The Holy Spirit - Witness to Christ - Talk at Butler Cru, 11/11/2011

I’m Derek, and I’m on staff with Cru here.  Before we look at God’s word, let’s ask him to empower us to hear, understand, and apply it. 

Father, we can only approach you because you poured the condemnation we deserve upon your Son Jesus.  And so it is based on his representation before you that we ask you for your mercy.  Open our ears to hear of your greatness from your word.  Cause us to become people of prayer and people of proclamation.  Amen. 

We’ve been in a series called ‘Witness.’  A witness is someone who has observed something and then reports it.  A Christian witness, therefore, is someone who has come to know Jesus Christ personally, and who proclaims who he is and what he is done to others. 

We’ve already seen that all Christians are called to be proclaimers of the excellencies of Jesus Christ and his death.  Tonight, we’re going to look at Witness and the Holy Spirit. 

But before we begin to unpack that, I want to tell you explicitly what I desire and have been praying for. 

Goal:  That we would together regularly pray for God to glorify Christ in and through us.  (x2)

Some of you will instantly respond negatively to this, because you don’t want to get together to pray.  Frankly, that’s unacceptable.  God instructs Timothy, a Pastor, with these words, “First of all the, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all types of people… I desire then that in every place the men should pray…” (1 Timothy 2:1, 8). 

So the command exists, but let me tell you the good news.  Even if this seems like a ‘tall order’ to you, the power to do so exists.  That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in, and that is the point of tonight’s talk. 

Point:  The Holy Spirit’s primary role on earth is to bear witness to Jesus Christ.  (x2) 

Jesus said this before he was murdered and raised to life: “When the Helper comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, he will bear witness about ME.” (John 15:26) 

Therefore, because he is doing so, we will regularly gather to pray that he would glorify Christ in and through us. 

I realize this might raise some questions.  So tonight, I’ll be seeking to answer the following questions:

1)            Who’s the Holy Spirit? 

2)            Why should we care? 

3)            What’s the Holy Spirit do? 

4)            What should we do? 

First, let’s address the question, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” 

The reason we have to ask that question is because our culture is full of misinformation about who the Holy Spirit is. 

If you’ve seen “The Italian Job,” you’ve seen the part where Seth Greene’s character is in a train station, calculating the total number of what they’ve stolen.  He stands up and yells, “YEAH!!!”  And then after everyone’s staring at him, he explains, “Got the… Holy Spirit… you should get on it… it’s a good train.” 

Unfortunately, that reflects the way that the Holy Spirit has been portrayed.  Like a force.  An irrational emotion.  A substance that preachers on TV with their own private jets can manipulate, and pass on to people by smacking them in the head so that they fall down writhe as if they had epilepsy. 

He’s been portrayed as a Genie God, who if you just get riled up enough in your emotions, will grant you a healthy, wealthy, easy, American-dream filled, idolatrous, world-exalting, God-diminishing, best life now. 

And at the very least, he wants you to talk in gibberish on TV while wearing enough make-up to make The Joker from Batman look like he’s underdone it. 

But who is he really?  The Holy Spirit is God himself.  God’s word says, “…no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).  The Holy Spirit knows.  And he knows all God’s infinite and holy thoughts.  He is God! 

He is our Creator; Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life!” 

And he does whatever he pleases.  Jesus taught, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”(John 3:8). 

It is he who gave mankind the words of the Bible.  Paul, talking about his own writing and the writers who wrote Scripture, says, “We impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 2:13). 

And it is he who raised Jesus from death to be the ruler of all creation: “He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit” (1 Timothy 3:16). 

So who is the Holy Spirit?  He is God himself.  He does as he pleases! 

Second question: why should we care? 

Because some of us here tonight are more anxious about exams and papers than we mourn the presence of sin – “Blessed are those who mourn” – Matthew 5:4. 

Because some of us are more excited to give someone our opinions about athletes or politics than you are to proclaim Christ – “...that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). 

Because some of us are more concerned with getting a special ‘spiritual feeling’ by singing the right kinds of songs than we are with the words that the Holy Spirit has authored. 

Because some of us, if we even do pray, pray that God would just remove our pains.  We pray for things like Aunt Millie’s cat who may have asthma.  And we do not pray for the glory of God through the advance of the Gospel. 

Because some of us, walking to the cafeteria, are more concerned with what might be for dinner than the fact that nineteen out of twenty people we might pass on the way to the cafeteria are under God’s righteous judgment.  “…whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him”(John 3:36). 

Because some of us are more concerned with what the people in this room will think of us after the meeting’s over than the fact that thousands of people within a few square miles of this building are ignoring the God who created them, by whose will they even continue to exist.  “For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.”  (Romans 11:36) 

Because some of us, who grew up in church and know we should do ‘Christian’ things, as I give you this list – don’t care, have no appetite for the word of God, have no true love for him, and are bored by God’s word.  Your life looks no different from anyone else’s, and there is no evidence of heartfelt obedience to Christ in you – just apathy. 

I say these things with fear and trembling.  And I do not bring them up to make you feel bad, but to show that you and I have a radical, deep, moment-by-moment need for God himself to transform us.  And that’s why we should care about the Holy Spirit. 

That brings us to our third question:

What’s the Holy Spirit do? 

We already saw John 15:26.  “When the Helper comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about ME.” 

I’ve spent the last few days studying all of the explicit mentions of the Holy Spirit in the Bible.  And a lot of times, when we think about the Spirit, we think about tongues or miracles or healings.  And he did things like that on special occasions. 

