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See The Light Sermon Series: Light Up the Darkness Nate Harney Executive Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: John 12:12-26 Transcript Good morning church. My name is Nate. I'm the family pastor here Thanks for joining us here in the worship center and in the chapel and the family venue downstairs and online Just want to say welcome. We're so glad you're here. I look forward to studying God's Word with you. Young people these days don't know what is like Well growing up in the church. I remember preachers telling these Young people these days don't know what is like stories. You know, I'm talking about. I remember some of them. One of them that sticks out in my mind was when a preacher said, young people don't know what it's like to have to navigate on a road trip with just your spouse and a foldable map. And I don't know what that's like. And I don't think I want to know. I don't know. Maybe I'm just so used to the GPS stuff, but I don't think that would be good for my marriage. How about this one? I've heard this young people today. They don't know what it's like to not have a remote for your TV So to have your parents treat you as the remote Some of you know what I'm talking about Apparently you'd get sent to go change the channel yourself and adjust this thing called something called an antenna something like that No I know what that is but I didn't have that when I was growing up or this one really stuck out to me because I've heard it said young men, young husbands, young dads don't know what it's like, what it was like to have a baby and to not be a part of the process. You're not in the labor and delivery room, you're certainly part of the process, but you know the end process. Gotta be careful with my words here. The end process. I was told, so correct me if I'm wrong, but you'd wait out in a waiting room, any of you who had kids a long time ago and then you'd meet your kids through a glass window? Is this right? Is this ringing a bell for any of you? I thought that was just in the TV and movies. You know, I asked my grandpa about it. I said, is this really what it was? He said, yeah, that's how it was for me. And I felt so bad for him because that's such a meaningful and beautiful experience walking with your wife through that. And I was explaining that to him and he seemed like he didn't really miss out on too much. He seemed okay that he didn't have to be present for that. He didn't mind the whole glass window thing. Well, I want to fully embrace the circle of life today and I want to share with you my first ever young people don't know what it's like. Are you ready? Okay, here we go. So young people today, they don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night, a completely dark room and a dark house and have to navigate something, go to the bathroom go somewhere and not be able to just do this and lead and guide your way some of you know what I'm talking about unless you were really ahead of the curb and you got a flash right right there with you you probably know the dance of darkness that we've all done at some point where you're you know making your way and you know how to get to your bathroom but you're still worried you've hit your shin before and it's not going to happen again so you're doing the whole thing you finally find your way to where you're going. New Sermon Series Well this sermon series that we're launching into this morning, we are looking at the gospel of John and this picture that John and Jesus give us again and again and again, especially near the end of his life, that Jesus is the light of the world. And we don't shy away from here at Peace Church because the scripture doesn't shy away from the reality that we live in a dark world. Sometimes it feels like this is what life is like for us. We're just trying to make it one more step, one more day. We're trying to navigate our way through all this darkness we experience out in the world. And there might be some of you here today who you might not be a follower of Jesus and you might say, I don't know about this whole Jesus as a light stuff, but yeah, I mean, I can relate. Sometimes it feels like, man, it's just hard every day. Or for those of us who do follow Jesus, you might be saying, hey, I know Jesus lights up the darkness, but there's times in this dark, dark world where it just feels like I don't know exactly where I'm going, I don't know how to do this. You might think, how do I stand for the truth of God that I see and believe in in the scriptures when the world out there doesn't even believe truth exists? Or how do I show the love of God, the lavish love poured out that we learn about in the scriptures when so many people today they hear what is biblical love and culturally they've been trained to think of it as hateful bigotry. How do we navigate that? Or you might even be in a season of life like my wife and I are in where we're not just navigating life, but we got kids, we're trying to bring up the next generation and we go, man, it's dark out there. What are we gonna do? Well, in this sermon series, and especially this Holy Week, we are gonna be reminded by looking at God's word that Jesus lights up the darkness. And we are going to grapple, we're gonna wrestle with the harsh reality that it is getting pretty dark out there. But we are going to remember and be encouraged and refreshed by the truth that Jesus shows up in our lives just like he showed up in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday to light up our world. Today, what we're gonna especially be looking at on this special day, this Palm Sunday, we're going to remember that when Jesus showed up as a light in Jerusalem, he was showing up as King Jesus who came to defeat the darkness. So if you would, we're going to be in the Gospel of John, chapter 12, to start out today. If you could pull that up. Love, if you could follow it in your Bibles or if you have an app there, you can look it up. And where we're jumping into the life of Jesus, where you're turning right now, Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, so a buzz has started. There's a crowd that's starting to gather and follow him. And it only grows from there because Jesus sets his sight on Jerusalem and on the cross. That's where we're picking up. John 12:12-26 So would you read along with me this morning? 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” Some Greeks Seek Jesus 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Prayer Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning that you are the light of the world and that you showed up in Jerusalem as not just the king over all, but the king over our lives. Pray this morning you to illuminate your word to us so you can touch our hearts and transform us from the inside out. We love you, Jesus. We pray all this in your holy name, amen. So our main point for this morning, for this Palm Sunday, is Jesus wants us to see that he is King over all, is King over our lives. So we walk through this first portion of the scriptures, we're going to see the light just start to go on for these different groups of people, these crowds, the disciples, even the religious leaders of the day. And then we're going to look at what Jesus teaches after the triumphal entry and bring it home to look and evaluate our own lives and see if we're following Jesus the way he demands to be followed. So back to the text. If you're looking at verses 12 and 13, that's what we covered with the kids here. Well, remember the crowds are starting to gather and the lights just starting to go on because they're shouting out that Jesus is the King of Israel. Look at verse 12 again. "'The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast "'heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. "'So they took branches of palm trees "'and went out to meet Him, crying out, "'Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord even the king of Israel Now while the crowds were shouting that he was the king of Israel We know that many in these crowds didn't really understand fully what kind of King Jesus was going to be and what he was going to be doing on that trip to Jerusalem a lot of them would have envisioned a political or military leader to liberate them and Jesus liberated them but of something far greater than Roman rule and the different daily things that they battled. Jesus came to give his life on the cross for their sins and we know they didn't fully understand because just days later many of these same people, these same crowds, would change their cries from Hosanna to calls crucify him. The crowds didn't fully understand who Jesus was. But we look and see that the disciples didn't fully get it either. Look at verses 14 and 16. They're also not really understanding what kind of King Jesus is showing up to be. Verse 14 says, and Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just as it is written, fear not daughter of Zion, behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt." Listen to this, his disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. So these disciples are watching and Jesus asked to ride in on this donkey and said the traditional royal steed that a king would ride into town on, and Jesus is certainly being humble by riding a lowly donkey, but even more than that, he is intentionally fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. The prophecy that's mentioned right here that we find in Zechariah 9, 9 and 10. And just like the crowds didn't fully understand what was going on, these disciples didn't fully understand either. But here's the difference. Many, most of the disciples didn't end up turning their back on Jesus, even when they didn't understand. Because the crowds were curious. That's not a bad thing, that's a good thing. But the disciples took the next step and they were committed to Jesus. Now for us today, I know that for each one of us sitting here, there is a lot about God's word and there's a lot about God's ways that we don't fully understand. And can I tell especially the young people who are here right now, if you are waiting to fully understand Jesus to get to the point where you're willing to fully follow Him, you're gonna be waiting the rest of your life. You're gonna be waiting till it's too late. I know for me, I'm a pastor, but there are things that I just still I'm trying to figure out that I'm trying to understand. I I know probably the hardest thing historically Traditionally the hardest question that gets asked of Christians of the Christian faith is something that you would see in textbooks called the problem of evil And it just goes something like this It's just this philosophical question of if you guys really believe that God is totally good and he's completely powerful and He's all sovereign. He's in control of everything, then why would he allow evil to exist? If he's good, he shouldn't want it. If he's powerful and in control, then we shouldn't have to deal with it, right? It's a challenge to our faith, but it's a fair question. As a pastor, I've walked with a lot of Christians who have asked a similar question, but in a very different way. Because we don't always just approach these questions in textbooks and technically, philosophically, but I've heard it asked out of pain, personally, intimately, deeply. Questions like, how could God allow my son or my daughter to die? How could he let that happen? Or how could God allow me to have family and friends that don't end up coming to saving faith in Jesus. That I know where their eternity is, and I just can't even comprehend why God would allow this to happen. Can I tell you, whether you're approaching that philosophically or whether it's right in your face just personally, as you're experiencing terrible hardship. As I have studied this, as I have walked with people through their darkest valleys, can I tell you, I don't fully understand either. But what I do understand is that God is good, and he is powerful, and he is in control, and sadly, evil exists. The darkness is real. And we could talk about that at length and I actually really enjoy having that discussion. But the reason I bring this up today is just like the disciples and even like some of the members of the crowd that would go on to follow Jesus, we don't always have to think for myself that there's going to be a day someday when I see Jesus face to face where I'm going to understand a lot of this stuff even more. And I'm going to be able to thank him for giving me faith and sustaining me through the hardest time. And I don't want to be misunderstood here. We as Christians, we as the people of peace church, we love understanding. That's why we study God's Word, but we have faith first and then we seek that understanding This morning if you're a follower of Jesus Have you let your curiosity give way to full commitment? Disciples they recognized that Jesus was King even if they didn't put all the pieces together yet, and they stayed committed to them To him even when they didn't fully understand, but in our next section we're gonna see a whole nother group. We're gonna look at the Pharisees, these religious leaders. In verses 17 through 24, we learn what's going on in their lives. We see that this situation of Jesus entering Jerusalem, the King showing up on the scene, the light coming into the world is causing them tons of stress, tons of anxiety, because they have a grip on power and control in the religious world in that area and they are worried rightfully so that Jesus is about to overturn all that they've held on to so dearly. So in the first verses 17 and 18 we see that these crowds are following Jesus because the signs they've seen and the Pharisees are observing this and we actually know exactly what they say to each other here in verse 19 it tells us. Since the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after them. Because Jesus is clearly presenting himself as a king, he is threatening to overturn their power. And when they say the world is starting to go after him, they aren't wrong. Because in verse 20 and for the rest of our passage, we see that even the Greeks, even the non-Jews in the area, are seeking out Jesus and are asking questions and are trying to seek understanding about who he is. We need to remember that Jesus isn't just king of the Jews, but he is king over all. He is king over everyone. So from the very beginning before Jesus ever hung on a cross, before the grave was empty, he knew what he came for and he showed up in Jerusalem and he showed up in our lives as the light of the world because he wanted to be the Lord and Savior for all who would believe in him. It's been about seven years since my favorite Palm Sunday of all time. Jim's Story And every Holy Week, every Easter is great because Jesus, but this one in particular was made very special by this guy named Jim. And Jim lives in China. So you might be surprised that his name is Jim. That was the American name he went by. He said, I'm not going to make you guys try to pronounce my actual name. Call me Jim. So Jim showed up to the States. He was doing a doctorate program in neuroscience at the University of Stanford. He's the brightest guy I've ever met. Just crazy smart and totally no faith. But the reason why Jim and my paths ended up crossing is another person, this woman named Sandra. And Sandra went to Stanford and she went to our church. And Jim saw something in Sandra that he had never seen before. He was seeing just the authentic shining light of Jesus reflected in her daily life. And so he was asking Sandra questions about Jesus, about what drove her, about her faith. And she got to the point where she said, Hey, you're so curious. Can I just introduce you to one of my pastors? So Jim drove down and he met me and I was so excited to meet with him. We started talking all about it. And I just thought, how neat this guy from China who's, who had very little exposure to the gospel, this guy who's just a brainiac, who's, who's just kind of agnostic, no faith, he's just curious about Jesus. And so we're talking, we're talking, and it hit a certain point where Jim realized that I wasn't fully understanding what was going on. So he decided to explain to me. He said, oh, Nate, I'm not really, personally, I'm not really interested in Jesus. But the reason why I'm studying neuroscience is I'm hoping to be a lead voice, a lead developer in the movement to create artificial intelligence. At this point I'm thinking, where is this going right now? What is this conversation we're having? And he says, so whenever I meet someone that something really stands out, and Sandra is unlike anyone I've ever met, I try to figure out what drives her, what makes her tick, because I want to somehow try to build that into my future AI. So I'm like, you're trying to get me to share the gospel with robots, not with you? I'm trying to figure out what's going on here, right? It's weird. But Jim came back week after week after week, and we talked through all this stuff. I started to see it turn a little bit, where he was asking me technical questions and he was writing notes. But I started to see, he asked it from more of a personal perspective. seven years ago we were talking that night and I just felt that I led to tell Jim I could sense something was going on so I just said hey Jim told me to do something I told a lot of people to do so I challenge you to read the Gospel of John the whole thing I knew he could handle it he's crazy smart so I just said this week read the Gospel of John the middle week I got a call from Jim and he said so I read the gospel of John. I read it in English, and then I want to make sure I was understanding what I was reading, so I read it in Mandarin next. He said, I sat down and did all that. And the next thing he said, just still to this day blows my mind. He says, then I read it a third time, and I believed every word I read that third time. The Holy Spirit did something in Jim's heart and that Holy Week. He came back down from Stanford Stayed the weekend with me. We got him baptized He got to sit at the Lord's table to take communion with God's people on Good Friday for the first time And he celebrated that he has risen on Easter morning You want to know why the Pharisees were so terrified of Jesus showing up in town. It's because Jesus is the King overall. He is the King over everyone. Jesus is the king over our lives As we look at the last part of our passage, the words that Jesus shared with these Greeks and by extension that he shares with us today, I want us to just zoom into the fact that Jesus isn't just the king over all, He certainly is that, but He is the king over our lives. After saying this about Himself, in verse 24, if you're following along, Jesus says this, says, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus says this to us, whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will be my servant also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Jesus is king over our lives, and this is his message to us. If you're gonna follow me as the king of your life, then just as I did, you walk in the shadow of the cross and you follow me in sacrifice and you follow me in service. Now, as I was reading that for some of us in a modern audience, you might have heard Jesus just use the word hate, that you hate your own life and go, what in the world is going on there? I thought Jesus was all about love, right? Well, in Semitic communication, Hebrew, Aramaic, we often see this love-hate dichotomy used. And while today we use love and hate as kind of these visceral, absolute feelings, raw inside of us, in Jesus's time, this was a common idiom that they would use to communicate two fundamentally different perspectives. So Jesus is basically saying this, you have a choice. You either cling to your own life, you love your own life and try to make yourself king or queen of your own life, or you decide to release it all, to sacrifice to serve and to give it up to King Jesus and to all that he's doing in his kingdom. That's what he's challenging us with today. And it's sometimes easy to talk about these things very theoretically. I understand that. But I want us to get a little uncomfortable today as we just think through these categories of sacrifice and service through some very personal and practical perspectives. So first and foremost, when we see Jesus as King over our lives, we follow Him and His example of sacrifice. Now, we live in a time where our economy is kind of in the toilet, right? And so, a lot of us are thinking about money, we're talking about money, we're worrying about money, we're complaining about money, and there's some reality to that, to the darkness that we live in, but let's think through the two different perspectives we could approach this with. The perspective that Jesus is king over our lives, or the perspective that we love our own lives and we hang on to our own authority. If we approach our money with the perspective that this is my life and I'm in total control, you know what? We're going to be sad, we're going to be bitter, and we are not going to shine in this world. But if we remember that Jesus is the King over our lives, what can be seen as a scary and bad financial economy can instead be views through the lens of Jesus, through the lens of scripture, as an incredible spiritual opportunity. Because when it is darkest out there, we have the opportunity to shine the light of Jesus in the most special ways. If we cheerfully, sacrificially give all that we have, and I'm not just talking about saying we have open hands, but living like it, people will see that Jesus is King, and he's the light that's shown up in the darkness. In my life, my dad was a pastor as I was growing up and I primarily was at two different churches we were at and one was when I was younger, one when I was older, and God was doing some great work in both of those places, very similar to what we're experiencing right now here at Peace Church. And so as those communities of God were growing and seeds were being planted and the Holy Spirit was bringing fruit. We had seasons where we had to do capital campaigns and building projects just to contain all the people that God was bringing. And I remember both times that I went through that with my parents. My dad sat me and my brothers down and two different times he just wanted to let us know, hey I know it's not your money but I just want you guys to be aware, we're clear in our savings account, we're giving everything to the work of the Lord right now. Now I wanna be clear, my parents provided well for me, what all of my needs and even beyond that, but that first time I sat down when I was young, he explicitly said, and that includes the money we've been saving in your guys' college accounts, we just want you to know. And the later time, I was a little older, I was already almost through college, but he said, hey, I just wanna let you know because traditionally this would be the money that would be like the inheritance that we would leave you and we're just gonna just all give it to the work of the Lord. And can I tell you, both times, when I was young, when I was older, when I heard that, I was furious. I know I knew it wasn't my money, but it could be someday, right? And I know that we're not supposed to have the love of money drive us, but let's get real. We've got to pay for stuff. We've got to live in this crazy world, right? I've got to raise kids. And as I was studying this passage and remembering the sacrifice that Jesus gave and his call on our lives that if I your King sacrifice for you Then we better be sacrificing for his kingdom Just something broken me for the first time and I was able to call my parents and just say thank you so much For loving Jesus and being more passionate about building his kingdom than our families I've never been able to say that before, and I'm a pastor. But something special happened when I looked to the words of Jesus and just remembered how our lives are supposed to be just characterized by the sacrifice that Jesus gave for us. Now, I want to share one more. Let's talk about service, because when Jesus is king over our lives, we serve. One of the harder things in life is talking about money, but right along there is our precious time, right? We only have so much time, and we've got to utilize it well, we've got to budget it, we've got to prioritize well. So when Jesus calls us not just sacrifice all we have, but to serve with everything we are, it is a tall order for many of us. But verse 26, our last verse in this section here is pretty straightforward. Here's what Jesus says. He says, if anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. It's pretty straightforward here again. If the King over all and the King over our lives showed up as a servant for us, then we better be serving Him as well. So how are you doing right now? Just think about it to yourself. How are you doing at home? How are you doing here at the church? Where are you contributing here? How are you doing out in your community, in your neighborhood, at your workplace? When people look at you, do they see the perspective that you are the one in control of your life? Or do you say, see the light in the darkness that only shines through when we recognize that Jesus is King and we serve selflessly and sacrificially because that's what Jesus did for us? Mark a Neighbor and a Servant I wish I could tell you stories from my life about how I've served selflessly, but honestly, it's kind of something that I struggle with. But thankfully, I have an awesome next-door neighbor. His name is Mark. He loves Jesus, passionately follows him, and he lives the example of a servant after Jesus' own heart all the time. He's helped me at my house more times than I can count, and just throughout the neighborhood if somebody needs something, Mark's there. People see Jesus through Mark. But one day, he showed up at my house, and he asked me for some help and so I thought man I gotta serve Mark you know he does so much for everybody else so I start walking with him and we go the opposite direction of his house I realized what's going on he's tricked me into serving somebody else with him okay here we go so we walk to this house and it's a single mom in our neighborhood and the wind a gust of wind had just blown off a bunch of her siding and it was laying there on the side of her yard. Mark had already set up ladders and a system so that we could put it all back up for her. Can I tell you something? I had driven by and I had seen the siding there. And you know what I thought to myself, oh, poor her, that's the last thing she needs right now. But when Mark drove by, do you know what he thought to himself? It's time to go serve my king, right? That is the perspective that Jesus is calling us to have as we see him as a sacrificial servant, the King over all and the King over our lives, riding in Jerusalem, eyes set on the cross, ready for Good Friday, ready for Easter and the open grave. Now, I wanna end with this. There's been a lot of challenge here and I wanna be abundantly clear that we don't serve or we don't sacrifice Jesus to earn his love or certainly to earn his salvation. We know that that's given through the completed work of Jesus on the cross and in the open grave. But when we do understand Jesus, not fully, but when we're learning about him, we realize that when we follow the King over all and the King over our lives we start to look like him. We start to sacrifice and we start to serve and we start to be an example of light that lights up this dark world. Amen? Amen. Ending Prayer Would you stand with me as we pray? Heavenly Father, this morning as we've looked at your word, we just thank you for what we know is coming. We thank you for the cross, and we look forward to remembering that this Good Friday. We thank you and we celebrate the open grave. We can't wait for one week from today just to celebrate that you are risen God. But this Palm Sunday, I pray you'd be working right now by the power of your Holy Spirit in our hearts. Just help us reflect and evaluate to grow in ways where we reflect the light of Jesus in this dark world. God, throughout this Holy Week, throughout this series, pray you keep just bringing the light to our minds to see you as the light of the world. Light up the scriptures to us and light up our lives, God. We love you, Jesus. We pray all this in your Holy name, amen. We love you, Jesus. We pray all this in your holy name. We pray all this in your holy name. Amen.

