
17:23 it's a way to reach people in this community,
17:26 whereas they are not yet at the place
17:27 where they want to come to church.
17:29 So we have to understand when you talk about--
17:32 and this person went off on a tangent
17:34 on things about Laodicea and time is short
17:37 and this is critical
17:38 and I'm writing to all these different people
17:40 and the character of God being perfected
17:42 and produced in His people
17:43 over one comment about using it as an analogy
17:46 like I just did a moment ago with the yard line
17:48 and we're try to make it in
17:50 and the devil is like the other football team
17:51 trying to keep us out.
17:53 We have as--and I don't mean to be critical.
17:56 I don't like to be critical of my church
17:58 and I'm not critical of the church as a structure.
18:00 It's God's church. But I can be very critical
18:06 of what I see amongst our people
18:08 sometimes in our methods of reaching out to the world
18:12 and showing the truth.
18:13 We have this mindset that the Pharisees had,
18:17 which is I cannot be corrupted.
18:19 Let's make sure that I'm saved and I'm okay.
18:21 And there's no reaching out into the community
18:22 that surrounds us to try and bring people into the truth
18:26 and to do that through relationships and interactions
18:28 and social events other things.
18:30 Our socializing is becoming very or has become very inward
18:34 rather than reaching or using it
18:36 as a tool to reach out to our community.
18:38 Sports is the same way. We play on Tuesday nights,
18:41 because the community comes out
18:43 and we can interact with people that are not of our faith.
18:46 That is important to do
18:47 and once we start closing our self off to that,
18:49 I'm sorry, I disagree with his brother.
18:52 We are not taking a very--
18:54 It was actually a woman. A woman, sorry.
18:57 Whether you're brother or sister,
18:59 it doesn't matter. I would disagree.
19:01 And I just think it's sad
19:03 some of the state that we've come to.
19:05 What do you have for me?
19:06 I have another question. Okay.
19:08 Here we go. This one is from Wayne.
19:11 "Watched your show twice
19:13 and having a hard time understanding
19:14 what I'm supposed to do in my prayers
19:15 in physical flesh in the morning."
19:17 Talking about to deal with my temptation
19:20 and stuff throughout the sin. "How do I pray?
19:22 What do I need to do? How do I get crucified?
19:26 How am I to be crucified with Christ daily?
19:29 I'm asking the Spirit to come into my life.
19:32 I've been working on this for a couple months.
19:35 I have a tough time keeping God's commandments
19:37 because it says is no man can do that."
19:39 I think he's talking about from personal perspective,
19:41 we can't keep those. And it requires God's help.
19:45 "Only the Lord Jesus Christ can do this.
19:47 So how can I grow in this area?"
19:50 Well, I'm gonna go to Philippians.
19:52 All right.
19:53 Philippians, if you turn there with me,
19:57 Chapter 4, excuse me not Chapter 4, Chapter 2,
20:03 verse 12 and 13. Chapter 2, verse 12
20:08 You have read verse 13 if you're ever reading verse 12.
20:12 If you stop and just read verse 12
20:14 you can get off the mark, right, John?
20:16 And this is so true. You are right.
20:18 This is a continuation.
20:19 Verse 12 "Therefore, my beloved,
20:21 as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
20:24 but now much more in my absence,
20:26 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
20:30 Don't stop there.
20:32 Verse 13, "For it is God who works in you both to will,"
20:38 that is to create the will, the desire,
20:41 "and to do," the power to perform,
20:44 "of His good pleasure."
20:46 So we need to work out the salvation in the context
20:50 that Jesus is our everything
20:52 and that inviting Him into our life allows Him
20:55 to be the one that changes our desires
20:58 and the one that gives us the power to overcome
21:01 the temptations that we face every day.
21:04 So dying daily is a death to flesh,
21:07 death to self, death to our own desires
21:10 and a deferring, a submitting to God's will
21:12 and His strength and His power
21:14 to help us to overcome,
21:16 to actually do the overcoming for us.
21:19 Now some people as I talk to, some of the language is,
21:24 well, Jesus has come into my life
21:26 and now He gives me the power to overcome.
21:29 And I still struggle with that a little bit,
21:30 because even God giving us the power,
21:33 we cannot overcome.
21:35 It is Christ's battle, it is His power and strength
21:38 and as we submit to Him,
21:39 He provides the overcoming in our life.
21:43 John, it's interesting, I've--dmore and more
21:46 as I've looked at this issue of the sanctified life,
21:51 I recall a story of sitting there with a lady
21:54 who was working on my teeth.
21:55 She was cleaning my teeth one day.
21:56 Okay.
21:58 And we were talking about a topic similar--
22:00 a topic similar to this and she said,
22:01 "You know, one thing I've learned."
22:05 And this I didn't realized her statement
22:07 was gonna change my life, my perspective on this.
22:09 But she says "One thing I've learned
22:10 and that is that once we receive Christ into our life,
22:15 from that moment on I operate from a standpoint of victory.