But primarily, we see him doing one thing – causing people to proclaim God’s word. 

Here are a couple examples:

“Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord…?’” (2 Chronicles 24:20)  

“’My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,’ says the LORD…” (Isaiah 59:21). 

And the New Testament says this about the Old Testament Scriptures that were written before Jesus – that the authors were “inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Peter 1:11). 

So the Holy Spirit has always been doing one main thing since he created the world – bearing witness about Jesus. 

This is good news for two reasons. 

First, we need the Holy Spirit to show us Jesus personally.  Jesus has died and risen from the dead and complete pardon from God is granted on that basis to all who submit to him.  The Holy Spirit is the one who brings us to Christ for salvation. 

And not only at that point of salvation, but he continues to reveal the glories of Jesus to us.  Paul prayed that God “may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts…” (Ephesians 3:16-17). 

So the Holy Spirit communicates Christ to us, and we need that since we would never see his glory on our own. 

But there’s a second reason that the Holy Spirit’s witness to Jesus is good news.  He not only shows Jesus to us – but he shows Jesus through us – by making us witnesses for him. 

Jesus told his disciples, before he ascended into heaven, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). 

And when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live with all his people, the first thing that he did was to cause them to tell ‘of the mighty works of God’ (Acts 2:11), so that thousands of people from all over the Roman empire would understand and here, and so that over 5,000 in one day would trust Christ Jesus. 

So that’s the good news!  The Holy Spirit communicates Jesus to us – he shows us Jesus so that we can know him.  AND – he bears witness through us so that we bear witness for Jesus. 

So – last question – what do we do? 

You might say – okay, great that he bears witness to Jesus.  But I still feel like I’m not ‘seeing’ it. 

We’ve all been there.  But that doesn’t mean that you should stay there. 

You need to do three things

1)  Repent.  You need to decide that you are going to passionately follow Jesus. 

2)  Remember.  Look at the Spirit’s word, and what Jesus accomplished. 

3)  Request.  Ask God to help. 

There’s an amazing example of this pattern in Acts chapter 4.  Peter and John had just been arrested for publicly proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  They’d been threatened not to.  And then they go back to their friends and tell the story. 

“And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ’ – for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you appointed as the Christ, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 

See what they’re doing there?  They’re remembering the truth.  Jesus is the Christ!  The Son of God!  And God is in control.  They’re having a Bible study.  And then look at what they do next

“’ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness’” 

See what they’re doing?  They’re making a request from God.  Asking him to transform them.  And let’s see what God does:

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”  (Acts 4:24-29, 31). 

So God shows up.  The Holy Spirit gives them boldness and they go out proclaiming Christ.  I don’t know about you, but that is exciting to me.  And that’s what we’re called to do. 

One more example.  You’ve heard the Lord’s prayer.  Jesus gave it to us as a pattern of how we’re to pray.

“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’” (Matthew 5:9, 10)

‘Our Father.’  That implies we’re praying together as a group.  It also assumes a relationship with God through Jesus. 

‘in Heaven’ – though he loves us and we know him; he’s GOD in heaven – and we are his creatures. 

‘Hallowed be your name’ – That means ‘glorify your name!’  And we’ve seen how God does that – by his Holy Spirit bearing witness to CHRIST in and through us. 

‘Your kingdom come…’  - in other words, cause me to do your will.  Cause others to do your will.  RULE over us!  And how does God do that?  By the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Christ. 

So what shall we say? 

The Holy Spirit is God himself.  He glorifies Jesus Christ the Son.  He does that towards us – so let’s dig into his word.  And he does that through us – and so we need to come together to ask God to make us bold to proclaim his word. 

I believe that God deserves the glory of Christ being proclaimed.  And I believe we will only do that if we begin by coming together to ask him to change us and to change our world.  And if we do, the Holy Spirit will act. 

Pray with me right now…

Sermon at Elk Grove Baptist: Sanctification- 2 Corinthians 3:18

You can download the sermon off this website: click here.

Sermon: Genesis 11:1-9

Sorry about the brief hiatus from 1 Timothy. I've been preparing to preach this sermon. And here it is.

The sermon is the place in which God’s word is read, explained, and applied to his people. And that we will do, if God permits. So we’re going to read God’s word from Genesis 11:1-9, and then ask God for help. So open your Bible to Genesis 11:1-9, and if you don’t have one, there should be one in the pew in front of you. And if you don’t have one, you need to start bringing one – on Sunday morning you should expect to hear from God through his written word and to respond in worship. So bring a Bible. And if you have brought a Bible, don’t be arrogant about it. You only brought one because God gave you grace to.
Before we read, I want to make a note that I’m reading from a slightly different – and actually, a very hyper-literal – translation. So there are going to be some differences. But take note of those differences as we read.

Now, pay attention to God’s words from Genesis 11:1-9:
(1) Now the whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.

(2) As the people moved in the east, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

(3) And they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)

(4) Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens to make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.”

(5) But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.

(6) And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing they plan to do will now be impossible for them.

(7) “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they won’t be able to understand one another’s speech.”

(8) So the LORD scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city.

(9) That is why its name was called Babel – because there the LORD confused the language of the entire world, and from there the LORD scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

This is the word of God.