The Lord Is Mine Sermon Series: Logan Bailey Family Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: Psalm 23 Transcript I am so glad to be here with you to read God's Word. Today we are looking at Psalm 23. So I'll let you turn there. It's often called the Pearl of the Psalms. But before we read Psalm 23, I wanted to just tell a quick story, the story of a woman named Jessica Hannah. After reading this woman's story, I immediately thought of Psalm 23. That's why I want to open with it. Psalm 23 is about the Lord being our shepherd and when I heard Jessica's story I thought this was someone that knew the Lord as her shepherd. In 2020 Jessica was 14 weeks pregnant with her fourth child when the doctors discovered stage 4 terminal breast cancer. As she sought treatment she refused the abortion. She said, abortion was not necessary at all. My prognosis did not change. My treatment plan did not change. And on May 31st, 2021, Jessica announced the birth of her fourth son, Thomas. Two weeks later, Jessica's scans showed no sign of cancer. She credited little Thomas with saving her life. Had she not been pregnant, she would not have found the cancer. On December 12th, 2022, Thomas was a year and a half old, Jessica's stage four cancer had returned and it was considered terminal. And at that time she said, in my life, as I look back, I praise God for the hard times because those were the times he called me closer to him. This past April, on April 6th, Jessica died peacefully, surrounded by her family, and her husband said that she suffered joyfully without fear. Her kids and her husband saw her as someone who suffered joyfully and without fear. And I am convicted by her confidence. Inspired by her confidence. Her confidence is, yes, a stark contrast to the world around us, but her confidence is a stark contrast I feel sometimes to me. I've suffered and gone through a lot less and complained a lot more. In terms of hardship, I've gone through a lot less and I have felt more hopeless. I want her sort of confidence, her sort of faith because that is what confidence is. The word confidence means with faith. Confidence is having faith, dependence, trust. I'm inspired by her faith. She knew who her God is. She knew who her God is. She knew him. She trusted him. She followed her shepherd, even when she went through the valley. So I want all of us, as we read Psalm 23 together, I want us to think of people like Jessica in our lives. I want us to think of people who know who their God is, that we are inspired by their level of faith and their good shepherd. Today's message is called, The Lord is Mine. And we will see from Psalm 23 that the Lord is my shepherd who leads me, my protector who is with me, and my Savior who loves me. If you haven't opened to Psalm 23 yet, I'm going to read it. And the reason we go to scripture is because in the Bible Jesus says, if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. That's why we go to scripture. And in Psalm 23, it says this, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.[a] 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness[b] for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord forever.[g] Let's pray Father we pray that you do speak through your word this morning. Jesus, remind us of your grace, remind us of your faithfulness, remind us of your goodness. Holy Spirit, please help us here and now and as we leave here to follow you as you guide us. Amen. Psalm 23, it's a psalm about his reliability. Psalm 23 is also probably the most well-known of the psalms. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid. There is an objective beauty to that possibility of confidence. Even though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, I will not be afraid. It's my favorite psalm. I know it holds a special place in many of your hearts as well. It was on your grandparents' wall. It was read at a funeral or at a wedding. This has been a powerful word for our church family and I'm right there with you. The peace of God is on display in these words. So I want to read it one more time. It's short enough, we can do that. And I want you to just breathe in the peace of God as this Psalm invites you to have further faith in our Lord, our shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies? You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord is my shepherd who leads me." We have here an analogy of a sheep and a shepherd. And many of us don't have a lot of interactions with sheep unless you do 4-H or you go to a petting zoo. But I think the psalm makes the image really clear and clear enough. We are needy people and we have a shepherd who gives us what we need. My wife and I just got into the chicken world. We've raised quail for a couple years now and we decided to upgrade to chickens and those birds would die if I did not feed them and give them water. I do, so they're alive and well. I remember to feed them and give them water and what they need, I do take care of them. And that's the whole point of this entire Psalm is that God knows what his sheep need. God knows, Psalm 23 is saying he does take care of his sheep. Notice the intimacy here. The Lord is my shepherd, not the world's. Mine. I know his voice. The Lord is mine. I am under his pastoral care, his rod and staff. They comfort me. And also notice who's doing the actions here. It's not the sheep. It's the shepherd. He makes, he restores, he leads. The shepherd's love is on display here for his sheep. He's at work. He makes. I love how the first verb here is such a powerful one. He's not suggesting things. He's not He makes me. It's sometimes good to be reminded that God's grace is not a shot in the dark. His grace is intentional divine providence. It brings results. He makes things happen in the world and in us. When God goes fishing, he's not chumming the water. He just tells the fish, get in the net, and they do. He makes things happen. When God wants to see a result, He makes the change happen. That's why we say things like, "'He is almighty, He is able,' and that is a grace to us, because what He's making us do is rest. He makes me lie down in green pastures." When we use that phrase, He makes me, we usually mean it as a complaint, we shift blame, right? He made me angry. She made me late. But I want you to think of it like this. Think of a good friend who is there for you in just the right way. He made me feel at ease. She made me happier. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Another thing the psalm is saying is that he restores. He restores. The good news this morning is so rich it might be hard to hear it. It's hard for me to say it as clear as it needs to be said. The Bible is saying that God is a God of restoration. And some of you are here this morning and you are in need of restoration. Hear the Word of the Lord. There is good news. You may not be able to hear it, but it's good all the same. It's true all the same. There is hope in Jesus. He filled the oceans with water. He can fill your soul with what it needs. He restores my soul. And also he leads. If you've been a Christian a while, you know, we are not just given insurance against hell, but we are led by Jesus into heaven. We're not just given insurance against hell, but we are led into heaven. He leads us through the difficulties of life in a sinful world and he leads us into the joys of life. Think of a shepherd leading a young flock into a new pasture. They're here, but they need to be there. So the shepherd is leading the flock there. And it's going to be a rough path sometimes. Through the woods, over the hills, through valleys, the wolves are lurking around the corner. The weather can sometimes be rough, but the shepherd is with the sheep. He's feeding them, he's protecting them, he's leading them, he's making sure they rest. And the sheep are cared for. That's what the Lord does for us. And we, as we are led by him, we become different people along the way. We become better people along the way. Jesus leads us and that means that Jesus changes us. We call it sanctification, being made new. He is changing us as he leads us, growing us into the type of people who belong on the new green pastures. In a in a fictional story written by C.S. Lewis Called the great divorce if you've read it already where I'm at It's a fictional story of a bunch of people who had not followed God therefore they were not changed by God They get to visit heaven so people from hell get to visit heaven and when they get there they hate it It seems awful to them the grass is not soft and comforting, but it's sharp. It's hard to stand on. It's unbearable Because they didn't belong there they refused to let God lead them and therefore change them But the people who had been following Jesus For those who had been led by Jesus and changed by Jesus to them. It was comforting It was vibrant But to them, it was comforting. It was vibrant. Jesus led them and made them into the type of people that aren't just able to stand on the grass of heaven but belong on it. Sanctified. That is the hope that we have in God's leading, that we would be sanctified in Him. who we were meant to be as he leads us and as we follow. This room right now could give story after story after story of how we have seen the word of God change people so drastically, we are still shocked by it. And some of you, you might be the person in the mirror you don't recognize because of the power of God's changing work in our lives. We've seen him lead and change our brother, our sister, our spouse, our coworker, our father, and it can take a while, but the shepherd hook of Jesus changes us. And God does it all, this text says, for his name is through flourishing sheep. He intends to make his name great by having a flock that is flourishing. God is our shepherd with a purpose in mind. He intends, God intends to have an amazing flock of sheep that are happy, content, and flourishing. They are two sides of the same coin. God is reminding creation how great his name is through flourishing sheep. Why do you do your job? Make money for security, because it's fun. I don't know. You all do your jobs for different reasons. God has a job. He's doing his job. Why does God do his job? To make his name great. So the greater the joy in heaven, the greater the name of God. Two sides, same coin. And that's what this Psalm is saying. If the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Because I know my eternity is secure. His reputation is on the line. My eternity is secure. His reputation is on the line. But is that true? Do we really lack nothing? I know a lot of Christians who have, seem to be in active need. We see a range of people inside, outside the church that have a range of stuff. Stuff you see, stuff you can't. We see people that are wealthy and people that are poor. We have high earners, low earners, socially successful people socially challenged, big house, just renting, lots of kids, childless, naturally optimistic, consistently depressed. There are many examples of genuine lack in our lives, whether Christian or not. But the psalm is saying, I could have nothing, and yet if I have Christ, I have everything. Our shepherd will provide what we need to flourish. So it's better to have Jesus than any other abundance. How can we be so confident in him? How can we have so much faith in him? How can we have so much assurance in him? How can you be so sure? Because we know the stakes. We know his reputation's on the line. It says, for his name's sake. So who is this up to, him? Who's doing this, he is. We can have assurance in the promise that no matter what we might feel like we are missing, our eternal security is guaranteed by our shepherd. He intends to bless his sheep into eternity. He died for his sheep. I think he takes our eternal joy pretty seriously. So Psalm 23 kicks off by describing the actions of the Lord and the actions of a good shepherd, he leads, he restores, and the trust and faith of the sheep. So Psalm 23 teaches us to say this, the Lord is my shepherd who leads me. I will rely on him. I will depend on him. I will follow him. And I will trust that he is taking me down the best path for my eternal joy in his glory, no matter how hard it gets. You have a God who is attentive to your needs, leading you for his glory and your joy. Believe the good news, no matter how much bad news, like wolves, you're surrounded by. If the Lord is your shepherd, you lack nothing. The Lord is my protector who is with me. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. This is the poetic core of the psalm, one of the most beautiful lines in all of scripture. And here's the question, if our God is attentive to our needs, then why am I going through suffering? And this is where the Psalm reminds us of what life is truly like. The Psalms do that. They remind us of what life is truly like. And this Psalm here is reminding us of how good God really is to us. God is not abandoning us in our suffering. Instead, he is walking with us through it. Just like he did on the cross, he is taking you through it to the other side where he promises not only to make you more holy, more like him, more as you're meant to be, but also he's going to take away the sin of the whole world and make the whole world as it was meant to be. That's what eternity looks like. The world as we know it without the sin. The vision for eternity is a creation redeemed from sin. He is not abandoning us to sin and sorrow, but he is walking with us through it. And on the other side is a sanctified you and a sanctified creation. God is attentive to our needs, so he isn't leaving us alone in sin, but he is conquering sin in us. We do not overcome our sins or our fears by minimizing them. We do not overcome our fears by minimizing them. We overcome our fears by realizing the greater power that is at work for his namesake and our joy. We overcome our fears and our sin by remembering our protector. So we too can suffer joyfully and without fear if we know the one who is walking with us, a good shepherd, a savior, a good God. One time I was at my house, I was a young boy at the time, and there was a terrible storm. And my father and I were in the living room and lightning struck the house, or the field next door, the house. Lightning struck near the house and it was one of the loudest things I had ever heard, the house shook, my heart raced, I was terrified. And my dad noticed. And he said, son, it's okay. And for a second, I thought, maybe it's okay. Because my dad is with me. The terror of 300 million volts splitting my ears in an instant was calmed by the whisper of my father and my heavenly father is always with me that should make the difference for me no matter my circumstances fear not I am with you even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death even if we have every reason to be afraid. As long as our protector shepherd is with us we can suffer joyfully without fear. The Lord is my Savior who loves me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So verses five and six kind of give us this new metaphor, the Lord as a host, a banquet, we're guests, but it's also a continuation of the shepherd metaphor because shepherds feed their flock. The Lord, it says the Lord is preparing. You prepare. God is doing something. God is preparing a place for us who have been saved by Jesus. For those in Christ, no matter how dark it gets, there is joy in the morning of our eternity. He is preparing a place for us in the presence of my enemies. The enemies are at the door. They're looking in the window. They're ready to cause destruction, and yet God isn't grabbing his shotgun, he's preparing a table, because his promises aren't at risk. There's actually no threat to his love, he is prepared. He isn't caught off guard by our sorrows. The preparations for our flourishing are seen on the cross of Christ, in the empty tomb where Jesus chose to go through the suffering on our behalf to get to the other side, to get us to the other side. He has begun a good work and he will complete it. And this is what we're offered by our shepherd. This is what we're offered by our Savior and our God to be led, to be protected, to have a promise to hold onto, to be chosen as his, to be welcomed as his, as we also say, the Lord is mine. Christ is our shepherd, our protector, and our savior. And that is consequential. It means something. It changes things. Our eternal flourishing is inevitable. It's guaranteed because he will see to it. That changes our eternity. And if it changes our eternity, it should change our every day. The Lord is your shepherd. That should affect your day. He is yours, you are his. If it changes your eternity, it should affect your day. And if it doesn't affect your day, every day. You're either forgetting or you're not actually following him. Here's the point of it all. The shepherding, the protecting, the saving, the leading, the preparing, the anointing, the restoring, the goodness, the mercy, the love. This is the point of it all, that we would have confidence in our God, no matter the suffering or the fear. That we would have confidence in our God, no matter the suffering or the fear. This is why we point to God's love all the time, because his love changes things. His love is not an arbitrary emotion or wishful thinking. The love of God is tangible, it is an action, it is a promise. He came to us, traveling from heaven to earth, becoming one of us so we could take our place on the cross. Those are not emotions, those are actions. They're not just emotions. The love of a shepherd changes everything for the sheep because the shepherd's actions toward them and for them. The love of God is not arbitrary emotion, it's not wishful thinking. The love of God is an action. It's something that He does. It's something that changes us and I think of mark 10 we could go in so many different places in scripture But I think specifically of mark 10 there's this iconic moment where Jesus is before this giant crowd and It stops him in his place and it says he has he had great compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd He didn't stop at the compassion. He then goes on to teach them, and he feeds them in a way only God can. He begins to shepherd them. The crowd was without a shepherd, and then Jesus came to be their shepherd. It changed their lives. Do we wake up every day knowing and trusting that our shepherd is at work. It's not just thinking well of us. He doesn't just say, I think well of you as if it's some arbitrary emotion, but he promises to care for us and he's at work in our lives. Psalm 23 is an invitation for you to deepen your trust in your shepherd. This Psalm is an invitation to deepen your trust in your God. Trusting God changes how you worship. Trusting God changes how you read your Bible, your Bible habits, your prayer habits. Trusting God changes your marriage. Trusting God changes how you keep moving on after that great loss. Trusting God changes how you view the pain that you thought you couldn't manage. Trusting God changes the way you view that fear that used to cripple you. Trusting God, whatever it is, would you believe that there is good enough news that can change not just your eternity, but your day, every day. You can leave this building with confidence and joy and peace no matter what we're going through because the Lord is your shepherd. I know a young adult who served at camp as a leader this past summer, and he overheard a conversation that one of his cabin boys was having with the other boys. And he overheard this moment of vulnerability where the camper said to them, he was just expressing his fears in life. And he said, I just hope God will forgive me. And that leader pulled that kid aside and said, you just told everyone that you hope God will forgive you. Can I tell you some really good news. Do you know that good news That the Lord does love us That Jesus has done the work to forgive us that he is still working on our behalf for his glory and our joy Repent from putting all your trust in something else repent from putting all your trust in money repent from putting all your trust in money. Repent from putting your trust in anything but Jesus. Your job won't get you into heaven. Your spouse can't give your life meaning. Your wishful thinking can't stop sin and death. If you have a shepherd in anything other than Jesus, then you lack. If you have a shepherd in anything other than Jesus, then you are in great need. Because Jesus is the only one who can save you. He's the only one worthy of being your shepherd. And he can be. Guiding you, protecting you, restoring you, setting a vision, giving your life purpose, leading you into eternal joy forever and every day. If the Lord is your shepherd, you lack nothing. And nothing can change that. I want to end with this final encouragement from Romans 8, keeping in mind the faith that Psalm 23 is inviting us to, keeping in mind that the love of God is promise and action. Romans 8. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us. He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised and who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray.

The Light Shines in the Darkness Sermon Series: Light Up the Darkness Ryan DB Kimmel Lead Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: John 20:5-18 Transcript Today, this day, today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, you know, I heard you singing. You're a lot louder than this. So I'm gonna give you one more chance to do, to do something here. And I know that maybe you got prepped for this, but we'll see. He is risen. Yeah, yeah, pretty good. Yeah, we'll come back to that. We'll see if you still got the energy later on. So for me, I grew up around here. I was born and raised, I've spent 90% of my adult life in this area from Middleville, Wayland, Caledonia. These are the roads that I grew up driving and going down. And one thing I can tell you about growing up in an area and staying there is that over time you see things change. You see the landscape change. And there's something, it seems like I've noticed this year in particular that's changed. And maybe it's been changing for a while, but for some reason it just feels like this year in particular I've really noticed this. And yes, I'm nostalgic, and so I get sad about this, but I'm willing to bet when you find out what I'm talking about, too I think part of your heart might be pricked as well The thing that I've noticed that seems like it's changing a lot this year in particular Is the number of old barns that are beginning to fall down? Have you noticed that Like this is the one across the street here from Peace Church Now I've been at Peace Church for 10 years and I take that way here to work every day. And for 10 years I've seen that barn once stand strong, now not stand at all. And as you drive around, I think you see this everywhere, like here's another one. Or here's one just right up the road here from Peace Church. And this next barn is completely gone. You see a mound there that was built for the entrance of the barn and what is particularly hard about that one for me is the barn that once stood there was the barn that I grew up playing in as a little boy. That's my childhood home. And the barn is completely gone. And yeah, I'm nostalgic. But here's the thing I'm going to say. Let me first say this. I'm not criticizing the people who own these barns. This is simply the passage of time. But these barns falling down for me is not just sad, but it's symbolic in many ways. I think what we're seeing in our world is the good old days are gone and a new way of life is emerging. But we have to ask ourselves, is the new life, is the new way that's emerging, is it better? See, these barns falling down makes me wonder, is there anything good that lasts in this world? Is there anything that actually stands the test of time? So let's just move from barns to talk about our lives and our culture for a moment. As things change, how can we ensure that what emerges is better than what we're letting go of. Where can we secure hope that we can trust the future with? Where can we secure ourselves to something that will stand the test of time? Where is that hope? Is there any principles out there that would help guide us into a better future? Is there anything that we can rely on? When things seem to be going in the wrong direction like I think so many things are, when things seem to be getting so dark, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? And what I'm here to tell you is the answer is yes. There is a light. But listen to me. This light is not found in a philosophy. It's not found in a government or either side of the aisle. It is not found in an institution. It's not even found in a grassroots movement from the next generation. The light that we can hope and cling our hope to is found in a historical event. It's found in the resurrection of Jesus' closest followers was this guy named John, and he said something that I think has to do with the test of time, and it's actually going to be our main point here for today. He said, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Christians, that's our hope. Are things dark? Yes, but there is a light that shines, and the darkness has not overcome it. People whatever darkness is out there, it cannot overcome this simple truth that God so loved the world that he sent his son to die on a cross in our place for our sins and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have not just life but flourishing life and eternal life and this is guaranteed because he is risen indeed. Amen. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the light that shines in the darkness. Please if you would turn to John chapter 20. We're going to spend a few moments in verses 5 to 18 today. As you're turning there, let me just lay some context for you. So Jesus Christ has come into this world in hope, in love, in grace, in truth, in authority. He was the light. He was the light of the world But then the unthinkable happens He was killed and his light was extinguished Through a rated-r level torture Jesus faced the most shameful death imaginable. He was scourged and then nailed to a cross where he died and listen to me I know we're on this side of the resurrection, but you have to remember for those disciples when Jesus died They thought that their hope had died with him. When Jesus died, like barns falling down, his followers' hearts had dropped and they thought the good old days are done. There's nothing good that lasts. It's all over. And then, on the third day, some women went to the tomb where Jesus had been laying. And when they got there, they found that the tomb was empty. And they didn't know what was going on. So Mary Magdalene, one of the women, she ran to go tell the disciples this. And when Peter and John heard this, Peter and John ran back. Now, John was a younger man, so he outran Peter and got there first. And we're going to pick up in our passage as John is entering the tomb. So with that, would you hear the word of the Lord? John chapter 20. We'll start at verse five and go to verse 18. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. Amen. This is God's word. Let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray. Father God in heaven above, today we celebrate the most important day to date in all of history. The day that our savior rose from the dead. The day that death was defeated. The day that hope was made secure, the day that proved promises true. Today is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Help us all to come to know the reality, the beauty, and the power of this fact. We pray these things in the name of the Father, the name of the risen Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, we pray these things. And everyone said amen. So if you look to this world and you see Darkness, if you see something wrong, I want you to understand the g that the bible speaks right to this If you see darkness, you need to understand the bible says something profound. It says the light shines in the darkness of this world And as we talk about the light shining There's a few things from our past that we're going to pick up. First one is this, the light shines on the evidence. Second thing we're going to see is the light shines to those willing to look. Third thing we're going to see is the light shines through those who have seen the light. So first thing, the light shines on the evidence for the resurrection. Now the Bible is a very unique holy book among the world's top religions. The Bible says something very, very interesting about the Christian faith. The Bible tells us that the entire Christian faith rests on the resurrection. That's an enormously bold claim for a religious book. First Corinthians 15, 14 says this, "If Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." The Bible itself is saying that if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead then we all are wasting our time If Jesus did not rise from the dead and let's just skip this portion of the morning and get right to baskets and brunch But Because Christ did rise from the dead, this makes this the most important thing we can be doing right now. Getting together to celebrate and worship and lift up this historical fact. When we talk about the resurrection, it's interesting because so many Christians are so very weak at being able to defend the very thing that makes or breaks our faith. But when we talk about the resurrection, we're talking about something that physically, actually, literally happened. And the light shines on the evidence that this did happen. Let me give you three points of evidence here this morning. I wanted to do 10, but our team said, no, you should probably only do three. So because I love you guys, we're just going to do three this morning. We can talk about the other ones later. But three points of evidence for the resurrection. The empty tomb The first one is this, the empty tomb. Aside from the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus himself. This is the most important piece of historical evidence Let's talk about this for a second. I don't know where you are in terms of faith. But here's what I can tell you there is no serious historian Christian or non-christian who denied that Jesus was both a real person and that he was actually killed on a Roman cross. This is taken as historical fact. And there's no resurrection of Jesus if Jesus wasn't dead. Jesus Christ was killed on a Roman cross, which by the way, historically speaking, had a 100% kill rate. There is no record ever anywhere of anyone surviving a Roman crucifixion. Jesus was killed on that cross and then his body was laid in a tomb, dead. And then when it was legally permissible, a few days later, some women went to the tomb where of cleaning up Jesus' beaten, mutilated, dead body. But when they got there, the tomb was empty. The cloths that he was wrapped in were lying there, but the tomb was empty. And even the opponents of Jesus tried to make up a story as to why the body was missing. All accounts that we have for the resurrection say something interesting. They all say that it was women who were the first to the tomb and women to first make this announcement that Jesus had been risen from the dead. But you need to understand something about this. This was from a time and a culture that did not see a woman's testimony as valid. A woman's testimony wouldn't have been held up in legal court. And yet all of the Gospels attribute women as the first to announce that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Why? Why during a time in the culture did the Gospels hang the thing that hangs our faith upon the testimony of women when their testimony wasn't seen as valid? I'll tell you why. Because it must have been true. It must have been actually how it actually happens, that Jesus rose from the dead. Lack of time to establish a myth Which leads to the second thing, just the lack of time that we have to establish a myth. Simply put, the time between the death of Christ and the first accounts of His resurrection, both verbal and written, leaves no time for myth to develop. No sources during that time argue the fact that Christians believe that Christ rose from the dead. They all point to that. We have Roman letters stating this. Josephus, the Jewish historian, records this. There are no early historical documents or contemporary documents from that time that refute this. That Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that Christians believe this happened. All the documentation that we have, the earliest documentation from that, comes from within that generation meaning 20 to 40 years after Jesus rose from the dead and listen to me historically speaking that's immediately simply put there's no time for myth to develop and add to that none of the early documents none of the early account of the resurrection embellish the story with extravagant language which is what historians normally look for to determine if something's a myth. It's actually pretty underwhelming and under remarkable how the Bible talks about the resurrection of Jesus It doesn't embellish it. It doesn't use extravagant language. It just kind of tells us what happened Why because you have to remember that the Gospels record the resurrection of Jesus. They're simply relaying eyewitness testimony of something that actually happened. And not just something that happened But something that led people to give their lives for this. They all gave up their life for this. Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross. This is undisputed. And yet all of his followers, all of his disciples were martyred for their belief in Jesus. All minus John, by the way. He actually did live into his old age, but we have tremendous amounts of numerous accounts of him being tortured throughout his life and surviving those tortures. They were all either tortured or killed. But some of you might say, wait a second, hold on here. Other people are martyred for their religion. Does that prove and validate their faith, their religion? No, no, and here's the key difference. Those other martyrs, they die for ideals taught by someone they know and claim to be dead. But the disciples died, listen to me, not for just a set of ideals. They didn't die just for religion. They died for a man. A man that they said rose from the dead, and they encountered after he rose from the dead. They all knew Jesus died, and yet they died for him. Listen, no one dies for what they know to be a lie. We die for what we know to be true. If Jesus, if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, his movement should have ended like so many throughout history. But it didn't. Not only did it spread, it rapidly spread. This Jesus movement rapidly expanded throughout the world, not because a good man was martyred and that's an inspiring story. The spark that ignited this rapid expansion of the Christian faith was the resurrection of Jesus. That this man who was killed walked out of his grave. That is what sparked Christianity and the light shines on the evidence that this did happen. Jesus Christ died on Friday, April 1st, in the year 33 AD. And then, on the most important day in history, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, April 3rd, in the year 33 AD. And because of this historical fact, the light shines in the darkness. Because of this historical fact, we actually have true hope. Because of this historical fact, we can believe in a love beyond a cultural context. Because this actually happened in history. history, but the question remains, do you believe this? A movie came out in late 2021. Now we were still kind of emerging out of COVID during that time. And so this movie kind of flew under the radar, but this movie came out in 2021 and it dealt with the concept of what is real. See, this movie was based around this, this tension about whether or not we are living in the real world or if we're living in a computer-based simulation run by AI machines. And the reality for this movie was that people were actually living in a computer-based simulation run by evil artificial intelligence. But people didn't know this. But the AI machines that were enslaving humanity in this simulation, they realize something about humans. That people ultimately don't care if it's real or simulation. And a conversation happened in the movie that I want to share with you that I thought was just remarkable. So the antagonist, the bad guy, the bad AI machine, was having a conversation with the protagonist, the good guy who was trying to free everyone. And I think what this machine tells this person is so true. He said this, it said this. Humans don't care about facts. It's all about fiction. The only world that matters to them is the one in their head. And you people believe the craziest things. Why? What and makes your fictions real? Feelings. And that came from Hollywood, by the way. Here's what this means for Easter. For so many people, it does not matter the amount of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus I can place before you. For 90% of the people out there, truth and facts don't matter. What matters to them is their feelings on the matter. Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead. The overwhelming historical evidence is undisputed for this. But for so many people, they still say, so what? And then they turn to what they feel about the matter. And you must believe this for yourself. Because the light shines on the evidence, but also the light shines to those willing to look. So back to our Bible, let's go back to our story. The disciples saw the empty tomb. Okay. Peter and John, they rush in, they see his clothes lying there empty. The tomb is empty. And then look what the Bible says. Then the disciples went back to their homes. They looked upon the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, and then they went home. So many people, that is exactly what happens. You're presented with truth, you're presented with facts, you're presented with history, you see the evidence before you, and then you just go home. But not Mary. But not Mary. Look at verse 11. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). The disciples missed this. They just missed this. They missed this because they went home. They were like, wow, yeah, tomb's empty. His clothes are laying right there, but we got to get lunch ready. The in-laws are Yeah, the tomb's empty. That's kind of weird, but we got to make sure the kids get home in time to open up their baskets. They were like, yeah, the tomb's empty, but we got better things to do. The game is on. We got to get brunch ready. But Mary stayed, but Mary stayed and she went back into the tomb, listen to me, she kept looking and Jesus found her. She looked for herself and Jesus found her. I think so many people, which is so sad in this world, I think so many people get their understanding of Jesus and Christianity from critical, uncharitable and cynical voices online. So many people get their perception of Christianity from memes on social media and they don't have the wits to look past that or to see the propaganda for themselves, they won't look past that and look for themselves. Or maybe, which even breaks my heart more, people had bad experiences from church and that's turned them off to the reality of Jesus Christ. So here's what I'm going to say to you. Here's what I'm pleading with you. See for yourself. Look for yourself. Look past the jargon of our world. Look past the cynicism of our world and look for yourself. The disciples saw the evidence and they went home but Mary stood. She wept and she didn't move past the moment. She went into that tomb to see. I love this line. But Mary, but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept through her own tears, she looked for herself, and she went into the tomb. Mary kept looking, and Jesus appeared to her, because the light shines to those willing to look. I can put all the evidence before you, but some of you just simply don't care, or you simply don't want it to be true. But for those of you with an open heart who are willing to seek the truth, the light is there. Mary stood in that darkened tomb, and listen to me, this is such a prophetic spiritual picture. Don't move past this. Mary stood in that tomb looking into the dark, but Christ called her name. And so what does she do? She turned from the darkness and she answered Jesus and she turned towards him and she saw the light. That is a picture of our lives and our salvation. We all stand looking into the darkness of this world, into the blackness of our own soul, into our own sin and the depths of despair. But Jesus stands and calls our name. And all we do is turn from that darkness. We repent from our sin and turn towards Christ. And then we see the light, and that is salvation. When the disciples only saw an empty tomb, they just went home. But when the disciples encountered the resurrected Jesus, they willingly went to their deaths for Him. The light shines through those who have seen the light This shows us the last thing, that the light shines through those who have seen the light. So Mary freaks out. She sees Jesus. She freaks out. She runs to give him a hug and Jesus is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down Mary. Hold on. Don't hold on to me just yet. Listen, I've got something to do, you've got something to do, we've got something to do. So right now you need to go tell the disciples that I'm alive. And then Jesus. Jesus, the Savior of the world in the most profound moment in all of human history, Jesus gives her, Mary Magdalene, a woman with such a dark past, with her eyes wet with tears, makeup running down her face, he gives her the honor of being the very first to announce that he is risen. So Mary went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. She had seen the light and Jesus is telling her, now that you've seen the light you have the light now. It's time to shine the light because the light shines through those who have seen the light and the light is Jesus Christ and the darkness cannot overcome him. The religious leaders could not silence him the Roman Empire couldn't stop him The devil himself couldn't distract him, and death itself could not hold him back. This is our king. See, we all have sin in our lives, and this sin, we all know it. It's the things that we do that we know we shouldn't do. And that sin isn't in any innocent thing. That sin makes us stand condemned rightly before God, worthy of death, worthy of eternal separation from God. And that punishment we all deserve, that's the reason that Jesus Christ went to the cross, so that He would pay it on our behalf, so that we wouldn't have to. He stood in our place taking our punishments, so that we could have life, so that His light, His life, could be in us. And with that light we have eternal life with that light we have restoration and a relationship with God. That very same relationship that sin has broken. Wherever you are. Wherever you are in your belief, whether you are a hardened atheist or you are a hard Christian wherever you are. I Believe God has sent me here to tell you this. He wants you back. And he went at the most extreme lengths to get you back. He sent his son to pay a debt that you could never pay, out of love to draw you back to himself. God wants you back. And I believe he's calling to you now, just as Christ called to Mary, I believe in the most profound love there is, God is calling to you. He is calling to you to turn from your sin, to have freedom from guilt, freedom from shame, freedom from your past, freedom that only comes through Jesus Christ. Friends, the Bible makes it real clear, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you are saved. That's your theological test. You confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. So let today be the day of salvation for you. Whether you're coming to Christ for the first time or you're coming back to Him, let today be the day that you find your home in the one that truly, truly loves you. The truth is, everyone here, right now, is making a decision about Christ. You're either going to look upon the empty tomb and go home, or you're going to answer the call of Christ on your name. It's one of those options. Everyone here is making a decision for Christ. So here's what I'd say. We're about to worship, and if you are a Christian who loves the Lord, and you're walking with the Lord, then I am saying right now, let the Spirit fill you so that as we sing, the worship rises to heaven, and it's so deep that it sinks and shakes the gates of hell. If it's time for you to turn from the darkness and turn to the one that truly loves you, if it's time to repent and place your faith in Christ during our next song or after the next song. We're going to have people in this room wanting to pray with you and talk with you and love you and care for you. Whether you're doing that for the first time or maybe there's some of you that you've strayed and you just happened to walk into these doors, someone's wanting to pray with you. We are a church that wants to love you and walk alongside you. So we're going to spend a few moments in worship. And again, if you have claimed the name of Christ and you are saved, so let heaven and hell know it by the way you sing. Amen. Would you please stand? If you are part of the team that's going to be praying, you can make your way over there now. If you want prayer, either to receive Christ, to come back to Christ, or maybe there's just something going on in your life or someone else's life and you want to pray over that, we've got a prayer team ready for you. But for those who are going to stay, let's bow our heads. Let's prepare our hearts for worship. Father, we come before you. Lord, as we think about these barns all falling down, Lord, we know that it's just reminiscent of our world falling apart. And Lord, you are the only one that can save it. So, Father, I pray here and now, Lord, that all of us would turn from the darkness and we would turn towards Christ. Lord, I pray by the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, you'd fill this place. You'd fill the chapel, you'd fill the venue, you'd fill this place. You'd fill your people, Lord, that we would sing and our voices would rise to heaven and we'd sing so deep it shakes the gates of hell. Because our King is alive. Father I pray for those who are seeking prayer. Father I pray that you meet them exactly where they are. Father thank you for them. Thank you Lord for what you've done for us on the cross. Oh praise the name of Jesus. Father fill this place by the power of your spirit that we may worship our risen Savior, your Son. And it's in His name we pray these things. And everyone said very loudly, Amen. And everyone said very loudly, Amen. very loudly, Amen.

We Villainize the Villains: Mistake #3 in Teaching the Bible Ministry Shannon Popkin Author & Podcast Host Live Like It's True Podcast Published On: January 18, 2024 Perhaps because Christians know that the Bible is where we find out exactly what is wrong or sinful, we tend to look down on the “bad” people in the Bible, rather than identify with them. We Bible teachers do this particularly well. It’s as if we—those standing in front of a group (of women in my case) holding our Bibles, pointing to a particular verse—are standing on some elevated platform as judge of the one whose sinfulness is smeared across the page. But we aren’t the judge; God is. And our teaching should invite others to bow before Him, not stand in judgment beside Him. When we—Bible teachers and leaders—take pride in wrinkling our noses at sin, we demonstrate an arrogance that mirrors some of the greatest villains in the Bible. Can you think of anyone more villainous than the Pharisees and religious leaders who plotted to murder Jesus? That was the crime of all crimes. Yet think of how they looked down their noses at other “sinners” while ignoring their own sin! As with the Pharisees, it’s impossible to participate in finger-pointing disgust without elevating ourselves. And elevating ourselves will not prove helpful for our own hearts or for the hearts of those we’re sharing Truth with. Instead of looking down on them, it’s far more constructive to help our listeners find common ground with the sinful people of the Bible. Rather than villainizing the villains, let’s put ourselves next to the biblical figure behaving badly, and ask, “Where do I do that?” Here are two examples: Example 1: A whiny king (1 Kings 21) King Ahab wanted the vineyard next door to the palace so he could plant a vegetable garden. But Naboth, the vineyard’s owner, refused. The land had history. It had been in his family for generations. It didn’t matter to Naboth that the king offered him a better vineyard or a large sum of money; to Naboth, this vineyard had no price tag. Upon hearing “no,” Ahab went home and sulked like a toddler. He lay in bed, refusing to eat. His wife came in and asked why he was upset. And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ( 1 Kings 21:6 ) If you read the words of Ahab out loud, do you want to use your whiniest voice? I do. I want to paint Ahab like a whiny, entitled brat. Yet, doing so is not constructive. It exempts me from the text, rather than opening my heart to its message. Far more helpful—both for me and the women I teach—is to ask, “Is there ever a time that I act like Ahab?” Perhaps I pout when I don’t get my way. Or I storm off when somebody doesn’t give me what I want. I retreat to my room, where I sulk and stew. I recruit supporters by telling my version of the story—just like Ahab did. It’s far better to put myself next to Ahab than to villainize and look down on him. As I open my Bible, I can either look for a villain to criticize or a mistake to avoid. Either way, I’ll be sure to find it. Example 2: The hypocritical leaders (Matt. 6:1–18) When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He didn’t call out the Pharisees and religious leaders by name. Still, everybody knew who He was talking about when He mentioned the “hypocrites,” especially when they heard the three examples Jesus gave: When you give, don’t blow a trumpet to announce it. ( Matt. 6:2 ) When you pray, don’t do so loudly on a street corner. ( Matt. 6:5 ) When you fast, don’t take extra measures to look really awful. ( Matt. 6:16 ) Here’s how I’m tempted to teach that passage: Blow a trumpet? You’ve got to be kidding me. Pray loudly on the corner of Broad and Main? Come on . Walk around looking haggard and gloomy to seem super spiritual? Good grief. Obviously these religious leaders were feeling a little needy, right? They wanted all eyes on them, and craved constant approval. It’s not helpful for me to put myself in some elevated position, standing in judgment over these Pharisees’ hypocrisy—or to invite the women I’m teaching to do the same. Why? Because our churches are filled with people who do the same things and our hypocrisy is far more serious than we might expect. Think of the religious leaders Jesus was warning. They were so invested in being admired and seen that they misinterpreted who Jesus was and why He had come. Instead of welcoming Him as their Messiah, they plotted against Him—the one everyone was looking at instead—perceiving Him as a threat. Rather than collapsing at His feet in repentance, they schemed to have Him nailed to a cross. Again, it’s tempting to think of them as the villains of all villains. But when we point with disgust at their trumpets and street prayers and haggard-faced fasting, we place ourselves above the Pharisees, not among them. We see ourselves as immune to their hypocrisy and pride, not prone to it. We look down on their hearts rather than examining our own. It’s far more constructive—as I counsel my own heart and the women I’m called to teach—to ask, “When do I act like these Pharisees?” Are there times I want everyone to look at me more than I want them to look at Jesus? Do I crave approval and attention—trumpeting the gifts I’ve generously given? Do I pray with flowery language and excessive wordiness, rather than from the heart? Do I call attention to how exhausted I am because of my devotion to church ministry? It’s better to place myself next to the Pharisees than to villainize the villains and point down at them. Placing Myself Among the Villains I love the song, “ How Deep the Father’s Love For Us .” I find these lyrics especially poignant and helpful: Behold the Man upon a cross, My sin upon His shoulders; Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers. Painful as it is, I must find myself among the scoffers at the foot of the cross, because until I see that my sin was the cause of Jesus’ death, I won’t see my need for Him as my Savior. I share the condition of every villain in the Bible. I harden my heart like Pharaoh. I am self-focused like Ahab. I betray like Judas. I deny like Peter. I am a hypocrite like the Pharisees. I scoff like those who crucified Jesus. As I open the pages of my Bible, it’s good for me to see myself among the villains because there I receive the warning and instruction I need. It’s there, among the villains, that I see my desperate need for Jesus—and there my listeners will, too. Here are a few more tips to help you refrain from villainizing the villains in your message prep: Make a list. Start by compiling a list of flaws you see in your Bible villain, then notice how these flaws are common to people today. Cain loathed being outdone. Achan was a liar and a thief. Nebuchadnezzar was his own god. Judas was a lover of money. Your people will be able to relate to each of these. Find yourself first. Humble yourself and find commonality with the villains yourself before asking your listeners to do so. A broken teacher who says, “We should humble ourselves . . .” is more effective than a puffed-up teacher who says, “You should . . .” Don’t sidestep. It might be tempting to skip past some grievous sins of the Bible, painting them as sins of the past but not the present. Think of the story of Lot’s daughters, getting their father drunk so that he’ll sleep with them ( Gen. 19:30–38 ). That one might be easier to skip, but don’t we skip over our own sins as well? Could there be someone in your group who is thinking about compromising sexually rather than waiting for God to provide a spouse in His good timing? Do you see why it would be helpful for them to hear about Lot’s daughters? Be wary of disgust. Don’t teach with a “We would never” attitude. Actually, we would. When we’re tempted to be shocked or horrified by the villains of the Bible, we have to recognize that we’re equally blind to our own sinfulness. Think of Pharaoh, who murdered all the newborn baby boys in Exodus 1:22 . Do you wonder how he could have justified such a ruling? Think about how you have justified some of your own selfish, sinful behaviors. These stories of deeply sinful people of the past are meant to lead deeply sinful people of today to God—where they find grace forgiveness and hope. Always lead the conversation about sin back to Jesus. Yes, sin is grievous and disastrous. But we have a Savior who came to save us. He took every single ounce of our sin’s load and carried it up Golgotha’s hill. Jesus died, was buried, and rose to new life—and we can, too. Are you ready to get back to your Bible study prep? As you encounter the villains of the Bible, don’t villainize them. Instead, help women find common ground with sinful people from the past who needed salvation as desperately as we do today. Read Mistake #1 in Teaching the Bible: Killing the Characters Read Mistake #2 in Teaching the Bible: We Villainize the Villains More Blogs You'll Like What Is a Deacon? Exploring the Role, Qualifications, and Purpose of Deacons in the Church Read More What Is An Elder? A biblical definition of those who are called to lead Read More Why Church Membership Understanding the Biblical Foundations of Church Membership Read More