22:21 I'm not trying to obtain victory.
22:24 I have victory, because I have Jesus."
22:29 That has transformed my thinking about
22:31 fighting this battle of sin,
22:34 because I need to hold on to Jesus.
22:38 I need to continue to submit to Him
22:40 and let Him do the fighting for me.
22:43 I need to stay in His fortress,
22:45 which is, the parameters of the fortress
22:48 are His Ten Commandments. And he keeps me as--
22:51 He keeps that as a barrier so that if I step out,
22:54 I know that if only I step out am I then overcome.
22:57 But when I stay in His parameter that He's given me,
23:00 I have victory. I'm in the fort, I'm with Jesus.
23:03 I don't have to worry about that.
23:05 So when sin gets a hold of me,
23:08 and we've all had our battles with certain sins,
23:11 I've got to hold onto Jesus,
23:13 stay in the fort and continue to function
23:15 from the position of victory, not as a defeated enemy.
23:20 That's right. That's very good.
23:21 That's very good. And so I encourage this man,
23:24 this Wayne to think in terms of I'm victorious in Christ.
23:29 And when I'm praying, I'm submitting to His power
23:32 and His strength to live for me,
23:34 to be the power and the victory for me
23:38 and I'm going to stay in His fort,
23:41 in His parameters
23:42 and He will protect and carefully.
23:44 What was his initial question? Just give me--
23:46 His initial question is how do I overcome
23:48 or deal with this physical flesh battle
23:51 that I have in the morning in my prayers?
23:53 You know what do I pray about?
23:54 And so my encouragement to him would be
23:57 to pray for more of Christ,
23:59 for interaction with Christ there
24:01 and allow Christ to be the will,
24:04 to put in that desire within you
24:06 and then also the power and strength
24:08 and to be your victorious King of your life
24:11 and over your life each day.
24:14 When you-- when you walk in the Spirit,
24:16 this is something else.
24:17 Paul says, "If we walk in the Spirit
24:19 we will not fulfill"-- well, let me just read it.
24:23 Let me just read it. Romans 8:1,
24:25 "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those
24:28 who are in Christ Jesus."
24:30 That's what John was saying, in the victory.
24:33 But what does that mean,
24:35 "Who do not walk according to the flesh
24:38 but according to the spirit"?
24:41 So if we live according to the flesh we will die,
24:43 but if we live according to the Spirit we will live.
24:46 What does that mean? That means every morning
24:48 what we do is we commit ourselves to Christ.
24:50 And I, John, used to think of that word
24:53 commit meaning to say okay, you know, Lord, take my life.
24:56 Let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
24:58 We almost get into this repetitious mound of commit
25:02 but then when I began to look
25:03 at that in the context of marriage, relationships.
25:06 I'm married whether my wife is around or not.
25:09 She's married whether I'm around or not.
25:10 If she is on the road or I'm on the road,
25:12 I'm married whether she is there or not.
25:14 And the parameters of my relationship are the same
25:17 if she's an inch away from me or 3,500 miles away from me,
25:20 the parameters of our operation are the same.
25:23 We must always operate in the context
25:24 of the love relationship Christ as the husband man,
25:27 we are the church, His bride.
25:29 We must operate in the context of He's right here.
25:32 What would I do, what would I say
25:35 if He were right here? And I always ask people that.
25:37 What would you do if Jesus is right here?
25:38 And they say, "Well, you know, I think differently."
25:40 Well, He is right here.
25:41 He is never--He never leaves those who are in Him.
25:45 So we have to daily commit ourselves to the Lord
25:48 and part of that is many of us walk by sight
25:52 and not by faith. If you walk by faith
25:55 and not by sight you won't need a visible confirmation
25:59 that Christ is there. That's the faith relationship.
26:02 One day we will see Him face to face.
26:04 But I would suggest submit yourself to the Lord,
26:06 commit yourself to the Lord day by day and say Lord,
26:10 thank you for being with me this morning.
26:12 My wife and I, we were having a Bible reading the other day.
26:16 And we read it a little slowly. Matter of fact the text
26:20 I was thinking of just a moment ago is Galatians 5:16,
26:22 I was gonna share it with you.
26:24 Galatians 5:16 reads as follows,
26:27 "I say then, walk in the Spirit
26:30 and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
26:34 Walk in the Spirit. "If we live by the Spirit
26:37 let us also walk in the Spirit," Galatians 5:25.
26:40 So Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:25,
26:44 if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.
26:48 Once again, if we have an umbrella,
26:50 stay under the umbrella and you won't get wet.
26:54 One more question, John,
26:56 I have here from a lady named Linda.
26:59 And, Linda, you put the wrong text here but thank--
27:02 thank you for putting both texts.
27:03 John, is it possible you go to Psalms 52:5?
27:09 And I'll read the text.
27:11 "When I read these texts it scared me.