Ask God for help with me, and then we’ll get to work. Let’s bow our heads
Pray
The point of the Scripture you’ve just heard read is this: God will secure worship for himself from every corner of this world. Or in other words, God will make sure that he is glorified globally.
We’ll see in this passage that God will do this. We humans cannot thwart his purposes. We’ll see that God created humans to love, obey, worship, and serve him alone – since he is God, our loving Creator. And we’ll see that God intends that humans all over the globe will praise him.
So God will secure worship from every part of this world. That leaves us with a choice. The big question we need to be asking ourselves this morning is this: will we participate in the goal of God’s global glorification, OR, will we pursue a good reputation and security? Let me repeat that. The big question we need to be asking ourselves this morning is this: will we participate in the goal of God’s global glorification, OR, will we pursue a good reputation and security?
Here’s where we’re going. First, we’ll look at the setting of the story. Second, we’ll look at human rebellion. Third, we’ll look at what God observes about the situation. Fourth, we’ll look at how God acted for his own glory.

So first, let’s look at the setting of the story. And by the way, keep your Bibles open so you can follow along.
Verse one says: “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” What’s going on here? Well, this is just a few generations after Noah’s flood. You remember what happened, right? Sin increased in the world so much that there was only one man and his immediate family who were worshipers of God. So God judged the world – he drowned everyone except for this man, Noah, and his family.
This is just a few generations later, and so, ‘the whole earth had one language and the same words.’
Now, we all in this room speak English. We can communicate decently well with each other. However, something more was going on here: they had ‘the same words.’ What’s that mean?
Well, when my car breaks down – or even if I need an oil change, I take it to the shop. Now, my background is theology and biology. I don’t use words that a mechanic does. I have no idea what a crankshaft is. I don’t know what a gasket is. I know it’s bad if they break. That’s why I pay him to fix it. So when they come out and try to explain things to me, I smile and nod and for the most part hope that I’m not getting ripped off. The thing is, we have different words, even though we speak the same language.
These Babelites, though – they did have the same words. They were like two mechanics working together on a car. They could work together well and accomplish what they set out to do.
Verse two says, “And as people migrated in the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.” Without going into detail, this was the tipoff in the story that these people were about to do something bad. This is like an old Western where a cowboy shows up wearing all black. Or if you’re watching Batman or something and somebody with a really jacked up face shows up. You know he’s about to do something bad. And these people were, too.
Verse 3 says, “And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.” Moses goes out of his way to tell us that they used brick and tar instead of stone and mortar for building materials. Why? He’s showing us that these people were creating culture. And it was unique – it was different from other cultures.
I know we usually don’t self-consciously think that we have a culture, but we do. When you’re observing architecture or art and talking about what you find beautiful, you’re demonstrating culture. When you go out to eat, or when you cook, you’re reflecting your culture. When you choose a movie or a tv show, you’re showing your culture. When you use a cell phone or facebook, you’re showing your culture. When you have family over for certain holidays, and you for some reason pull a pine tree in from outside, hang lights on it, and hang your socks over the fireplace, you’re demonstrating that you belong to a particular culture.
And there’s nothing wrong with having a culture. We’re made to be creative beings – in art, music, food, language. What we’re about to see become a problem, though, is how that culture is used.

Here’s the second part of the story: human rebellion. Verse four says, “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.’”
But what’s the problem? Cities and towers aren’t bad, right? It’s the intent here that’s bad. They wanted to make a name for themselves. And that means that they wanted fame. They wanted a good reputation. They wanted to be honored by people. They wanted others to think highly of them.
Well, why’s that a problem? Flip backwards a few pages to Genesis chapter one. Verse 27 says, “God created man in his own image…”
Alright, put your thinking cap on. What does an image do? It images. It shows something off. For instance, say you’ve got kids. And you show me a picture of your kid. And I say, ‘Wow – this is great photo paper!’ You’re going to say, ‘Wow… that guy’s weird.’ Why? Because the image of your kid is supposed to show how great your kid is.
That’s what it means when it says we’re images of God. We’re like photographs of him. Not physically – but in terms of our personhood. We have wills, emotions, thoughts – and all those things are supposed to show off how great God is. We exist to glorify God.
What happened at Babel? Look at verse four again, “’Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves.’” So that we may make a name for ourselves. They didn’t do this to make God appear great – they did it to make themselves look great.
Now – very few of us are building cities and towers. But I’m guessing people here want to be known as good husbands, good wives, good parents. They want to be known as hard-workers, good employees – even just good people. You want to be known as the funny person – or the smart person – or the courageous person. You want to be the good Sunday School teacher, or the person who says really good prayers, or the person who has good clothes or good hair. You want to be known as punctual.
Or maybe you just don’t want to be shamed. You don’t want to be seen as impatient, selfish, lustful - as the sinner that you actually are.
You indeed are building a city and a tower for your name’s sake. For your glory. You want to be important. You don’t want people to see you as you really are. Because you want to be God.
And that’s extremely dangerous. God said in Isaiah 42:8, “I am Yahweh! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else…”
And it gets worse. There’s a reason that these folks wanted to make a name for themselves. It wasn’t enough that they wanted to steal God’s praise – they did that with purpose. Verse four says, “’Let us make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we will be scattered across the face of the earth.’”
They were trying to prevent being scattered. They didn’t want to move. They’d have to leave their family and friends and culture – the foods and traditions and everything they knew – behind. It’d be expensive, too. I’m sure you’ve moved at some point in your life. It’s hard. It’s much easier to stay where you are, right?
So what’s the problem? Flip back to Genesis one. There was a reason God created people in his image, for his glory – for his name. In verse 28, God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” This command is repeated to Noah in Genesis 9 – just a couple generations before these people.
It boils down to this: God commanded that we fill the earth with his glory. That we fill the earth with worshipers. That we fill the earth with people who existed to make God look good. That this whole globe would be filled with the glory of God!
And they said, ‘no, we’d rather be comfortable and secure right where we are, thank you.’
We can understand that. Who likes to move?
This command, though – fill the earth with the glory of God– gets repeated in a different way later in Scripture. Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Or Matthew 24:14 – “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” or Acts 1:8 “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the farthest parts of the earth” or Luke 24:47 “and repentance for the forgiveess of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations” or Malachi 1:11, “My name will be great among the nations!” And there are still over 6,000 nations – cultures – ethnicities – without any witness to Christ and any chance of salvation for the people who live there – mostly in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
I remember as a kid hearing missionaries come and talk at my church. And I used to think, “wow, I’ll never be one of those guys.” You know why? I didn’t want to give up friendships. Or family. Or potentially making money. Or a stable home. Or air conditioning and heating. Or good plumbing. Or American entertainment. I’ve heard many say they don’t want to give up sports.
And you know why I didn’t want to give those things up? Because they were more important to me than God’s global glory. Because I was an idolater. And if any of those things are holding you back from living for God’s global glory, then you are too – and you want to usurp God’s throne.
This is the part where I’m supposed to say that not everyone is supposed to go. That’s true. Some Babelites should’ve remained in Babel. But I’m guessing that far more people should go than do. And don’t throw out the ‘I don’t feel called’ line. Your feelings are nowhere in Scripture seen as a good indicator of what God’s will is – and they’re usually seen as in rebellion against him.
It’s true that not everyone should go. But everyone should think about life through this lens: how am I to live my life for God’s global glory? How should I live so that God gets the most praise from the most parts of the earth? How should I handle my life so that happens?
I’ll give you some practical things to do at the end of this sermon. But for now, know this: you will either live for your own reputation and security – OR – you will sacrifice those things for the global purpose of the glory of God. And you will make that choice every day in every decision you make.
For now, I’ll leave you with that choice – and the promise that if you repent, that the blood of Jesus will cover your sin, and you will be considered blessed by God, because your sin will be no longer counted against you. And you will stand in right relationship with God and he will give you the power to continue seeking his glory in the whole world.
The Babelites made the wrong choice. They decided it was easier to stay and to live for their security and comfort.