Myrrh; Jesus is Savior Sermon Series: Fit for a King Kevin Harney Lead Pastor Shoreline Community Church Main Passage: Matt 2:11, John 10:22-31 Transcript Well, I'm pretty sure you've recognized by now that this is a time where a lot of gifts are given and gifts are received It seems like it's Christmas and birthdays Where gifts are kind of the thing so I want you to think for a minute. What is a memorable gift that you've received? Sometimes Christmas or birthday a memorable gift. It doesn't have to be a fun or a good gift It could be like I can't believe I got that But what's what's the gift you'll never forget or a memorable gift that you've received, and then find someone around you real quickly and tell them what's a gift that you'll never forget or a gift you remember receiving that was meaningful to you. Turn and tell somebody around you. Go. And if you're if you're kind of getting rolling and telling a longer story I hit the pause button and Take that back to the service after the service finish that story If it's something you don't know share that story after the service to get to know I get to know one of your neighbors a little bit better for me. What came to my mind when I thought about that was my 40th birthday. My wife said to me. Here's your gift I am cooking you Mexican food every day for the next week And I love Mexican food and she invited friends over for each of those meals. So we had like a little personal friend party every day for seven days. And great homemade salsa, tacos, guacamole. Okay, I'm back. I'm back. But you know, you know how memories work. You can just, I mean, I can pick it for a whole, that, that was a great gift. And as I began thinking about that Christmas and how you have Christmas gifts and you have birthday gifts, I started thinking about, it'd be kind of hard to be born on Christmas, because then people try to get away with going, well, this is your Christmas and birthday gift all in one. Anybody here born on Christmas Day? There was one in the first service, one in the second service. I know somebody born on Christmas Day. Actually, Jesus. And you do, too, hopefully. Right. Jesus was born on Christmas Day and and Jesus got some gifts and they were kind of unique gifts. Right. And so two weeks ago, Pastor Ryan talked about how these these these three gifts are. It doesn't say in the Bible each one represents this. But when you read that all of the scope of the Old New Testament and who Jesus was, you can begin to see how each of these gifts is a picture, is kind of a foreshadowing or a pointing to who Jesus was. And so when he received gold, a gift for a king, for royalty. When he received frankincense, it was a gift that pointed to his divinity, that he was Emmanuel, God with us. But when Jesus was given myrrh, it's kind of unique. This is myrrh. That's it right there. And myrrh came from a tree. You see a picture of the tree there. In very arid areas. And the way you would get the myrrh out of the tree, and I read a couple of different commentators and scholars who were kind of explaining some of this, and one of them worded it in a very poignant way. One of them said, when you wound the tree, it bleeds. And what it bleeds is myrrh. And it says sometimes it almost looks like tears. You can see on that myrrh tree, you can see the dripping down there. They said so when you wound the tree, it bleeds. And that bleeding can look like tears. Keep that in mind when we get to the cross of Jesus. Because when He was wounded, He bled blood and grace. And And he shed tears for us. And so then when you take myrrh and you break it, it's real hard, it's like a resin, you break it up, it looks kind of like that. And so it's really, it has kind of a pungent smell, not bad, not good, just kind of different. So if you want to smell myrrh, look at myrrh, it'll be right here after the service. It's interesting stuff. But I want you to be thinking about that because myrrh shows up three times in the gospel stories, the story of Jesus's life. And we're going to look at all, it shows up, we know, Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, we know it shows up in the manger, but it also shows up when Jesus is on the cross. And it also shows up when he's being buried. And we're going to look at all three of those. We're going to begin in Matthew chapter two. If you have your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter two. If you have your Bible app on your phone, if you follow on your phone, get to Matthew two. I'm going to read a portion, then we're going to pause there, but keep your Bible open in front of you because we're gonna come back and finish that passage All right, so we're gonna walk through this this passage in two different parts Matthew chapter 2 beginning in verse 1 I want you to notice whenever you read the Bible notice key words Notice things that jump out at you. Don't just read the Bible study it dig deep into it I want you to notice the word King How King shows up in this passage if you have your own Bible and you're a highlighter or you're a note-taker Underliner you might want to circle or underline King because it's very interesting how it fits into this passage Matthew 2 beginning in verse 1 Matthew 2:1-12 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. If you understand the Roman-Jewish conflict at this time in the first century, if you understand what's going on, this would be problematic. There is a King, but these wise men come and say, oh, we hear there's another King that's going to show up. For we saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him. When he heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Why were they troubled? What's the problem? Well, let me ask you if you know your history a little bit here. Do you know in the ancient world, generally speaking, in the ancient world, when someone was king and another person was going to come and maybe take over their throne or become the new king, oftentimes what the king on the throne would do to the new potential rival king, what would they often try to do to them? Anybody know? Kill them! Not give them gifts, not give them a warm welcome. It was a... and for the kids here, that's brutal, that's terrible, but that's the ancient world. That was what was going on in Jesus' day, and if you read on through the Gospels, you see how this unfolds. We won't get into all those details today. But... so, so, he was troubled when he heard this and all Jerusalem with him and assembling all the chief priests the religious leaders and the scribes of The people he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Where is he supposed to be born? Why do you think Herod wanted to know where he would be born? He's getting data. He's getting information. He wants to find this potential rival King and deal with him All right They told him in Bethlehem of Judea for so it is written and now they quote from Micah the prophet written about eight centuries earlier pointing to where the Messiah would be born and you will Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler a king who will shepherd my people Israel then herald some of the wise men secretly and ascertain from them what time the star appeared. He wants to find out where this kid's gonna be and he wants to find out right about when the star came, when he could have been born, so he can get the right age, so he can cause some problems. All right, that's what's going on here. So hit the pause button right there. If you have your Bible open, keep it on your lap in front of you. If you have your Bible app open, keep it open. We're gonna come right back to that in a moment. But this is all going on and what we need to understand is there's more going on than meets our eye as we read further in This passage we're gonna find some things that someone in the first century would have gone Ooh, I kind of know where this is going Or I have a suspicion where this might be going in the Bible and in lots of different areas. It's called this is called foreshadowing Foreshadowing is when you get a piece of information and when you get that information you go. Oh, I kind of know what's coming next Now we have that in our culture today. There's foreshadowing. And you get it. You know what I'm talking about, even though you might not know exactly how it connects with the word foreshadowing. Here's an example of foreshadowing. If I'm sitting with some kids and I'm going to read a story, and I begin the story like this, once upon a time, if I start that way, if you know how those kind of stories work, in your mind you're thinking you're gonna see a princess if there's if there's a frog in the story that I begin with once about a time and and the the princess kisses the frog what usually happens how would you know that how would you know that foreshadowing once we say once upon a time you're like I know where this is going and at the end of the story it will often end something like this and if you know help me along sometimes land this way and they all lived. That's creepy. How would you know that? How do you know that? Because when you start a story once upon a time, you know the kind of story it is. That's called foreshadowing. That's what's happening in our passage today. Here's another example. If you go to the movies at the beginning of the movie, this epic music starts and scrolling words a long time ago and a galaxy far far away are you in your mind kind of you have a sense of what's coming next right and if what comes next is like cute little kittens wrestling and playing with yarn you might go that's cute but timeout you threw me off here because you started with a long time you expect Sith you know evil Sith and you expect Jedi and you expect epic space battles if you begin a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, you've set the tone for something. One more example. I want you to understand that foreshadowing is really a common thing, and in the ancient world it was common, but sometimes we'll read there, we'll read there once upon a time, and we don't, we're not used to it, so we don't know where it's going, right? But there's something pointing forward here. Here's one more example. Husband and wife are talking. Wife says, I got this chance to go out and do something with my friends on Friday night, but I got, you know, the kids and stuff and the husband I'll watch him and she's like yeah but she knows him and so she's a little nervous about Lee he's like this trust me just go have fun we'll be fine so she goes out she has a great night she comes back first thing she says to her husband says she says well how did things go and he says these words to her what do you want to hear first the bad news of the good news now when anybody says what do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news, the bad news or the good news, what are they setting up for? Bad news. Nobody says that with good news in mind, right? Well, they knocked over this thing and it was broken and this is what happened. It wasn't anyone's fault, right? But there are certain things that when you say them, it's a preamble. It's foreshadowing, all right? So as we continue on in this passage, as we continue on in Matthew chapter 2 There's some foreshadowing we're going to see and here's what I always tell people Every text has a context every text of the Bible has a context in the ancient world Murr had meaning We're gonna get to Myrrh. We looked at gold last two weeks ago Frankincense last week Myrrh today Myrrh had meaning But if we don't know that meaning we don't see the foreshadowing. We don't see where it's going. And every text has a context. Every passage you read, it has a context right where it sits in the Bible, in that book of the Bible, in the whole scripture. It has a context within history. So you've got to kind of understand what's going on. So as we read this passage, we need to get some context because we don't see the foreshadowing the way it's there. By the time we're done today, you will. So now, again, Herod has now sent the wise men. He's asked them about when, about where, about when. It continues on in verse 8 of Matthew 2. And he, Herod, sent unto Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him. Liar, liar, pants on. Thank you for helping out. This is a participation Sunday. All right. No, that's he didn't want to go worship him. He's lying We know what's going on here. So it continues after listening to the king They went on their way and behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was When they saw the star they rejoiced and exceed exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary's mother. And watch this now. And they fell down and worshipped him. They didn't just honour him as a king, they worshipped him. Amazing. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And they wanted a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Now, we know if you keep reading the Gospels that Herod still is a mess. That's another sermon. But Herod still went about trying to do all he could to get rid of this potential upcoming king. But when the wise men came, they brought interesting gifts. Gold. That guy can work with that one. Frankincense, all right. Myrrh, embalming material. Embalming material. When someone died in the ancient world, one of those common things that myrrh was used for with myrrh and aloes and spices, they would put it around, as they wrapped someone's body up, they would use myrrh. Who gives a newborn baby embalming materials? Doesn't make a lot of sense. Last night, late last night, my little brother Jason, my only brother, he and his wife Mindy have six kids. They're first born. Clara got married. I got to do her wedding a couple of years ago. She just delivered her first born child late last night, early this morning. I just got pictures this morning when I woke up. Very excited for that. And so I want you to imagine I go to meet this newborn child and I bring a gift. I brought this, you know, Jason and Mindy, I brought this for your newborn baby. And they open it up. And here's what's in this little box. Handcuffs and a harmonica. I said, why, what, what? Explain, please. I said, well, I just have this feeling your kids have spent a lot of time in jail. Harmonica, you just teach them to sing songs like Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen, Nobody but My Jesus, you know, just get them ready, because I just got a feeling. I t's like, that's creepy. Who would do that? Who gives myrrh, embalming materials, to a newborn baby? It makes no sense. It makes no sense. Unless that baby is the King of Kings. Unless that baby is the King of Kings. Unless that baby is God with us. And unless that baby was born to die and to bear our sins. Unless there's a foreshadowing at his birth that he came on a mission and that mission would end up with his sacrificial death. Then it starts to make sense. We might miss that because we didn't live in that culture. But don't miss it as we go forward. Lord Jesus, we pause right now as we open your word, as we dig into your scriptures, as we think together about what you've done for us and the meaning of myrrh in your story. And we ask you to speak to us and you'll teach us, Lord, that we will love you more, we'll encounter you and experience you more profoundly and deeply in some way today and through this Christmas season. Speak to us and meet us in this time We pray Jesus in your name Amen. In the manger the myrrh gives us this picture that the one born in the manger is the Savior of the world He came to die for us. He came to lay his life down He came to sacrifice himself and we need to see that need to understand that. Look at Matthew 2, 8 through 12. He has clearly come to offer his life. So Herod has lied and now Jesus has been born and we're walking through his life. And so we also see a picture of who this Jesus is by his very name. The name alright the name Jesus the name Jesus means God is salvation God is salvation that's his name there's couple iterations through history you have Hoshua, Hoshua and then Joshua and then Jesus same name Hoshua Joshua Jesus iterations of the same name through time God is salvation that's his name that's who he is so when you think about Myrrh and when you think about the manger, here's a great theological word for you, incarnation. Think about the incarnation of Jesus, the coming of God among us. His incarnation, His coming, the King has come among us. And the Myrrh gives us a picture of how this King, how this Savior, will one day die for us. So here's my question for you this morning. Do you recognize this baby as the only one who can save lost and broken people? Do you realize that the baby born in the manger isn't just a decoration for Nativity? Isn't just a cute little picture of a baby? But this one born in the manger came to save lost people and he's the only one who can do it. I love Nativity scenes, but here's the problem with the Nativity scene. If you have it up in your living room or in your dining room or your entry to your house in June, it looks kind of weird. At some point, everyone takes their nativity scene and they pack it up and they take a little baby Jesus and they kind of wrap baby Jesus up, they put him in a box and they put him in a closet somewhere. You can't wrap up the real Jesus. You can't tuck him away. He is King of Kings, He is Lord of Lords, He is God with us, Emmanuel, and He is the Savior who offered His life. And so in the manger we see incarnation that God Almighty came among us as one of us. We've got to recognize that and see that. Let's move to the next time we find Myrrh in the Gospels. And we learn here that the one bleeding on the cross was not dying for his own sins or wrongs. The next time we see Myrrh, Jesus is hanging on the cross. But he's not dying for his sins. In the Roman world they would execute people for their crimes. Jesus committed no crime. He committed no sins. So look with me at Mark, chapter 15, beginning in verse 21. Now 33 years have gone by since Jesus was born. Now Jesus is carrying the crossbeam of the cross up the hill towards Golgotha. And we read this in verse 21 of Mark 15. And they compelled a pastor by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross, to carry Jesus' cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. Now watch this closely and again, we don't understand how myrrh worked, so we've got to kind of get the background to see the foreshadowing here. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. We're going to come right back to that in a minute, but let's finish the passage. And they crucified him. They nailed him to the cross, divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, the King of the Jews. There's that word King again. They were mocking. They didn't believe he was the King of the Jews. They're saying, a king stripped naked and beaten? A king? A king breathing his last breath? That's a king? That's your king? They're mocking. Well, they didn't understand that in their mocking, they were actually declaring the truth. He was not only the King of the Jews, he was the King of all who would receive. He's the King of the universe. But they put the sign over him, the King of the Jews. Look at verse 23. What's going on here? And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh. And he said, no thank you. I don't want it. In the ancient world, they believed that with wine and myrrh mixed together, when you would take it, when you would take it into your body, it would have a numbing effect. It would soften the pain. It would take the edge off the pain. And somebody was trying to show him mercy. And he said, no. Why? Why would he refuse something that would take the edge off the pain that he was experiencing and he would continue to experience for hours? Why? See, if it was you, if it was me, and we were going through excruciating pain, and we could avoid it by taking something? It's like, give me some thank you and may I have another. Right? I mean, who wouldn't? Why would Jesus say no to something that was meant to alleviate his pain? And here's the answer. He said no to myrrh on the cross because he wanted every sense alive, and he wanted to feel every pain and every sorrow and the weight of our sin Completely and totally because he was dying in our place for our sins The murder he rejected on the cross the theological word you want to lock into your mind is this substitution Substitution he was dying in our place for our sins, bearing the pain. And he refused to have anything take that pain away. He felt the full emotional pain, physical pain, spiritual pain, all of that that I would have felt or you would have felt. Some years ago, when I was a youth pastor, this young girl, Tricia, Tricia grew up in a non-believing home, she didn't grow up around the Bible at all. She had become a Christian, she had come to meet and know and love Jesus, kind of like some of the young people you saw on the video today, she just fell in love with Jesus. She was growing in her faith, starting to read her Bible. She came to me one day, and I knew in her heart the hardest thing about the Christian faith for her was the idea that Jesus had to suffer for her. It broke her heart that Jesus would take her pain. So she came to me one day, she said, Pastor Kevin, I was thinking about Jesus dying on the cross and I think I figured something out. When a junior high kid comes to tell you they've been reading their Bible and they figure something out, you listen, you go, I wanna hear what they're thinking, right? I think I just maybe some insight from this young girl. Here's what she said to me. She said, she said to me, Jesus was God, right? I said, yeah, he was God. She said, so here's what I think he did. I think because he was God, he made it so he wouldn't feel any pain at all. Then he could go through all that and it wouldn't So what are you saying? I had to tell her the truth. I looked right into her little junior high eyes and I said, Trisha, you have to understand that Jesus felt everything you would have felt if they put the nails through you, if they put you on a cross, if they beat you. He felt everything you would have felt. And he also felt all the shame you would have felt and he felt all the embarrassment you would have felt. And I said, he also felt all the punishment you would have felt if you paid for your sins. He felt it all, and all of mine, and all of yours, and yours, and yours, and yours. I had to tell her the truth, and her eyes just welled up with tears. But she got it. I said, Tricia, Jesus would not let anything numb his pain, because it was your pain and he was taking it. Substitution. It would have been cheating to make the pain go away. He bore our sins, he took our shame, he took our punishment, and by his stripes, by his wounds, we are healed. So here's a theological question for you. Do you know whose sins put Jesus on the cross? Who's wrong? Who ultimately put Jesus on the cross? There's all kinds of theories. Some people will say the Romans. I mean, they're the ones that nailed Him to the cross. Even though the Jews knew they couldn't do a crucifixion legally, but they could appeal to the Romans, and the Romans would do it on their behalf. Somebody said, well, the Romans were the ones who put Him through this mock trial. The Romans were the ones who nailed Him. So the Romans put Jesus on the cross, and they bear the brunt of it. Well, is that true? Partially. They bore some of the responsibility, but not ultimately. It was not ultimately the Romans. Some people say, well, it was the Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin, these people that put him through these false trials that brought mock witnesses in. It was the Jewish leaders. They're the ones that put Jesus on the cross, because they, you know, kind of set all the stuff up against him. So they bear the weight of that. Is that the answer? Partially, but not ultimately. If it wasn't the Romans, if it wasn't the Jewish leaders, here's what some people will say, it's my sin, my sin put Jesus on the cross. Well, is it true that Jesus died for our sins? Yes, but did our sins put Jesus on the cross? In one sense, yes, but ultimately, again, I'm going to say no. You see, the Romans didn't have power to put Jesus on the cross. He was God in human flesh. The Jews didn't have power to put Jesus on the cross. You and I don't have power to put Jesus on the cross. Only one has the power to do that, and it's Jesus himself. Jesus chose to go to the cross, to not let the pain be numbed, to feel everything so he could die in our place for our sins and be the substitute to pay the price for our shame and our judgment. It was Jesus's choice. Listen to these words from John chapter 10. If you're going, I don't know how to process that entirely. Listen to Jesus's words in John 10 when he says this, he says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know my Father. Now listen closely, this is verse 15 of John 10. I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus, I lay my life down for my sheep. It's my choice. He goes on in verse 17. Jesus is still speaking. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life Only to take it up again. That's the death of Jesus. That's the resurrection and he had power over all of it Only to raise it up again verse 18 and this now if you're if you don't have it yet He's gonna be really crystal clear. No one takes it from me. No one takes my life from me I lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father. Jesus chose to go to the cross knowing the only way to pay for our sins was his substitution. And when they offered him something that would numb the pain and soften his senses, he said no. I need to feel it all, like you would have, because I'm doing it for you. Do you understand that? Do you see that? And so, in the manger, incarnation, God is coming among us, he's coming to die. On the cross, substitution, he's dying in our place. And the scriptures are filled with reminders of what Jesus did. Second Corinthians 521 says this, just listen to these words. It says, God made him, Jesus, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. So then in him, we might become the righteousness of God. That's the gift of Jesus. First Peter 224 says this, he himself bore our sins. Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. For by his wounds you have been healed. And Peter actually quotes Isaiah 53. So now think back to Isaiah 53, centuries before the Messiah came. Isaiah prophesied these words of the coming Messiah, of Jesus. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And the punishment that brought us peace was on Him. And by His wounds we are healed. Jesus took your place. He bore your sins. And He would not let anything numb a single ounce of the pain or the sorrow, because He did it as if He were you. Somebody say, Praise God. Try that again. Somebody say, Praise God. He is good. And so then, the final time we see Myrrh show up, we look at John chapter 19. Now we see that the one who stopped breathing, the one whose heart ceased from beating was not going to stay in the grave. Now we're going to see Jesus, he's in the grave and see we're on the other side of the death of Jesus, we're on the other side of the resurrection. We know how the story ends. But we're going to see that when he's in the grave, when they're going to bury him, Myrrh is there again. John 19 beginning in verse 38. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, he asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds in weight. That's a lot of myrrh and aloes. But they wrapped the body in myrrh and aloes and linen cloths around him. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. If we don't know that, we don't see the foreshadowing back in the manger when Jesus was born, right? But they knew that in this time. This was the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. They laid him there. And Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, no breath in his lungs, no heartbeat, for three days, He was dead. And on the third day, He rose again. Someone say Amen! Much better for the first try. Well done. Yeah, praise God. And so here's my final question for you today. Have you encountered the risen and victorious Lord Jesus Christ? Have you encountered this Jesus, born in the manger, died on the cross, died and was buried, and rose again in glory. Have you encountered Jesus Christ? I'm not asking, do you go to church? I'm not asking, do you read your Bible? I'm not asking, do you give offering? By the way, I'm a pastor. All those things are good to do. Do all those things. That's not what I'm asking you. I'm asking you, have you encountered the risen Jesus Christ? Have you seen His face? Have you seen His glory? Because He is alive today, even as He was then. And He is present, and He is powerful, and He is glorious. Have you met Him? Have you walked with Him? In the manger, there's myrrh pointing ahead. It's the incarnation, God with us. The only one who could pay the full price for our sin against Holy God is God Himself. Incarnation. On the cross, substitution. He took our place. He bore our shame and took our pain and took our penalty. In the tomb, in the garden tomb in the resurrection, surrender. He surrendered his life for our sake and now we surrender our lives to follow Him. We walk with Him, we love Him, we live for Him. And so the one who came is Savior. The real question is, have you received Him as your Savior? See, the gold can point us to Jesus being King, but here's the question, is He your King? Is He your Sovereign? Do you bow down? Do you follow Him? It's one thing to say Jesus is King. It's another thing to say, He's my King. I hope this Christmas you can declare, He is the King of Kings in my life. The frankincense reminds us that He is God, the Divine One. You can say Jesus is God, or you can say like Thomas after Jesus rose, My Lord and My God. You can worship Him as God. The myrrh reminds us that He is Savior and you can say Jesus is the Savior or you can say he is My Savior my king my God This Christmas season dwell on that think about it Do you believe it? Do you declare it? Do you experience it Lord Jesus? This is our prayer. As we thought together about these gifts fit for a king, as we thought about how you, Jesus, came, God, with us, how you died in our place for our sins, the perfect substitution, how you rose again in glory, and how we are called to just surrender day by day and moment by moment to your leading. Jesus, meet with us. I pray this Christmas season, over these next seven and eight days, for every person online, every person on campus listening today, that they will dwell on who you are, not just as King, but their King, not just as God, but their God, not just as Savior, but their Savior. Help us to worship you and celebrate you this Christmas season, that we would enjoy the gifts that we share with each other, but most of all, we would enjoy the gift that you've given of yourself. And just keeping your heart in a place of worship, I actually asked if we could close with this last song. I know not everyone here knows it, but if you don't know it, just listen to the words. Just keeping your heart in a place of worship, I'm going to ask you to stand with me, just still being very worshipful. If you know the song, sing along. It's about the kingship of Jesus, about worshiping Him as King. If you don't know it, by the time it's done, you'll start catching on. Jump in and make this your declaration. Jump in and make this your declaration. Make this your worship.