27:14 Will God really destroy me if I forget Him?"
27:18 And she puts Psalms 51:22 but there is no Psalm 51:22.
27:22 But read Psalm 52:5.
27:25 "God shall likewise destroy you forever.
27:28 He shall take you away,
27:29 and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
27:31 and uproot you from the land of the living."
27:35 She asked "if you can help me understand
27:38 why He says these terrible things.
27:40 I thought He is a loving and patient God."
27:42 God is a loving and patient God.
27:44 I want to give you some Scriptures here
27:46 that gives us the full picture of God.
27:48 God is-- God is, first of all,
27:50 He is not willing that any should perish.
27:54 So let's not think that God is waiting like an angry parent.
27:57 To say, "See, I told you. Get out of my house."
27:59 That's not who God is. He's long-suffering.
28:02 He's abounding in mercy and truth.
28:06 At the very same time Exodus 34:7,
28:09 "By no means will He clear the guilty."
28:12 But let me give you an exploded view of what is being said here.
28:15 The Lord doesn't just cut us off.
28:17 You cannot ever be
28:19 as long-suffering as God really is.
28:21 We cannot give another person as much patience
28:24 as God extends towards us.
28:26 As He said to Peter when Peter talked about
28:27 well, how many times should I forgive somebody?
28:30 Seven times seven?
28:31 The Lord says "No. Seventy times seven."
28:33 Now imagine somebody steps on my toe seventy times seven.
28:37 That's 490, that's 490 times.
28:41 Well, I'll be honest, after the third time,
28:42 I'm gonna just yell. Look, get off my toe.
28:45 If I see you come near my toe,
28:47 I may have a different attitude about what takes place.
28:50 Seventy times seven.
28:52 The Lord says if this person offends you
28:53 or does something wrong to you seventy times seven,
28:57 as long as they come back and ask for forgiveness,
28:58 you forgive them. That's not human, that's divine.
29:02 That can only happen.
29:03 But let me give you Proverbs 1:22-30.
29:07 And we're gonna segue into our topic right after this one.
29:10 Proverbs 1:22-30
29:14 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
29:19 For scorners delight in their scorning
29:21 and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke.
29:27 Surely I will pour out My Spirit on you.
29:30 I will make My words known to you."
29:33 And here's the context, here's the continuation.
29:35 And this is in the setting of Christ calling us.
29:38 "Because I have called you and you refused,
29:42 I have stretched out My hand and no one regarded,"
29:45 notice he's not just making one attempt.
29:47 He's calling, He's stretching out His hand.
29:49 "Because you disdained all My counsel,"
29:51 He's giving us counsel,
29:53 "and would have none of My rebuke,"
29:55 He's saying, "Come on, get it together."
29:57 He says, "I will also laugh at your calamity.
30:00 I will mock when your terror comes,
30:02 when your terror comes like a storm
30:04 and your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
30:07 when distress and anguish comes upon you.
30:10 Then they will call on Me, but I will not answer.
30:12 They will seek Me diligently, but they will not find Me.
30:15 Because they hated knowledge
30:17 and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30:21 they would have none of My counsel
30:23 and despised every-- and despised My every rebuke."
30:27 This is an example of a person going to an extreme
30:30 and I could use this set of Scriptures to say
30:33 this person has quenched the Spirit of God.
30:36 They have turned away.
30:38 So when the Lord says,
30:39 "I will never leave you nor forsake you,"
30:41 there is a condition to that.
30:42 Let's not leave that
30:44 just hanging out there in the air by itself.
30:45 If we trust the Lord and honor Him as He calls us,
30:50 He counsels us, He calls us,
30:53 He stretches out His hands, He rebukes us
30:56 and then we decide to go our own way.
30:58 He said, "Okay, you are on your own."
31:00 And any loving parent would do that.
31:02 But God is even more extended
31:04 than even the most loving of our parents.
31:06 Very patient. Very patient.
31:08 I just have a text here, 3 verses, Ezekiel 18:30.
31:13 "'Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel,
31:17 every one according to His ways,' says the Lord God.
31:20 'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions,
31:23 so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
31:26 Cast away from you all the transgressions
31:30 which you had committed,
31:31 and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
31:33 For why should you die, O house of Israel?
31:35 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,'
31:38 says the Lord God. Therefore turn and live!"
31:43 Right, I'm so glad you read that, John,
31:45 because sometimes people think that,
31:47 why is God being so terrible as the person put it here.
31:51 When I get to know somebody,
31:53 I know the difference between them being
31:55 angry with me for what I've done and then rebuking me
31:59 for something I should not have done.
32:02 God is a loving Lord.
32:04 He doesn't just cut us off because we did something bad.
32:10 He's not gonna just whip us up and down the street,
32:13 because we didn't listen to Him
32:15 one time or ten times or fifteen times.
32:18 But He is saying to us, "Your destiny is in your hand.