Here’s the third part of the story – God observes the situation.
Verse five says, “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.”
That’s actually pretty funny. Man says, “I’m going to build a tower that reaches into God’s throne room.” God says, “I guess I should go down there and take a look at it.”
At the risk of killing the humor of this – the idea is that they didn’t actually reach God’s throne room. They tried! And they failed. And God is mocking them.
Here’s the thing – no matter how much we rebel, God is still God. We will not thwart his plans. We will not cause his purposes to fail. As Prov. 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” And that means that the success of God’s plan doesn’t depend on you or I. It means that our failures will not stop God from accomplishing what he wants. It means that if you forget this sermon and this Scripture and nothing changes in your life and you go home and watch the colts and eat chips and glory in entertainment, God will still glorify himself without you.
So God observes that these people are just people and cannot thwart his plans. However, he makes another observation in verse six: “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”
God takes their disobedience seriously. He must be glorified through the whole earth! And if they are permitted to stay and not scatter, God’s purpose would be thwarted.
Romans 10 is very clear – no one can believe in Christ without hearing the gospel, and no one will hear without someone telling them. And that means that everyone who has never heard of Christ is under his wrath. And that should make us weep – and it should impel us to be about God’s business of going to the world!
Are you bothered by the fact that I just said God’s purposes can’t be thwarted and that if we do nothing that they will be? It seems to be a contradiction, doesn’t it? There’s one major thing that makes it not a contradiction: God is at work! God is active. God is doing things. And God is about to show that he’s in complete control.

So here’s the fourth part of the story: God acts. Verses 7-9 say, “’Come, let us go down” – again, God’s mocking them – they said, ‘come, let us build a tower into God’s throne room,’; God says, ‘Come, let us go down there’ – “and confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’” So the LORD scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel – because there the LORD confused the language of the entire world, and from there the LORD scattered them across the face of the entire earth.”
So these people try not to scatter; they try to resist God’s plan for filling the world with his glory, and God shows up and scatters them. And they end up getting a name for themselves: Babel, which sounds like the Hebrew word (The OT was written in Hebrew) for ‘confused.’ The wanted the name ‘glorious’ and they ended up with ‘confused.’
And God accomplished his will. And that’s the point. God will secure his praise from every corner of the earth. God’s purposes cannot be hindered.
But there was still a problem – the images of God that God filled the earth with were still rebellious. They still did not glorify him, says Romans 1:21. They still mocked God, and we still earned more and more every day, condemnation.
And so God acted. Jesus died on a cross and suffered condemnation in our places, because we didn’t honor God. Jesus rose again from the dead. And Jesus reigns over all the earth from heaven.
In Revelation 5, Jesus is being worshiped. Heavenly beings cry out, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals” – that scroll is the scroll where God has written his plan for the whole world; so in other words, Jesus is worthy to execute God’s plan.
Then the heavenly beings tell Jesus why he is worthy to reign: “because you were killed, and by your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation.”
Why’s Jesus worthy? Because his death has effectually saved particular people from every culture on earth. They will hear the gospel at some point and turn to Jesus. And that means that missionaries will be sent to them.
Jesus’ cross has done it all. Jesus has secured God’s praise from every corner of the earth – and if you have relied on him for your salvation, he has secured it for you.