PODCAST That's a Good Question Is Ezekiel's End-Time Prophecy Unfolding in Israel? October 31, 2023 Jon Delger & Ryan DB Kimmel Listen to this Episode JonHey everyone, welcome to That's a Good Question, a podcast of Peace Church, the place where we answer questions about the Christian faith in plain language. My name's Jon, I get to serve as the weekly host of the show as well as a pastor, and our purpose here is to help people grow in their knowledge of the Bible and their walk with the Lord by answering their questions. So please submit questions at peacechurch.cc/questions. We'd love to get them and talk about them. I am here today with Pastor Ryan. RyanHow you doing, Pastor Jon? JonI am doing well and excited today to dig into a question that came in response to last week. So if you didn't hear last week, we talked about Israel the whole time. So do us a favor and tune into that episode if you want to kind of get some context. But we're going to be answering a big follow-up question. We're just going to focus on one, a follow-up question from that episode. So lots going on in the world stage right now surrounding Israel. And so we address that from a biblical and theological standpoint about where does Israel fit into kind of the biblical picture of the end times and all that kind of stuff. And so the question that was posed to us was this, what is our interpretation of Ezekiel 38 and 39? That's the question. And there's tons we can say about that because there's a lot going on. So we're just going to kind of work our way into it through a series of questions. And the first one we'll start with is this, who is Gog and Magog, the main characters of this passage if you're not familiar. RyanYeah, so Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38-39, also referenced in Revelation 20. So here's already with that question, no matter which way you go, you're going to find Christians on different sides of this equation, on all sides of this equation, and even on the other sides of the equations, you'll have varying degrees of how people think about this. JonOh yeah, there's like four different perspectives and then there's like sub-points, sub-perspectives underneath each of those. RyanYeah, absolutely. And it seems like those who care the most have the most specific thoughts about all this. And so I'll just confess I'm not in that camp, but here's what I'd say. So Gog and Magog, you can find references to those names in the earlier pages of scripture but in Ezekiel 38 and 39 again especially with a book like all the pages of scripture but especially with a book like Ezekiel which is so like prophetic and apocalyptic you kind of have to understand the broader context of what's going on I mean Ezekiel's in exile you know if the book all happens if this vision all happened on one day it happened on his like 30th birthday. You know, this is a tremendous thing that's going on. So he's in exile. He's a priest or he was a priest. And he gets a vision from God. And this is clear. I mean, you have to understand this is a vision from God about the predicament Israel is in and their future. And one of the things that I think, especially for us in the West, our post-enlightenment minds, we want to try to understand things at a scientific level. And so that's not always how scripture is written. This is an apocalyptic approach. This is vision. And one of the things that we have to understand, especially with apocalyptic literature, is there's a thread of hope that we have to underscore, and that's what we look for. So when we begin to think about that, especially with Gog and Magog, I would say, when we look at this, that Gog and Magog are archetypes. And so to clarify, we're speaking of Gog as an embodiment of a person, and Magog is like the land that he's from. So we say Gog and Magog, but you also could kind of think of it as a Gog from Magog. And so they talk, you know, Ezekiel talks about Magog being from distant lands, kind of some references to the North. And so, ultimately, I think what you're seeing in there is you're seeing that Israel's in an extremely terrible predicament in exile, and we're looking for hope, and God gives this vision, but he's also talking about the reality of the world that we live in, and the forces are against God's people. And so, Gog, in many ways, is kind of the embodiment of everything that's wrong in the world, everything that's against Israel and God's people, and Magog's the land that he's from, and it goes on to talk about how Magog and Magog will come against Israel, but the main point is is that not only will Israel overcome, but they'll overcome because God himself intervenes. So maybe I'm getting a little ahead of the question, but to answer, that's a very long way to say Gog and Magog. Gog is a person, Magog's the land that he's from. Whether or not, speaking of specific people, we know it's a vision, so in some sense, there's a grander perspective going on that Dogg is the embodiment of all that's wrong in the world and the forces that are against God's people. JonNo, I think that was a good introduction to everything that's going on in that chapter. That is the picture, right? There's these characters that are the bad guys to Israel, and they come in, and they come in in a serious way. RyanForceful. JonYeah, they come with force. And everything looks like Israel is doomed, and yet God intervenes, and they have victory. Huge victory. So that's basically the story of those chapters, and yeah, what's going on. So yeah, you brought up the places, and there's talk about, are they from the north? And then, so this is where it gets interesting, and it gets really related to today. People start talking about today, because they look at that and they say, well, they're thinking the north is Ukraine or Russia. And then there's some words in there that people think maybe that's referring to Moscow, modern day Moscow. But actually, if you read some of the stuff on it, you find out that those words can be interpreted in different ways. Maybe it refers to a specific place that could be Moscow, or it could just be referring to, I forget, it gets translated a different way that could be referring to something totally different, just describing like an adjective of the person. So there's a few different ways you can go with how you translate the original Hebrew in these texts as to what's going on. But that's how it gets, that's how we get into kind of, that's why it makes its way into the current affairs, current news kind of section is, because people see it as referring to major events going on surrounding Russia and the current nation of Israel is kind of how we get to that conversation. So you brought up also, it shows up in Revelation 20. So the two places that these characters show up are both in visions of the future. Pastor Ryan, do you want to share with us any kind of notes of how we should approach whenever we're accustomed to. RyanWe don't see writing produced like that. This is foreign to us. Understanding this takes a great amount of humility. But I'd say when you look at these, you know, there's a couple of things. We talked about always being looking at this in context. Both of the contexts have to do with battle. In Revelation 20 it talks about this is the time when Satan's loosed and God's gonna bring an end to that. He's gonna be thrown in the lake of fire. So both these deal with these great big battles where God himself is the one who comes in and brings victory over that. So the first thing is under I would say my approach to this is that when you come to things like this, these visionary descripting passages, these apocalyptic literature. What we want to do is because we want to apply like the scientific method and we want to decode uh quote unquote scripture. We we dial and zoom in. We dial in and we zoom so far in that sometimes we forget the meta story. That's actually that the passage is about both. Those are about pointing to the hope that God will be the one who overcomes evil in the end and so I'd say the first thing is we need to do is approach it with humility, understand that some of these passages aren't necessarily meant to be zoomed in all the way down to the microscopic level of trying to understand and apply this person to this, you know, this person in scripture to this modern day person. Generations have tried to do that throughout time and proven wrong time and again. I'm not about to do that right now. I know there's some other questions. I don't want to get too far ahead. How would you say to respond to that? JonI did a little bit of study on, specifically on the Revelation 20 part of it, because usually people start in Ezekiel and then they jump to Revelation and they're trying to figure it out. So Revelation 20 verse 8 is specifically where Gog and Magog are mentioned. So I'll just kind of lay out some of what I read and what I see going on here. So I see in Ezekiel, you got this Old Testament picture of these nations, these huge armies attacking the nation of Israel. It's a picture of an impossible situation. God's people are doomed, but they win. God comes in, enemy demolished. Okay, and then New Testament, Revelation 20, I think you basically got a picture of the same thing. Nations and armies, specifically Revelation 20 talks about them being under the deception of Satan, and it says that they're attacking the church, God's people. It's another picture of an impossible situation. God's people are doomed, but God steps in, demounces the enemy, and they win. So I think in these two passages, we're talking about the same event. That's my understanding of these passages. Old Testament, New Testament, both a prophecy about a future event. And actually, I think we're talking about, so this comes back to kind of some of what we were talking about last week in dispensationalism versus covenant theology. Kind of some big phrases for how people understand biblical prophecy and in time stuff. And so coming from a covenant theology perspective, we would say that the church in the New Testament is the fulfillment of what God had planned for Old Testament Israel. So last time we talked about Genesis 12 and we talked about some different passages. Let me just read, again, I would encourage you to go back to that episode if you want to hear more about that. But here's one passage from Revelation 9 that to me kind of sums up the covenant theology position on this. So here it is. Revelation 9, verses 6 through 8 says this, But it is not as though the word of God has failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And that's a quote from the Old Testament. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. So what Revelation 9 is saying is that, okay, Israel of the Old Testament, they were, you know, identified as Israel by being Abraham's offspring on the one hand, the bloodline, but on the other hand, really, Israel was about imitating Abraham's faith. Yeah. Abraham's faith in God. And then when we get to the New Testament, the same thing is true, that really the true Israel is not an Israel by blood, but an Israel by faith, those who trust God and find him as their Lord and savior. And so the ultimate fulfillment of that is actually the church. The point of it was not for it to forever be one political nation or one bloodline. The point was always for it to be all people's, all nations trusting God. RyanYeah, entering into covenant with him, receiving that covenant. And like, even when we're talking about, well, people would say something to that passage. Well, so it's just through Isaac's bloodline then, not necessarily Abraham's, but the point by that passage is like, Isaac was the one that carried the promise, not his half-brother Ishmael. And so that's what we're talking about. That's when we talk about following the promise, following the covenant. JonExactly, yeah, so Abraham sort of tries to take matters into his own hands. That's how Ishmael and that situation goes about. But Isaac is the one that by faith, you know, Abraham all along should have been trusting God and Isaac is actually the child of the promise. And so it's by faith, not by works. And that's kind of how that comes to be. So, and also, you know, so in Revelation 20, it refers to the saints, the camp of the saints being under attack. So, the saints, saints is a word that's sometimes used to describe Israel in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, especially in the book of Revelation, it's exclusively used to talk about the church. And so, again, I think we've got that same theology going on of that what we're really talking about is the church, the people, God's people, the people of faith, and that the picture in Ezekiel 38 and 39, so here's the conclusion of my interpretation of these passages. Ezekiel 38 and 39 and Revelation 20 are both talking about the final battle. At the end of, however we view the millennium, Jesus' return, there's a final battle where Satan and his forces are persecuting God's people and whatever exactly that looks like, and God steps in, defeats the bad guys, casts Satan into the pit of hell for forever, and rescues his people, the saints. RyanYeah, I think that's important to know, and I'd like to talk to you a little bit about that more. I think what happens is guys in our camp who aren't the ones who wanna dial in, zoom in, and try to allegorize everything that's happening in prophetic literature, we're not that guy. And so I think what happens is we ended up, I think some people look at the way we talk about this and they say things like, well, you don't believe anything's gonna happen then. Like you don't believe in any prophecy. And we're saying, no, no, no, we think this does point to something that's gonna happen in the future. It's just a bigger, grander culmination of when Christ returns, that God's gonna put an end to all these things. I think if I could dial it down, and maybe you disagree or agree with this, I think in Ezekiel's description of Gog and Magog, they're talking about how the very real presence of the foreign nations will come against their people because Ezekiel speaks from a place of exile. Israel's in exile because of Babylon. And I think in Revelation it's pointing to a more spiritual aspect of this, and the spiritual end that's going to come with, and that's why I think you tie that passage to Satan. So I think, you know, obviously John, when he wrote Revelation, he was a student of the Old Testament Scriptures, he was familiar with this, and I think that's why he picks up that language, talking about the great enemy of God's people in the Old Testament, at least in Ezekiel, was this Gog and Magog coming against them. And in the New Testament, we see the grander fulfillment of that, that's Satan and his forces coming against. But either way, in both instances point to this day when God will bring the final hope realized to his people when he is the one who has victory over the battle. And I think when we talk about this, I've heard some of the commentators and some of the people processing what's going on in Israel right now is they're wondering, is this the beginning of the Gog and Magog war? And that's where it begins to be like, hold on, let's not allegorize what's going on here. JonWell, and also, I would jump in, so as I was doing some study on this, also I saw, I was just thinking about this, so pre-millennial dispensationalists, there's some big words, but, you know, so that's a description of one certain perspective on this, but pre-millennial dispensationalists, they would say that, you know, Jesus' second coming is before the millennium, the thousand-year reign. You know, we would say that we're in that millennium right now. Jesus is reigning, Satan has been bound, the church is going forward on the Great Commission, and Jesus is going to return at the end of that. But I was thinking about their position and if they're saying, hey, we should be looking for Gog and Magog right now, and that that's right now, actually when you look at Revelation 20, Gog and Magog is at the end of the millennium, not the beginning. So I actually am a little confused about their position on that, but if you're a dispensationalist, I guess I would say we shouldn't be looking for Gog and Magog right now because we're not in the millennium yet. So that's kind of a side point of just looking at the text. RyanAnd that's where I'm going to say, like, why don't hold that position? So that's, it's hard for me to, and not that you're asking me to defend it, but I'm sure we'll get a lot of comments from our friends who do. And here's the thing though, I think we're both genuine saying, help us understand it, because it doesn't seem like the eschatology timeline is lining up then for that. And so that's why we try to take more of a zoomed out approach that this is a big meta picture, the beautiful thing that God's gonna be doing in the end when he brings the final restoration of all things, which also includes the concluding of evil. JonRight. If anybody's, and my favorite commentary on Revelation is a short little book, so that's my favorite. My favorite commentary is a short little book called The Return of the King by Verne Poythress. P-O-Y-T-H-E-R-F-S. RyanI still thought you were going to say J.R.R. Tolkien. JonThat's awesome. RyanI was like, we're saying it's not an allegory! JonBut Lord of the Rings is, so... RyanIt's a beautiful thing, whatever it is. JonI think I got the title right, isn't it called The Return of the King? Isn't his commentary the same name as Tolkien? RyanWe're asking Mitchell, the producer, to clarify that. JonYeah, that's probably right. RyanSorry, what was it called? It was called JonThe Return of the King. Yeah, I think it's called Return of the King. Yeah, Verne Poythress, it's just a short, it's a short book that goes through Revelation. And I think its point is to demonstrate that Christians can understand this. You know, we don't, we don't get all the finer details like you're saying. We don't, we don't get all the finer details, but we get the big picture. Jesus is coming back. He's going to have victory. We're going to be with him. Satan's forces are going to be crushed. Yeah. And this is what I'd say too, this is kind of a theme I have, and I do in no way want this to sound like a scapegoat answer, but my response to this when people want to dial in to this topic is let's not get so immersed in trying to identify or trying to decode the Bible that we forget to actually live out the message of the Bible, live out the message of the Bible, which is to love God, love our neighbor, share the gospel, go and make disciples. Let's focus on that and however it's going to play out, that's the way it's going to play out. And there's nothing you can do to change or alter that. So what you can do is do exactly what Jesus called us to do, which is to love God and love our neighbor like yourself and go into the nations and make disciples. That's what I want Christians to be preoccupied with right now, is fulfilling the commandments and the great commission of God. And, you know, let's study the scriptures. Let's be prepared for the end. Let's stand as the watchman ready. But let's not let our fascination with end times prophecy distract us from the mission that the Savior actually gave us to do. And so my encouragement to all the Christians who are listening is, it's a fascinating discussion. We love to have it alongside with actually trying to love our neighbor and share the gospel. Right. So practically, if you have watched more than three YouTube videos today on that topic. Oh, this is talking to me. You should maybe switch. RyanSo this isn't necessarily a video. We pull video clips from this, but would this count, Pastor Jon? JonYeah, you can count that as one of the three. RyanAll right. All right. JonPick a different topic to learn about or go tell somebody about Jesus. RyanRight? JonThat's their takeaway. RyanSo I think just to try and summarize it real quickly, if someone's going to share, like try to summarize what we're saying, how would you want them to characterize exactly what we just talked about? Including our interpretation of the passage. Yeah. If someone said, you know, I listen to this podcast from Pastor Jon and Pastor Ryan about Gog and Magog, here's what they said. JonYep. I would want you to say that their understanding of the passage is that God's people are one day going to experience extreme opposition, and God is going to rescue them. And that that's the main point. And that today, we should live knowing that we're still in the fight and we have a job to do to make disciples of Jesus and trust that one day Jesus is coming back to rescue us all. RyanSo where you fall on the side of this debate, Gog and Magog, I'm just going to throw a radical question at that. Is this a salvation issue? RyanYeah, exactly. JonThat's it. RyanNo. No, what I'm saying is that let's be charitable towards Christians on our different interpretations of this. So pastor Jon as we talk about this, I think one of the questions we should entertain I think because it's a humble question for us is are we being too naive by maybe taking a two meta approach? to these passages because Let's be honest like ezekiel 38 39 give some give some actual detail doesn't always just speak in grand meta terms. There's specific names and places mentioned in this and some details about how death will be brought and whatnot. How would you respond to the question of you guys are taking such a zoomed-out meta approach that you're being naive and even maybe negligent? JonRight, yeah, I think some would hear this and say that you guys are playing fast and loose with Scripture, right? That you're not being careful, you're not being specific. God is saying some specific things here, so you should get into it. I think the answer comes down to genre and authorial intent. What did the author intend to say? What was his intention? Was it to give us a really specific, detailed picture of the end that we should be trying to chart out a map for? Or was he trying to give a broader sense of, as you were saying earlier, hope, hope to God's people because God ultimately is gonna bring victory to the battle. RyanYeah, I think that's our answer is that we will dial in and zoom in and get specific based on the type of literature written in the Bible. And here's what we'd say, different books of the Bible are written with a different literary intent. And even different sections within different books of the Bible are approached differently. We talked about how even the book of Daniel, there's some parts that are very historic, telling the history of what happened, but also there's some parts that are very apocalyptic in Daniel. We got Jesus and the Gospels are historical accounts of actually what happened. Within those, you have Jesus teaching parables, which are story form principles of life that we're supposed to imply as we live godly lives. When someone approaches us like that, we would say, we interpret the Bible based on the literary approach of that writing, that set of writing. And again, that could vary even within books of the Bible. Or trying to take it the way the author intended us to take it. The person who wrote it is who gets to determine what genre it is and how it should be read. I think that's like the clearest base approach to respond is we want to interpret it as the author and wrote it. JonYeah, I was trying to think as we were talking what are some passages that we would take the opposite approach to? You know, what are some passages that it would be inappropriate to take the meta approach to? I'm trying to think of some as I'm even saying this. RyanI would say, I'll give you one. Like when Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except for me. I think Christ is being extremely specific. He is the absolutely only way to get to God. He's not just saying, if you generally follow my teachings, those who live a good life will come to the Father. JonOr something like that. So Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and you walk away and you go, yeah, okay, so he's a good guy. Yeah, he's great. And I should probably generally, you know, walk in his way of trying to be a good person and love people. Yeah. Yeah. When, when instead he was actually says, I'm really specific that he is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes together except through him. That's not apocalyptic literature. That's a teaching from Jesus himself about himself that we are to take as very specific as he said it. Right. Or other parts of Scripture, ethical kind of ones where it lays out some specific things you shouldn't do. And so I'm thinking of like, so like the Ten Commandments, you know, if we're reading Scripture and reading it, it says, you know, obey your parents. And we were like, yeah, well, I mean, it says kind of, you know, like generally you should be a good person and do some good stuff. But that doesn't mean I need to listen to the things that my parents say or all the things. RyanYeah. Or here's another one. I watched a video the other day and this, I don't know where it was from, but it's clearly a Christian setting and there was a person being interviewed in front of an audience doing like a Q&A. And they got asked the question, you know, where do you, what does the Bible teach about women as pastors or women, women preaching, I think what the question was. And the person made a joke of being like, well, time to be done. But then they went on to say, this was very interesting to me, they went on to say, well, there are some verses where Paul kind of bars women from being a pastor or from preaching. He goes, there are a couple of verses that say that. He's like, but if you zoom out and you look at the way that women are elevated in the New Testament, the ways that they weren't across that known world, and you look at how Jesus had women in his company, and you look at the five-fold ministry of Ephesians and doesn't say anything about women not holding those offices, it just kind of went on to like, he zoomed out to the detriment of some very key important verses to say, hey, women have a place in ministry and therefore they should be pastors. And we would say, of course women have a place in ministry. We want to see women do awesome, vibrant, exciting, fruitful ministry. But we can't neglect actual verses of the Bible that say specific things about who can do what at what times. And so that was another instance of like, you know, where does that happen? JonThat's a great one, yeah, yeah, totally, totally. And again, the whole point is that we say those parts of scripture, the author is intending to say something very specific and clear, whereas Ezekiel 38, 39, and Revelation 20, these are apocalyptic, prophetic books where the point is not to get into the nitty gritty details, but to give a broader picture of God's victory over Satan and the hope that Christians can have. RyanOr have you seen some of the stuff with, you know, now you can like put in descriptions into AI and AI will give you a visual representation. People are putting in like the descriptions of some of the like prophetic images of angels and AI is putting these like horror level images coming out, these like weird beasts and this conglomeration of this beast with these thousand wings and these thousand eyes. It's just so, it's kind of like, I, you know, like, you're making it so literal, you forget that that picture was being painted here. So there's another instance of that. I like how you say it, though, and I really want to underscore this for people who are listening, especially if you're new to the faith or you're maybe not a Christian. The reason why it seems like Christians kind of, because I was on this side of the fence at one point in my life. It can seem like Christians pick and choose what they choose to believe about the Bible. And we're saying, no, no, no, no, no. Like the Bible is a beautiful, but also beautiful and complex book with a very simple message, but there's layers to it. And we're saying, you have to listen to what the author was trying to teach you in that setting in that moment. We have a book that spans 1500 years, 40 different authors, different contexts, different languages. We don't pick and choose. We actually try to be listening to what the author of that passage is saying under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course. But that's why we think it's so important when we approach the Bible that we're listening to the intent of the author, not trying to fit what's being said into some other theology that we have. Our theology must be informed from the scripture. We don't inform the scripture based on our theology. JonRight. Layers like onions. Or cake. Or cake. Awesome. Hey, thanks everybody for listening. Thanks, Pastor Ryan. Ryan Thank you, Pastor Jon.