32:22 You choose death, I cannot give you life.
32:25 I put before you two roads,
32:27 life and blessings, death and cursings."
32:30 And then in Deuteronomy, He says, "Choose life."
32:32 So let's be wise in our choices today.
32:34 Well, we've gone a little over our time,
32:36 but as you know, John,
32:38 we could always extend our topic to the next program.
32:40 But if you have any questions or comments
32:42 you would like to send to us, whether it's rebuke
32:44 or word of encouragement, we can accept them all
32:47 at the following address, housecalls@3abn.org
32:50 that's housecalls@3abn.org
32:53 You send those there and we promise
32:55 we'll go ahead and get them down to you.
32:57 John, lead us into our topic today.
32:59 I did the talking just a moment ago.
33:01 I want to change the tone. Talk about our topic for today.
33:05 Our topic is on living the justified life.
33:09 There are three terms that are kind of theological terms
33:14 and when we get too deep theologically
33:16 we loose some people.
33:17 So we need to define them a little bit.
33:20 Justification, sanctification, glorification.
33:24 Being justified in Christ,
33:25 being when we first accept Him as our Savior,
33:28 He becomes our substitute, our surety.
33:32 His sacrifice on the cross
33:34 and He has paid the penalty for our sins.
33:37 All our past sin has been forgiven.
33:39 We are new in Him. We are a new creation.
33:41 That's justification. Sanctification is every day.
33:45 We've made this commitment to Him now.
33:47 Every day He grows us.
33:49 He sets us apart as now holy
33:52 and then begins to use our life to glorify Him.
33:56 And that makes us witnesses for Him.
33:59 We become an evangelist for Him. We become a servant of His.
34:03 We look to transform the world and to fight against the enemy
34:07 who is sowing His seed in this world.
34:09 That's part of the life of sanctification.
34:12 It's a lifestyle in Christ. And then there's glorification.
34:15 Glorification is at the resurrection
34:16 when we receive new bodies
34:18 and we are taken to heaven with Christ.
34:20 We receive this glorified life now
34:22 where we in and of ourselves have been given
34:26 perfection and a glory,
34:29 not that we'd glory in ourselves,
34:31 but a glory, in that, we have no longer an evidence of sin
34:36 that taints our body, death that is part of our life.
34:42 We live a new life from now through eternity.
34:45 And so this justification, sanctification, glorification,
34:49 are all three parts of salvation as an umbrella.
34:52 Today we're gonna talk about living the justified life,
34:55 being justified in Christ and what that looks like.
34:58 Now the word "to be justified"
35:00 and what I like about this very topic is
35:04 it comes with a presupposition.
35:06 The presupposition is I'm a sinner.
35:10 We could not even want to be justified,
35:12 unless we come to the conclusion
35:14 that we are not just people that have a few idiosyncrasies
35:18 or a few faults or well, you know,
35:21 I do need a little bit of refurbishing.
35:22 We have to come to the conclusion
35:24 that we are sinners in order to want to be justified.
35:26 We always hear, I'm generally a good person.
35:29 You know, when I hear people say,
35:30 well, I have a good heart, that's not true.
35:33 "Our hearts are deceitful above all things
35:35 and desperately wicked."
35:38 Quote verse from Jeremiah. Jeremiah.
35:40 "Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked."
35:44 So when a person says, "Well, he has a good heart.
35:47 Why are you getting upset with him?"
35:49 I don't have a good heart. You don't have a good heart.
35:52 Outside of the grace of Christ,
35:54 our hearts will-- and when we say our hearts,
35:56 meaning the place of our affection,
35:59 the seed of our thoughts, if we don't allow
36:02 those things to be under the restraining power of Christ,
36:05 man, we could be--
36:07 We don't know what we're capable of.
36:08 Oh, man, just look at what's happening in our world today,
36:10 the things that are happening in our world today.
36:13 I saw in the news just night,
36:15 there's a police in custody now
36:19 trying to convince his wife to get involved
36:23 with him in cannibalistic activity.
36:25 This is not a police that oversees in some underdeveloped
36:28 deep in the forest country, this is in America.
36:31 And this is a person who has sworn to uphold the law.
36:35 See so that's the condition.
36:37 But what I want to do before we talk about
36:38 the need to be justified, justified, you know,
36:42 what's in that word is just.
36:45 Well, we can go ahead and say,
36:46 if you're standing before a judge, you want justice.
36:49 Well, I want to talk about the conditions for justice
36:52 and what else we can ask for
36:53 if we're standing before a judge.
36:55 But let's start with Proverbs 28:13,
36:57 because in order for us to receive the mercy of God,
37:03 we've got to admit something about ourselves.
37:07 I remember growing up, John, you talked about this,
37:09 we always use our lives sometimes as examples.
37:12 I want to have you--I want to have you read Proverbs 28:13.
37:18 But we talk about some of the ways
37:19 that our parents governed our homes
37:21 and many times growing up,
37:24 I pleaded for mercy, because I was wrong.