Let’s close with six points of application.
1) Repent. If you haven’t come to grips with the fact that God is worth being glorified all over the world by all of life, you need to turn from your self-seeking and turn towards Jesus as your God for forgiveness, and he will forgive you and change you.
2) Talk. You need to talk about this with other people. Christian growth happens in community through conversation. Confess sin to each other. Talk about Jesus and his mission. It’s not private and it is more important than anything else you talk about.
3) Get educated. The Bible is about God’s plan to glorify himself throughout the entire world by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and there are over 6,000 individual ethnic groups in the world with no gospel witness. Go to www.travelingteam.org . Write that down. Don’t let laziness result in ignorance. Go learn the Bible and the world.
4) Pray. You need to get educated to pray. You need to know what the Bible says about God’s plan and what is going on in the world. And you need to make the choice to spend time in prayer daily. Just do it. Especially you men. Take responsibility, make the choice, and spend time in prayer.
5) Give. Everything in your life needs to be structured around the purposes of God’s global glory. That includes your spending habits. Find missionaries. Give so that they can proclaim the gospel where it has never been heard.
6) Go. Some of you should probably go. I’m not going to go through a full decision—making process for you, but some of you should probably be beginning a trek to die to yourself for the sake of the glorious Gospel of Christ in the world. You need to start the process of figuring that out, and it’ll begin with the process of fleeing sin and restructuring your life around the global purposes of God.

Wedding Homily: Josiah and Jackie Gray

The Scripture you wanted to hear a little bit from today is part of the reason I love you guys. It has absolutely nothing to do with marriage. Nothing. I tried stretching it. Nope. Didn’t work.

The thing is though, this passage is about how Jesus Christ saves his people. And the reason that you wanted this passage to be part of your wedding is because you realize that your marriage is a signpost – it points to the ultimate relationship of Jesus to his Church – of Jesus to the whole group of people who love him.

And you also realize that a ‘successful’ marriage isn’t necessarily the same as a ‘happy’ marriage – even though we want you to be happy; you guys recognize that a truly successful marriage is one in which Jesus is made much of, not your marriage itself.

Let me make a series of brief observations from this passage, then, and I’ll throw in a few marriage applications as well, God willing.

First, this passage exists because there are people that are truly Christians – that truly follow Jesus – and people that think they’re Christians. Even preachers that think they’re Christians who aren’t. Paul’s point here is to show what the true Christian life looks like. So he says this: (vv. 15-17). So there are real Christians and people that only think they’re Christians – and Paul is about to show us the difference.

Second, a true Christian considers themselves bad. Paul outlines his religious achievements. He looks like a moral dude on the cover. Any one of us would’ve said he was a ‘good man.’ And he’d achieved great things, even religiously. But he knew that he could either keep trying to look good before God and man, or he could have Christ. He couldn’t have both, and neither can we. (v. 7) A true Christian knows that to have Christ – you have to consider yourself to be a bad person.

This is good for your marriage, by the way. Josiah and Jackie – you’re about to be a bad husband and wife. When you begin to think you’re good at it, you’ll begin to think the other person’s bad, and you’ll fight. So remember, you’re bad.

Third, a true Christian treasures and values enjoying Jesus more than anything in this world. (v. 8). Paul here uses a vulgarity to describe everything that exists in comparison to knowing Christ. He says that knowing Christ is so good that everything else is a flaming pile of poo. So enjoy Jesus more than anything else, okay?

In marriage, that means that you shouldn’t be seeking to enjoy marriage more than Jesus. You do that, you’re going to seriously be disappointed. Josiah and Jackie, you guys are great. But you ain’t God, and you can’t be all-satisfying to each other. Only Jesus can.

Fourth, a true Christian gets their status of ‘righteousness’ by being united to Christ – not from trying really hard to be good people. (v. 9) In order to enter into God’s kingdom rather than being punished by it, you need to be considered righteous before God. But you’re a bad person. So you need to be covered by someone else’s righteousness. Hence, being united to Jesus. You want to be righteous before God – you have a choice – look to your own goodness – which doesn’t exist – or bank on Jesus’. A true Christian says, “I’m going to bank on Jesus’ righteousness – not mine.” And so God considers them righteous.

In marriage, remember that you’re not righteous, but that God has considered you both to be righteous. Real love in marriage is going to come from remembering that God considers your spouse to be righteous because of Jesus.

Fifth – the results of being considered righteous by God are as follows: a) knowing Jesus in a personal way. B) being empowered to live for Jesus, not for yourself. C) living a life of suffering in this world to show that it’s not your home – your home is with Jesus. (v. 10)

Those are the things that characterize and make a Christian marriage unique.

Sixth – the end goal of this is rising from the dead and living with Jesus forever. That’s a Christian’s goal. That’s what Paul is talking about in v. 11 – (v. 11)

Don’t make marriage your goal. Make living with Jesus one day your goal. Then, you’ll have a successful marriage.

Seventh – Christians work really hard at all this stuff. (vv. 12-14) Christians strive and strain to live like Jesus.

Eighth – that straining is based on the fact that a Christian knows Jesus has already earned heaven for them – not because they’re trying to earn it. (v. 12, 14). In other words, you strain towards living in a heaven-type way because Jesus has grabbed you and made you a citizen of heaven. You’re not trying to earn it. You do that, and we’ve seen that you won’t enter it. You’re just trying to live in a way that’s appropriate to the fact that that’s your true home - with Jesus. Not on this earth.

So guys, I love that you wanted to be reminded of this stuff. A God-honoring marriage is about Jesus – not the marriage. Remember Jesus, and you’ll have a successful marriage.