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The Beauty And Truth Of Heaven Sermon Series: The Church Never Preaches On... Ryan DB Kimmel Lead Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: Revelation 21:1-5 Transcript Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, amen. Amen. So today is part two of our sermon series called The Church Never Preaches On. Topics chosen not by me, but by the church. And today we are talking about this wonderful topic. Honestly, I was a little surprised that this came as, I think this was their second highest voted topic. And it's this one, the beauty and truth of heaven. Now I actually look back on our records and I have preached more explicit sermons on hell than I have on heaven. So I think there's a lot of truth to this. Church doesn't really preach on heaven a whole lot. And so I'm excited to do that here today. But let me just say this. This is not that you walk away feeling challenged or convicted. I got no problem preaching in those sort of like scathing type ways. Today, I just simply want you to walk away excited. I want you to walk away hopeful. When church is done, you get into your vehicle and you sit in there, you put the keys in. Before you turn the ignition, I want you to think, I want today's, just your time at church today, it leads to that moment where you get in your car and you just sit and you think, I can't wait to go to heaven. That you just feel just so much hope that, that's what I hope here today. So I want to just take a different type of message and just encouragement. So I heard pages turning, which is one of the most beautiful sounds a pastor can hear from a pulpit. I heard them Bibles turning. You're already heading there. Revelation chapter 21. If you haven't turned there yet, would you please turn there? We're going to look at verses one to five today. Real quick. Revelation is a vision of the future that the apostle John, at least the section we're looking at is a vision of the future that the apostle John, the disciple John gets. He's the last living disciple at this moment. God reveals to him a picture of what is to come and we're going to be talking about heaven. That's kind of the picture that John sees here. And so hopefully you are to now to Revelation chapter 21. We're going to read verses one to five together. And so with that, would you hear the word of God? Revelation 21:1-5 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Amen. This is God's word. Let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray. Father God, we come before you here today. We ask, Lord, by the power and presence of Jesus, by the truth of your word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you'd help us to shed worldly pictures of heaven, to see the true and wonderful place revealed in your word. And we thank you for the gospel that our Savior died and rose again so that by faith in him we can have everlasting life be reconciled to you and so that we could anticipate our future heavenly home and it's in Jesus powerful name that we pray these things and everyone said amen amen. So let me start by maybe just speaking right to your heart here for a second. How many people here, whether here or in one of our venues or online, how many people here have someone in heaven right now and you long to see them again? Yeah, I do too. I do too. I have people in heaven that I long to see again. And I don't want to take anything away from what that reunion could be like. I too long for a reunion with some loved ones, my own father. I want to see my grandparents again. I have friends in heaven. My brother-in-law John, who just passed away. I long for those reunions, and I don't want to take anything away from that, but here's what I want to tell you. In addition to all of that, what heaven holds by itself is infinitely greater than any reunion we could have with departed loved ones. So as we look at what the scriptures teach us today about heaven, here's what I want you to know. Heaven is another reminder that the best is yet to come. Heaven is another reminder that the best is yet to come. And as we look into this passage, as we dive into what scripture reveals, we're gonna look at two main things here today and then we're going to spend some time at the end of the sermon looking at some FAQs that came in with this question for our sermon, for the sermon series. And so let's look at these two things firstly. Heaven is a reminder that the best is yet to come. 1. The Heaven that there currently is (v.1) We're first going to look at the heaven that there currently is, and then as we look at scriptures we're going to look at the heaven that there will be. And so first thing, let's look at the heaven that there currently is. So, with your Bibles open, let's look at Revelation chapter 21, verse 1. It says this, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, listen here, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. I mean, I'm going to bet some of us didn't even realize that God was going to make a new heavens and a new earth in the end. But before we get to that, let's talk about the heaven that there is. And so simply put, let me put it this way, heaven is the spiritual realm where God dwells. Or we could say this, it's the spiritual realm, or we could say it's the spiritual dimension. I got no problem using that language. In the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus taught us to pray by starting with these words, our Father who is in heaven, or, if you learned it like I did growing up, our Father who art in heaven. Beautiful. Heaven is the place that our souls immediately go once we die if we believe in the name of Jesus. Let's see what Scripture says here. Now, as they were hanging on the cross, one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus turns to him and says this in Luke chapter 23, starting at verse 42. And he said to Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise. That's beautiful. Now there are many names and many ways and many terms that the Bible uses to describe heaven, but twice in Scripture we see this word paradise. But you know what else it's also called? Probably my favorite term? Home. Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8, he says, Yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. The clear message of scripture is that heaven is the immediate destinations for those who have placed their faith in Jesus and it's Christ himself who makes this perfectly clear in John chapter 14 verse 6. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me and the New Testament, of course continues to preach this message of salvation alone through Jesus Christ Speaking about Jesus Peter says this in Acts chapter 4 verse 12. He says and there is salvation in no one else For there is no no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved Now listen, this is because we do not earn heaven. You cannot earn salvation. This is something simply received. What we deserve is hell. We cannot earn our way to heaven. There's no way that our good works will ever outweigh the sin we've committed. Our destination, our rightful destination is hell. Because of the sins we've committed, we can't earn our way into heaven. It must be a gift received from God. And that's what we get through the life, death, and resurrection, aka the gospel of Jesus Christ. For those who place their faith in Jesus, not only do we get to go to heaven, but the description in the picture is even greater than that. It's more than that. Listen to what Jesus says in John 14. He refers to heaven as his father's house. Doesn't that sound like home to you? John chapter 14, Jesus says this. He says, in my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? Now that's Jesus' way of saying, if it weren't true, I wouldn't have said it. Verse three, Jesus goes on to say, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may also be." Now listen, church, I know I'm feeling probably a little preachy this morning. I've just rattled off a bunch of verses to you. My hope and prayer is that it didn't go in one ear and out the other, because if you were listening to the verses I just read, there's a very strong, common theme woven throughout that if you're listening, you would have picked up on. Let me just read these again and see if you can pick up on it. Luke 23, Jesus says, "'Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" Second Corinthians five, "'We'd rather be away from the body "'and at home with the Lord.'" John chapter 14, "'I will come again and will take you to myself.'" Did you see what the crowning, did you see what the most important thing is here? You see the common thread? And it's this, that the defining feature of heaven is not seeing loved ones again. It's being with Jesus. That is the hope. That is the long for. That's what we long for. I'll put it this way. If you get to heaven and you're the only one who made it, it would take nothing away from the joy you experience of being with Jesus. My fear is that some of us don't know Christ on that level. That He is the crowning jewel of our life. The thing we seek after most. And this is why, this is why, and I say this in love, this is why our loved ones who are in heaven, they don't miss us like we miss them. They're doing just fine. If you could talk to them right now, they'd be like, have fun, see you when you get here, I'm going back to my Lord. When I was a little guy, when I say little, I mean about, I was probably like 11 or 12, I had a question posed to me. And honestly, this question haunted me and perplexed me for a very, very long time. When I was a younger person, there was this person, still in my life, who is very, very, very special to me. And as a preteen, they posed this question to me. They said, is heaven perfect? And being the little guy that I was, I just quickly responded, thinking this was an easy question. I said, yes, yes, heaven is perfect. And then they said, and then they said this, and they were very much playing off the love that we shared between each other. Then they said this, well, when you go there, if I'm not there, is it still perfect? Now, as a younger person, that really struck me. I didn't know how to answer that. That question just cut me to my core. I couldn't imagine being in heaven forever without this person. And even as an 11 or 12 year old, for whatever faith I had back then, it led me to a crisis of faith that honestly, honestly, it brought me down a preteen version of what is now called deconstruction. That's a popular thing going on these days where people are deconstructing their faith. They're quote unquote dismantling their faith as they try to distance themselves from what they see as dogmatic teachings and traditionalism that mark their faith growing up. Now I basically went through a version of that before I confessed faith in Jesus for myself And I'll tell you now that was painful and it was confusing for a very long time for me But I had looked back and I thank God now for that question I thank God for that thought experiment because you know what it did you want to differ me? What it did for me is that at a younger age? It allowed me to then build my faith and my theology based on what scripture says versus what my heart longs for. Build my faith based on what scripture says rather than what the dogmatic traditions tried to instill in me. Base my faith based on what the Bible says rather than what's acceptable or popular in our world. What it did was it allowed me to then go on to build a faith based on Christ and the truth of his word. And so here's the reality. Heaven is perfect. And it's perfect for one simple reason. Because God is there. And that's what makes it perfect. Our presence there or lack thereof does not take away from heaven being the perfect place. 2. The heaven that there will be (vv. 2-5) And that's the heaven there is. So let's take a moment, let's talk about the heaven that there will be. So the Apostle John, he reveals to us a picture of what it's going to be like at the culmination of all things, at the end, that what is heaven right now and what is earth right now will merge into a perfect union of the physical and the spiritual. Here it's called the New Jerusalem. And listen to these descriptors, and I'll just say that, we're gonna read verses 2 to 5 again, and I just want to say, like, for those who love Jesus and who love God and want to be with him I'll tell you if you really dwell on these verses These are enough to move you to tears Verse two and I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold The dwelling place of God is with man. Yes, my reformed friends, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit living within us, inside of us, filling us with the presence of God and the knowledge of the scripture as we live this life. But in the end, when it comes to where God lives And where we will live, that will be one. Again with the perfect blend of the spiritual and the physical. Now listen to these next verses. It's like the fullness and the fullness of our hope and our faith are finally realized in the truth of God being with us both fully spiritually and fully physically. And listen to how much, not just God is present with us, but listen to how much God cares for us. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. Listen to verse 4. Let me just say I hope that some of you were raised with a dad who didn't just instill in you a great work ethic but who loved you with a tender strength. That when you did cry, he did teach you how to be tough through those tears, but he also would bend down and take his thumb and wipe those tears away from your cheeks. Because that's what we have in our Father, our Heavenly Father. Verse 4, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. The former things, which is summarized in this next verse, and I'll tell you right now, of all the things I see in scripture, this is one of my favorite lines. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Friends, it's simply this, it is simply this. Either all of this, history, reality, either all of this is leading somewhere or it's not. And if it's not, then who cares? Because in 10,000 years, nothing will matter. In 1,000 years, nothing we do here and now will matter. But if this is leading somewhere, then we better prepare. I'm here to tell you, this is not a dead and meaningless universe. We are not a cosmic accident. This is intentionality being played out right before us. History truly is leading somewhere. And I know, I know in the heart of your hearts, even if you hate God, if you're resistant to Him, even to yourself, that you know there's more to all of this than what you can see. I know in the heart of your hearts you know this actually does matter. This is leading somewhere. The history does have a bookend. It's not just leading to an infinite nothingness. I know in your heart of hearts you know that. This is not a dead universe. History is leading somewhere and that somewhere is not the eventual death of all things, but the renewal of all things. This is the culmination of the end times, which spoiler alert, we will get to the end times in this series. But what we see here in this picture is this is where everything is heading. This is the hope we can have for, so it's time to prepare. So what we're going to do is, with the few moments that we have, I want to spend some time looking at some FAQs, because I think that might help highlight some of the things that we see in Scripture. I want to look at some FAQs that came with this question that were submitted for this sermon series. And so, here's the first one, and it's a real basic question. I love it, actually. Question 1: What is heaven actually like? Well, I'll tell you this. Do you know that the word for heaven and the word for sky in the New Testament is the same word? But heaven is not made of clouds It's a spiritual realm. It's described as a city with with streets of gold, which is a Awesome physical way to describe the spiritual reality of how beautiful and wonderful it is Heaven is not just bursting with light But it's bursting with all the colors of the rainbow and even more colors that the human eye cannot see. But of all the scriptures of heaven, I think I love this line the best. It comes a little bit later down in Revelation chapter 21. John writes about the vision and he says this in Revelation 21 verse 22. He says, I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord, God the Almighty and the Lamb. Why do we need a church building if God Himself is with us? I love that picture at the end. Heaven, the heaven that there will be. There's no temple, there's no church building. Why? Because we are with God. He's dwelling with us and we are His people. I love the scriptures, but I tell you that, that line holds a special place in my heart and it reminds us that heaven is about God. It's about Jesus, not about us. And it's filled with glory, pure and simple glory. So what is heaven actually like? Well I myself haven't been there yet. One day we will be there. Here's what I'd say. While I can't tell you what heaven is like, let me just say one thing, and if I'm off on this, elders can check me later, but I just, I think there's a part of you that actually knows. In some veiled way, I think you actually know what it's like, and here's what I mean. Because when you look out in the world, or you watch the news, and you just get saddened, and you think, this is not how it should be. Like, you know what I'm talking about? Like, you just think, this is not how it should be. That's because part of you knows how it actually should be. You may not be able to fully describe it, but here's what I'll tell you. Heaven is the place where all things are as they should be. So in some sort of like veiled way, I think you actually know what it's like. It's where God rules and reigns and there's no sin. There's no corruption. There's no death. It's glory and it's beautiful. And those few passing moments where you catch a glimpse of it, it's that forever. Not in ways that grow old or get bored, but in ways that are ever increasingly finding more joy. My prayer is that if you have placed your faith in Jesus, at one point in heaven, it means you will sit down over a cup of coffee because you best believe that's a God-made thing. And hey, maybe we'll talk about what we got right and what we got wrong, but either way, we get to be there with Jesus. And that is the defining most important feature Heaven is home That's where our true citizenship lies. Paul says that our citizenship is in heaven Question 2: Will we recognize our loved ones? Second question is this one. We kind of already addressed it, but it says will we recognize our loved ones? It's a very heartfelt Very touching question that strikes at the core of our deepest desires. And so let me just say this, I will confess to you, there is no specific verse reference I can give you that answers this. So let me just answer this with two reasons. One may be more personal and practical, that's the lesser reason, and then we'll talk about a biblical reason. The lesser reason, the more personal practical reason is simply this, I know who my wife is beyond her physical appearance. I don't need to see my wife to know that it's her. Do you know what I'm talking about? There's just something about her presence where I know that it's her. You could blindfold me and I just have to simply interact with her, even without speaking, that I know it's my wife. And that's because we are also spiritual beings. And there's part of that that will transcend into the next life I fully believe in. But more than that, here's what I'd say to you. You want a biblical example? Here's one. There's a parable that Jesus told between this poor man and this rich man. This parable of Lazarus, the poor man, and the rich man. Now, Jesus tells the story that they both of them they know each other in life and they die but in the next life they recognize each other and I get this a parable and Jesus is trying to make another point here but I think that's a biblical warrant for us to say yes we will recognize our loved ones in heaven those reunions will be awesome they will be glorious I can't wait for that but they're nothing compared to seeing your Savior face to face. Question 3: Purgatory, yes or no? So, next one, purgatory, yes or no? No, next question. Just kidding, just kidding. Our Catholic friends deserve more than that. Here's what I say, let's just talk about it real quick. This is a teaching of the Catholic Church. Purgatory comes, finds its root in the Latin, purgatory, finds its root in the Latin for to purify. And so it's a place that we go after we die, but before heaven, it's kind of like a holding place where we continue to be purified in order to prepare for heaven that we might enjoy it all the more. Now that's the doctrine, in a sense, of purgatory. Now, simply put, I believe that the Bible teaches that that all happens here and now, but we wouldn't call it purification. I think we use the term sanctification. That means being made holy. And when we go to heaven, we are released from this body of sin and death. And that's the final releasing of which we can then can experience the fullness of heaven in the spiritual sense while we await the final culmination of all things, where heaven and earth become one. And as we already mentioned, there's a number of an abundance of passages we've already talked about that kind of show that when we die for those who have faith in Jesus, we go immediately to heaven, immediately to heaven. Jesus said, today you will be with me in paradise. So for this next one. Okay, for those listening on podcast, we're on question four. Question 4: Are our pets in heaven? I'm going to get in trouble no matter how I answer this. So let me just say this. Let me just say this real quick. If there is one thing, if there is one thing from my childhood that even now as a 40-something year old, if there's one thing from my childhood that if I talk about too long, I will actually cry real tears, it's my dog, Sam. I could talk about my father's death, but if I talk too long about that dumb dog, I start crying. So let me just say this, Jesus did not die for the sins of animals and animals have no soul So I cannot make the biblical argument that there will be pets in heaven. There are theologians who would make that argument But here's what I will tell you We do know that there and there are animals and creatures in heaven revelation talks about Jesus right now to heaven on a white horse There's the four living creatures. I mean heaven is gonna be so amazing so much more than what we can imagine here and now so I have to say I I personally don't think our pets will be there. We don't need them to be there. But I will say this, if I get there and Sam comes running up to me, I'm not asking questions. Just being thankful and moving on. See I'm gonna get so many emails after this. Alright, not that that wasn't a serious question, but let's talk about this important question. Question 5: What is the eternal state? Now, if you don't know what that term means, simply put, it's basically asking what age will we be in heaven? Meaning like, if we die at 88, are we 88 forever? Or if we die as a baby, will we stay a baby forever? So here's what I'll tell you. The Bible doesn't teach us, what the Bible does teach us, I should say, what the Bible does teach us is that in the end, we will be given resurrection bodies, resurrected bodies in which we will get to enjoy the new heaven and the new earth, bodies that will not succumb to sickness or death. Now, how those bodies translate into a human age here and now, as we understand it, the Bible does not say. So let me just say this. For whatever you think, and for whatever you hope about this, let me give you some encouragement and just say this. It's better. It's better than what you can imagine, and it's better than what you hope for. So don't worry about it, just be excited about it. Whatever it is, it's a body in which we'll be able to enjoy the presence of our God and Savior for all eternity with a lasting joy that we can't even comprehend right now. This is the hope I have, this is the hope I invite you to share. So last one for today, and let me just say this, I know there are many more questions that you have and many more questions that a sermon like this will probably produce for you. So here's what I'm going to say to you. I'm going to ask Pastor John and the guys over at That's a Good Question podcast to take the remaining amount of questions and any questions you want to submit. So submit some more questions on heaven and our guys over at our podcast will answer that very, very soon. But let me just leave us with this final question. Question 6: Why is there a need for a new heaven and new earth? Now that's a great question, but here's what I'll tell you. It's what God promised. This isn't just a New Testament promise, this is an Old Testament promise. God's been promising this throughout the covenants. Look at the vision that John has in Revelation 21 is very close and very similar to the prophecy of Isaiah 65. So why is God making a new heaven and a new earth? Why is he doing this? Because that's how powerful the life, death, and resurrection of King Jesus is. That's how powerful and far-reaching the gospel is. When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that sent shockwaves throughout all eternity, through every corner and every square inch of the universe. The power of the gospel reaches everything. As King Jesus said, and as we see throughout scriptures, Revelation 1.5, 21.5 says this, says, Behold, I am making all things new. Even something as beautiful as heaven itself will be made new in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is how wonderful and powerful and beautiful the gospel is. Oh friend, if you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ, if you have not yet repented of your sin and confessed that Jesus is the only way, do it today. There is nothing else on earth that even can come close to the beauty and the power of the gospel. That Jesus does for us what we could not do for ourselves. He pays for your very sin, and with his resurrection, he offers you life, both now and forever. Eternal life. And even more than that, provides you reconciliation. That means a restored relationship with God. And when we place our faith in Jesus, he prepares a place for you in heaven. Do not delay. I want to see you there. I want you to know how wonderful and beautiful our God is. So place your faith in Him and then receive the gift of salvation. Receive grace and with that your entry into heaven. Church, the best is yet to come. And it's Jesus himself who says that he's preparing a place for us. J esus, our Savior, who we will get to be with one day fully and finally. I desire it so, do you? I long for it, do you? So may you live your life. May you live your life in light of your eternal home, filled with hope. May you live excited for what is to come, yet on mission now. God will call you home in His good time. So leave that up to Him, and you just focus on Him from now until then. Church, let me remind you, Scripture tells us in Romans 8 that the present sufferings at this time are not worth comparing with the future glory that's to be revealed in us. So whatever you're dealing with, live in light of your eternal home because the best is truly yet to come. So if you have not yet called upon the name of Jesus, my friend, do it here and now. I will be here and I want to say a prayer with you and want to talk to you about next steps But for those of you who have placed your faith in Jesus whether here or in another venue Right now is a time for you to stand and practice as it were For what heaven will be like as we worship together. So please stand now And let's pray father we come before you here now in the company of friends and saints Father we ask God that you'd fill this place with the power and presence of your spirit, Lord, that we will truly worship you now, for you are worthy. And by it, Lord, give us a glimpse for what eternity will be like. Father, we do stand amazed, amazed of what you've done for us, amazed at what you're calling us into. And so I ask God here and now, by the power and presence of your spirit, you would unite our hearts in the gospel as we lift up praises to our King, our Savior, and his name is Jesus. And it's in his name we pray and everyone said Amen Church, let's worship together.