37:29 And did you ever plead for mercy from your parents?
37:33 Yes, after lying through my teeth.
37:36 Right, we--I saw a video somebody sent,
37:40 actually my wife showed this to me on Facebook.
37:42 A little kid, he couldn't have been
37:43 more than 2 1/2, 3 years old.
37:45 He's got sprinklers, you know, sprinkles all over his mouth.
37:49 You know, the ice cream sprinkles?
37:50 Chocolate, then strawberry, they're all over his mouth.
37:52 And she says, "Now, Tommy, did you eat these sprinkles?"
37:57 "No, mommy."
37:58 "Now, Tommy, are you sure you didn't eat these sprinkles?"
38:03 "No, mommy, I did not have any."
38:04 "So did you eat any of them?"
38:06 "No, mommy, I did not eat any of them."
38:08 He's going like this-- this kid is like--
38:10 so this is the funniest thing,
38:12 but it's showing the human nature of a child.
38:14 She takes him to the kitchen,
38:16 shows him the glass bowl that's all turned over on the counter
38:20 which he did and there's evidence all over his face.
38:24 "Did you, Tommy?"
38:26 "Mommy, I would never do anything you told me not to do.
38:28 No, mommy, I did not eat it."
38:30 And the video stopped right there and I'm thinking,
38:31 I've got to use that video to talk about human nature
38:35 from the standpoint of a child.
38:37 Children are not innocent.
38:38 The reason why God allows them to be born that small,
38:41 you don't want to deal with an un-regenerated heart
38:44 of a 150 pound baby.
38:46 They'll slam you against the wall if you fail to feed him.
38:49 But-- just a thought.
38:51 But Proverbs 28:13, this is the condition we must accept
38:55 that we are in before we even ask for God to justify us.
38:59 All right, verse 13 of Proverbs 28.
39:02 "He who covers his sins will not prosper,
39:05 but whoever confesses and forsakes them
39:07 will have mercy."
39:09 So notice what happens.
39:10 Should I just say I'm wrong to have mercy?
39:14 Yeah, we need to confess. Admit you're wrong.
39:16 And what else? Confess and what else?
39:20 Forsakes them. Right.
39:21 So not just confessing, but we have to get to the point
39:24 where we decide, I got to turn away from that.
39:26 If I want God's mercy at all, I've got to turn way from that.
39:30 See, so this whole idea-- and I want to go to Psalms 32.
39:36 Psalms 32, yeah, hit this one, too.
39:40 You want to comment about that at all?
39:42 No, no, I think we're on the right track.
39:45 Psalms 32 and I want to see verse 5 here
39:49 and look at verse 5.
39:51 "I acknowledged my sin to You,
39:54 and my iniquity I have not hidden.
39:57 I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,'
40:02 and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah."
40:08 Now when you read that verse,
40:10 a lot of times then people say,
40:11 "Well, isn't iniquity the extended sin
40:14 that really causes God to cut you off?"
40:16 No, not if you acknowledge it and not if you confess it.
40:20 So when you want mercy, the first thing we have to do
40:24 and by the way mercy is extended to the person
40:27 who acknowledges that he or she is a sinner.
40:30 That's what he says, "I acknowledge it. I confess.
40:34 I am not gonna cover my sin,
40:36 because I know I will not prosper."
40:39 Prosperity is not something that the person
40:43 who intentionally lives in sin gets.
40:46 You don't really come to that particular position
40:48 or that particular place.
40:49 What verse do you have for us?
40:52 Well, there are several of them.
40:53 I mean, my mind goes, you know, wild.
40:55 The Bible is replete with God giving, extending mercy.
41:02 And I think maybe a good place to really
41:05 kind of come back up and look at His character,
41:07 to understand His character and who we're talking
41:10 with here is to go to Exodus.
41:14 Chapter 34. All right.
41:18 Just to give some context here, Exodus 33.
41:24 Moses is meeting with God on top of Mount Sinai.
41:29 They are having a conversation.
41:32 God asks to see His glory, to see God's glory.
41:36 Of course, no man can see God directly and live
41:39 to tell about it.
41:40 So God hides him in the cleft of the rock,
41:44 it says there, passes by Him covering His eyes
41:48 and then allows Moses to see His back.
41:51 And, of course, then we see
41:53 that kind of transitioning into chapter 34
41:57 where the Ten Commandments are introduced.
41:59 This whole picture of God's glory,
42:02 this whole picture of God's character in chapter 33 and 34
42:07 surround this Mount Sinai experience
42:09 and Moses meeting with God on the mountain,
42:11 seeing His glory and being given the Ten Commandments.
42:14 So we can't divorce the Ten Commandments
42:15 first of all from His glory.
42:18 But the Ten Commandments reveal that we're sinners.
42:21 None of us can look at the Ten Commandments and say
42:23 well, we've done that, perfectly, 100%, all of us.