Wedding Homily: Chris and Jen Miller

Chris and Jennifer have asked me to talk to them, and all of us, about what God says about marriage in Colossians 3:18 and 19: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

Now instantly, most people in this room have their ire raised a little bit. There are several reasons for that.

1^st, we’ve seen authority abused – notably in marriage. The second verse of the two expressly forbids that – but it is very true that many husbands have abused their authority.

2^nd, we tend to distrust authority. We think that giving someone authority implies that they are intrinsically better than us – more valuable. We believe that the person in authority somehow earned it. Sometimes that is the case. Promotions at work, for instance, should be because you’re doing a better job than other people.

But that is not the case in marriage. Nor is it the case with God! Jesus is God. The Father is God. Yet, Jesus always submits to the Father – even though they are equals.

3^rd, we tend to think authority exists for the happiness of the authority. We think this because most often, the person in authority gets what they want. But in the case of what God commands marriage to look like, there’s a massive difference: the person in authority is to use that authority for the happiness of the other person – not their own.

4^th, these commands require that you both – and all husbands and wives – lose something. True, you will gain great happiness in marriage – but wives lose autonomy. They are no longer free to merely do as they please; they’re under authority. Husbands lose whatever it is that they want. In the command to love, they are to seek the happiness of their wives – not their own. Paul adds here – don’t be harsh with them. Why? Well, why does someone become harsh? Because they don’t get what they want. Chris and all the husbands here have lost the right to pursue what they want.

Even as we explore this, some of you are simply thinking, “well, I don’t want this sort of marriage. This is just bizarre.” And you’re right. This sort of living belongs to a completely different world. And living in this way is impossible for people living in this world.

Here’s the point of this text: wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives is a result of Jesus having transferred your citizenship from this world to his Kingdom (repeat).

Let’s look at what God has written here. These commands to husbands and wives flow out of what has already been said. Listen to God’s word from Col. 3: “If, then, you have been raised with Christ…”

There are 2 kinds of people, then. People that have been raised with Christ, and people that haven’t. What’s it mean to be ‘raised with Christ?’ Well, Jesus rose from the dead. And the rest of this verse says this: “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

In other words, people that are raised with Christ belong in Christ’s Kingdom. They belong in the presence of God. They are citizens of heaven. Those that aren’t raised with Christ belong outside of God’s presence. Outside of heaven. Being punished by the King – rather than enjoying his friendship.

If you are a member of Jesus’ Kingdom – a member of heaven – you will seek to obey Jesus’ commands about marriage.

How do you know if you are raised with Christ? Simple. The previous chapter tells us that it is ‘through faith in the powerful working of God.’ In other words, one becomes a citizen of heaven by trusting Jesus to make them one. And in the moment they trust God, God raises them to life. God adopts them into his family.

But we are sinners. We do not obey God. If any of us are honest, we know we don’t love him like we should. How does God give sinners heaven when they deserve punishment? Chapter 2 goes on to tell us that it is because he has, “forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

In other words, if any of you here trust in Jesus, God has already punished Jesus – past tense- for all of your sins. You have rebelled against God. To some degree, you continue to. But God has completely forgiven you, because he punished Jesus instead of you.

You are free from a guilty verdict and forgiven by God. You don’t grow towards being accepted by God. This isn’t about becoming better and better and being accepted by God – this is about God forgiving you on the basis of Christ’s death, period.

In other words, God forgives every sinner who trusts Jesus once and for all, through faith alone.

This means that you can never be good enough to enter Christ’s Kingdom. It means that you do not enter Christ’s Kingdom through becoming a better person. It means that you become a member of heaven because of Jesus death and resurrection, by trusting him.

To think that one enters heaven by being morally good enough to enter – to think that one enters heaven on the basis of partnering with Jesus and trying really hard to be good; by being transformed to being a better person – is to deny Christ himself.

So there are two types of people in this room. Some of you have been raised with Christ. You have trusted him and his rising from the dead to guarantee your entrance into his Kingdom. And he has already guaranteed it.

But some of you haven’t. You are either apathetic about Jesus –or you are trying to be ‘good enough’ to get to heaven.

Jesus’ is coming back to this world to be its King – and you are not a member of it. Yet. If you will trust the God who raised Jesus from the dead for it, he’ll make you a citizen of heaven – of the Kingdom of Christ – right in the moment you trust him to.

Why is this pertinent to marriage? Well, God has given you specific commands regarding a Christian marriage. And they’re impossible to obey. Unless you see that they don’t stand alone – but flow out of this command, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth.”

In other words, living like God wants you to in marriage is the result of remembering and focusing on the fact that Jesus died for your sins, rose from the dead, and is Lord of everything that exists. It’s the result of remembering that through that he’s earned your entrance into heaven.

Chris and Jennifer, as you seek Jesus – as you are focused on him and his reign and his Lordship and his glory – you will, Jennifer, give up your autonomy; Chris, give up your desires – and both work together to act as servants of Jesus Christ.

Scripture tells us exactly why you should seek to act as members of Christ’s Kingdom. Listen. “Because you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, you will also appear with him in glory.”

Everyone who believes in Jesus then – your old self is dead. Your new self – the new heart you have that obeys Jesus - is a reality because Jesus rose from the dead. Your new self will be fully revealed when Jesus returns to this earth to rule over it and to set up his eternal Kingdom.

Everything in you that is stained by rebellion against God, he’ll completely take away, and you will love Jesus perfectly forever.