Sermon Discussion Questions 1 Title Sunday, June 30, 2024 It Had To Be Said Mark 7:1-23 What Defiles a Person? 2 Overview Main Idea: It's not about what goes in, but what comes out Sermon Outline: 1 The Source of Contamination I. The Pharisees Answer: from outside (vv1-5) II. Jesus' Answer: from inside (vv14-23) 2. The Solution to Contamination I. The Pharisees Answer: rules upon rules (vv9-13) II. Jesus' Answer: a new heart (vv6-8) 3 Pre-Questions 1. What about this message challenged you? What about this message encouraged you? 4 Questions 1. Jesus teaches that what defiles a person comes from within, not external factors (Mark 7:14-23). How does this teaching challenge the common perceptions of holiness and purity in today's society? 2. Read Mark 7:1-13 and compare it with Isaiah 29:13 and Colossians 2:8. How do these passages collectively address the issue of placing human traditions above God's commandments? Discuss specific examples where modern Christian practices might fall into this same trap and how we can return to a more biblical focus. 3. In Mark 7:14-23, Jesus emphasizes the importance of inner purity over external rituals. Reflect on Proverbs 4:23 and Jeremiah 17:9-10 with Jesus' teaching. How do these passages help us understand the condition of the human heart and God's desire for our inner transformation? Share practical ways these insights can guide our spiritual growth and community life. 4. In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and scribes for valuing human traditions over God's commandments. How can we identify and correct areas in our own lives where human traditions might overshadow God's Word? How can we ensure our practices align with biblical teachings? PDF Download

PODCAST That's a Good Question Missing Pieces: Why Dismissing the Old Testament is a Big Mistake October 28, 2024 Jon Delger & Mitchell Leach Listen to this Episode Hey everyone, welcome to That's a Good Question, a podcast of Peace Church and Resound Media. You can find more great content for the Christian life and church leaders at resoundmedia.cc. That's a Good Question is a place where we answer questions about the Christian faith in plain language. I'm John, I serve as a pastor as well as a host of this show. You can always submit questions at peacechurch.cc/questions . Today I'm here with Mitch. Yeah, I'm the other guy on the podcast. And last week we had a great conversation with Carl Lafferton about better ways to disciple our children and resources on how to disciple our children. It was a great conversation. If you didn't listen to that, I highly, highly, highly recommend that you go back and listen to that. It was awesome. It was great having him on. Today we are fielding some questions about the part of the Bible that maybe we're not super familiar with or maybe a little bit uncomfortable with, and that's the Old Testament. So let's jump into our first question. It's this. Is it okay that I only read the New Testament? Yeah, you know, that first part of the Bible, a little tougher, a little longer. Just stick to the new stuff, right? Yeah, it can be uncomfortable. It can be confusing. Easier that way. Yeah. No, no. So, you know, if you're, if you've just become a believer, a follower of Jesus, you know, you're just getting started, then yeah, yeah. Start with one of the Gospels. I always recommend starting with the Gospel of John. Read that all the way through. Get to see Jesus walk and talk. Get to know sort of firsthand your Lord and Savior. I think that's a great place to start. But then you got to get into the Old Testament. You can't just have the New Testament. Actually, you know, if you were to put your finger in your Bible where the Old Testament and New Testament separate, you'll realize that actually the Old Testament is the much larger part of the story before the New Testament comes. So the Bible would be a lot shorter if you just had the New Testament. But there's so many reasons that come to mind. So I think of, if you were just trying to read the New Testament without any Old Testament background. You open the Bible and you just hear this story of Joseph and Mary and this guy named Jesus. And I can only imagine thinking, who are these people? What is going on? What's the problem that's trying to be solved? You hear the story of Jesus dying and then rising, but why? Yeah, it's almost, the New Testament is an answer to a problem, the problem that's set up in the Old Testament. So we miss the Old Testament, you just hear an answer, right? And it's almost like Jeopardy where it doesn't make sense, where you're only hearing the answer. Yeah, where did these people come from? Where did any of us come from? What is the origin? What about the Adam and Eve story, and realizing sin is the problem in the story? That's what Jesus came to say. You know, you read John 1 and you hear John the Baptist refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. Yeah. Okay, why is he a lamb? You know, who's God? What's the sin that we're trying to take away? You know, you don't have the background of understanding the problem, understanding the sacrificial system and how that all works. So much going on in the Old Testament that you have to have to understand the story. Yeah, and this can be a kind of a popular belief. A well-known author and speaker, Andy Stanley, says that Peter, this is a quote from him, Peter James Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures. And my friends, we must as well. Again, I want to say, that's the end of the quote, I want to say that's a quote. That's not me saying that. He says basically that we must unhitch our Christian faith from the Jewish scriptures, from the Old Testament like Peter, James, and Paul did. That's what he's saying. Man. What would you say to that? Well, I was already shocked before you finished the quote. Just hearing him say that Peter, James, and Paul had unhitched from their Jewish background. I would disagree with that entirely. I think if you read the book of Acts, if you read the letters of the New Testament, these are guys who are deeply rooted in the Jewish scriptures, the Old Testament, who are wrestling through how do they continue to be faithful to what God said in the Old Testament, as well as now live in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Man, I mean, that's what the New Testament, that's what most of the New Testament letters are about. It's figuring out all that stuff. And the answer for them wasn't to jettison all of it and to say, all right, just forget all that stuff, we're moving on. The answer was to figure out how did Jesus fulfill what was going on in the Old Testament? How do we continue what was going on there with this now really important point in the story of Jesus, of Jesus? Yeah, yeah. So what are the potential consequences of adopting this line or this thought into our theology as Christians? Yeah, well one of the most common things related to this way of thinking that you hear and this is an ancient heresy Called Marcionism and named it for the guy named Marcion, but I but you hear this all the time Popularly from people if you talk to unbelievers about the Bible you might hear this that the God of the Old Testament was mean and evil and wrathful, and the God of the New Testament is a really nice guy. You know, you hear as if they're two different gods, two totally different stories. Well, that's what Marcion believed. He really believed that Yahweh was the evil God of the Old Testament and that Jesus came from an unknown father to save us from this Old Testament deity named Yahweh, which is crazy, but we've adopted that a lot into modern Christianity. It's crazy. Right. One of the ways that I hear it a lot is in relationship to hell. Yeah. Yeah, the God of the Old Testament, you know, that God who believed in wrath and hell versus the God of the New Testament who's really nice and kind and sweet. What I want to say to that right away is, have you ever read the New Testament? Yeah. Have you ever read the Gospel of Matthew and listened to what Jesus has to say about hell. Actually, Jesus talks more about hell than anybody else. Huge topic that Jesus talks a lot about, paints it in a very poor light, you know, fire, gnashing of teeth. Man, I mean, Jesus has some pretty harsh things to say. I think people just skip over those parts. I think people who are saying that haven't actually themselves read the Old Testament or the New Testament. revelation and all hell breaks loose literally. Yeah, Jesus is carrying a sword. Yeah, I would say pretty wrathful and that's a good thing. We want God to be a God of wrath who's against sin. That's a good thing theologically. Yeah, so I read an article today as well on thinking about, as we were thinking about this episode, thinking about going back to what Andy Stanley said, you know, very popular pastor. I mean, this is a guy who has a huge platform. This was just a few years ago that he said this. So I pulled this up as well. And there's a few other quotes that I think are worth sharing that he said. Here's one in that same sermon. He said, the Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down. The question is, did Jesus rise from the dead? And the eyewitnesses say he did. That's quite the line. Yeah, man. Old Testament house of cards, humbling down. That's pretty hard to get behind. Yeah, totally. So, on the one hand, there is some truth in the sense that Christians throughout the ages have said that the resurrection of belief and the resurrection of Jesus is kind of the distinguishing mark between an unbeliever and a believer. So, historically we have said, there's so much more that we as Christians should agree on that the Bible teaches, but that agreeing on the resurrection of Jesus is one of the foundational things. So just to give a little bit of context that historically that is something Christians have said, but not to the exclusion of all the other things. Yeah, we've always been for that the resurrection is like the linchpin of our faith and yet we'd never go and say, well, then nothing else matters. As long as you believe in the resurrection, that's good enough. That's not what we're about. Well, that line, the Bible did not create Christianity. So, you know, he's been criticized for saying that Christians need to unhitch from the Old Testament. But what I'm really hearing is more like unhitched from the Bible as a whole. I think that's really what's going on. Well, he's been a proponent of saying that the Bible isn't inerrant, that he said things before, criticizing Christians' really strong belief in the Bible and basing our faith from that. So it's kind of consistent with his preaching. Yeah, yeah. Here's a, man, I've got a couple more quotes. Here's one. So, this was on his church's website written about the sermon. Here it is. This is kind of how they advertised the sermon. They said, if you were raised on a version of Christianity that relied on the Bible as the foundation of faith, a version that was eventually dismantled by academia or the realities of life, maybe it's time for you to change your mind about Jesus. Maybe it's time for you to consider the version of Christianity that relies on the event of the resurrection of Jesus as its foundation. If you gave up your faith because of something about or in the Bible, maybe you gave up unnecessarily. Oh man, that hurts to hear. Yeah, that's just, that's silly. You know, we believe that God's Word is literally from God. And yeah, the Bible should be something we base our faith around. Yeah, so one of the—yeah, so we've already said that, number one, you're losing the story. You know, even just some of the—you know, he and that statement from the website are stealing from the Bible while devaluing the Bible. You know, they're talking about how Jesus can save you, how Jesus can be your, how Jesus rose from the dead. They're talking about quote unquote Christianity and yet trying to throw out the very story of Christianity. You know, you don't have all, you know, you can't get there from here. You know, you can't throw out the Bible and hold on to the resurrection as well as all these other things we're talking about. So there's that. I would also, another important argument would be, okay, if, because what you're trying to say is let's follow Jesus, but not the Bible. So I think a question you've got to ask then is, would Jesus accept those terms? Is Jesus okay with that? And there's a very clear no. If you read the story of Jesus in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus is all about the Bible. You can't say to Jesus, Jesus, I love you, I want to follow you, but I don't care anything for the words that you say. Yeah. Right, the Bible is God's word, Jesus' word. And so, you know, imagine trying to go home and husband say that to your wife. I love you so much, but you know, the words that you say, I just don't want to hear them. I just don't care. Yeah. You know, just let me know how that goes for you. I don't think it's going to go well. I know some men who've said that, it doesn't go well for them. They end up in our offices. Yeah, right. Yeah, to talk about that. Yeah, there's a there's an article on resound you that explains that it talks about What did Jesus believe about the Old Testament scripture? Just about scripture in general and it there's a book that that elaborates even more it's a little bit academic so the article is probably easier read but Everything that Jesus did in his ministry is affirming Old Testament scripture Old Testament authority of Scripture, believing that this was inspired by God and that this was God's Word. Right. Yeah. Right. As Jesus argues with the Pharisees and other people, he is constantly referring to passages in the Bible, and he even goes so far as not just to refer to ideas, concepts, but he refers to specific words, or even the tense of words. I think of when he's making that argument about the God of Abraham. Yeah. And he argues from the tense of the word that this is the God of Abraham, you know, presently not just in the past, you know. Jesus had an incredibly high view of God's Word and at his time, by the way, the Old Testament. Yeah. You know, they didn't have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John when Jesus is preaching and teaching. He's talking about and quoting from the Old Testament. Yeah, I mean, even when, like, even more minute things, you look at it when he goes to a festival, right? He is celebrating something that happened in the Old Testament. When he is affirming the idea of a Messiah, he's affirming something that was prophesied in the Old Testament. When he's affirming covenants, when he's affirming the law, when he's affirming anything, all of his actions are proving that he's basing who he is and what he's about to do squarely in the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament was God's authoritative and inspired word. Yeah. You know, it's a silly argument to say that Jesus didn't believe in the Old Testament. It really is. It is. It's a very silly argument. And I think from what we've seen from from from preachers who are trying to remove themselves from parts of the scripture and sort of say that follow Jesus, but not the Bible. I think they're really trying to get away from the countercultural parts of the Bible, right? What the Bible might say about sexuality or gender or, you know, whatever. Limitations on what people view as freedom. We'd make the argument that real freedom is following God. That's where you're going to find real freedom and joy. But the way they would perceive it is limitations on what they want to do. They want to get away from that and sort of portray a Jesus that is always affirming and forgiving. Although, honestly, whenever I hear somebody say, well, it's okay because Jesus will forgive you, I think you're missing that. Forgiveness only comes because you've done something wrong. So they're really getting at more affirming than forgiving. It's kind of just a silly thing. If you're not going to base your belief in Scripture, who is Jesus anyways? What Jesus is it? Right? Like how do you know? Like is it is it some Hispanic guy named Jesus? Like it could be at that point because how do you understand who this person is if you're not finding him in Scripture? At some point you have to base it back to some authoritative text. Otherwise, it's just this concept and that's could be anybody. Could be anybody. Yeah, totally. Yeah. So, just to highlight again that this is still a problem going on today. You know, we've already given some quotes from a pastor who just said this in the last few years who's very popular. Additionally, there are some branches of the modern-day church within. So, this is a topic we've talked about on the show before, but dispensationalism is a type of theology. And, you know, certainly not sure of all dispensationalists that they would do this, but there are some dispensationalists, some groups within that larger group, that would even say that the Old Testament is not relevant. There are some that would call themselves even Pauline-only dispensationalists, or I've encountered prison epistle-only dispensationalists. So people who say that only parts of, only the New Testament, or only parts of the New Testament, or even only parts of the New Testament written by Paul while he's in prison are relevant to the Christian today. Yeah, and that's... Those are just... but those things are going on. So you just got to be aware that you might encounter people that have this view. It's not what Jesus would have endorsed. It's not what we believe scripture says, but you got to know that those things are floating around here. So real quick, just a few passages from God's Word itself that I think are really important and points of this. So, you know, when we're sharing the gospel with somebody, John 3.16 is a very important verse. I think right after John 3.16 is another important 3.16 verse. It's 2 Timothy 3.16. So here it is. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And remember the Apostle Paul is writing that as you know the New Testament is still coming to be so he is talking about the Old Testament. Yeah, absolutely. What would be lost if we abandon the Old Testament like some of these pastors would want us to do? I mean, and some of these, I mean, it's an ancient heresy. It's not something new. It's been around for a long time, but what would we lose if we abandoned the Old Testament? Well, let's talk a little bit about one of the major themes of the Old Testament, which is the theme of covenant. So a covenant, I've said before, is a relationship sealed by promises. So you think about when you get married, you've got a relationship with somebody, then you seal it with promises. You're saying, I do, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in life and in death. So a relationship sealed by promises. And that's what's going on in the Old Testament, is that we've got the story of God and his people and that covenant relationship between them. And we see laid out blessings for being in the covenant. You know, things are going to, you know, God promises that relationship with his people to give them life. He also promises curses if you stray from the Lord, the chief among those being death, you stray away from the Lord. And so, you know, one thing that you lose is you would lose the entire context of the story of the Bible. You know, the story of the Bible is that of the covenant relationship between God and human beings and how we have broken that covenant. We've strayed away from God, and so therefore we deserve the curse of death. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus comes, he fulfills the covenant in his perfect life, he pays the price of the covenant, he takes on the curse of death so that we can put faith in him and receive the blessings of the covenant, eternal life. Yeah. So just I think that's one example of a theme, probably, you know, maybe one of the biggest, most structural themes in the Old Testament and how, I mean, that's the story of the Bible, that's the story of the gospel, that's, you know, that's the whole thing. Yeah. B.B. Warfield, if not, we can correct it, but we'll correct it in the show notes. He said, the Old Testament is like a living room, dimly lit, and the New Testament is like the same room, but with the lights turned on. You can make glimpses, you can see things outlined, but the New Testament now illuminates everything. It's still one story. It's still the same story overall, but it's now a little bit clearer, and we'd miss that, the beauty of the New Testament, without that in the Old Testament. What are some examples of how the Old Testament points us to Christ? That idea of the light being turned on, that we can see glimpses of it, but now we see it clearly in the New Testament. Yeah, definitely. I'll just try to give a couple pictures here quickly. So, jump back towards the beginning, jump to Genesis 3 and think about Adam and Eve sinning against God, and in Genesis 3.15, you have the first declaration of the gospel, what we call the proto-evangelium, the first declaration of the gospel, that human beings are now at war with Satan and that Eventually a hero will come and he will be defeated but in his defeat he will have victory Hmm, and so, you know, you just go back to that thing That's what we see throughout the rest of the Old Testament. We see the story of all right, you know is You know is Cain gonna be the the seed of the woman the one who's gonna be the hero No, I know that Cain is is a is a sinful man who murders his brother, that wasn't the seed, you know? King David, is he gonna be the one who fixes all things and brings us back to God? Well, David is a man for God's own heart and he's great, but he's still a broken, sinful person. He sins against God, adultery, murder. And then all along the way, until we finally get to Jesus, who is perfect, who does die for our sin, who does conquer death. Through his defeat, he has victory and has ultimate victory over sin and death and he saves his people. Yeah, it's almost like the whole story of the Old Testament is that, you know, is it gonna be him? No, it's not him. Is it gonna be him? No, it's not him. You read the Kings, the story of the different kings. Oh man, or the judges. Yeah, the judges. Yeah, right. Man. See all these leaders rise up and you're hopeful but they turn out to be broken, Sinful man. Even Moses. Yeah, Moses. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Just to name some more themes here, you know, I think of the story of Abraham and Isaac. Yeah. Right? You know, God calls Abraham to go up on the mountain and to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God. His only son. His only son. That's right. You know, we can think of another story that sounds a lot like that. A story of God and his son. And by God's grace, a substitute is supplied to take the place of Isaac. Now in the story of God and his son, his son is the substitute for us. Yeah, we can see all these themes that God lines up in the Old Testament and fills in the New Testament. Yeah. There's a children's storybook Bible that tells that story, and I can't read it to my kids without tearing up, you know, reading the end where it connects it to Christ. And it's like, you know, another day or in the future, there'd be another father who asks his son or another son who carries up wood on his back, does not struggle and, you know, yeah. Oh man, it's just, it gets me, but, just because I'm a wimp, but, you know. Those are the right feelings to have about that story. Yeah, yeah, I think it's beautiful. I think we would, you know, we would miss it and to see, I think part of the reason that we love the Old Testament is it shows us that God is the same. Theologically, we'd call this the immutability of God, but it's that God does not change, that he operates the same way all throughout scripture because it's one grand narrative. It's one grand story. Yeah, it's beautiful to see those themes God is unchanging and the story is continuous. Yeah. Yeah, not two separate stories one story not two different guys one God. Yeah, absolutely And he acts the same way. That's the beauty Yeah, we did it we talked about this before we hopped on the podcast But I thought it'd be fun to pick out a passage in Scripture and to as pastor. Yeah to show how we can pick out pointing the Old Testament to Christ from even some stranger or just different passages in the Old Testament. So I've got one, are you ready for it? I'm ready, I don't know what it is, but I'm excited for it. It's from Exodus 40, it's where Israel is commanded to resurrect, or not resurrect, but to put up the tabernacle, a place where God. Yeah, the design for the tabernacle. Yeah, so it's instructions. It could be seen as fairly boring, but it's instructions on how to put up the tabernacle. How would we connect that passage to Christ? Yeah, great, that's a good one. That's a really good one. Yeah, because it's one of those parts of the Bible that we might think, oh man, this is boring stuff and this doesn't apply anymore, right? The tabernacle is come and gone. You know, then we have the temple and that's come and gone. Yeah. So I could see, yeah. The first half of Exodus is like, whoa, that's great, it's fun, filled with acts full of action, and then the second half is kind of like this, you know, what do we do with the tabernacle? Yeah, right, totally. Yeah, so lots of thoughts. So one is, you know, just realizing the purpose of the tabernacle should make us think of Jesus and think of God's grace to us, that the purpose of the tabernacle is for God to come and live with his people, which is amazing. You know, you got sinful, broken people, rebels against God, and yet God decides in his mercy to come and live with his people. Here, build a tent, and I'm gonna come and dwell in it right with you all. You can come and visit me, you can come and talk to me, you can come and make sacrifices, worship me. So that's amazing in and of itself. Obviously that should point us to Jesus. Think of in John chapter one, the Son of God came to dwell amongst us, or actually that word is tabernacle, he came to tabernacle amongst us. So Jesus is fulfilling what the original purpose of the tabernacle was. So as you read the latter half of Exodus there and you hear some of the specific designs going on in the tabernacle, each of them should point us to a different attribute of God, or especially something about Jesus. We think about the altar, we think about the mercy seat, we think about the bread, there's just so many different aspects in the design of the tabernacle that point us forward to Jesus and that show us something about who God is and about how he interacts with us in his grace. Yeah, and even beyond the cross, going to Revelation, right? The imagery of a new Eden, an even better Eden, because that's a lot of the imagery is tied to Eden. The Garden of Eden, you see one day that we're going to dwell with God forever. That's just beautiful. Yeah. I love that. I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah, so the back and forth, so the tabernacle pointing back to the garden, forward to Jesus, forward even further to the new heavens and the new earth. Yeah, it's like we were supposed to dwell with God in Eden. We had a temporary solution with a tabernacle. Jesus came. He was our, he dwelled on earth. He was the incarnate God and then eternity future. We're going to be able to dwell with him forever. Yeah, it's beautiful, right? Like, I don't know. Maybe I'm just a big Bible nerd, but how can't you fall in love with that story to see how God is so consistent and to see the just the beauty throughout all of that. One story that gets better and better, clearer and clearer. Yeah. All right, Pastor Mitch, I got a passage for you. Sweet. This should be on our ordination exam. This is what we should make pastors do. We're just open the Bible, give them a random passage, explain how it fits into the story of the Bible. Yeah, I like that. All right, here we go. Genesis 17, I'll start reading in verse nine, just a couple of verses. And God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. All right, circumcision. Yes, they were marking themselves as different than the people surrounding them, and that would be a mark of the covenant that God made with them, right? So this is going to make a people group, a group of people for God, set apart for God. And so the idea of circumcision is actually a sacrament of the Old Testament. It's one of the two that they practiced and it's similar today. We practice two sacraments. One is baptism, the other is the Lord's Supper, but baptism is the one that replaces the idea of circumcision and that we are people set aside. We are part of God's new covenant community, not a nation, but really the church and the idea of circumcision. And in the New Testament, we need hearts that are circumcised. We need hearts that are transformed from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. And that's only done by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and that's only done and can only be received because Christ went to the cross and he was the fulfillment of that covenant that he was the true Jewish person and that he died in order to give us a new mark marked by baptism. Amen. Yeah. Amen. That's it. Yeah. I'll show the prophets circumcise your heart. Yeah circumcise the foreskin of your heart Yeah, it was an outward sign in the Old Testament the New Testament It's not about just an outward sign, but it's about being transformed, right? Yeah, sign a sign of cutting something away taking something away being washed cleansed Yep, taking away your sins and you can be with God which is man right at the heart of the story of the Bible Yeah, it's a beautiful thing this this idea is you know, the the theological word is that it's biblical theology it's tracing one idea throughout the entire Bible you can see it there's lots of these like that God is glorified when through both saving and judging usually if you look at any time that there's salvation there's judgment both upon them and the serpent, but also God saves them. He doesn't kill them like he said he was going to. He says, you know, that death will come, but that they will be cursed instead. You look at Exodus, right? The people of Israel, they cross the sea, they're saved through God's saving work as they cross the sea. Noah and the Ark, right? Yeah. Judgment, the flood is judgment on most, but it's salvation for Noah and his family. Yeah, yeah. Salvation for the Israelites, judgment on the Egyptians. That theme is all throughout the book of Joshua, where the people are being saved as they kick out the Canaanites, you look at the exile, that there's judgment and salvation there. But then you see that on the cross, and the most beautiful thing is that Jesus saves us and he's the one who is judged in our place. Yeah. Kind of the pinnacle of that. Yeah. Yeah. Then you see it in Revelation too, that there will be people who are saved and judged. Amen. Yeah. Well, hey, for everybody listening, I hope that this has been a great chance to just remember the incredible value of the Old Testament and how that is something that we cannot walk away from as Christians, not to mention the Bible itself. You can't follow Jesus without God's Word and all of God's Word, all of God's Word. Yeah, we hope your takeaway from this is that you would go to the Old Testament, you'd read it, it would help you worship even deeper knowing that this is all part of one grand story. Yeah, amen. Awesome. Well, hey, thanks for listening, everybody. We hope you have an awesome week. Do us a favor and subscribe, click, follow, like on social media. Have an awesome week. Have an awesome week.