42:26 When we say-- when we talk about
42:28 what comes as a result of looking
42:30 at the commandments of God,
42:32 it's like looking at a mirror
42:33 and I think that this is a good analogy.
42:35 I use comparisons.
42:38 When we look at the mirror in the morning before we,
42:40 like I blow dry my hair and spray it every day,
42:42 we shave and brush our teeth,
42:44 but we do that and we look at the mirror to examine,
42:46 okay, did I get it all?
42:49 The commandments are the very same way.
42:50 We never know what help we need
42:53 until we are confronted with our real condition.
42:56 And unless we look at the commandments of God
42:58 and see that we are in fact sinners in need of a Savior,
43:03 we never get to the point were we desire a Savior.
43:06 I think what happens in the world today
43:08 and this ideology about the fact that my heart is good enough
43:11 or well, you know, generally we have a pretty good
43:15 neighborhood, because it's fenced in.
43:18 Well, all that has happened as you fence in neighborhood
43:21 and you fenced in sin, because while we're trying
43:25 to keep the criminals out, there's crime in our hearts.
43:29 While we're trying to keep the burglaries down,
43:32 there are problems in every home in that gated community,
43:37 because we haven't come to the conclusion
43:39 that we are in need of the Savior.
43:42 And so the question I would ask is,
43:44 what do we have to do
43:46 in order for us to receive mercy from God?
43:49 Well, and then he goes on because he talks about
43:51 the Ten Commandments as the perfect standard.
43:54 It's really that it reveals the glory of God,
43:56 the transcript of His character, who He is.
44:00 And so let's look at who God is here.
44:03 So verse 34-- verse 5, Exodus 34:5.
44:08 We're just continuing on with the same passage.
44:11 "Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there,"
44:14 that is with Moses,
44:15 "and proclaimed the name of the Lord."
44:16 Here's His name.
44:18 "And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
44:20 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
44:24 longsuffering,' that is patient,
44:26 'and abounding in goodness and truth,
44:29 keeping mercy for thousands,
44:31 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.'"
44:34 Boy, it sounds like a wonderful God,
44:36 but it's only one side of the equation.
44:38 That's right.
44:39 And he goes on saying, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers
44:43 or by no means clearing the guilty."
44:45 Excuse me, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers
44:47 upon the children and the children's children
44:48 to the third and fourth generation."
44:50 That is the propagated sin among generation after generation.
44:54 So God is a loving God, merciful, gracious, patient,
44:59 giving mercy to thousands, yes.
45:02 But He's also a God of justice
45:04 and He will not let sin remain in His universe forever.
45:08 There will come a time of judgment.
45:09 So therefore, we need something out of ourselves,
45:14 we need someone out of ourselves
45:17 who can extend that hand of mercy and forgiveness,
45:20 because we are sinners.
45:22 We've all failed the test.
45:24 "We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,"
45:27 Romans Chapter 3.
45:28 And so when we talk about justification we're saying
45:31 coming to Jesus who is merciful,
45:33 who is forgiving and receiving from Him
45:36 that forgiveness that He offers way, way back
45:38 from the very beginning.
45:40 And it's confirmed for us on the cross.
45:42 We can have that through Him,
45:44 but only through Him can we have that,
45:46 because we innately are sinful human beings.
45:49 And we need to recognize that, as you're saying,
45:51 we've already read the verses,
45:52 to confess it and to own up to it and to turn from it,
45:56 then we receive mercy.
45:58 And I want to add another word to the word justified,
46:01 because we're talking about God's justification.
46:03 Well, when you're standing before a judge,
46:04 let's go ahead and put this picture together.
46:06 And what I did in one of my programs,
46:07 actually on a Wednesday night program I did this
46:10 and I thought it would be good
46:11 because we have different audiences,
46:12 different people watch at different times.
46:14 I wanted to bring this topic also to our Bible program,
46:18 because a lot of times we misunderstand,
46:20 what mercy is all about and we say well, okay,
46:24 under what condition would mercy be--
46:29 would mercy be extended to me?
46:32 What would actually happen for mercy to be extended to me?
46:35 And if you look down at question number five here,
46:37 there are six little questions I have here,
46:39 I want you to see this.
46:41 Look at this and this is kind of a true and false thing.
46:45 And I want to just go ahead and point them out
46:47 and then I'll give you the answer.
46:48 Which of the following statements are true about mercy?
46:51 A mercy sets aside the requirements of the law.
46:55 Does mercy set aside the requirement of the law?
46:58 Yes or no?
47:00 The answer is no. Can't be, yeah.
47:01 Mercy can't set aside-- matter of fact,
47:03 I wouldn't even know I needed mercy--
47:07 Unless the law was in effect.
47:08 Unless the law was in effect.
47:10 I'd go further, Jesus would not even
47:12 have had to have come to die on the cross
47:15 if He could have just changed this law and made it void.