Jennifer – as you seek Christ; as you remember how his death has forgiven all of your sins, as you remember that he is returning to rule his world, you will submit to Chris.

Chris – as you seek Christ, as you recall that God punished him instead of you and that you’re free from punishment and that he’s returning so that you can serve him fully, you’ll love Jennifer well.

Let me summarize what God has said in this Scripture. You who have trusted in Jesus are completely forgiven for your sins. You are free from living in the manner of this world. You will be transformed to be like Jesus when he comes back. Live remembering that and you’ll honor God in your marriage.

Butler Cru Talk on Jesus' Power Over Lust - unedited

We’ve been doing a series called ‘The Jesus Way,’ looking at Jesus’ teachings in the sermon the mount in the Gospel of Matthew. I’m going to have my lovely wife come up to help describe Jesus’ new way of living with a drawing.

This is a timeline. It starts with Adam, the first human, and continues on. Adam – and all of his children – rebel against God. So this line is characterized by rebellion, not worshiping God, sin, the control of the devil. The Bible calls this realm the domain of darkness, the world, the flesh, or ‘this age.’

But 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to earth. He died as a substitute for everyone who would believe in him, came back to life, and now rules the world. He started what the Bible calls ‘the Kingdom of God.’ (new line above the old one) We enter into the Kingdom of God by trusting Jesus – and all those in Jesus’ Kingdom are forgiven for their sins and God has adopted them into his family. This timeline is the Kingdom of God. It’s characterized by forgiveness, living in obedience to Christ, eternal life, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the age to come.

It’s in this timeline that Jesus introduced a new way to live – a new ethic. Theologians call it ‘the ethics of the Kingdom’ - or – what does it look like to live in the Kingdom of God? The answer to that question is the passage that we’ve been looking at – Jesus teaching us how to live.

You can see here that if you are in God’s Kingdom, you live in two worlds. We live in an in-between time. But one day, when Jesus returns to earth, he will do away with this world – and all that will remain is his Kingdom and those in it, in a new heavens and new earth. (only the top line remains)

What we’re looking at tonight is Jesus and sex. How Jesus’ reign affects sexual ethics.

There are probably several different reactions in this room right now. Some of you are thinking, great, this is a boy talk, I can tune out. In some ways it will be; but, there are unique ways that women typically lust that are different, and we’ll be looking at those. Some of you might be thinking ‘awkward!’ - and maybe it will be, but God talked about it, so we will too. Some of you might be hoping for a magic bullet to defeat sexual sin in your life. That’s not going to happen – but I do think this passage will give you some hope in fighting sin. And some of you might be thinking – oh great, another talk about lust. I’m hoping that you’ll see something new from the Scriptures – and worship Jesus as a result.

But this is indeed a pertinent topic! I want to give you a few stats as we begin to show that from multiple surveys done on these topics: 38% of all adults believe it’s morally acceptable to view porn. 59% of all adults believe it’s morally acceptable to have sexual fantasies. 70% of Christians struggle with porn use. 50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women admitted to porn addiction. A vast majority of those surveyed – both men and women – married and unmarried – regularly masturbate. About 6% of men and 4% of women are attracted to people of the same gender.

As you can see – sex is a pertinent topic, and that’s why Jesus talked about it. Here’s where we’re going: first, we’re going to look at the sin of lust itself. Second, we’re going to look at the penalty for lust. And third, we’re going to look at Jesus’ power over lust. Open your bible if you have one to Matthew 5:27-30. I’m going to read that, and then we’re going to ask for God’s help.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” This is the word of the Lord. Pray with me.

Father, this is such a sobering topic – and something that I think most of us in this room wrestle with, feel guilt about, sometimes feel defeated by. Make your word clear to us today. Glorify Christ in this room so that we can glorify him in our lives. It’s because of his bloody death that we can ask you for these things – Amen.

First, let’s look at the sin of lust. Jesus said in vv 27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Where did they hear that adultery was wrong? God had given a moral law into the old world, to the Jews. When Jesus said, ‘but I say to you,’ he was asserting his authority – saying ‘I am King and am introducing the lifestyle appropriate to my Kingdom.’

Jesus pointed out that this sin has two parts – intent and enjoyment. He said, ‘everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent.’ We could also call these two parts seeking and longing, or looking and pleasure.

We’re going to think about the second first – the enjoyment part of this – the ‘with lustful intent’ part. Jesus’ calling this sin adultery means this: that this is enjoying someone in your thoughts in a way only suitable for their spouse. That could be longing for a relationship with that person that you don’t have. That could be sexual fantasy. It could be relational fantasy.

Why would enjoying someone that way be so bad? Two reasons.

First, he or she is not your spouse, and so in your heart, you’re breaking God’s commandment not to commit adultery. You’re wishing that you could have something God hasn’t given you – and therefore making yourself wiser than God. You know better.

Second, it’s wrong because that person typically becomes your god. God himself deserves to be the object of our desires – where we seek joy. He commands us, ‘delight yourself in the Lord,’ and ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and strength.’ And what often happens is you take a good thing – a relationship or sex – and you replace God with it. You REPLACE God.

That’s one part of this sin – the enjoyment phase. The other part is the intent, or the seeking of that enjoyment. Jesus said ‘everyone who looks.’ This is the seeking of the enjoyment that you can have.