PODCAST That's a Good Question Understanding Judgment Day, the Sabbath, and Christian Living October 14, 2024 Jon Delger & Mitchell Leach Listen to this Episode Hey everyone, welcome to That's Good Question, a podcast of Peace Church and a part of Resound Media. You can find more great content for the Christian life and church leaders at resoundmedia.cc . That's Good Question is a place where we answer questions about the Christian faith in plain language. I'm John, I get to serve as a pastor, I also get to be a part of this show, and you can always submit questions at peacechurch.cc /questions. And today, I'm here with Pastor Mitch. Yeah, today we've got a different kind of episode. If you've been listening the last five weeks, we've been in this series, but today we're gonna get to some of the questions that have been coming in. So we're going to our inboxand we're gonna look at four questions. But next week, we're really excited to have a conversation with author Carl Laferton, who's authored some great kids Bible stories, or story Bibles, and other great Christian resources for kids. And so be sure to join us for that. That's gonna be an awesome thing. Yeah, I'm excited for that. We use one of his kids' story Bibles right now at night with our kids. So excited for that conversation. It's great stuff. All right, here's our first question. I have a friend who fixates on the difference between the Sabbath versus the seventh day and how we changed it. He used it to point out that in doing so we are outside biblical teaching. As a lifelong skeptic, I like to put him in his place as no amount of rational arguments will change his superior point of view. Isn't the change part of the freedom of worship promised in the New Testament? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks. Well that's what we're here for, right? We want to help people win arguments. That's the goal. That's what we're all about. I think we should change the name of the podcast. Yeah, totally. Prove your friend wrong with Jon Delger. I like that. Oh, man. No, we know that hopefully in there is Christian brothers, godly, trying to help each other understand what the Bible says. So to that point, let's talk about that. Is the day of worship the first day of the week or is it the last day of the week? I know I always think of the first day of the week as Monday. It's actually Sunday. Yeah, it's important. Yeah, it's important to know that. So last day of the week, Saturday. First day of the week, Sunday. So we go back to the beginning of the Bible, go back to Genesis, creation. God created the world, six days. He rested on the seventh day. And then for the rest of the Old Testament, we have that pattern of rest coming on the seventh day. That's when God's people were commanded to celebrate the Sabbath, to have rest from all their labors. So that's Saturday and that's why Seventh Day Adventists, they do church on Saturday because they think that's, and that's the argument that they're bringing, right? Saturday versus the Seventh Day. So when do we rest? Yeah. So Old Testament, it was Saturday, sorry. Yeah, no it was. So when we come to the New Testament, we gotta think about did something change and what happened and should we embrace that change or should we follow more of the Old Testament pattern? So when we think about what happened in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, Son of God, came to the earth. He fulfilled the law and the prophets, he says. He died on the cross, he rose again, and he rose on the first day of the week. That's the first day of the new creation. Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers, Romans 8 calls him. He's the firstborn of the new creation. The resurrection is this like recreating of everything. And so, that's actually why we celebrate on Sunday. It's why we gather for worship. It's why Christians see that as the day rather than Saturdays because we've actually entered into a new era, a new creation. So we're celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the Lord's Day. We call it the Lord's Day, because it's the day that the Lord Jesus resurrected from the dead. Yeah, I was also looking at this in John 20, the first time that the disciples get together after Jesus' death is a Sunday. Yeah, actually, every time that Jesus appears and it tells us the day, there are some times that he appears and doesn't tell us the day, but every time that Jesus appears and it tells us the day, it's the first day of the week. Yeah. Yeah, he's trying to tell us something. So, a couple other passages related to this conversation. Colossians 2, verse 16, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food or drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. And really, this is how we view a lot of what's going on in the Old Testament, shadow versus substance. Foreshadowing versus the actual thing. And Jesus is the fulfillment of the actual thing. Let me, one more passage, Romans 14, starting in verse 5. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. All right, so I think the New Testament paints a picture for us that things have changed in this New Testament era and even to say that the forms, the shadows of the Old Testament are not quite the same as what's going on in the completion, the fulfillment, the substance in the New Testament. Yeah. I want to ask you a personal question because I think it'll lead us somewhere. Do you celebrate your day of rest on the first day as a pastor? I do not. As a pastor, that's my busiest day of the week. It's your busiest day of the week. Yeah, absolutely. So how do we justify that as people who say, the Sabbath should be on Sunday or on the Lord's day? And then we're people who, we don't have our Sabbath or our rest on the same day. Yeah, so there's a ton of different perspectives on New Testament and how to understand the Sabbath and how all that works. One great book about it is John Frame. It's a really big, thick book, but if you can get a hold of this chapter in there. But John Frame, it's his book, what's it called? It's on the Christian life. It's the third in that series. Oh, is it on our shelf right here? Oh, perfect, The Doctrine of the Christian Life is what it's called. But he does a section on the Sabbath commandment and walks through the different Christian views on the Sabbath. I think he goes through like seven. But the one that I'm most gravitated towards is towards the middle, which is John Calvin's understanding of the Sabbath, which, yes, Christians are supposed to embrace God's call to have a day of rest, and yet it's not specifically has to be on a certain day of the week. He says we should take a 24-hour period of rest during the week. And I agree with that. I think that's what's going on in the New Testament. So yeah, for pastors, we, I think traditionally, usually for pastors, it's either Monday or Friday is usually our day off, since Sunday is usually our busiest workday of the week. Yeah, absolutely. And so there is some Christian flexibility, some Christian freedom in what day we choose. There are some people who might be police officers or doctors who are required to work on a Sunday. Yeah. And that isn't sinful to work on a Sunday. It's sinful not to observe a Sabbath day, a one day in seven where you're taking that day as in holy setting it aside. I think sometimes Christians and pastors, we can talk about, yes, there's a lot of freedom in this, but we maybe are soft about saying, no, no, but this is still a requirement for us. We still must obey the Sabbath command. Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. We don't, yeah, we want to be, yeah, we want to be relaxed on the day of the week that it's supposed to be specifically, but that doesn't mean that the whole command is gone. The fourth commandment is still to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. So we think that that's changed in terms of it has to be a certain day of the week, but the principle is still there, still applies. And I think in an ideal world, it is Sunday. Yeah, absolutely. I think you should try to make it Sunday. This is the day that the church gathers. This is the day of the resurrection. Yeah. I think that's the ideal situation. There's something really special about the Lord's Day, gathering together with the body of believers on the Lord's Day. Yeah, even for me and my family, I would say it's still, it's not, we don't treat it just like it's any other day. Yeah. Even though, you know, we have a lot of work to do on that day at church, we still treat it like a special day. So. I also thought it was really interesting that, you know, there's a lot of differences in the Gospels, not that they're not all, that they're contradictory. They are all one story, but every single gospel makes sure to say that Jesus rose on the first day of the week on Sunday. Yeah. Which is kind of interesting. So when they're all united saying the same thing, that's a, it's usually an important thing for us. Yeah. Yeah. Should we still be following all of the Old Testament laws? Specifically, should we avoid eating pork in order to further honor God? Jesus fulfilled the law, but does that mean we should stop following all of the laws? Is there a new law? Thankfully, my answer is that we can eat meat, specifically pork. And all the brothers said, Amen, hallelujah. Yeah, that's right. Praise God. Bull pork, man. That's right. Couldn't go without that. My freezer's full of it. Yeah, so a couple of things. So one, when we look at the Old Testament, one way that Christians have broken it down, the Old Testament laws, is civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. Now, that's not specifically in Scripture, doesn't use those words to divide the law, but that's something that we've tried to just look at the law and tried to say, tried to categorize it and try to understand how we relate to it. So ceremonial law, meaning like ways of worship, sacrifice, those kind of things that Old Testament Israel did. Civil law, meaning things that have to do with the running of the nation of Israel. And then moral laws, that's what we've labeled things that we see as transcending, specifically the nation of Israel and its laws as it relates to ritual worship and sacrifice and things like that. So, when it comes to certain parts of the law, we view them as ceremonial, as being fulfilled in and through Jesus. And food laws, laws relating to things that we eat is one of those. So a couple of passages that we could look at and think about, I think of Matthew chapter 5, verse 17, where he says they didn't come to abolish the law, but he came to fulfill the law. Okay, so Jesus didn't come to abolish everything that has to do with sacrifice. He came to be the ultimate lamb who is slain in our place. He became the ultimate sacrifice so that we don't have to make sacrifices anymore. I think about what he says in Mark chapter seven, I guess preach this passage recently. Jesus is talking about what defiles a person. Let me just read you a section of it. He says, then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart, but his stomach and is expelled. And in parentheses, still part of scripture, but they put it in parentheses, it says, thus he declared all foods clean. So that's Mark commenting on what Jesus is saying there. And then verse 20 says, what comes out of a person is what defiles him. Okay, so Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writing this part of scripture, is commenting on what Jesus is saying, that thus he declared all foods clean. And then one last one, I think of actually in Acts chapter 10, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit speaking of Peter, specifically addresses this. Peter has a dream about eating pork, and he wrestles with this, Lord, no, I can't do this. But then God says, no, he says, whatever I've called clean, you need to eat it. So I think actually the Lord specifically addresses this concern about things that we can eat, declaring all foods clean, saying that those laws are no longer anymore. Yeah. One quick question. So, you talked about this comment that Mark makes, and it's in parentheses in our English Bibles. Is that still inerrant? Is that still God's Word, even though it's in parentheses? I think that's a question that a lot of people have as they're reading their Bible, where an author makes a comment close to something that Jesus is saying, is that still Scripture? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, so we don't believe that just the red letters in the Bible are from God. We believe that all the letters are from God. So absolutely. So we put in parentheses, that's kind of an English translation thing. It's just us trying to help make the reader, make it easier on you to understand what's going on in the passage. You know, there wasn't parentheses like that in the original text. It was just right there. But yeah, what we believe is it's not just what Jesus said that was inspired, it's Mark as he's recording what's going on that was inspired by the Holy Spirit, carried along by the Holy Spirit as he writes it down. And so, yeah, his comment is in there about what Jesus is saying, and that's inspired by the Holy Spirit. So if we didn't have this vision from Peter and Acts, Mark would be sufficient for us to know that all food is clean for us to eat. Yeah. I think that's a good point for us to understand as we are trying to understand Scripture better. And also we have these other passages that add a lot of clarity. You talked about civil, ceremonial, and moral. Can we talk a little bit more about maybe why did God give people a ceremonial law and why is that fulfilled in Jesus today? So what would you say, if you're going to define a ceremonial law and its purpose, why did God give Israel these laws? Right. So when we think of the ceremonial law, we think specifically of animal sacrifice. And so God gave his people those laws, knowing that they were not perfect, that they would sin against him, that they needed a way to cover their sin. And so he gave them this, and it was also illustrative. It gave them a picture of what actually has to happen for sin. We know that in the New Testament, Romans chapter 6, the wages of sin is death. So Old Testament Israel got to see that day in and day out, morning and evening, animals dying, blood being shed because people sinned. So they got to see that every single day. I think they had a much better picture than we do of the consequences of sin. They knew, they could hear the animals' noises as they're being killed each day. They could see the blood, they might smell the smell, they participate in the sacrifice, they might even eat the meat. Yeah, they're seeing that the consequences of sin is death. And then, of course, we know that ultimately that's fulfilled in Jesus, the true lamb of God who came to die for the sins of the world. I think of Hebrews 9 says that the blood of bulls and goats cannot bring the remission of sins. Only Jesus can do that. So he's the ultimate fulfillment of all those sacrifices. Yeah. I heard of a story of a youth pastor who once brought a lamb to a retreat. And, you know, for the entire week, the lamb was wandering about with the kids. Yeah, yeah, you know, this is going. And the last day he brought it up on stage and slaughtered it. Like everyone named it. Yeah, he did because he wanted people to see, you know, to experience it. I think that's a little bit crazy. I was a youth pastor for a while. That, I'm sure that would have got me fired, but like, you know, he definitely committed to the bit of quite the demonstration. So he wasn't trying to sacrifice the land for their sins. No, no, no, no. He was trying to say this is what it would have been like. Yes, absolutely. Sorry. So it wasn't theologically bad. It wasn't theologically bad. There were just some practical problems there. It was just probably hard for middle school girls to see. Yeah, he probably got some letters from some parents. Yeah, I'm sure he did. One way that we describe ceremonial laws, we say they're purity laws, right, that they were intended to keep Israel pure as they would come into contact with the Holy God, and that Jesus is the way that we now in the New Testament find our purity. And so there are some laws that were required to keep Israel pure that because of the blood of Jesus we don't need those laws because we're already pure. Things like touching a dead body or touching fluids that come from a body, right? That a lot of Leviticus, if you're struggling to read through Leviticus, it's not a terrible book, it's a great book, but it's illustrating those things of there's a holy God and there were things that Israel needed to do in order to stay pure. And so I think maybe there's another angle to look at it. We don't need to, you know, we can be doctors, we can be morticians as Christians and not be impure because Jesus has made us pure. So, in the question they ask, is there a new law? What would you say to that, John? Yeah, well, it reminds me right away of a passage in 1 John where Jesus says, I do give you a new law to love one another. But even in that passage, we know that it's really not new. That's not new. You know, the summary of the law has been and continues to be, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, the first and second. Great commandments and the summary of the law. So really, I think the answer is there's not a new law. Correct. There's not. All of scripture is God-breathed, all of scripture is true, all of scripture is applicable. I think on this side of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, it applies, parts of it apply differently. Yeah. The ceremonial law no longer applies in the same way. Yeah, I've even heard people say that, you know, when Jesus goes on the Sermon on the Mount, it's like he's a new Moses bringing a new law to his people. And unfortunately, that's the wrong way to look at it. He's clarifying the law that Israel had forgotten, that it wasn't about works, but it was about loving God, and it was about believing in Yahweh, the one true God. Clarifying, fulfilling, getting to the heart of it. Yeah, yeah. All right, let's jump into our third question. How far do you take Matthew 5, verse 38 through 42? If someone attacks me or my family, should I do nothing in defense? Should this apply to being a police officer or the military? If I'm threatened to be unjustly sued in court, should I just pay out whatever they're requesting willingly? Yeah, good question. So that's a question lots of people have asked over the years of can I do self-defense? Can Christians serve in the military? Can Christians be police officers? Do Christians have to be pacifists or is there any kind of violence that Christians can participate in? So I think when we look specifically at the Sermon on the Mount and that part of Matthew 5 that's talking about Jesus throughout the Sermon on the Mount is really taking a lot of assumptions that people have about their interpretation of the law and turning them on their heads. So it's taking an assumption that people have made about eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and about what they think that means about retaliation and flipping it on its head. Retaliation, revenge is really not. Revenge seeking is now what Christians are called to do. So it's teaching that and that important principle and concept. And yet I would say it is not teaching across the board pacifism that Christians can never use violence in any way. Correct. For example, if somebody breaks into my home, I'd say, yeah, I have a responsibility to protect my family. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that this question could get silly if we decided that we were going to take this guideline that Jesus is giving us as a hard, fast rule that applies to every situation in our life. I mean, things like we wouldn't be able to have a justice system, we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves if someone were to break in. I mean, even thinking about like sports, like if someone scored on, and I was coaching first and second grade football. If someone scores on us to tell my team that we need to go score back, we need to answer back to them. If we're gonna take this to its furthest extent, that'd be sinful for me to say, we gotta go back and score. I mean, it could get a little silly. Yeah, Christians are not called to be losers. Correct. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, yeah. I mean, we should. Or doormats. Yeah. Christians should score touchdowns. I'll say that. You can put that on a t-shirt if you'd like. Nice. That's a good one. Yeah. The most touchdowns, in fact, I'd say. Yeah, right. Well, it makes me think of some of the other things that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Yeah. Right. So, is that necessarily the literal thing that you're supposed to do whenever you're sinning, if my right hand causes me to sin, I should actually cut it off. Maybe, probably not. Correct. Yeah, I think Jesus is making a broader principle point about the seriousness of sin and about the lengths to which Christians should be willing to go to to eliminate it. Yeah, this is about generosity and not about saying that you can never stand up for yourself. Yeah. Yeah, or even to stand up societally to wrong. Right. I think we look at things like capital punishment or just the justice system itself to be able to pronounce judgment, to be able to say that there is going to be a punishment for wrongs committed against a society, against a community. That's a good thing that God tells us that we ought to do. I mean, Paul talks about in Romans and Peter talks about it, that we are supposed to submit to these governing authorities that some kind of government that enacts justice is a good thing. Yeah, so in Romans 13, Paul lays out, I think, a little bit of a window into what government is supposed to look like, and he says they bear the sword. Government bears the sword and Christians can participate in that government. We can be part of it. Law enforcement, for example, military, for example. Yeah, it bears the sword in order to protect people, in order to do justice. Yeah. Yeah. I also think looking back to the Ten Commandments, looking at the commandment to that you shouldn't commit murder. Oftentimes we like to think that that really means that you shouldn't kill anything ever and really murder is saying that it's a senseless killing or or an unnecessary Killing and that's what just unjust killing. Yeah, and that's what's prohibited. It's not saying that Killing is off the table always and forever I think that this passage can be used as a justification to say well We should never ever be a part of any sort of killing ever, but God does call people to defend and to protect people and to use force to do that. Right. So Christians should not be people who are seeking revenge all the time, you know, going back to the turn the other cheek. Correct. We should not be easily offended, we should not be quick to, you know, react and hit somebody back, whether that be, you know, physically or verbally or whatever. You know, we should be people who are slow to anger, who are careful, measured, thoughtful, wise. But yeah, yeah, there's the ability to defend yourself. Yeah, absolutely. Let's jump into our last question. If our souls go immediately to heaven when we die, then when does judgment day happen? Do we leave heaven to go to judgment day? Yeah, great question. So the reason that, I assume the reason the person's saying, you know, our souls go immediately to heaven when we die. So, I think, you know, apart from the body, with the Lord, coming from 1 Thessalonians, I think of, you know, Jesus says to the thief on the cross next to him, today I will see you in paradise. Yes, we know from Scripture that we don't go to a waiting period in between, that we go right to being with the Lord when we pass from this life. So, praise God for that. That's good news. That's hope. Yeah. So we're saying no to purgatory. We're saying no to soul sleep. Those types of things. Yeah, totally. Totally. And yet scripture says in numerous places that we will be judged. That every action, every word, that each of us, every person will be judged. I think of Revelation 20. There's a picture of the end of all things and a judgment before our great white throne. Now we can talk a lot about some specifics there and how some people have interpreted that, dispensationalism versus covenant theology, but without getting into that, scripture does picture a judgment. So how is it that Christians come into that judgment or when do they come into that judgment is kind of the question. Yeah, it's thinking about if I die today and I go to heaven, and then there's a judgment day towards the end of time, towards the consummation of all things. What happens? Do I get judged on the way into heaven? Do I get pulled out of heaven to go into judgment day? How does that all work? Right, so I think essentially, on your, you know, after you pass from this life, you face judgment. You will go to one of two places. You're held in a waiting room for judgment, but you will go to one of two placements, and that is an effective judgment. You will either, because of your faith in Jesus and because of his righteousness and his saving work for you, you will go to be with God in eternal bliss in heaven, or because you haven't put your faith in Jesus and he hasn't covered your sin going to hell, a place of God's wrath. Scripture quite clearly lays out for us those two directions. I think in passages like Matthew 22, Matthew 25, Jesus paints some pictures of these two directions that somebody can go. And at the same time, we also have this... So that's kind of the first one. So the first answer is each of us are judged as soon as we exit this life. It's not like a long period of time, but we end up in two different places as a result of God's judgment. I don't know exactly what that looks like. If we're sat down and explained that, I don't know what that looks like between this life and the next. But we end up in two different locations as a result of that judgment. And then we also have this picture of the end of all things, for example, Revelation chapter 20, of an ultimate judgment. And so I think in some sense, all people, whether they passed away many years ago or whether they were alive when Jesus returned, in some way, shape, or form, I think there is sort of, there's some kind of judgment that we will all be witness to. I think really for those who have passed away, it will have already happened. It'll just be kind of coming to its full consummation. I think of, you know, what Revelation says about at that time that Satan and the demons will be cast into the lake of fire. So there's really this ultimate judgment where it goes beyond humanity to all created beings, including Satan. Satan doesn't rule over hell. Satan himself is cast into hell in the end. And so there will be a final judgment, but it won't be different from the other judgment. It will really just be the first ones judged and then people will and that that will rejoice when God's judgment is laid out. I think to look forward to that God's judgment is something that we should They'll inspire us to worship him. Well, yeah the day of the day of the Lord or the day of judgment cuts both ways Yeah, it's a double-edged sword. It is a day of judgment and salvation. Yep. So for those who are trusting in Jesus, it's great news It's something to hope for something to look forward to be excited about and yet we see in other parts of scripture We think of the prophets for example are using the day of the Lord the day of judgment as a warning to people, because it is. It's the final, you know, the day of judgment is when it's all over. You gotta make your decision before that period of time. And so it can be, it will be a day of great pain for some who have rejected Christ. It'll be a great day of great joy for those who have received Christ. Yeah, I heard a pastor once talk about our state right now is that God the Father is holding back his full wrath against all of humanity, and at the same time, begging us to come to himself. And one day on the Day of Judgment, he will drop both hands and no longer be accepting people and letting his full wrath come against those who have rejected him. Awesome. Well, hey, thanks for the conversation. Great stuff. Great questions. Thanks so much for sending them in. Keep sending them, peacechurch.cc /questions. Excited next week to have that conversation with author Carl Laferton about kids ministry, about kids' Bibles, about how to disciple our kids to walk in the way of the Lord, and then excited for more questions to answer after that. You can find more great content at resoundmedia.cc , and please follow us, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, great place to subscribe and follow and find more great resources. Have an awesome week.

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