47:17 So now, John, here's where we're headed with this.
47:20 There are people today that teach we're saved by grace.
47:23 We don't need the law any longer.
47:24 I want you to expound on that.
47:26 We are saved by grace.
47:27 We no longer need the law, is that...?
47:29 Well, essentially what they're saying
47:31 is that we don't need mercy anymore.
47:33 Really, grace and mercy often we mix this.
47:36 They are two different things
47:39 and here is the simplest way that I can share this.
47:41 Grace is receiving something that I do not deserve,
47:47 but mercy is not receiving something that I do deserve.
47:52 Good way, I like that.
47:53 So I deserve to be held accountable for my sin
47:58 and burned in hell, in the lake of fire, I deserve that.
48:04 But mercy says, mercy from God says,
48:06 I'm not going to do that.
48:08 I'm not gonna give you that experience.
48:10 Grace on the other hand is different.
48:13 Grace gives us something.
48:15 It actually is giving us something
48:16 from God that we don't deserve.
48:18 But mercy and grace are still in action
48:20 in the New Testament, not just grace.
48:23 So don't say it's all about the grace of God.
48:25 No, we need the mercy of God as well and mercy implies
48:28 that God is still a just God.
48:30 Grace doesn't deal with the justice issue.
48:34 Grace deals with the issue of extending to us something
48:36 that we can't do for ourselves.
48:39 That's kind of my new definition of grace now.
48:41 John, I've used it over and over again.
48:42 I felt--I was praying for just a new understanding.
48:45 We hear unmerited favor, but it's so to me,
48:49 so kind of ethereal.
48:50 It's out there, it's hard to understand that
48:52 and we use it so much.
48:53 Right, it's lost its impact, because we repeat it so much.
48:55 We repeat it so much.
48:57 So here's the definition of grace that I found that I use.
49:01 Grace is any time God reaches down to do something for us
49:07 that we cannot do for ourselves.
49:09 Very good point.
49:11 We need power and strength that we don't have,
49:14 when He gives us that, that's grace.
49:17 We can't save ourselves.
49:18 When He reaches down to save us that is grace.
49:22 Grace is when God activates, does something in action
49:25 from Himself to us, to give us something
49:27 we don't have that we need, that's grace.
49:29 Mercy is withholding a judgment that we deserve
49:34 and He does not give it to us.
49:36 That's the difference between mercy and grace.
49:39 And here and we find that if you eliminate the law of God,
49:43 you eliminate the need for mercy.
49:46 Yet over and over in the New Testament
49:47 as well as the Old, mercy is still in action.
49:50 God forgiving sinners. I thank you for that, John.
49:55 And I'm gonna build on that because I want to put this back,
49:58 you're standing right in front of the judge now.
50:01 And you're innocent.
50:03 What do you ask for, mercy or justice?
50:10 You're innocent.
50:11 What do you ask for, mercy or justice?
50:15 You know what you ask for?
50:17 You don't ask for mercy, because you are innocent.
50:19 You ask for justice.
50:20 You are on a, "I demand justice."
50:23 Justice says if you're innocent, you go free.
50:27 Mercy, if you ask for mercy, you're not innocent.
50:31 See so when we say, "Lord, be merciful to me,"
50:34 remember what David said,
50:36 "Be merciful to me a sinner."
50:40 See the reason I'm coming here,
50:42 because when you understand the mercy of God you realize,
50:45 wait a minute, wait a minute,
50:46 I didn't see more and more why I need to be justified,
50:49 why I need to be covered,
50:51 why my life needs to be changed,
50:52 why the old part of me needs to be done away with,
50:58 why that old man needs to be buried.
51:00 Here's another,
51:01 unless you want to comment on that point I just made.
51:03 No, pretty good. Here's another one.
51:04 Mercy is applied to satisfy the demands of the law.
51:12 Is that true or false?
51:13 Mercy is applied to satisfy the demands of the law.
51:17 Now justice is applied to satisfy the demands of the law.
51:23 Mercy, when you look at the mercy of God,
51:26 the law demands that we be prosecuted.
51:31 The law demands that we be persecuted.
51:34 The law demands that we be locked up.
51:37 So justice would be applied to satisfy the demands of the law.
51:40 What if the law-- all have sinned
51:42 and fall short of the glory of God.
51:44 The wages of sin is what? Death.
51:45 So if I want to satisfy the demand of the law,
51:48 I'm gonna apply justice.
51:51 You will go to court, you will go to jail for X amount of days,
51:54 X amount of months, X amount of years,
51:56 but when the judge says, "I know you've done wrong, "
51:58 and our lawyer stands up on our behalf, Jesus.
52:01 Then mercy is applied.
52:03 But do the demands of the law have to be satisfied?
52:07 Yes, there's no court system
52:09 that abrogates the demands of the law.
52:12 That's why when Jesus takes our place
52:16 we are justified by His life, not by our own life.