This might include seeking porn, thinking about sex, not turning off the football game if you know you struggle with lust after the cheerleaders, watching other things on tv or movies that you know will give you sexual pleasure, tolerating conversations that result in lust, engaging in obsessive conversations about potential relationships, taking in tv or movies or magazines that result in longing for relationships you don’t have, several women I know have called bridal magazines emotional porn, looking for pictures on facebook to lust after, not averting your eyes from people you might lust after, obsessing about relationships which probably ends in talking incessantly about said relationships, falling asleep thinking about someone, waking up thinking about someone, doing things with a person you shouldn’t be doing, dating a person you shouldn’t be dating, going too far physically with someone, going as far as you can with someone without feeling bad as opposed to seeking to live according to what God wants, hanging out with someone that you know you shouldn’t date even though you’re essentially dating because it strokes your ego and gets you aroused…

And the seeking to lust can include many other things, some or many of which you do.

So we see that lust is two things – it’s intent and enjoyment, seeking and pleasure.

Second, let’s look at the penalty for lust. Jesus said in vv 28-29, “. And if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

The penalty for lust is hell. Does your eye cause you to sin? Your hand? No. What does? V. 28 says the lust is in your heart – which to an ancient Jew or Roman would’ve meant the core of your being – your soul. So what Jesus is saying is that if you lust, you earn hell. Seeking to enjoy someone you’re not married to in your head is worth being punished forever by God.

You have to take this seriously. I remember some guys joking about their sexual sin in an accountability group – a groupo where they were supposed to meet, confess, sin, and pray for each other –– ha ha, I screwed up again this week.

It’s NOT FUNNY. It is a heaven or hell issue.

Some of you take this subject lightly. You joke about it, think ‘well everyone else does it so it’s normal,’ your sin doesn’t bother you anymore, you think ‘well at least I’m not lusting after people of the same gender or at least I’m not addicted to porn or at least I’m not having sex in real life or whatever lie you tell yourself to make yourself sleep better at night.

Your fantasies and longings aren’t an insignificant matter of preference. This is a heaven and hell issue. The moment you start pining for someone or something with someone you earn damnation. The moment you choose to seek someone or something to long for that’s not within your marriage (which you don’t have) you earn hell forever.

But here’s the good news – that if you have decided to live your life for Jesus Christ as your Lord and King and God and Master – if you have decided to trust him for forgiveness rather than trying to convince yourself that you’re a good person, God the Father poured out all of his wrath against you on Jesus, God the Son in your place, for your sins – for your lust. And you stand forgiven forever before God.

And that’s our third point – how Jesus has power over lust. There are two ways.

First, he gets rid of the punishment we deserve. If we repent from our sins and trust in Jesus then God damned Jesus instead of you for your lust. Where do I get that? Because this text has a context – Jesus will soon tell his disciples that he will give his life as a ransom – or exchange – for many. He’ll give them a cup of wine and tell them that his blood will forgive many of their sins. And on the day when Jesus was crucified, he drank the cup of God’s wrath, and as all of God’s wrath fell on Jesus the sky went dark and the earth quaked and rocks shattered at the almighty and holy anger of God against sin – against your sin, as Jesus died in your place.

And this is so vitally important because some of you feel so much guilt over this issue. Don’t get me wrong – for those of you who aren’t taking this sin seriously, you need to feel the weight of the approaching fury of God over lust.

But some of you are genuinely seeking to follow Jesus – and you screw up. And you’re afraid God will punish you for it. You’re afraid you’re out of God’s favor. You’re afraid maybe you’re not a real Christian. You’re afraid God’s angry at you – that he won’t love you anymore. And you’re way too afraid to admit your sin to other people – there’s way too much shame.

Those of you who are feeling the weight of guilt and shame but who are truly following Jesus – this is true of you: Romans 5:8-9 – “God demonstrates his own love towards us in this – while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have been declared righteous through his blood.” Get this: God loved you while you were a sinner. God killed Jesus for you. And you have already been judged. The final judgment of the world has already happened in your case – when Jesus died in your place. There is no guilt you have before God, not now, not ever, because of his love, because of the death of Jesus.

So the first way Jesus has power over our lust problem is that he gets rid of our guilt. The second way Jesus has power over lust is this – he has cut out our hearts – the old part of us that was characterized by lusting, Jesus has killed in his death.

Romans 6:11 says this: “you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” In other words, when Christ died, if you’re in Christ through faith, you died. The part of you that belongs to this world died. It no longer has power over you. Your lustful heart is dead. And when Jesus rose from the dead, you were made alive. You now belong to the Kingdom. To the King. You love him, follow him, and respond to him – and he has given you the power to obey him. And the Bible calls that putting to death that which belongs to the old world.

In other words, the lustful part of you died in Jesus, you are given new life in Jesus, so kill the part of you that is acting like it belongs to the old world.

Here’s my point – some of you have struggled with lust and sexual sin, and you feel powerless. You feel like giving up. You need to hear this – the old you is dead, you are spiritually alive in Christ, and you can fight this sin, you can kill this sin.

And here’s a final charge to you –

-some of you may not have made a decision yet to follow Jesus, to learn to obey him. You are under God’s wrath. To you I would say, repent and believe in Jesus and you will receive forgiveness for all your sins – past, present, and future.

-all of us here struggle with sexual sin in different ways. We need to start admitting them to each other. Not to everyone. Find a few people. Your small group. Whatever. Begin to admit your struggles with each other.

-and our response has to be to help – to point people to Jesus – that he has done away with guilt and the power of sin over us – and that he is better than the pleasure gotten from disobeying him. We can give practical help, too – but any non-Christian can be disciplined to not look at porn or whatever. We need to help point each other to Jesus as the one who has defeated sin and death.