52:21 When I get a--
52:22 Kind of deep here, think on this one.
52:23 When I get a ticket-- unfortunately,
52:25 I don't get many tickets, speeding tickets.
52:27 But when I get a ticket,
52:30 the fact that I go before the judge
52:33 and argue my case and in many respects would say,
52:39 your honor, I was speeding, I was speeding.
52:46 Many times in those cases the judge would extend
52:52 some kind of mercy.
52:54 But he would not eliminate the law that says
52:59 in that zone I have to be doing 35 miles an hour,
53:03 not 45 miles an hour that I was doing.
53:07 We today often view mercy as receiving forgiveness
53:11 for breaking the laws of the past
53:14 but license to break the law in the future.
53:17 Ooh, very good approach.
53:20 And you see the Bible is pretty clear.
53:23 Look at the Book of Jude.
53:26 We often don't go to Jude,
53:28 but Jude has some of my favorite
53:31 couple of verses in it on this topic.
53:35 And I like it best in the NIV,
53:37 but I'm gonna read it from the New King James here,
53:39 which is usually my study Bible here.
53:41 Okay, well, I'll bring up the NIV.
53:44 What verse?
53:45 It says verse 3, this is verses 3 and 4.
53:48 "Beloved, while I was very diligent
53:50 to write to you concerning our common salvation."
53:52 So we are talking about which subject here?
53:54 Salvation. Salvation.
53:56 "I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you
53:58 to contend earnestly for the faith
54:02 which was once and for all delivered to the saints."
54:04 In other words, stay fast in what you have received,
54:07 already what Christ has taught,
54:09 whether the apostles have taught
54:11 and what we've established according to the word.
54:13 Stay in that faith and contend earnestly for it.
54:16 Now look at verse 4, why do we need to do that.
54:19 "For certain men have crept in unnoticed,
54:23 who long ago were marked out for this condemnation,
54:26 ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness
54:32 and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."
54:37 So read NIV. What does it say?
54:38 I'll read it further, yeah.
54:40 Verse 4 in NIV says, "For certain men whose
54:43 condemnation was written about long ago
54:46 have secretly slipped in among you.
54:48 They are godless men, who change the grace of our God
54:52 into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ
54:57 our only Sovereign and Lord."
55:00 A license for immorality
55:02 and that's why I say we often treat
55:03 mercy as receiving forgiveness of the past.
55:07 And then as a license to go on and continue the works
55:10 that we've always done,
55:11 the sinful life that we've always had,
55:13 because Christ is taking care of everything.
55:15 This is a cheap grace.
55:17 It is a grace that has slipped into the church
55:19 that is not the grace of the Bible.
55:23 We read the grace the Bible says and his mercy says
55:27 that it is received, we are justified in Christ
55:30 when we have repented of our sin
55:32 and we have turned from our wicked ways.
55:36 We have stopped sinning.
55:37 We have stopped committing those sins
55:39 that we have committed and begin to align ourselves
55:43 in harmony with God's law to live according to His plan,
55:47 according to His purpose.
55:48 That is when we receive mercy and the grace of God.
55:52 Not this cheap grace that is slipped into the church.
55:54 Wow, very good. And it is true today.
55:58 And I want to go farther than just saying,
56:00 well, you know, there are a lot of churches
56:02 that teach God's law has been nailed to the cross
56:04 and I want to go beyond that because this whole,
56:09 this chronic attitude is present even among those
56:13 who acknowledge the law of God.
56:16 They are saying, well, intellectually
56:18 I acknowledge the law of God,
56:21 but I'm not acknowledging that there's a bigger issue here.
56:25 That's why when Paul, the Apostle is faced
56:28 and confronted with the law of God,
56:30 he said this in Romans 7:14.
56:32 We're gonna talk about justification
56:34 in our next program.
56:35 I'm gonna amplify it, but we're laying the foundation.
56:37 He said this in Romans 7:14,
56:39 "For we know that the law is spiritual,
56:41 but I am carnal, sold under sin."
56:45 So, John, that's the issue today.
56:46 Many people are sold under sin, but they don't admit that.
56:49 And they admit sheepishly that the law is there,
56:54 but they don't admit that they are sold under sin.
56:56 Yeah, the fact is if the law wasn't there,
56:58 we would no longer be sinners,
57:00 because there would be nothing there in place,
57:02 in force to convict us of sin.
57:04 Just like the laws of our land.
57:06 If there were no laws of our land,
57:07 we couldn't be convicted as transgressors, as convicts.
57:12 We would be always perfect citizens.
57:15 But laws are in place to guide us. That's right.
57:18 We're gonna talk about in the next program
57:20 the difference between being a convict, convinced of the law
57:23 or a convert justified by Jesus Christ.
57:26 So stay tuned to "House Calls."
57:28 On our next program we look forward to seeing you.
57:30 May you have a wonderful day in Christ.


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Revised 2014-12-17